A week to remember – Part II: "So much power locked up in one little sweaty room"

My sister Bebis left for Rome and that wonderful vacation week together ended. I was glad to know that she would keep travelling around Italy and Spain, but I also felt a little bit sad because only God knows when I will see her again. I said goodbye to her at the train station and came back to my everyday life in Bologna. Little did I know that right after her departure, a really cool surprise would change the rest of that week…

Back at home I gladly found this e-mail from some American girl telling me that soon she would be on her way to Bologna and that she had found my blog while looking for info about Shotokan Karate-Do in the city! Awesome! Google made me famous! (I’m kidding). She said she would love to know about the chances of training here, for the week she would be in town. Fantastic! Immediately I replied and told her about Italian Traditional Shotokan Karate-Do and, of course, about “Musokan”, the dojo where I train, Master Perlatti’s dojo in Bologna.

My girlfriend Sara and I met her. Rachelle is her name and she is such a cool girl. She came here with her good friend Meredith. They are so sweet and nice, and showed a great will to learn as much as possible about Italy and its culture. I wish we had had more time together, to show them more and more things about the city and surrounding towns! Too bad Sara and I had to work so much in those days and couldn't get more free time for them!

I can tell you that just a few minutes after meeting Rachelle and Meredith, Sara and I felt this great chemistry among us! We talked so much and it was fun. We had a drink at “Le stanze” (The Rooms), a famous pub in Bologna and walked a little bit around the city. It was great talking about the city and checking places on the map for them to see the following day! Sara and I felt as if we were spending the time with people we have known for years! Long time friends! Amazing!

I talked to Master Perlati about them and their will to train in Musokan. He was more than glad to “open the doors of the dojo for them”. The girls, Sara and I went to training together. Training was hard, as usual, and Bologna’s hot summer weather made things “worse” which in karateka’s language means “more interesting”! (Hey, that sounds great, doesn’t it?). Our Masters and everybody else were so excited about meeting these karatekas from Maine, USA. Unfortunately Master Perlati was not in town that week, yet the girls got to meet Master Vignoli (who has been training under Master Perlati for decades!), Master Carlo Casarini (member of the Italian kumite team that won the world championships in 2002 and 2003) and Master Nicola Artese, who is my and Sara's coach; Nicola is another mighty karateka, known in Italy and Europe, and also one of Master Casarini’s best friends ever.

We had some tough training sessions that week! I’m glad the girls met Musokan and “felt its spirit”. Musokan is not only another dojo in Italy, but the place I feel my “Italian family” lives in. I’m so glad for the good impression Musokan caused on them. In Rachelle’s words : “so much power locked up in one little sweaty room”. It’s been already months since their visit to the dojo and the guys still ask me about Rachelle and Meredith!When are they coming back?

On their last night in Bologna the girls came to my home for dinner together with Chiara, one of the girls from Musokan. Sara cooked some nice pasta and “prosciutto and melone” and we had so much talk, so much fun, again. Sara and I do hope some day we can see them soon, either here or in America. They are another confirmation of the fact that students of traditional martial arts are simply among the best people we have ever met. I dream so much about going to America, and about living there for some time. I hope I can have the chance to do it, and I hope that if we make it to live there, it is at some place quite nearby our new friends Rachelle and Meredith, and the dojo where they train.

Hope to see you again soon girls! Oss!!