Wonder Valley Camp

The bi-annual camp near Fresno, hosted by the Lelliotts, has come and gone. There were people from parts of the US, Sweden, Denmark, England, Spain, South America, New Zealand and Australia there. It was a blast.
   Graham Lelliott taught a seminar on Friday evening to kick it off. Myself, John Sepulveda, Steve White, Paul McMurray, Ed Parker Jr and Ingmar Johansson rounded out the staff. There were a lot of brown and black belts but the lower ranks seminars were well-supported, too. Subjects included "Fun with Five Swords", pattern recognition, and lots of self-defense practice.
  One of the traditions of these camps are the games, something started by Ingmar with his Viking Camp in the 1990s. The participants break into teams and compete in a variety of events for points to see which team tops out. I don't know what the results were but it was fun to watch.
  The Saturday and Sunday evening dinners were great for meeting people, catching up with old friends and maybe even winning a raffle or two. A storm rained out the Saturday party toward its end but we made up for it Sunday.

   And the rumors you heard are true, I did wear a kilt to the party. Graham and Jaydean had me in a sumo outfit two years ago so I had to do something this year. Jack Nilon and Ross White both kilted up as well. If you have to know, a Scot wears only his pride under a kilt.