A date with the warriors !

It had been raining since last night so definitely not an ideal day for outing ...but, then there was that poster on my office wall coaxing me for many days to witness the event and here it was! So, if one has to go ; one has to go ! I didn't anticipate,however, that it would be this big an event...almost like some festival. The young and dashing, the bald and bespectacled, kids and parents and grandparents were all there waiting in a long queue for their turn to enter Budokan.

Now, Budokan is a huge indoor arena near the Emperor's palace and just bang opposite Indian embassy in Tokyo. Basically meant for martial art competitions, this place has also been witness to many historical music concerts Beatles and all ! Today, however, the occasion was 49th All Japan Aikido demonstration. Teams from all over Japan were there in their traditional gear . Many shops outside the arena were selling books, videos, dresses and mementos related to Aikido. Aikido is a martial art like Judo and Karate , but very different in spirit than the two which i would like to touch upon in my next post .The event started with silence observed in the memory of victims of recent tragedy in Japan and then there was national anthem followed by big drum beat and then the action started .......(to be continued)