Spring work in the vineyard

That wee­kend the­re was to be a camp for young aiki­dists in the vineyard in Žer­nosky. But it was much, much more.

When I think back to our time toge­ther, it is hard to descri­be all the insi­ghts and expe­ri­en­ces. A mor­ning warm-up in a flowering mea­dow and a fami­ly of wild boars across the road. Wal­king throu­gh rol­ling coun­try­si­de with views of extinct vol­ca­no­es. Wor­king in an endless vineyard row, the gru­e­ling heat of the sou­thern hill­si­de and sunburnt skin. Refre­shing sips of water and tired jokes as we took a work bre­ak. The con­cen­t­ra­ted clic­king of the scis­sors, the mono­to­ny that gra­du­ally spilled over into skill and pri­de that we’d made it. The smell of the fire, the tas­te of wine not yet rea­dy on the ton­gue. Eve­ning con­ver­sati­ons with the sun­set over the bends of the Elbe. A night con­cert by the river. Tra­i­ning whe­re we practi­ced how to grasp a woo­den pole, a part­ner’s wrist or life… into our own hands.
To grasp life, to work it with our own hands, to enjoy it. Aiki­do and phy­s­i­cal labor teach us how to do it.

PS: The who­le wee­kend had ano­ther dimensi­on. The vineyard whe­re we sta­yed and hel­ped belon­gs to Bogdan Tro­jak and Salo­me. The­ir wines can be found in the best restau­rants not only in Pra­gue but also in Tokyo and Lon­don. And Bogda­n’s work to deve­lop natu­ral wines in the Czech Repub­lic is phe­no­me­nal. We are really gra­te­ful that young peo­ple from our club can be in the com­pa­ny of such inte­res­ting peo­ple, work with them and be inspi­red by them.