Summer Camp 2026 in the Black Forest

20. August 2026 · Dominik Lübben

Last week, we headed to the Black Forest for a training camp alongside Renshi Albert Schneider and his students from Phoenix Dojo Elzach. Since they hosted the camp and live relatively close by, there was a particularly strong turnout from southern Germany. Still, I’m thrilled that significantly more students from our own dojo found the time and motivation to join this year. It was also my first time attending as a Sensei, as I unfortunately couldn’t get the time off last year.

The mountain cabin wasn’t particularly luxurious, but it served our purposes just fine. A huge thank you goes out to Jenny and Ruth, who kept everyone well-fed. They even accommodated allergies and vegan diets—which meant, for the first time ever, I had to eat strictly vegan. That made me look forward to our farewell barbecue even more; unfortunately, though, it fell through because open flames were banned due to an increased wildfire risk, and the cabin’s stovetop didn’t pack enough heat to grill on.

Enough about food—how was the training? Intense, to say the least. Every morning at 6:00 AM, Sensei Albert ran us through an early-morning workout consisting of breathing exercises, loosening up, and finishing with the “Form of 10″—a Qigong form that releases all your muscles and primes your energy for the day. So, was it the exact same routine every morning? Not quite. On Wednesday, Jonas, one of Albert’s black belts, got to lead the morning session, and it was a real workout. There was no gentle breathing or Qigong in sight; instead, we were running laps and grinding through other demanding drills.

In the evenings, Qigong got its own dedicated session. At 8:00 PM, Chinese energy work was on the schedule. Not only were we supposed to “smile into our liver,” but we also had to laugh out loud—from the gut, from the heart, and from the bones. While that’s fine enough when you’re among your own group, it quickly got a bit awkward with onlookers standing nearby hoping to catch an unobstructed view of the partial solar eclipse from the summit. Then again, they probably already thought we were crazy anyway, so it didn’t really matter at that point.

On Thursday night, I took the opportunity to contribute as well and led everyone in a meditation focused on that very eclipse. The energy was still fresh even the day after, and the solar eclipse also ushered in the period leading up to the lunar eclipse at the end of August.

Between morning workouts and evening Qigong, there were several training sessions—two in the morning and one in the afternoon. Originally, the second session was supposed to take place after lunch rather than in the morning, but we switched things up because of the blistering heat. Albert and I split the sessions evenly: some days I ran two, other days he did

I got to kick things off right away on Monday with the first session, so I had the students jog up to the castle—a pretty short but steep route. Huge respect to the students for powering through this first test on the very first full day of camp without a single complaint. Naturally, Albert and I drove up in the car, but we’ve put in our time doing that sort of thing for years and know just how tough those challenges are, especially in intense heat. So, huge kudos to them!

Albert asked me to teach his students a kata he didn’t know—and one his students naturally wouldn’t know either. I decided on Naihanchi Shodan. I learned the Shidokan version of this kata, which exists in one form or another in virtually every style of karate, back in Michigan from Seikichi Iha. It’s part of the curriculum at Kiryoku Dojo, but not at Phoenix Dojo. Albert’s students picked up the kata quickly, though some naturally needed a bit more time.

A big thank you to Andreas, Felix, and Robert, who also worked with the kids separately on the kata. Naihanchi was a central focus throughout the entire training camp, and the students even had to perform it for the parents on Saturday before heading home.

In return, Albert taught my students his “Form of 31.” It’s a jo kata whose proper name is unknown to both Albert and me, but that doesn’t really matter. Albert calls it the “Form of 31” because it consists of 31 individual jo techniques. Simple enough—and everyone knows exactly what he’s talking about.

The Form of 31 is a welcome addition to our weapons training, as I was missing a jo kata until now. Because of that, we’ll continue practicing this kata in our regular weapons classes. It’s also already available in the member area’s video library for self-study.

A special highlight on Wednesday was the visit from Grandmaster Hanshi Michael Franki. As the successor to Soke Heinz Köhnen and head of the style for Goshinryu Kempo and Tamashii-Ryu, he brought even more fire and energy to an already scorching training camp. Albert and I tend to be more earth type, so for many, it was a welcome change of pace.

To keep the longer breaks between sessions from getting boring and to encourage the summer camp participants to dive even deeper into karate, we gave each group an assignment: first, come up with a team name, and then develop a custom kata to match it. We ended up with the Praying Mantises, the Samurai, the Phoenixes, and the Tigers—exciting and unique styles across the karate and kung fu spectrum that we rarely, if ever, teach in such depth. So, I was thrilled to see the groups dig into the subject using AI and other online tools, and they delivered some great results.

The training camp flew by way too fast, but as the saying goes, the end of one camp is just the beginning of the next. I really hope we’ll gather in even greater numbers for another camp in 2027 to strengthen the bond between our dojos and continue learning from and with one another.