Euro Gathering 2009

[lonelydog]

I'm pleased to announce one more time the:
European “Dog Brothers Gathering of the Pack” 2009

Schedule:
Friday 24. July, 14:00  “Tribal Gathering”
Saturday 25. July, 14:00  “Open Gathering”
(Sunday 26. July Seminar)

Location:
Turnhalle Schönau, Lindenauweg 1, 3007 Bern, Schweiz

Registration:
FIGHTERS MUST PRE-REGISTER, even if they have fought before. The Fighter's registration form must be filled out and sent to me until 10. July. For registration and the registration-form please contact me at: lonelydog@dogbrothers.ch

Only those who are pre-registered are allowed to fight. You are not registered until your name appears on the list of registered fighters on the website!

I’m looking forward to have one more time a “DB Gathering of the Pack” in Europe! And would be glad to see many of you again.

Wuff
Guro Benjamin “Lonely Dog”

[lonelydog]

As I have already told everyone the date for this years gathering had to  be shifted to the 24th and 25th of July.

Unfortunately this change of the date caused problems for Guro Marc "Crafty Dog". For him it is not possible to shift his already planned family vacation.
I know that for many this will be a great disappointment. I also greatly regret that he can not be there this year.
However, I will try my best to represent the "council of Elders at the gathering.

The seminar on Sunday  will also happen as planned.  I will give my best to represent Guro "Crafty Dog".
In the coming days I will send further information concerning the seminar on Sunday.

Of course the gathering this year will not be the same without Guro Marc's presence but I still hope that many from you will experience an unforgettable weekend.

Wuff
Guro Benjamin “Lonely Dog”

[Point Dog]

I'm all booked for flights and accomodation, looking forward to catching up with some friends and hitting each other 

[lonelydog]

wuff to all

i'm glad that we have already quite a big fighter list. if you want to have to look at it:

http://www.dogbrothers.ch/pages/en/dog-brothers/gathering.php

benjamin "lonely dog"

[Crafty_Dog]

Lonely Dog read this at the opening of the Gathering:
===============

A Howl of Greeting to All:

Due to the change of date of the Euro Gathering to a date which conflicts
with family commitments, I am not able to be there with you this time.

It certainly feels very strange and unsettling to not be at a Gathering, but
upon reflection I realize that the fact that my vision of the Dog Brothers
which began so long ago has gotten to a point where I CAN miss a day is
really a sign of tremendous progress towards the birth of a tribe which will
outlive us all.  For this, I am deeply happy.

Lonely Dog will be in touch with me during these days concerning Council of
Elders matters, so know that I will be a part of any asecensions and matters
of that sort.  Speaking of which-- there is the matter of an ascension to
full Dog Brother left over from last time.  I would like to suggest to
Lonely that he take care of it in this moment. 

(Ceremony for Marcus:  By the powers invested in us by us we dub
thee___________.)

For those of you fighting for the first time and are worried about whether
you will fight well, allow me to ask you a three part question:

Remember the first time you had sex?  Were you any good at it?  Have you
gotten better since then?

What matters is that you keep on being here in this space-- for these are
days in which you will create and install in your spirit the place where you
are forever young so that you will walk as a warrior for all your days.

As you step out into the magical space, feel the gift of your aliveness and
be present in the moment.

The Learning that takes place in the adrenal state is some of the deepest
and highest that there is.  The greater the adrenal state, the profounder
the Learning. The greater the state of Play, the better the result. The more
that one can move in both directions simultaneously, the better. "The
greater the dichotomy, the profounder the transformation. Higher
consciousness through harder contact." (c)

See you all next time.

Crafty Dog
Guiding Force of the Dog Brothers.

==========================

I spoke a little while ago with Lonely and he reports two days of outstanding fighting and DB spirit.    The Tribe grows stronger every day.

[Point Dog]

A hearty woof to all! 

The Euro was a great event, even though we did feel the absence of Guro C, Guro L did a fantastic job of standing in and representing the Council of Elders.

What can I say, it was a brilliant couple of days, awesome fights and the improvement/development of a lot of the fighters in the space of only a year was amazing!

First up, a big thanks to all my Brothers that allowed me to practice/test my skills, thank you (you all know who you are).

Secondly, a big congratulation to those who were dogged.  The tribe grows stronger and you all inspire me to train harder and smarter for next year!

Thirdly, a big thank you to those of you who helped me and 'C-Psycho Bitch' (nee 'Cat' Lynn) look after our 3 month old baby Dougal, and allow us to 'skip the queue' during our tag team effort to look after him and fight!  For me this was one of the biggest things about this Gathering.  Two Euro's ago when I tore my meniscus the whole tribe helped lift me up (emotionally AND physically), this time you allowed me and my wife to participate even 'around' our son 

Finally, a big thank you to Guro Benjamin and his wife Cornelia, without who the event would not have happen.

[Crafty_Dog]

Posted on behalf of Lonely Dog:

======================================

Hi Marc

I'm sitting here on the floor in our new and empty apartment.  We just moved in yesterday.  Today we clean the old apartment and I will unplug my computer in the next minutes.  I will have no internet access for the next days. so I took the opportunity to write a short Gathering report...

Please post it for me on the forum.

thanks
Wuff
Benjamin

-----------

Gathering 2009 in Bern

This year we had like last year 2 days of fighting. The “Tribal Gathering” on Friday and the “Regular Gathering” on Saturday. On Friday we had 40 fighters, and on Saturday even some more. The fighters came from various countries (Switzerland, Germany, England, Scotland, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Poland and USA).

Unfortunately this year Guro could not be with us  so I had to host the event by myself.   I have to admit that I was quite nervous… I would like to thank Guro Marc for the trust in me.

After I open the day with the magic words, I continued with reading a letter that Guro Marc sent me. While reading the letter I wore Marc’s famous jeans jacket, which he gave me after he promoted me to Guro. With wearing that jacket I wanted to underline that in spirit he is here with us all.
     
“A Howl of Greeting to All:
Due to the change of date of the Euro Gathering to a date which conflicts with family commitments, I am not able to be there with you this time.

It certainly feels very strange and unsettling to not be at a Gathering, but upon reflection I realize that the fact that my vision of the Dog Brothers which began so long ago has gotten to a point where I CAN miss a day is really a sign of tremendous progress towards the birth of a tribe which will outlive us all.  For this, I am deeply happy.”

While reading the last 2 sentences I really had goose bumps… the letter continued with:
 
”For those of you fighting for the first time and are worried about whether you will fight well, allow me to ask you a three part question:
Remember the first time you had sex?  Were you any good at it?  Have you gotten better since then?

What matters is that you keep on being here in this space-- for these are days in which you will create and install in your spirit the place where you are forever young so that you will walk as a warrior for all your days.

As you step out into the magical space, feel the gift of your aliveness and be present in the moment.

The Learning that takes place in the adrenal state is some of the deepest and highest that there is.  The greater the adrenal state, the profounder the Learning. The greater the state of Play, the better the result. The more that one can move in both directions simultaneously, the better. "The greater the dichotomy, the profounder the transformation. Higher consciousness through harder contact." (c)

See you all next time.
Crafty Dog
Guiding Force of the Dog Brothers.”

Now everybody was very motivated to start the day.

As last year we decided go without the warm up knife rounds, so it was again a almost stick only day. As usual most fights were done with single sticks or double stick. Although we had also some nice fights with some exotic weapons. “Dog” Andy Hommel who trained and explored the last years a lot with flexible weapons had some great fights with: Nunchaku, Flail, and 3 sectional staff.

On both days, we had a lot of great fights. It was amazing to see the progress that many fighters did since the last year. Most fights were very technical and ones could recognize that the fighters followed game plans and strategies. We saw many fights on a high level and with great spirit. Although the fights were though we had only a few injuries.

Both days I organized a barbeque for the fighters, so we could sit around the Campfire and chat about the this adventure and that it will continued…

After I had a council of elders meeting through phone call with Marc, I had the permission to do the “Dog Dubbing” on Sunday during the seminar.

The “Council of Elders” is proud to announce the new members of the Tribe.

Marcus "Giri Dog" Schillinger

Andy "C-Flexi Dog" Hommel
Jerome “C-Frisbee Dog” Challon
Peter "C-Grumpy Dog" Fray
Thomas "C-Sword Dog" Rickert
Torben "C-Old Dog" Lorenian
Chris “C-Rogue Dog” Smith
Martin “C-? Dog” Blatter (Tinu asked me to give him a name, still need some time to find a good one)

Lynn "C-Psycho Bitch " Brown
"Cat" Heather Kerr

"Dog" Davide Musi
"Dog" Heiko Zauske
"Dog" Manfred Schilka
"Dog" Shanu Singh
"Dog" Stefan Ramsauer
"Dog" Thorsten Picker
"Dog" Thomas Britschgi
"Dog" Simon Godsland

All in all it was a very exciting and successful event. And we all are looking forward with anticipation to the next Euro Gathering in July 2010.

Wuff
Guro Benjamin “Lonely Dog” Rittiner