Silvio Cannizzo is a world class painter and also a veteran karateka with over 30 years training under his yondan (4th degree black belt) in Shotokan. His shop, based not far from the train station in Venice is breathtaking and clearly very popular with tourists and locals alike (click here to visit his website and for the location of his gallery: http://www.silviocannizzo.it/). It is a place one must visit if they want to purchase something truly “made in Venezia”. We will treasure his artwork and that of his wife Ylva in our home!______
We also enjoyed making friends with Silvio and Ylva’s children, son Erik and daughter Terry, and not to mention, German Sheppard Jack! Away from all of the training sessions in Venice we were ki
ndly shown around by the Cannizzo family and wonderfully taken care of. And in between all of the formal karate-do keiko, hanging out, Italian dining, and fantastic sightseeing, Silvio and I did some private training together, especially focusing on koshi no kaiten (hip rotation), tai no shinshuku (the contraction and expansion of the body) and the Asai-ryu karate kata ‘Kibaken’, which I taught in the same way that Asai Sensei taught me. I was greatly impressed by Silvio’s perfectionist mentality, a true artist, as he had 
me take him through the kata more than 30 times at his home, to ensure that he merely got the sequence right!______
Mizuho and I would like to deeply thank Silvio & Ylva for their kindness and hospitality. We are very honored to be your friends and hope to see you all aga
in, in the future! Osu, André Bertel._____
© André Bertel, Japan 2010. 
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