January 2012
I wish you A Happy New Year. I hope that you are successful and prosperous in kendo and your life this year.
Our club member, Ken Sato, had passed 4 Dan in the examination held on December 11th Sunday in Kaimuki. Among kenshis who practice with me often, Steve Colter passed 4 Dan as well and Elbert Yoshida was successful for 3 Dan. I expect them to continue to practice and try for next ranks when they become eligible to take it.
Masayuki Yamada Sensei, 7 Dan from Iwate Prefecture, will be in town from January 8th till 15th. Other frequent visitor, Takeshi Kudo Sensei, 8 Dan from Tokyo, will teach us for 3 weeks from January 7th. Learn from them whichever dojos they go.
American Zone Referee Seminar will be held on January 28th and 29th in Montreal, Canada. I asked Hawaii Kendo Federation to send at least one kenshi to show our presence on small islands in the middle of Pacific Ocean still practicing kendo.
Team Hawaii for World Kendo Championship in Italy in May is sponsoring a tournament on January 29th to raise fund. I have not received the formal invitation but mark your calendar to participate in it to support their fund raise effort.
50th Anniversary Steveston Kendo Club Tournament will be held on February 11th in Richmond, B.C., Canada. I have 7 kenshis confirmed going and some others are making arrangements with work/school to be able to go and participate.
Foreign Kendo Leaders' Summer Seminar will be from July 27th to August 3rd in Japan. Especially those who are trying to achieve 6 Dan are encouraged to go to take the examination on the last day of seminar. Andy Fujimoto and Mark Miyamoto did last year and got 6 Dan. The seminar itself is a good one to attend.
We will be collecting Club and Hawaii Kendo Federation dues. As I say every year, that good support you make to the organization you belong is to pay dues and participate in organization activities.
In the past I mentioned about Japan National Judo Team members improper reiho or rei at the end of matches. This time 2 time Olympic gold medalist committed a crime, raping one of his students. What kind of gold medalist is he? Being good and strong enough to win gold medals is not reflecting in his human character. This may have come from Japan Judo Society's emphasis on just winning not creating good persons through practicing Judo. I hope that we who pursue kendo develop our good character to make good judgment as to what is good or bad while improving and getting strong in kendo.
Iwao Sato, Chief Instructor, Wahiawa Kendo Club