December 2009
Kenkyu kai practice is on Friday, December 4 at JCCH Dojo from 7:30PM.
Mr. Kazuyoshi Inoue, Kyoshi 7 dan, from Fukuoka is in town till December 16th. You may go to dojo’s where he practices and practice with him.
Thank you for your help with our fund raise, Zippy’s Chili Sale. We also appreciate those who donated funds instead of selling/buying tickets.
Dane Takenaka was the champion in 10 years and under division in Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation Tournament on Saturday, November 21st. Chase Takenaka lost to the person who came in 1st and so did James Okada. Both Hawaii Junior and Senior Teams had close loss to Champion Teams.
Mr. Yuki Ikeda with his lovely wife, Yoshimi, came to our dojo and practice with us on Wednesday, November 25th. He is 5 dan and a policeman in Fukushima. His great, great grand father and my great grand father is same. His kendo was good. We are hoping that he can come back to practice with us in future years.
Mr. and Mrs. Hiroshi Sasaki from Akita will visit Hawaii from January 4th till 9th. They will bring some kenshis with them. We always learn new things in kendo whenever they visit us. We are looking forward to receiving instructions from them.
Mr. Takeshi Kudo, 8 dan from Tokyo, will stay in Hawaii sometime in January 2010 for about two months. We are excited to have such a wonderful teacher stay longer this time.
Mililani Kendo Club and our club will have yearend get-together on Wednesday, December 23rd. We will start practice 30 minutes early at 6:30PM and end around 7:30PM to have potluck get-together. Our club will provide drinks and utensils. Bring some food, not expensive one, with you.
For PNKF Tournament, I went to pick up James Okada and Kevin Chun from University of Washington campus late afternoon on Friday, November .20th. Right after they got into my car, they started studying though I was bothering them by asking questions such as, “How are classes coming along?”, “Did you find girl friends?” and so on. This studying continued before the tournament and after, while we were having Hawaii Team Party in my room. Despite less practices due to schoolwork, they did well in the tournament. They were instrumental for us to win twice though we lost closely to Champion Team in quarterfinals. We, ordinary persons, must put our efforts in to do well in school and kendo. If we do that, we do not regret even when the outcome is not favorable one. I am happy and proud to be associated with such good students like James and Kevin.
Iwao Sato, Chief Instructor, Wahiawa Kendo Club