AUSKFNEWSLETTER
AUSKFVol. 2 No. 1
February 1, 1999
| 1998-1999 OFFICERS: PRESIDENT: EXECUTIVE VP: VP-PROM & EXAMS: VP-COMPETITION: VP-EDUCATION: TREASURER: SEC-HISTORIAN: DIRECTORS: |
FROM THE
PRESIDENT:
Report on the Kodansha Seminar and Shinsa by J. Marsten The AUSKF Fall 98 promotional examinations for 5
through 7th Dan were held on December 13th in Torrance, California following a
seminar for our AUSKF Kodansha on conducting promotional examinations. The seminar was
lead by Inoue, Shinichi Sensei Hanshi 9th Dan and Masago, Takeshi Kyoshi 8th Dan of the
All Japan Kendo Federation. In our quest to improve the skills and abilities of the AUSKF
Examiners the AUSKF Board of Directors adopted a policy of augmenting each of our
examinations with two examiners from AJKF. This is the first seminar in a continuing
series of seminars in conjunction with the examinations until we have a pool of national
examiners whose results are consistent with those of Japan. Those attending the seminar
found it to be extremely helpful in understanding the examination process. A report
summarizing the verbal exchanges along with the written material will be prepared and sent
out to all the regional federations. The results of the examination were: |
The 8th Dan examination was canceled and we are currently
back to the drawing board due to the fact that the AJKF decided that they could not
participate in our 8th Dan process currently. We have raised the question as to whether or
not an 8th Dan examination process could be included in the IKF examinations given after
the World Kendo Championships. It appears that this is not a possibility for the upcoming
11th WKC but will be given feasibility study.
Report on 11th WKC by J. Marsten AUSKF & IKF Officials held their second planning meeting on
12/18/98 to 12/20/98 in Santa Clara, California. President Jeff Marsten, EX VP Tim Yuge
and US Logistics Chairman Charlie Tanaka represented the AUSKF; Mr. J Takeuchi, M. Ota and
M. Uyehara represented the IKF. The first day consisted of visiting the tournament site
and working out all of the details down to the line up for the competitors marching into
the shiajo. Locations of souvenir booths, food serving, signs locations and scoreboards.
We went over the locker rooms, warm-up areas, staging and seating along with court layout. |
| Page 2 February 1, 1999 | AUSKF NEWSLETTER |
| REGIONAL MEMBER'S NEWS:
1. Report on the 1998 SWUSKIF FALL KENDO SEMINAR-New Orleans, LA.
December 4-6, l998 submitted by David Cooper, Dallas/Fort Worth Kendo and iaido Kyokai
During the first weekend of December
l998, the New Orleans Kendo Club hosted the 1998 SWUSKIF Fall Seminar at the University of New Orleans. The seminar was conducted by Jeffrey Marsten sensei from Seattle, Washington, assisted by senseis Mark Uchida(Colorado Springs), Kiyoshi Abe(Dallas), Harry Dach(Memphis), and Russell Ichimura(Dallas). Attending kenshi represented four regions of the AUSKF--Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Midwest; including participants from Dallas, OK City, Phoenix, and a newly formed dojo in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The first day consisted of instruction on kendo kata in the morning, and following a lunch break, students were instructed in kihon waza and simulated shiai. Before breaking for the day, everyone participated in a one-hour jigeiko with sensei. Sunday morning began with invaluable advice for testing from the sensei, followed by the testing up to Nidan. One last session of jigeiko was enjoyed before people began departing.
Given the number of participants, there was practically a two-to-one student-to-sensei ratio at the seminar! Needless to say, everyone received ample individual attention and instruction. Since lines were not long, it was possible to train with all sensei during the jigeiko sessions. Everyone agreed that all had benefitted immensely, especially in the proper mental state needed to “grow your personal kendo” from the instruction provided by sensei. One of the most informative sessions of the seminar came at the conclusion of the testing, when the judges addressed everyone in attendance about the examination. Not only did all participants--whether testing or not--learn why and how the judges scored and ranked those taking the exam but also learned how to improve their individual technique.
|
Kendo instruction was not restricted to the dojo. Participants had the opportunity to speak extensively with the sensei during the lunch breaks and the dinners on Friday and Saturday nights. Everyone seemed to have a geat deal of fun visiting various parts of the city, sharing wonderful meals at typical “New Orleanian” restaurants, enjoying the jazz that makes New Orleans unique, strolling through the French Quarter at night, stopping for Hurricanes at O’Brian’s, and enjoying the company of all those kenshi who had made the effort to come to New Orleans for the seminar. In conclusion, the members of the New Orleans Kendo Club would like to thank all those kenshi and their family who joined us and supported our seminar during a very busy time of the year. We appreciate and recognize your effort and dedication to furthering kendo instruction in parts of the country where adequate instruction is sorely lacking. New Orleans kenshi have been training without a sensei since 1993; therefore, this seminar was immensely beneficial to our members and was a wonderful experience that we will never forget. We also want to acknowledge that this seminar would not have ben possible without the financial support that we received from both the SWUSKIF and the AUSKF. Given the success of this seminar and the much needed help that we received to hold it, we would encourage the national federation and all regional federations to continue to support and assist the smaller dojo of this country that are without adequate instruction. This is time and money that is very well spent, and it would be impossible to measure the return on such investments for kendo throughout the United States. In closing, the members of the New Orleans Kendo Club would like to thank all those individuals who supported our seminar. Please know that you are ALWAYS welcome to return to New Orleans any time you wish! And don’t forget your bogu... The New Orleans Kendo Club |
2. Report from the Midwest Kendo Federation submitted by Yoshiteru Tagawa Sensei: PH: [248]349-5377 FAX: [248]349-9718 The Detroit Kendo Dojo will be the host of two future events: May 30, l999 Further, Tagawa Sensei, indicates in his report that a Rensei Tournament involves a Seminar as part of the tournament event[Note: In Japan, each year in August, there is a Rensei Taikai]. At the May 30, l999, Michigan Open Rensei Tournament, there will be ten invited sensei from Tokyo, Japan, including Nishiyama Sensei, 8th Dan, Hanshi[Head Instructor of the Tokyo Police Department] and one 9th Dan sensei, and seven 5th Dan sensei. 3. Report from the Southern California Kendo Federation: Schedule of Events, submitted by Brian Olson:Internet e-Mail blolson8@earthlink.net SCKF Board Meeting: 2/6/99 SCKF Board Meeting 4/10/99 SCKF Board Meeting 5/8/99 Kodansha Keiko, Torrance 6/6/99 SCKF Board Meeting 7/10/99 |
| Page 3 February 1, 1999 | AUSKF NEWSLETTER |
| REGIONAL MEMBER'S NEWS (Continued)
SCKF Schedule of Events[cont’d]: Godo Keiko, Sho Tokyo Dojo 8/13/99 SCKF Board Meeting 9/11/99 SCKF Board Meeting 10/9/99 Torrance 25th Anniversary Tournament 11/7/99 SCKF Board Meeting 12/4/99 All of the above events and dates are subject to change at the discretion of the SCKF Board of Directors. 4. Report from Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation: Schedule of Events and News, submitted by Tom Bolling, Recording Secretary: Work PH: [206] 616-379 or 543-2060, FAX [206] 685-8485. Home PH: [206] 527-1190. Internet e-Mail addresses: http:\\weber.u.washington.edu\~kendo or kendo@u.washington.edu Also, Read PNKF’s Kenyu Online at: http:\\weber.u.washington.edu\~kendo/kenyu.html DATEBOOK: 2/5/99 Bel/Cas/Ren Monthly Jr. Taikai, at Bellevue 7PM. 2/13/99 Steveston Taikai 10AM. |
2/14/99 lst Annual Iaido Enbu, at Steveston 10AM. 3/3/99 Bel/Cas/Ren Monthly Jr. Taikai, at Cascade 7PM. 4/6/99 Bel/Cas/Ren Monthly Jr. Taikai, at Renton 7:15PM. 5/2/99 Bellevue Jr. Taikai; PNKF Board Meeting. 6/2/99 Bel/Cas/Ren Monthly Jr. Taikai, at Cascade 7PM. 7/9/99 Bel/Cas/Ren Monthly Jr.Taikai,
at Bellevue 7PM. Jul y 30-August 6, l999 IKF Foreign Kendo Leaders’ Seminar, Kitamoto, Japan.
August 6-8, l999 US Championships, Las Vegas, Nevada. September 4-6, l999 AUSKF Iaido Summer Camp, Memphis, Tennessee.
9/26/99 PNKF Board Meeting. PNKF Shimpan Seminar. 11/13/99 PNKF Taikai at Renton. March 21-27, 2000 11th WKC, Santa Clara, California |
PNKF BOARD NEWS: Announcing the new home page location of the All United States Kendo Federation. The url is http:\\www.kendo-usa.org. The webmaster is the PNKF VP Curtis Marsten. This new page has MANY exciting features, including very current AUSKF information bulletins and news. BELLEVUE-CASCADE-RENTON MONTHLY JR. TAIKAI SERIES: Bellevue-November 6, l998 Cascade-December 5, l998 Renton-January 5, l999 35th ANNUAL VANCOUVER KENDO TOURNAMENT -January 23, l999 10 to 12 years: 13 to 15 years: |
| Page 4 February 1, 1999 | AUSKF NEWSLETTER |
| REGIONAL MEMBER'S NEWS (Continued)
PNKF BOARD NEWS[Continued]: Women’s 16 years +: Men’s 16 to 25 years: Men’s 26 to 40 years: Men’s 41 years: Teams: Senior Team: Dojo Team: IAIDO NEWS: 1. Report received from Bruce Campbell: Work PH: [604] 432-8107, Home PH: [604] 469-0221, address: 803 Baker Drive, Coquitlam, BC, Canada V3J 6W5. Internet e-Mail: bruce campbell@bctel.com |
Subject: Iaido Embu in Vancouver, Sunday, 2/14/99: Greetings all, I am pleased to invite you to attend the first of what I hope to make an annual iaido embu in Vancouver, Canada. Why: Cost: $10.00 per person will offset some of the cost of refreshments, etc.
Program: Each person will perform opening reiho, five kata of their choice, and closing reiho. The order will be: To register send: Name, Age, Iaido School, Rank, and Degree--granting Organization(e.g. AJKF, AJIF), Address, Telephone, FAX and e-mail. Cheque or Money Order for $10.00 CNDN (may be paid on the day) to: Bruce Campbell[see address above]. 2. PNKF will be hosting a Winter Iaido Seminar and Shinsa on Saturday, February 27, l999. The guest teacher and chief examiner will be Shozo Kato Sensei, Kendo and Iaido 7th Dan. Kato Sensei is the head instructor of the Shidogakuin family of Dojo found throughout the midwest and the east coast, and he is a member of the AUSKF Iaido Committee. |
There is no charge for the Seminar and it is open to Iaido students of all levels, including beginners, from any IKF member organization. 3. The AUSKF Iaido Summer Camp will be held on September 4-6, l999, in Memphis, Tennessee. A proposal was submitted by the Memphis Iaido Club to host this event; Dr. Richard Babin made a presentation to the AUSKF Board of Directors at the October 24, l998 meeting; approval was given to support the event as proposed. Activities wil include active training sessions, informal practice, taikai and shinsa. The location for this event will be the Tennessee State Technical Institute gymnasium located just off of I-40 on the East Side of Memphis. The registration fee will be $100 for AUSKF members and $200 fon non-AUSKF members. Further details and information will be sent to all AUSKF regional member federations in April, l999.
Norman K. Otani, Esq., Editor
Thanks to all of the Future news items for the next issue to be published on August 1, l999, can be submitted to my e-mail address: aj082@cvip.fresno.com or articles can be sent to: |