Dear ECUSKF members,
I have a reluctant announcement for you.
(1) Miami Valley Dojo
DATE — TBD, Sat after practice, 3 PM
LOCATION — Dayton OH, Tentative, Deja Brew a bar just across the road from the dojo. OK to bring foods on Saturday.
(2) ECUSKF
DATE — Saturday March 10th after Promotion Test/ Board Meeting, 6 or 7 PM
LOCATION — TBD, Lexington KY, Chinese Buffet?
Sincerely,
ECUSKF Advisor
Shuhei Ito
The East Central United States Kendo Federation is pleased to be your host for the 2012 ECUSKF Kentucky Tournament to be held Sunday March 11, 2012 at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) Fitness Center in Georgetown, Kentucky. In this packet you will find entry forms, schedule, travel, local and hotel information.
Our tournament site is located just north of Lexington Kentucky. In driving time, It is about 1 hour 15 minutes from Cincinnati OH, 1 hour 15 minutes from Louisville KY, 3 hours from Indianapolis IN, 3 hours 45 minutes from Nashville TN, 5 hours and 30 minutes from Detroit and 6 hours from Pittsburgh Pa.
You will find anything you need in less than 2 miles from the tournament facility. There is a great selection of hotels/ motels, food /restaurants, and shopping. Some of the local attractions are within 2 miles distance.
Keep the following notes in mind:
-Please register as early as possible
-Early registrations at least two weeks before our event will receive a discount on your
registration fees.
-Registrations close Monday March 5, 2012.
NO LATE APPLICATIONS, CHANGES OR REFUNDS
Quick e-registration is available until Fri Feb 17th here: e-registration
-Payments must be made by Monday March 5. Please pay attention to the page with
the registration fee schedule.
-**Make your checks payable to ECUSKF**
-Doors will open at 8:00am on the day of the tournament
-Please insure your equipment is in good condition
-Dojo Leaders, please read note on page 13 about filling out the dojo spreadsheet
The ECUSKF is inviting you to attend the spring promotion exam, set for March 10th, 2012 at the Edith J. Hayes Middle School in Lexington, KY. This exam will be held for candidates testing up to 3rd Dan.
There will be an opportunity for all participants and visitors to participate in a joint practice before the start of the exam. For the examinees, this is a great chance to warm up before the exam starts, so you are encouraged to get to the gym early enough to take full advantage of the opportunity to practice. For the visitors and supporters, this is a good chance to get in some extra practice with members of other dojos and the visiting sensei who will be helping us out with judging the exam.
We also would like you to join us for two special events to be held after the promotion exam is over. Ariga-sensei has recently announced that he will be moving to Myrtle Beach, SC in April, so we will have a special practice and a farewell dinner at a restaurant to be determined at a later date. If you are able, you are invited to join us for these events to give him a warm goodbye and show him our appreciation for his dedication to the ECUSKF.
If you are interested in participating in the promotion exam, please follow the instructions given below. In order to aid in the smooth planning for the exam, please send your application sheets to the address given below. If you have any questions, the contact information is given at the end of this document. **Showers are available in the locker rooms for those that want to use them.
Date: Saturday, March 10th 2012
Location: Edith J. Hayes Middle School
Address: 264 Richardson Place, Lexington, KY 40509
Schedule:
1:30 pm ~ 2:50 pm Check in/Registration/Joint Practice
2:50 pm ~ 4:40 pm Promotion Exam
4:40 pm ~ 5:20 pm Ariga-sensei Farewell Practice
5:40 pm Gym needs to be closed
6:00 pm Board Meeting/ Ariga-sensei Farewell Dinner Party.
2012_SPRING_ECUSKF_Promotion_Test_Announcement_And_Application.pdf
ECUSKF Hatsu-geiko Announcement
Special Thanks - We truly appreciate your heartwarming support!
• Jim (N. KY James Atkins), Thanks for your support to host.
• Naomi-san (Miami Valley), Iwase and Seller Mom (CKKC), Thanks for preparing the New Year rice cake soup.
Step-N-Out Dance Studio (the Northern Kentucky Kendo club regularly uses)
721 Madison Avenue, Covington KY 41011
6:00 AM ~ 8:00 AM - Practice
8:00 AM ~ 10:00 AM - Party. If you can bring food and drink voluntary, that would be GREAT. Federation is preparing rice cake soup and drinks.
• The dance studio is located across the street from the Madison Theatre.
• Parking will be on the street. There are no showers.
Candlewood: Cincinnati-Blue Ash
10665 Techwoods Circle, blue ash, OH. (18 miles to Hatsu-geiko spot)
www.ichotelsgroup.com/candlewood/hotels
• Looking for room sharing?: Contact Joe Clark, he would like to room with someone who’s got a reservation already.
The Original Montgomery Inn
9440 Montgomery Rd. Montgomery, OH 45242 (10 minutes from the Hotel)
http://www.montgomeryinn.com/original-montgomery-inn.php
Phone: 513.791.3482
• Time: Ariga-sensei is planning to be the restaurant around 7:00 pm.
• Reservation: Chris Ruggiero. to make a reservation, but not sure how many people is coming. Maybe around 10 people?
Mudansha
1. Jeff Lio - University of Pittsburgh
2. Vincent Lee - University of Pittsburgh
3. Galen Yasumura - Case Western
3. Xin Hao - Case Western
Spirit Award: Ian Floro - Louisville
Women
1. Hiroko Matsuyama - Case Western
2. Luna Noguchi - Ohio State
3. Blair Apgar - Louisville
3. Elizabeth Hahn - Louisville
Spirit Award: Rachel Sawicki - University of Cincinnati
4-dan & up
1. Titus Schleyer - University of Pittsburgh
2. Shuhei Ito - Miami Valley
3. Yukikazu Miyajima - Miami Valley
3. Ryoma Nagata - Miami Valley
Spirit Award: Ken Fujita - Ohio State
Johnson Cup
1. Burm Kim - Michigan State
2. Hiro Okazaki - Central Kentucky
3. Adam Weyrick - Cleveland
3. Steve Perry - Miami Valley
Spirit Award: Hiroko Matsuyama - Case Western
Team
1. Miami Valley A
2. OSU
3. Pittsburgh
This year’s Johnson Cup will be held on Dec. 10th, 2011 at OSU.
Please see the information packet for details and registration information.
(English translation)
A standing statutory auditor from the company’s headquarter office visited my office located in Ohio for observation of the overseas offices. I was appointed as an attendant and traveled with him to the related companies.
Since it was my first time seeing him and no one has told me what kind of person he is, I was having trouble opening a conversion with him. While later, he asked me about my hobbies, and finally we started talking each other. I talked about Kendo and told him that I practice here in the U.S. as well. My impression of him was that he had gray hair and a quiet person. After a moment of silence, he opened up a conversation again and quietly said, “I’ve heard that there was a very strong Kendo player in the U.S. long time ago”, and then told me about the history of the Kendo player who he mentioned about.
Yozo Mori, a leader of the Hokushin Itto-Ryu Kenjutsu School, who trained under Chiba-sensei, achieved nationwide prominence during the last days of the Tokugawa regime. He returned to his hometown of Aizu during the Boshin War (Japan’s last civil war) and fought against the large government forces as a leader of several dozen sword fighters. It was a fierce battle even with his and his son, Torao Mori’s extraordinary sword fighting skills, and in his last moment, he looked proud and truly majestic.
Torao’s niece named her son after Torao, and brought him to the Noma Dojo established by Seiji Noma, founder of the Kodansha publishing for Kendo training. Torao became the master of Kendo at a young age and after that, moved to the U.S. to promote Kendo all over the country.
I listened to his stories with great interest because I often heard the name of Torao Mori-sensei. Ariga-sensei often mentioned that name when he told us about his story – what brought him to the U.S. Then I start talking about my sensei, Koki Ariga.
In the mid 60’s, a Japanese Kendo enthusiast from Canada desperately asked Mori-sensei, who lived and taught Kendo in the U.S. at that time, to teach Kendo in Canada, however, it never happened for some unfortunate reason. Instead, the Japanese Kendo enthusiast and Mori-sensei went to Japan to look for an instructor. At that time, Chuo-University dominated the Kendo national university championship and Ariga-sensei was the member of the championship team. Since Mori-sensei was related to the Dojo that Ariga-sensei used to belong to (Ohgi-Jyuku), Mori-sensei convinced Ariga-sensei to move to Canada to teach Kendo. Ariga-sensei respected Mori-sensei’s passion and dedication to Kendo and finally accepted the offer. Since then, Ariga-sensei has been teaching Kendo for 35 years in Canada and the U.S.
Even today, Ariga-sensei continues teaching Kendo at the Miami-Valley Kendo Club in Ohio, and the practice is pretty tough. The practice begins with repeated “Suriashi (footwork)”, and then “Uchikomi (repeated striking of set targets)” training for about an hour that may be too hard for someone who hasn’t gotten used to. After putting on “Men (a helmet for Kendo)” the practice moves to the basic drills followed by “Jigeiko (free sparring)”. His practice is very old-school and emphasizing basics. Back in those days, I secretly thought that the practice at the Miami-Valley Kendo Club is quite unique, as if brought in our time beyond space and time.
Ariga-sensei inherits his sensei, Torao Mori-sensei’s Kendo spirit and continues to step up effort to educate Kendo enthusiasts for further expansion of Kendo in North America. His achievements are extremely remarkable and respectable.
A while later, our car arrived in the first destination. We received a warm welcome from Ariga-sensei at the entrance of the office and headed to the meeting room. He is a locally hired manager of the company we visited.
February 25, 2000, I remember this day as oddly enough, but quite a pleasant day.
Tentative agenda:
Date: Sunday, November 20th
Location: Ohio State University, RPAC facility Multipurpose Room #3, B134
Address: 337 W. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210
Schedule:
10:00 am ~ 11:00 am Check in/registration/warm up
11:00 am ~ 1:00 pm promotion exam
1:00 pm ~ 2:00 pm joint practice
2:00 pm ~3:00 pm Board meeting.
G’day to you all,
Two things.
1. Joint practice
Place: University of Cincinnati
Date and Time: 8/6 (Sat) 12:30-4:30pm
For direction and parking info, please see the attachment.
2. Tournament Schedule
Please see the attachment (zip file).
If you are going to the tournament, you must read them.
If you have questions, makes sure to include
Chris Ruggiero <bcruggiero@hotmail.com> when emailing me.
Thank you and see you on 8/6!
Hiro
G’day to you all.
I was asked about the next joint practice and thought we still had time…
But it is already THURSDAY!!
I thank you all for the effort you made to participate in the last joint practice.
The next joint practice will be the last one before All US.
So let’s enjoy it and let’s have a lot of fun at the tournament!!
Place: University of Cincinnati
Date and Time: 8/6 (Sat) 12:30-4:30pm
For direction and parking info, please see the attachment.
Looking forwards to seeing as many of you as possible.
Thanks,
Hiro