Okubo Masami Sensei, Kyoshi 7 Dan and President of Kawagoe Kendo Federation, visited Kenshikan dojo and Kaimuki Honbu Dojo in September. It was nice to have a high caliber sensei like him to teach us. He made a good comment at the end of Kaimuki practice on Sunday, September 17th.

 

Our Club fundraise, Zippy’s ticket sale is about to end. Thank you very much for those who supported our club by buying/selling tickets. We still have lots of tickets left. If someone needs more, I am glad to get them to you quickly. Tickets are good till October 8th with 5 days grace period. Make sure you and whoever you sold not to forget to redeem before the expiration. Those who still have unsold tickets, I need to have them by the expiration date. Please send them back to me so that I can return them to Zippy's to get credit. Otherwise, they charge our club for them as sold. Thanks to this fundraise, our club can subsidize activities such as Team Hawaii for PNKF and Steveston tournaments and children’s tournament with referee practices and so on.

 

43rd Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation Tournament will be held on Saturday, November 4th in Kent, Washington. Not so many kenshis from Hawaii signed up for Team Hawaii so far. I may have to join the team and may borrow someone to form Team Hawaii. The entry dead line is October 21st. Let me know if you can join. Hawaii has been Team Champions four times in last 5 years with one year we did not go. We would like to continue the momentum.

 

We are glad that Aiea Taiheiji Kendo Club is resuming sponsoring Tournaments. Aiea Taiheiji Kendo Club is having a tournament on Sunday, November 19th at Halawa District Park Gym from 8:30AM. I am urging our club members to participate in it to build up the tournament physical and mental experiences. The entry dead line is October 23rd. Let your dojo senseis know if you want to enter.

 

Hawaii Kendo Federation 1 Kyu and Dan examination is normally held in November. There is no announcement for the date yet. If you are eligible and aiming for promotion, check with your dojo senseis and practice for the examination.

 

Our Club T- shirts are available for sale. Sizes S, M, L, XL and XXL. The back has our club slogan, “Kendo will make it better.” $15 per a shirt except XXL which is $17. Contact me if you want one.

 

Recently I had a person from Tokyo visiting me after Kenshikan Dojo practice. He congratulated me for staying fit to continue practicing a lot. He asked me if I had some pain and aches. I said yes. I have pain and aches here and there. I don’t stop practicing because of pain. I rather disregard pain and practice. Moving body seems helping my blood circulation and appears to remove bad elements from affected areas and ease pain for me after practices. For some people pains prevent from exercising. But calorie intake stays same, then gains weight which gives more pain. Terrible cycle continues. Hansen disease patients envy people who have pains, because they do not feel pain even when catastrophic things happen to their bodies. Do not get conquered by pain. Keep moving your body.

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2017