Besides Mr. Marcus Hawkins from Northern Virginia Kendokai, other Hawaii visitors in October were Mr. Tom Shiozaki from Oakland Kendo Club from California, Iida Masao Sensei, Kyoshi 7 Dan and Ibuki Daigo Sensei, 6 Dan from Chiba. We were very happy to have them with us.

Zippy’s Ticket Sale for our club fundraiser is in final stage. Please wrap up the sale and give me the result by November 14th especially if you have unsold tickets. I have to return them in time to get credit. Otherwise they charge us as sold. Tickets are good till November 18th with 5 day grace period. We still have tickets left if you can sell more. Thank you for your help.

Mililani Kendo Club is having their fundraise garage sale at Lawrence Chun Sensei’s residence at 1407 Hiikala Place Honolulu on Saturday, November 3rd from 8AM till 2PM. Please visit there and support their fundraiser efforts.

Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation Tournament, on Saturday, November 3rd in Kent,
Washington will be participated by Daiki Miura, James Okada, Rina Ono, Lonny Hancock, Andy Fujimoto, Ruy Brito, Seth Harris and Iwao Sato. Thanks to your help with Zippy’s ticket sale, we can defray some cost of our trip.

Tournament sponsored by Aiea Taiheiji Kendo Club is on Saturday, November 17th at Halawa District Park Gym. Our Club entries are Hana Imagawa, Aimi Imagawa, Jessica Sneed, Yoshinori Imagawa, Tusha Buntin and Iwao Sato. Enjoy the tournament and make friends.

Hawaii Kendo Federation 1 Kyu and Dan examination will be on Sunday, November 18th. Our club has no applicants this time. Persons who wants to practice kata should come to our Kaneohe Heeia Branch dojo practice where we practice kata all the time before kendo practice.

Mark your calendar. Our Club’s yearend party is on Wednesday, December 12th. We start our practice earlier at 6:30PM and end by 7:30PM, then have pot-luck party. Invite your family members and friends. Those who have not been coming to practices, this is the good time to renew friendships. Don’t be bashful, do, come.

One year I visited Ryobukan Dojo in my home town Fukushima during summer Obon (Buddhist Ancestral Festival) time. As usual many activities were shut down during that time. Dojo Chief Sato Susumu Sensei said, “Oh, Mr. Sato from Hawaii is here. Our dojo is officially closed but whoever elected to come and practice with Sato Iwao Sensei, you may do so.” I thought that a few would show up next day because that was not mandatory. However, everyone showed up. And Uchiike Eiji Sensei said, “Kendo ni wa Bon mo Shogatsu mo nai, in kendo practices there is no Obon nor New Year Recess.” They practice every chance they get. No wonder, they are so good and strong. 17th World Kendo Championships ended on Sunday, September 16th. Majority of 20 Team Hawaii members came home within next 7 days. Only one team Hawaii Member showed up for practice on Sunday, September 23rd in Kaimuki Honbu practice. I know that members practiced hard before the tournament, sacrificing personal lives and wanted to
take a break from kendo for a while. I would have been very happy and much encouraged for the future if I saw more Team Hawaii members resumed practice right away.

2018