CKF NEWS |
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| A official publication of the Canadian Kendo Federation, supporting Kendo, and Iaido | Vol 1/5 Issue 5 July 1999 www.uoguelph.ca/~kataylor/ckfindex.htm |
It's been a very
busy couple of months for the CKF, with the Kendo side National Championships,
and Canadian Team tryouts, and the Iaido side seminars (two in Guelph and
one in Vancouver), not to mention demonstrations here and there. I'd very
much like keep everyone informed about what's going on so please get in
touch and let me know what your club is doing these days.
We all want a healthy student population in the club, or at least I
assume we all want that. If so, we need to attract new students and keep
them. To attract students we need to do one very simple thing. We need
to "advertise". Now don't get your bogu in a sweat, we don't need to buy
time on the local "infomercial" station or sell our souls to Madison Avenue,
but we do need to let people know that our club exists, and that it is
open to new members. This can be done very cheaply and fairly easily.
First, we need to have a contact number and address, and even more important,
a contact person. The number and address is fairly obvious but how many
clubs out there actually have a designated contact? Not many I'd suspect.
How are potential students going to find you then? Think of your club members
and decide who most enjoys talking about our arts. If that person is "beginner
friendly" than you have your contact.
With a solid information line in place, the next step is to get the
word out. "Word of mouth" is actually your most powerful recruiting method.
Get thee to the PC and make up some club cards for everyone to carry around.
It's always nice (and looks more stable and approachable) to be able to
hand a potential student a card with the contact information. We run into
interested people each day, and they also talk to other people who might
want to join. Don't be afraid to invite all these people out to watch a
practice.
Next on the list is to look for the local recreational and adult learning
pamphlets. Find out who is publishing these and get the club listed. While
you're at it, check out the local web pages, and make sure you've got a
current listing on the CKF webpage. As I've said before, if you don't have
a club webpage let me know and We'll host one for you. I need a photo,
your contact information (including a real live person for students to
talk to), and your usual practice times if you have them.
Get Visible: go out and demonstrate. Never ever turn down the chance
to demonstrate, anywhere, anytime. Be accessible, you'd be surprised how
many people will come back years later and say "I saw you when, and have
been thinking about it until now". At many of these demonstrations you
may be approached by a reporter. Talk to him or her! Have the contact information
available (and if you've produced an informative pamphlet on the arts by
now, hand one over). Don't be afraid of reporters but don't get too subtle
or complex either. Trust me on this, a reporter has about 15 minutes to
get the relevant information from you, and another 10 minutes to write
up the story. Too much detail, too fine an argument, and you'll end up
"misquoted". Remember that a good article needs a "hook", give them one.
Also remember that you will be representing the CKF directly or indirectly
so don't make that "hook" too imaginative. What we consider obvious and
a bit boring, is what someone who knows nothing at all about the art might
find fascinating.
When you hold an event do you call up all the local media and let them
know about it? Do you send them a program? Do you give them contact numbers
to call? You should. Local media live on that kind of information. If you
didn't do that, don't fret, you can still write your own story, in the
form of a press release. Take a step back from your event, pretend you're
a reporter and have at it. Remember the 5 W's, Who What When Where Why.
Write the story as if you're a reporter covering it, and then send it to
the local media outlets clearly marked as "press release, for immediate
publication" or some such. You'd be surprised how many times it will get
run. Did you send along a good photo? Did you work in the contact number
when you wrote the story? Did you send me a copy for the CKF News? Hmmm?
Anybody got any other non or low-cost ways of letting people know of
your club's existence? If so let us in on it.
Kim Taylor.
Aug 6-8 US Championships, Las Vegas.
Sep 4-6 AUSKF Iaido Summer Camp, Tennessee STI, Memphis.
Mar 21-27, 2000, 11WKC, Santa Clara, CA
Western Region Prospect Selection Shiai Final Results
| Name | Wins | Ties | Total
Score |
Points Scored | |
| 1 | S.Asaoka | 10 | 4 | 24 | 17 |
| 2 | D. Ara | 9 | 5 | 23 | 17 |
| 3 | M. Asaoka | 9 | 4 | 22 | 18 |
| 4 | B Shirahama | 8 | 2 | 18 | 17 |
| 5 | T. Kondo | 8 | 2 | 18 | 12 |
| 6 | D Taguchi | 6 | 5 | 17 | 12 |
| 7 | P.
Nishikihama |
7 | 2 | 16 | 14 |
| 8 | S. Ono | 5 | 4 | 14 | 11 |
| 9 | A. Shirran | 5 | 4 | 14 | 8 |
| 10 | G. Ohara | 5 | 3 | 13 | 8 |
| 11 | R. Shirahama | 4 | 3 | 11 | 7 |
| 12 | B. Yanagawa | 4 | 2 | 10 | 7 |
| 13 | R. Inaoka | 0 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 14 | L. Tsuji | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 15 | B. Campbell (Calgary) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Congratulations to all the BC participants.
The top five advanced to the final round held at the JCCC in Toronto,
July 4, 1999.
Below are the results of Saturday's Central Region (Ontario and Manitoba)
round robin shiai. With 16 participants, we required 120 matches for everyone
to play everyone else. It was a tough day for everyone, starting about
9:30 and ending at 3:00.
Many thanks again to the referees, especially chief referee Tsumura Sensei, for their hard work. Our gratitude also goes to the timekeepers and scorekeepers (mostly from the JCCC Dojo) who gave their time to make this event happen.Thanks as well to Team Canada Coach Ray Murao who came in from BC to help oversee the event.
| Name | Wins | Ties | Total
Score |
Points Scored | |
| 1 | Shigemitsu Kamata | 9 | 5 | 23 | 16 |
| 2 | Taro Ariga | 7 | 6 | 20 | 13 |
| 3 | Steve Nakatsu | 6 | 7 | 19 | 9 |
| 4 | Bryan Asa | 5 | 8 | 18 | 10 |
| 5 | Dave Mori | 5 | 8 | 18 | 9 |
| 6 | Matthew Raymond | 3 | 10 | 16 | 6 |
| 7 | Jean Burns | 6 | 2 | 14 | 12 |
| 8 | Shane Asa | 3 | 8 | 14 | 7 |
| 8 | Kazuyoshi Hao | 3 | 8 | 14 | 7 |
| 10 | Tony Davidson | 2 | 9 | 13 | 6 |
| 11 | Andy Asa | 5 | 2 | 12 | 9 |
| 12 | Kiyotaka Kamata | 4 | 2 | 10 | 7 |
| 13 | H.J. Choi | 2 | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| 14 | Hugo Renaud | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 15 | J. Kim | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| 16 | Eddy Yamashita
Injury Default |
The top five players advanced to the July 4 National Round Robin in
Toronto with the prospects selected from Eastern and Western Regions. Congratulations
to all the participants!
We had one injury during the shiai. Eddy Yamashita had to withdraw mid-way
through what was shaping up to be a very successful day for him, due to
what appeared to be a torn or stretched Achilles tendon. The good news
is that after a visit to the hospital, the injury turned out to be a very
severe and painful calf muscle cramp. Eddy was able to walk again by late
Saturday afternoon and should be back in good form again for the National
Championships in Toronto on July 3.
The prospects at the Eastern Region (Quebec and Maritimes) round-robin in Montreal on May 22 were Pierre Sasseville and Martin Dore. I don't have scores to report from that event. I'm sure most of you know Pierre and Martin, two very prominent members of the Quebec Kendo community. Congratulations to them both.
As you can see, it looks like Coach Ray Murao and I will have every opportunity to put together a very strong Canadian Men's Team for the March, 2000 World Championships in San Jose, CA. See you all at the Nationals in a few weeks!
Richard Tizzard
Team Canada Manager
University of Toronto, Athletic Centre, Toronto
We were pleased to have such a large turn-out from coast to coast of
both participants as well as spectators (approximately 150 participants
from across Canada) at the 13th National Championships. We were
especially pleased and honoured by the presence of Mr. Satoshi Hara, the
Consul Genearl of Japan, Toronto, and a visit from Mr. Hiroshi Nozaki,
Vice-Consul of Japan, Toronto.
It was a very well-organized and successful tournament, with the two
top winners in the Laties Black Belt Division and the Men's Black Belt
Division being named to represent Team Canada in the 11th World
Championships in California, March 2000.
All Division Champions received the CKF President's Trophy.
Roy Asa, President CKF
JUNIOR DIVISION:(16 yrs. and under)
1st Yuhiro Chavez Etobicoke KC Ontario
2nd Man Kwan Ma Etobicoke KC Ontario
3rd Jordan Luy JCCC KC Ontario
June LeBlanc Etobicoke KC Ontario
NON-DEGREE DIVISION:
1st Pierre P. Ste-Marie Montreal KC Quebec
2nd David Stankaitis Montreal KC Quebec
3rd Michael AttardTateyama, KC Ontario
J. Clavero University of Toronto, KC Ontario
LADIES BLACK BELT DIVISON:
1st Wendy NakanoSteveston KC B.C.
2nd Chiharu Hao J.C.C.C KC Ontario
3rd Hana Ariga University of Toronto KC Ontario
Makiko Hayashi Vancouver KC B.C.
MEN'S BLACK BELT DIVISION:
1st Suguru AsaokaYoushinkan KC B.C.
2nd Daisaku Taguchi Sunrise KC B.C.
3rd Tony DavidsonUniversity of Toronto KC Ontario
Ben ShirahamaRembu KC B.C.
Men's Division Trophies:
1st Ambassador of Japan Trophy
2nd Consulate General of Japan Toronto Trophy
TEAM DIVISION:
1st Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Kendo Club
K. Hao
S. Asa
A. Asa
B. Asa
S. Nakatsu
2nd Etobicoke Kendo Club
M. K. Ma
Y. Chavez
S. Kamata
K. Kamata
E. Yamashita
3rd Youshinkan Kendo Club
S. Chan
R. Yanagawa
S. Asaoka
A. Shirran
M. Asaoka
University of Waterloo Kendo Club
H.J. Choi
J. Kim
Y. Kumagai
Y. Yoon
R. Tanaka
Team Division Trophy:
1st Consulate General of Winnipeg Trophy
FIGHTING SPIRIT AWARD:
H. Renaud Tateyama Kendo Club Ontario
You can join Iaido-L, an email listserver dealing with kendo, iaido and other Japanese sword related arts, but sending an email message to "listserv@listserv.uoguelph.ca" which says
"subscribe iaido-l firstname lastname" Use your own first and last name
of course.
U. GUELPH SPRING SEMINAR
This May, as last, we had over 100 swordsmen come to Guelph, Ontario,
and train for 5 days with four excellent instructors from Japan. Matsuo
Haruna, in his 9th visit to Canada, taught Iaido (ZenKenRen
and MJER) and Niten Ichi-ryu, Masakazu Oshita taught Iaido (ZenKenRen and
MJER), Masakazu Iwamoto taught Iaido (ZenKenRen and Muso Shinden-ryu) and
Shigenori Namitome taught Iaido (ZenKenRen and MSR) and ZenKenRen jodo.
We also held an iaido kyu grading and a special dan grading for a couple
of students from Thunder Bay who obtained permission from the CKF in advance,
due to their long driving distance from Toronto.
I'd like to thank all those who attended and make this event such a
success each year. I look forward to seeing you all again throughout the
year, and next May in Guelph.
Kim Taylor, Guelph.
IWATA SEMINAR
Good Morning from a very tired Iaidoka. Our 4 day intensive MJER seminar
with Iwata-sensei finished yesterday and has left all of us sore and tired
but happy.
First a thank you to Ohmi-sensei and Kim Taylor for coming to the seminar from Toronto/Guelph. We appreciate them making the trip.
During the four days we went through the Zen Ken Ren Iai Kata, all of
the Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu kata and a number of variations. Sensei's main
focus is using the hara - moving and cutting from the hara. His style is
very big with large strong cuts. Sensei makes a distinction between kata
(forms) and kiri-kata (cutting forms). He maintains that Zen Ken is kata
and we should practice it with that understanding. It is possible to use
the hara to make the kata strong but the riai (reasoning) in Zen Ken is
not as deep as koryu so we should not get too stuck on it. The koryu kata,
on the other hand, are kiri-kata - kata that really CUT - and we must practice
and research to learn how to do them properly.
Perhaps the greatest moment is the seminar was when the three ranking
sensei performed embu (demonstration). Ohmi-sensei performed five Zen Ken
kata, Terao-sensei (Iwata sensei's assistant) did five MJER kata and then
Iwata-sensei himself perfomed a number of MJER kata. It was amazing. I
can only hope to be nearly that strong when I am over 80 years old.
Regards from the Left Coast
Bruce Campbell
GUELPH SCHOOL OF JAPANESE SWORD ARTS
The GSJSA finished up yesterday, bringing to a close four days of excellent
instruction in kenjutsu, iai, naginata, and kyudo. (Have I forgotten anything?)
It was an extremely enjoyable weekend, despite the heat, and I was especially
happy to re-acquaint myself with other iaido-l email list members, as well
as meeting a few new faces.
On Friday night, we had an interesting panel discussion with the general
theme of "Creativity in the Martial Arts." When one is dealing with arts
which have histories dating back centuries, the issue of "creativity" is
an interesting one, and much of the discussion centered on what role, if
any, creativity plays in martial arts today, and what constitutes a valid
use, and what is an abuse, of creativity. Thanks to all who participated.
Saturday night saw an excellent public demonstration of many styles
of Japanese and even Chinese martial arts. The styles represented ranged
from the very rare (Hoki ryu iai) to the very entertaining (Yasuhiro Mori
using kendo against Miyako Tanaka sensei, armed with naginata, in a very
energetic and illuminating match.)
Hello again to all list-members who were able to attend. I hope you
enjoyed your visit, and we look forward to seeing you again before too
long! My deepest thanks for coming and training in Guelph,
Jeff Broderick, U. Guelph Kendo and Iaido club (Sei Do Kai)
Find out more about what Miwa and her kids are up to (and her tastes in music) by checking out her web site.
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~miwalin/
Richard Tizzard
Toronto Kendo Club
CKF Iaido and Jodo Demonstration in Toronto: Ohmi Goyo and the
members of the Yoshinkan Canada Iaido dojo demonstrated Iaido at the 30th
anniversary celebrations for Takeshi Kimeda, 8dan Aikido. At the same demonstration
Jeff Broderick and Kim Taylor demonstrated ZenKenRen jodo
CKFNews editor named Editor in Chief of Martial Arts Fitness.
Your favourite underachiever with a typewriter has foolishly accepted the
editor's job at Canada's premier martial arts/fitness magazine. MAFitness
is a mass market glossy that can be found on news stands across North America.
I suspect you can look for an item or two on Kendo and the Japanese sword
in future issues.
Kim Taylor
1999 All Japan Kendo Federation
The 24TH Kendo Leaders Summer Seminar/Kitamoyo July 30 through Aug 6th
. From Canada Mr H Awaga (5 dan) will attend.
Sad News. Mr Jiro Kagayama former President of both the IKF and
AJKF passed away June 26. The funeral was held July 1st 1999 . On behalf
of the CKF I sent our sincere condolences to IKF and Kageyama's family.
The CKF also sent a flower arrangement to the funeral home.
Roy Asa CKF.
We welcome all inquiries, letters, comments, articles, announcements,
photos and tournament reports to Kim Taylor, Editor, 44 Inkerman St. Guelph
Ontario or email them to kataylor@uoguelph.ca