Volume 33, number 9/10/11/12 September/October/November/December 2019
PNKF DATEBOOK
January 2020
* 1/11: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Sat, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church,
1610 S. King Street, Seattle.
* 1/25-1/26: FIK Kendo Referee Seminar for the American Zone (FY 2019), Sat-Sun, British Columbia Institute of
Technology Athletic Gymnasium, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 3H2 Canada. Accommodation: Delta Hotel
by Marriott Burnaby Conference Center, 4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby, BC V5G 1C7.
– Participants should be members of FIK affiliated organizations in principle.
– Kendo 5 Dan or higher, and practice Kendo regularly.
– No age limit to participate.
February 2020
* 2/1: PNKF Kata Seminar, Sat, Kent.
* 2/8: Steveston Taikai, Sat, 9am, McMath High School, 4251 Garry
Street, Richmond BC.
* 2/14-16: East Coast Iaido Winter Seminar, Fri, Ken Zen in NYC, and
Sat-Sun, CERC Indoor Gym in Jersey City, NJ.
* 2/29: PNKF Kendo Shinsa, Sat, Chinook.
March 2020
* 3/14: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S.
King Street, Seattle.
* 3/21: Highline Taikai, Sat, doors open 8:30am, opening ceremonies
9:30am, White Center Community Center, 1321 SW 102nd Street, Seattle.
* 3/28: PNKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, Seattle, time and venue TBD.
April 2020
* 4/4: AUSKF Junior Open Championships, Sat, Marina High School, 15871 Springdale Street, Huntington Beach,
California 92649.
http://auskf-jrnationals.com/.
* 4/18: UW Taikai, Sat, Intramural Activities (IMA), UW campus, Montlake
Boulevard NE.
* 4/1??: PNKF Iaido Seminar and Shinsa, Sat, TBD.
* 4/26: Cherry Blossom demo, Sun, Seattle Center.
* 4/??: Vancouver Taikai.
May 2020
* 5/2: Rose City Taikai, Sat, Portland, time and venue TBD.
* 5/9: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S.
King Street, Seattle.
* 5/16: Bellevue Junior Taikai, Sat, 9:30am start time, Highland Park
Community Center, 14224 Bel-Red Road, Bellevue.
June 2020
* Probable 13th Annual US Nito Kendo Summer Camp, venue, date, and time TBD.
July 2020
* 7/18: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S.
King Street, Seattle.
August 2020
* 8/15: PNKF Kendo Shinsa, Sat, Kent Commons Recreational Center, 525 4th Avenue N., Kent.
September 2020
* 9/12: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S.
King Street, Seattle.
* 9/25-9/27: PNKF Iaido Seminar, Tournament, and Shinsa.
October 2020
* 10/3: Kent Taikai, Sat TBD, Kent Commons Recreational Center, 525 4th Avenue N., Kent.
* 10/17 or 10/24: Tacoma Taikai, Sat, TBD.
November 2020
* 11/7: PNKF Taikai, Kent.
* 11/14-15: AUSKF Board meeting.
* 11/15: AUSKF Kodansha Shinsa.
* 11/21: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S.
King Street, Seattle.
May 2021
* 5/27-30: 18WKC, Thu-Sun, Paris, France.
PNKF BOARD NEWS
At their November 16, 2019 meeting, the 2019/2020 Board was seated, and Officers were elected.
President – CJ Chaney (Sno-King), Vice President – Doug Imanishi (Seattle), Treasurer – Mary DeJong (Highline), Secretary – Tom Bolling (Bellevue), UW Advisor – CJ Chaney.
Other Board members are: Masa Ando (Alaska), Jonathan Bannister (AiShinKai), Sean Blechschmidt (Bellevue), Steve Choi (Portland), Karin Fedderson (Tacoma), Mark Frederick (Northwest), Jane Higa (UW), Trinh Ho (Northwest), Bryan Imanishi, Michael Mabale (Seattle), Curtis Marsten (Kent), Tiarnan Marsten (Kent), Vicki Marsten (Federal Way), George Nakayama (Portland), Ed Olson (Tonbo), Chris Ruiz (Spokane), Russ Sinclair (Spokane), Blake Sprenger (Obukan), Stephen Ting (Northwest), Mark Verrey, Frank Wessbecher (Highline), David Yotsuuye (Bellevue).
The PNKF has been notified by M. Kajitani, AUSKF Vice-President for Promotion, that the AUSKF will require Bokutoni Yoru Kendo Kihonwaza Renshuho (BKKR) 1-9 be added to the Shinsa for 2nd Kyu. Official starting date is April 1, 2020, so this requirement will be added to our August 15, 2020 Kendo Shinsa. At the Shinsa, we are allowed to provide assistance to the candidate during the test, and this is not intended to fail anyone. The whole purpose is to integrate BKKR into regular Kendo practice. We plan to do a demo of this BKKR 1-9 at our February 29, 2020 Shinsa.
2019 PNKF IAIDO TAIKAI – September 29, 2019, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue, Washington
Sportsmanship Pledge – Derek Reynolds, Alaska
Mudansha 0-1 Kyu Yudansha 1-2 Dan
1st place – Brian Burton, AiShinKai 1st place – Alden Vanderspek, AiShinKai
2nd place – Derek Reynolds, Alaska 2nd place – Thane Mittelstaedt, AiShinKai
3rd place – James Thorne, AiShinKai 3rd place – Nikhil Varma, Seattle
3rd place – Abigail Benoit, Tonbo 3rd place – Sean Horita, Musokai
Yudansha 3-4 Dan (Noguchi Cup)
1st place – Lynn Miyauchi, Musokai
2nd place – Hans Andersen, AiShinKai
3rd place – Loren Nishimura, Spokane
3rd place – Christopher Parkins, Ren Ma
Fighting Spirit – Loren Nishimura, Spokane
2019 HAWAII STATE KENDO CHAMPIONSHIPS, September 29, 2019, Halawa Gym
Yonenbu Shonenbu
1st place – Shu Etsumi, Kenshikan 1st place – Noa Mulder, Wahiawa
2nd place – Maiki Uda, Kenshikan 2nd place – Gavin Ushio, Lihue
3rd place – Hayato Matsuda, Kenshikan 3rd place – Malia Stachiewicz, Kenshikan
3rd place – Blair Musashi, Daijingu 3rd place – Junsei Tanizaki, Kenshikan
Seinenbu Women’s Open
1st place – Gabriel Hart, Lihue 1st place – Zidi Hiramoto, Kenshikan
2nd place – Neil Shimabukuro, Aiea 2nd place – Megan Kirk, Wahiawa
3rd place – Jacie Matsumoto, Kenshikan 3rd place – Tina Kaku, Kenshikan
3rd place – Mari Shimabukuro, Aiea 3rd place – Jacie Matsumoto, Kenshikan
Yudansha 1-3 Yudansha 4 and Above
1st place – Yuta Shimohara, Kenshikan 1st place – Makio Koga, Myohoji
2nd place – Vincent Koyo Yancey, Daijingu 2nd place – Bert Shibuya, Seibukan
3rd place – Nicklas Matsumoto, Kenshikan 3rd place – Carl Nakamura, Mililani
3rd place – Daiki Miura, Myohoji 3rd place – Dan Liu, Meikyokan
Grand Championship Winner
Hyun Kim, Kenshikan
18th LONGHORN INVITATIONAL TEAM KENDO TAIKAI – October 12, 2019, Austin, Texas
1st place – New York Kenshinkai A (N. Alcorn, Mat. Schultzel, M. Hamasaki, P. Winters, CH Huang)
2nd place - Asociacion de Kendo Nuevo Leon (A. Wong, R. Sevilla, I. Rodriguez, M. Gonzales, C. Martinez)
3rd place – Houston Kendo Kyokai A (Y. Kimura, A. Darrah, J. Kan, D. Choe, T. Nguyen)
3rd place – Dallas/Ft. Worth A (Y. Cho, K. Yamamoto, A. Navarro, R. Solitano, JK Kim, Z. Gonzales)
Longhorn Awards
Takashi Yabuta, 2D, San Diego Kendo Bu/UCSD, San Diego, California
Carlos Martinez, 2D, Asociacion de Kendo del Estado de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico
20th INVITATIONAL TACOMA KENDO TAIKAI – October 26, 2019, Curtis High School, University Place
9 and Under 10-12 Years Kyu
1st place – Saiichi Johnson, Seattle 1st place – Juah Paik, Tacoma
2nd place – Nicklas Frederick, Tacoma 2nd place – Nicholas Chu, Bellevue
3rd place – Strummer Maxfield-Matsumoto, 3rd place – Nina Underhill, Northwest
Highline
13-15 Years Kyu 16 Years and Up Round Robin
1st place – Jonathan Yu, Northwest 1st place – Danny Chung, Cascade
2nd place – Devin Chung, Cascade 2nd place – Aaron Fung, Cascade
3rd place – Sean Kim, Seattle 3rd place – Catherine Park, Bellevue
1st Dan
1st place – Keichi Underhill, Northwest
2nd place – Josh Kim, Federal Way
3rd place – Kyle Hale, Seattle
Junior Teams
1st place – Cascade A (John Ryu, Ai Fukuda, Devin Chung)
2nd place – Northwest 1 (Nina Underhill, Isabella Lee, Jonathan Yu)
Senior Teams
1st place – Mixed Senior (Joshua Paik, Josh Kim, Danny Chung)
2nd place – Northwest (Keiji Underhill, Simon Lee, Koki Takamatsu)
National Anthem Singer – Juah Paik
Sportsmanship Pledge – Daniel Kao
Shinpan Cho – David S. Yotsuuye
45th ANNUAL PNKF KENDO TOURNAMENT – November 2, 2019, Kent Commons Recreation Center
4 Dan and Above 10 Years and Under
1st place – R. Asato, Vancouver 1st place – KA Yoshimura, Renbu
2nd place – B. Imanishi, Cascade 2nd place – M. Ishizuka, Youshinkan
3rd place – K. Chun, Hawaii 3rd place – Y. Asaoka, Youshinkan
3rd place – T. Hamanaka, Tozenji 3rd place – A. Kobayashi, Youshinkan
11-12 Years 13-15 Years
1st place – N. Son, Renbu 1st place – K. Squance, Renbu
2nd place – KE Yoshimura, Renbu 2nd place – Kei. Underhill, Northwest
3rd place – J. Paik, Tacoma 3rd place – S. Tominaga, Renbu
3rd place – F. Benson, Youshinkan 3rd place – Y. Lee, Renbu
Women Kyu Women Dan
1st place – K. McIntosh, Federal Way 1st place – T. Koike, UBC
2nd place – C. Park, Bellevue 2nd place – C. Takeuchi, Youshinkan
3rd place – J. Oh, Highline 3rd place – Z. Hiromoto, Hawaii
3rd place – J. Lee, UW 3rd place – B. Park, UW
0-4 Kyu 3-1 Kyu
1st place – M. Tu, Seattle 1st place – A. Kim, Bellevue
2nd place – R. Long, UBC 2nd place – D. Chung, Cascade
3rd place – C. Chu, UW 3rd place – B. Wong, UW
3rd place – A. Yang, Bellevue 3rd place – C. Slater, UW
1-2 Dan 3 Dan
1st place – K. Higo, Renfrew 1st place – K. Yancey, Hawaii
2nd place – K. Fukuda, Cascade 2nd place – F. Wessbecher, Highline
3rd place – B. Sprenger, Obukan 3rd place – M. Murakami, UW
3rd place – D. Yao, Steveston 3rd place – M. Price, Seattle
Junior Team
1st place - Renbu A (N. Son, K. Squance, H. Homma, C. Liao, Y. Lee)
2nd place - Steveston A (J. Hung, C. Robillard, L. Takahae, R. Nakano, D. Chui)
3rd place - Steveston B (J. Lam, T. Kwong, E. Chui, E. Nakano, D. Lam)
3rd place - Northwest (I. Lee, N. Underhill, J. Yu, Kei. Underhill, E. Dong)
Senior Team
1st place – Youshinkan (A. Kobayashi, Y. Asaoka, F. Benson, T. Okurano, O. Benson)
2nd place - Renbu (A. Son, F. Yoshimura, R. Kim, O. Young, E. Kita)
3rd place - Hawaii (K. Chun, K. Yancey, D. Miura, Z. Hiromoto, A. Fujimoto)
3rd place - Bellevue (N. Smith, M. Blechschmidt, L. Tsybert, A. Samkange, B. Lee)
Taikai Co-Chairs – CJ Chaney and Taryn Imanishi
Shinpan Cho – Jeffrey Marsten
Court Manager - David S. Yotsuuye
Sportsmanship Pledge – Josh Kim, Federal Way
Shoji Trophy – Keiji Underhill, Northwest
PASSAGE
Terrance Allan McManus finally lost his protracted and extremely painful battle, first with throat cancer, and then with acute myeloid leukemia on September 8, 2019. Born July 22, 1961 at Madigan Army Medical Center, Terry had recently celebrated his 58th birthday with an enthusiastic spirit of optimism in anticipation of a bone marrow transplant. Terry’s older daughter Keeley Noel started Kendo at Kent when she was seven, and Terry became frustrated because she wouldn’t do what he told her, so finally when she was twelve he gave in and started Kendo himself. We soon saw in him clear reflection of Keeley’s characteristically tough, stubborn, resilient, never-say-die kind of Kendo. Jolly, in-your-face, full-tilt streetfighter type of Kendo which took no prisoners, and done with a laugh, he didn’t cut himself any slack either, frequently dislocating his right shoulder and then just popping it right back in, and continuing the match without missing a beat. After a stint in the Marines right out of high school, Terry became a widely-admired airline purser flight attendant, first with Northwest, and then for many years with Delta, it was in this profession where he met his beloved beautiful wife Niki, who also shared that calling. Keeley was soon followed by a second beautiful daughter, Kylee Alaina, currently a star athlete with the BOOST Volleyball Club. Based all his life in Tukwila, Terry traveled extensively in the Kendo world, as far as Osaka, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Amsterdam, Mexico, Texas, California, Canada, making friends everywhere in our global Kendo community. Our deepest condolences to the family.
SHINKYU SHINSA
PNKF KENDO SHINSA, September 22, 2019, Conestoga Recreation and Aquatics Center, Beaverton, Oregon
5TH KYU: Owen Kaufman (Portland), Iori Ohashi (Obukan).
4TH KYU: Akio Freauff (Portland), Christopher Kocurek (Portland), Marina Wain (Portland), Brandon Yep (OSU).
3RD KYU: Liqiang Huang (OSU), Eamon Nyiri Klein (Portland), Daniel Theophanes (Obukan), Megan Vinkemulder (Portland), Qi Wei (OSU), Zhongliang Xie (OSU).
1ST KYU: Sanae Anderson (Portland).
PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, September 29, 2019, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue, Washington
2ND KYU: Maurice Benas III (Tonbo).
1ST KYU: Derek Reynolds (Alaska), James Thorne (AiShinKai),
1ST DAN: Abigail Benoit (Tonbo), Brian Burton (AiShinKai),
2ND DAN: Nikhil Varma (Seattle).
3RD DAN: Thane Mittelstaedt (AiShinKai), Garrit Pillie (AiShinKai), Ken Tawara (Idaho).
AUSKF KENDO KODANSHA SHINSA, November 10, 2019, Griffin Elite Sports and Wellness, Erlanger, Kentucky
5TH DAN: John Beaty (GNEUSKF), Brian Beckford (MWKF), Lewis Chi (SEUSKF), Tracey Choi (EUSKF), Taishi Kato (GNEUSKF), Manabu Matsunaga (ECUSKF),
Kentaro Nagao (SWKIF), Yongki Ryu (AEUSKF), Ryoko Sato (SCKO), Paul Winters (AEUSKF), Norio Yasui (SEUSKF), Kazuto Yasuda (SEUSKF).
6TH DAN: Shinichiro Fukui (AEUSKF), Mark Kerstein (SUSKIF), Satomi Lane (ECUSKF), Hiroyuki Morobayashi (ECUSKF), Takaya Zembayashi (SCKF).
7TH DAN: Daniel Nobutatsu Yang (SCKF).
RENSHI: Jin-Kee Hyun (SEUSKF).
THE LAST WORD
But nothing was the same. My grandfather had always been a poor farmer, but now he had only a small garden where he grew potatoes, yam, soybeans and turnips. His rice field had been filled in by the Japanese army to construct a two-story barracks for the soldiers. Hastily built, unlike the little two-room house built by my great grandfather more than one hundred years ago, the building had already started to fall apart. The building was useless now, but even more significant, the rice field was also destroyed. This field not only supported my grandfather, but also helped to provide food for eight other relatives and their families living next door and throughout the hills surrounding my grandfather’s house.
My father used to say that if you put energy into planting seeds, probably you’d have a harvest. But if you’re lazy and don’t plant anything, there won’t be any possibility of a harvest. Every day I worked to reclaim the rice field. First I moved the old building wood into a pile, and then the long task of clearing the dirt began. The army had covered the low wet field with about 3 feet of hard packed sand and dirt. There were no tools for dirt clearing, so I used garden tools. I filled an old wheelbarrow, pushed it up the hill, dumped it and started again. Every day I hauled until there was a small area restored to plant a little rice. This was a start, and after a few months, I had cleared about an acre. But seeds were scarce, and what seeds we could find seemed to grow very slowly. Meanwhile, hunger didn’t wait; everyone needed more rice. There was a salt shortage in Japan, so we made our own salt from the sea. First I found a sheet of galvanized tin, and made a square frying pan out of it, by bending the four sides. Then put it on some rocks to create a hole underneath it. Then I hauled the sea water, about 30 yards away with a clean new honey bucket on each end of a pole. I had to make several trips with it on my shoulder. Fortunately I had ample wood to burn from the old Japanese Army barracks. But it took quite a while to boil sea water to make some salt which we ate but also bartered and sold. We had food, but not enough. My aunts and uncles, the whole family, shared whatever was available. Sometimes there was only one bowl of rice for each person for an entire week. We added the vegetables from the small garden. Sometimes some of our vegetables would be traded for barley. Most of the time we added weeds to the rice. Most of the fishermen had been drafted and were dead; the sea had been contaminated by fuel oil and war debris. The small fish that had been left for my grandfather before the war now were rare. There was little difference between gathering food in Hayashi Yama and when I walked to Kure, when anything that moved in the sea or on land became food. My aunts traded their silk kimonos and obis for rice. Often they walked miles to barter, but returned with cupfuls of rice at best. We were hungry, but we didn’t starve.
Despite our condition, my grandfather continued to save rice to place into the three cone shaped containers for the butsudan. Now, however, he placed only a few grain of rice in each container and with a shaking hand, slid the containers into the curved slots in the center and carefully placed them on each side of the altar. As he had always done, he then took out the lacquered black box from the altar drawer which contained his one book, opened to the “Sho Shin Ge” page and began to chant. He had the whole book memorized, but to learn, I would follow the words as he turned the pages of the book. I noticed that often he was not chanting from the opened page. When I asked him about this, he nodded and said, “kamawan” “That’s okay,” and continued chanting. I realized from him that intent is as important as correctness; it is not the practice of reading, but the quality of the practice that gives energy to the spirit by doing it every day. It is not just “what” you do as much as “how” you do it. We worked side by side. He worked as hard as I did – maybe harder because he was at least 80 years old. To cultivate the land, he tied the end of the wooden pick with a straw rope and then tied the other end across his back. Then he pounded the pick into the ground and pulled it with his body. He did not have enough strength to pull it with his hands. Every evening after work he cooked whatever we had in a kettle of water over a small fire heated by the wood he gathered nearby. He didn’t want help cooking and told me to sit near the hearth and watch. My jobs were mostly about carrying dirt, water and “honey.” I carried cold spring water in a clean water buckets on my shoulders from the well and poured it into a 5 gallon ceramic tub in the kitchen. The well was about one block down the steep hill. It was easy going down but exhausting coming up. And a lot of water was needed, not only for cooking but also bathing. The water would be poured into a cast iron, one-person tub, and then heated with wood, leaves and twigs gathered from the forest or wood from the debris of the barracks. Everyone bathed before me, and by the time it was my turn, the water was neither warm nor clean.
But it didn’t matter; the only clothes I had were my Japanese army uniform, which by then was permanently soiled. I also collected the filled honey buckets from the outhouse and carried them on a wooden pole across my shoulders down the slope to the rice field. I recalled the man who collected “honey” in Kyoto. He was more skilled than I, but then I never thought I would do this job. The hill was slippery, and sometimes I had to jump from one tier to the lower tier. Balance was difficult. When my bucket tilted, I was showered with raw honey. I still wore my tattered military uniform, and despite rinsing in salt water, I smelled down to my bones for days. Labor hard, eat little, and fall into bed exhausted and sleep – life now was not much different than it was at Busen or when I was in the army. Actually, the army was more difficult because I didn’t agree with the training. It was brutal. Beating as a means of indoctrinating the recruits with the military spirit was a mistaken interpretation that perverted the samurai tradition. Without the Budo spirit, routine beatings, if survived, merely instilled greater brutality in the trainees. War is apt to bring out the worst qualities in men. Kendo training was tough, but part of a long tradition of training to be of service, not the training of several months in boot camp. Miyamoto Musashi’s teaching requires: “A thousand days of practice is forging and tempering your body and soul, and ten thousand days of practice is polishing the forged and tempered body and soul, while continuing to forge and temper.”
–Rod Nobuto Omoto, Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 43-45. Available as free download at lulu.com.
Kenyu – Monthly Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation PLEASE NOTE: Kenyu Online IS THE EDITION OF RECORD FOR THIS NEWSLETTER – http://www.pnkf.org/ Tom Bolling, Editor – 7318 23rd Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98115
September 2019 * 9/7-9/8: Team USA Gasshuku, required to be considered for participation in 18WKC, Sat 8am-4pm; Sun 8am-12noon, Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance, CA. Attendance Fee: $50 (checks payable to “AUSKF Team USA”). Send all checks to: Spencer Hosokawa, 17 Amelia Aliso Viejo, Ca 92656.
* 9/13 and 9/14: Idaho Kendo Seminar, Fri
9/13 Keiko 6-7pm, Fri venue: Boise State Univ, Kinesiology Gym, Room 215; Sat, 10am-4pm, Sat venue: Meridian Homecourt, 736 Taylor Avenue, Meridian Idaho 83642, Court #1. Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan Robert Stroud. Open to all levels (all ages) including those not yet in bogu, covering Kendo Kata, kihon, and application of kihon for shiai and shinsa. Cost $25 payable at the event. * 9/14: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S. King Street, Seattle. * 9/27-9/29: PNKF Iaido Seminar, Tournament, and Shinsa, Fri/Sat/Sun, Rain City Fencing, 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue. October 2019 * 10/5: PNKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, 12noon-5pm, Kent Commons Recreational Center, 525 4th Avenue N., Kent. * 10/26: Tacoma Taikai, Sat, Curtis High School,
8425 40th St W, University Place, WA 98466, USA. November 2019 * 11/2: PNKF Taikai, Kent Commons Recreational Center, 525 4th Avenue N., Kent. * 11/2-11/3: AUSKF Second Team USA Gasshuku, Sat/Sun, venue and times TBD. * 11/9-10: AUSKF Board meeting. * 11/10: AUSKF Kodansha Shinsa, after the ASUKF Board meeting, Griffin Elite Sports and Wellness, 700 Dolwick Drive, Erlanger, Kentucky 41018. * 11/16: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S. King Street, Seattle. December 2019 * 12/7: Kent Taikai CANCELLED.
January 2020 * 1/25-1/26: FIK Kendo Referee Seminar for the American Zone (FY 2019), Sat-Sun, British Columbia Institute of Technology Athletic Gymnasium, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 3H2 Canada. Accommodation: Delta Hotel by Marriott Burnaby Conference Center, 4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby, BC V5G 1C7.
– Participants should be members of FIK affiliated
organizations in principle.
– Kendo 5 Dan or higher, and practice Kendo regularly.
– No age limit to participate.
April 2020 * 4/4: 2020 AUSKF Junior Open National Championships, Sat, Marina High School, 15871 Springdale Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 May 2020 * 5/2: Rose City Taikai, Sat, TBA, Portland. May 2021 * 5/27-30: 18WKC, Thu-Sun, Paris, France.
2019 AUSKF IAIDO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – June 30, 2019, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon
0-2 Kyu Murakami Cup 1 Kyu–1 Dan 1st place – Cierra Nix, RMKIF Castle Rock 1st place – Eric Marquart, PNKF Idaho 2nd place – Zhuron Long, AEUSKF Ken-Zen 2nd place – Adam Sandor, MWKF Agassiz 3rd place – Reminton Redell, RMKIF Castle Rock 3rd place – Brian Burton, PNKF AiShinKai 3rd place – Frauke Hachtmann, SWKIF Omaha 3rd place – Darryl Woods SWKIF Mushinkan Kantosho – Aojie Zheng, AEUSKF Ken-Zen Kantosho – Dongying Song, AEUSKF Ken-Zen
Murosako Cup 2-3 Dan Yamaguchi Cup 4–5 Dan 1st place – Allen Smith, SWKIF Mushinkan 1st place – Paul Shin, GNEUSKF Shidogakuin 2nd place – Ric Flinn, MWKF Raccoon Valley 2nd place – Gordon Hall, AEUSKF Ken-Zen 3rd place – Mike Schuldt, MWKF Agassiz 3rd place – Joe Sheldon, SUSKIF River City 3rd place – John Mullin, AEUSKF Ken-Zen 3rd place – Aram Kailian, GNEUSKF Shidogakuin Kantosho – Sangki Lee, SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth Kantosho – George Nishiura, NCKF Palo Alto
6 Dan (Inaugural Division) 1st place – Jason Hankins, RMKIF ZenBuKan 2nd place – David Bressler, AEUSKF Ken-Zen 3rd place – Terry Fukui, AEUSKF Ken-Zen Kantosho – Samuel Okuno, SCKF Norwalk
WORLD NAGINATA CHAMPIONSHIP – July 6, 2019, Wiesbaden, Germany
Engi Shikake-Oji Zen Nihon Renmei no Kata 1st place – A. Ajiki, M. Inoue, Japan 1st place – I. Itagaki, H. Kato, Japan 2nd place – S. Kanaoka, C. Hyashida, Japan 2nd place – I. Dermine, F. Dermine, Belgium 3rd place – C. Coppeans, B. Harrop, USA 3rd place – J. Hernandez, S. Lew, USA
Team Shiai Shiai Team Women 1st place – Japan (S. Kanaoka, C. Hayashida, A. Shido) 2nd place – Canada (M. Landekic, L. Liu, M. Phan) 3rd place – Belgium (L. Dumonceau, G. Hau, C. Vandersleyen)
Shiai Team Men 1st place – Japan (M. Masuda, W. Kobashi, I. Itagaki) 2nd place – Netherlands (J. Zandstra, A. Noorman, P. Gerritsen) 3rd place – Belgium (J. D’hose, T. Dermine, F. Dermine)
Individual Shiai Shiai Individual Women Shiai Individual Men 1st place – A. Ajiki, Japan 1st place – Y. Masuda, Japan 2nd place – S. Haruyama, Japan 2nd place – M. Masuda, Japan 3rd place – C. Hayashida, Japan 3rd place – T. Fujita, Japan
Overall Winner - Japan
PNKF 7th NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN’S TEAM TOURNAMENT – July 13, 2019, Renton
Special Guest Instructor – Kendo Renshi 7th Dan Chinatsu Murayama
Team 1st place - SCKF (E. Kim, K. Tada, H. Dong, Liu, A. Shinada) 2nd place – Butokuden A (K. Igarashi, J. Harasawa, H. Ariga, V. Kuo, H. Hsueh) 3rd place – PNKF B (V. Le, M. Blechschmidt, J. Higa, T. Imanishi, J. Frazier-Day) 3rd place – Microsoft (N. Sakamoto, S. Hino, S. Uchino, S. Wakizono, M. Ohara)
Individual Mudansha Individual Yudansha 1st place – Krystal McIntosh, PNKF 1st place – Chigusa Takeuchi, Youshinkan 2nd place – Sammi Cheung, Quebec 2nd place – Wendy Robillard, CKF 3rd place – Heidi Lin, Butokuden 3rd place – Betty Park, PNKF 3rd place – Kate Rice, PNKF 3rd place – Kianna Darbyshire, CKF 4th place – Ai Nakayama, PNKF 4th place – Jennifer DeJong, MWKF 4th place – Isabel Lorimer, SCKO 4th place – Rika Iketani, SCKO Shinpan Cho - Jeff Marsten Chair – Elizabeth Marsten Translator – Ai Nakayama Sportsmanship Pledge – Janell Frazier-Day
SHINKYU SHINSA
AUSKF IAIDO SHINSA, June 30, 2019, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon 3RD KYU: Lam Cao (SEKIF Salt Lake), Kaitlyn Fife (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Jonathan Hoopes (SWKIF Salt Lake), Carter Webster (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Michael Webster (RMKIF ZenBuKan). 2ND KYU: Breanne Leach RMKIF Zen Bu Kan), Sarah Scherr (MWKF Agassiz), Mika Shafer (NCKF Oakland). 1ST KYU: Kirill Buzinov (SWKIF Mushinkan), Shamina Chang (SUSKIF Chiba), Alex Cherry (SWKIF Salt Lake), Michael Curtis (RMKIF Rocky Mountain), Frauke Hachtmann (SWKIF Omaha), Zhuoran Long (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Cierra Nix (RMKIF Castle Rock), Gilberto Perez (SEUSKF TokoBuKan), Tyler Peterson (PNKF Idaho), Remington Redell (RMKIF Castle Rock), Andy Webster (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Aojie Zheng ((AEUSKF Ken-Zen). 1ST DAN: Michio Kajitani (SWKIF Arkansas), Alberto Mera (CLAK Federacion Dominicana), Adam Sandor (MWKF Agassiz), Ben Senderling (SWKIF Omaha). 2ND DAN: Cheyenne Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Jared Bowler (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Michael Jacobson (MWKF Agassiz), Eric Marquardt (PNKF Idaho), Gary Moulder (NCKF Palo Alto), Philip Sevin (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Dongying Song AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Alden Vanderspek (PNKF AiShinKai), Feng (Blade) Wang (SWKIF Mushinkan), Darryl Woods (SWKIF Mushinkan). 3RD DAN: John Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Jordy Davis (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Celeste Rosell (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Allen Smith (SWKIF Mushinkan). 4TH DAN: David Chung-Pei Cheng (CKF SFU Shinbukan), Richard Flynn (MWKF Raccoon Valley), John Mullin (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Levon Sukiassyan (SCKF Pasadena). 5TH DAN: Brian Beckford (MWKF Detroit), Takanori Furuta (AEUSKF Ittokai), Hiroaki Fukumoto (PNKF Seattle). 6TH DAN: Paul Shin (GNEUSKF Shidogakuin), Cynthia Tanabe (NCKF Salinas).
AUSKF JODO SHINSA, June 30, 2019, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon 1ST KYU: Cheyenne Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), John Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Jonathan Berry (MWKF Minnehaha), David Cooper (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Nicholas Harrison (AEUSKF US Kobujodokai), Tomoyuki Hirasawa (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Cierra Nix (RMKIK Castle Rock), Julian Smith (RMKIF Castle Rock), Donying Song (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Robert Stroud (PNKF Idaho), Kurt Van Horn (PNKF Hoshu). 1ST DAN: Amber Adams (SCKO Kobujodokai), Abigail Benoit (PNKF Tonbo), Lisanna Dettwyler (PNKF Hoshu), Sarah Scherr (MWKF Agassiz), Bob Schneider (SCKO Butokuden), Michi Takeda (SCKF Kubojodokai), Robert Tranchin (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth). 2ND DAN: Bradley Anderson (MWKF Agassiz), David Bressler (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Michael Jacobson (MWKF Agassiz), Peter Kim (AEUSKF Doshikai), An Nguyen (SCKO Butokuden), Jaden Olah (SWKIF Yamakage), Judit Olah (SWKIF Yamakage), Adam Sandor (MWKF Agassiz), Michael Schuldt (MWKF Agassiz). 3RD DAN: Luis Adolfo Arancibia (CLAK Chile Jodo), Chris Dowling (PNKF Hoshu), Richard Flinn (MWKF Raccoon Valley).
PNKF KENDO SHINSA, August 10, 2019, Kent Commons Recreation Center, Kent 6TH KYU: Louis Liang (Northwest), Yuanchang Liang (Northwest), John Morse (Northwest), Atticus Slosson (Northwest), Koh Tapang (Highline). 5TH KYU: Madeleine Day (Kent), Hideaki Ito (Bellevue), Emerson Lau (Bellevue), Braeden Tapang (Highline). 4TH KYU: Keegan Hirata (Federal Way), Joe Kabeshita (Obukan), Brent Krupp (Cascade), Truman Lau (Bellevue), Yin Ouyang (Seattle), Denise Quach (Seattle), Rina Yuan (Bellevue). 3RD KYU: Nicholas Chu (Bellevue), Mi Jang (Tacoma), Taka Kabeshita (Obukan), Anthony Kelsey (Edmonds), Tory Kim (Northwest), Juah Paik (Tacoma), Rebecca Roland (Portland), Shen Ru (Everett), Hui Shen (Tacoma), Demetria Spinrad (Sno-King), Yi Sun (Bellevue), Michinari Tawara (Bellevue), Nina Underhill (Northwest), Fei Yuan (Bellevue). 2ND KYU: Andrea Calhoun (Portland), Aaron Fung (Seattle), Alex Kim (Bellevue), Sean Kim (Seattle), Seira Kojima (Bellevue), Yoji Konno (Meadowbrook), Juno Lee (UW), Dorrit Lin (UW), Aneurin Mabale (Seattle), Ju Young Oh (Highline), Conrad Slater (UW), Abigail Tan (UW), Brian Wong (UW), Alec Yuen (Seattle). 1ST KYU: Danny Chung (Cascade), Michael Ciesielski (Spokane), Espen Hellevik (UW), Taiki Miyamoto (Northwest), Connor Mulcahy (UW), Michael Rea (Spokane), Alexander Rossi (Spokane), Zhaoyuan Xu (Cascade), Derek Woodward (Everett). 1ST DAN: Tommy Espinal (AEUSKF U Rochester), Leo Gao (UW), Kyle Hale (Seattle), Eugene Kim (Seattle), Shoichi Kimura (Obukand), Elysia Midorikawa (UW), Matt Miyamoto (Northwest), Emilio Peralta (Obukan), Sung Won Ryu (Cascade), Michele Soleimani (Portland), Joshua Paik (Tacoma), Jin Pak (Northwest), Emilio Peralta (Obukan), Koki Takamatsu (Bellevue), Keiji Underhill (Northwest), Suepapone Vanasouk (Cascade). 2ND DAN: Athena Epilepsia (Bellevue), Kyle McDaniel (Seattle), Peter Palmer (Northwest), Blake Sprenger (Obukan), Shota Wetlesen (Obukan). 3RD DAN: Jacob Colter (Yamauchi) (Cascade), Dan DeLongChamp (Obukan), Soo-Hyung Kim (Seattle), Stephen Ting (Northwest), Andrew Yuen (Seattle).
AUSKF KODANSHA SHINSA, August 18, 2019, Eccles Student Life Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 5TH DAN: Guillermo Auvert (SEUSKF), Rex Joshua Hahn (WKF), Kenji Irie (SCKF), Kentaro Ninomiya (AEUSKF), Steven Sasaki (SWKIF), Takuro Yamaoka (SWKIF). 6TH DAN: Donghun Lee (AEUSKF), Nobuo Monji (CCKF), George Ogawa (NCKF), Charles C. Pak (SCKO), Joji Takada (MWKF). 7TH DAN: Jin-Kee Hyun (SEUSKF), Kohjiro Kinno (SCKF). RENSHI: Akira Banchi (SCKO).
THE LAST WORD
Hiroshima, 1945 We were so isolated in Kochi that we had lost communications with our base in Hiroshima. We didn’t know about the Bomb or the end of the War until few weeks after Japan surrendered. But we weren’t surprised. The old soldiers were tired and already felt defeated, and most of us had known for some months that the war was lost. We just didn’t know the form that loss would take. We arrived in Hiroshima, completely unprepared for the devastation. We skirted the city. Shicho Tai, our base, had been evaporated. There are no words for what we saw. A bomb, yes, but what kind of a bomb? Annihilation of this magnitude was inconceivable! And the devastation assaulted us wherever we gazed. The central city was flattened. Only the skeleton of a few brick buildings to the west remained. The sky was still thick with smoke from smoldering buildings and funeral pyres where bodies could no longer be cremated separately with respect and proper ritual, but stacked in piles for mass disposal. There was no ability to dignify death. Nonetheless, bodies were everywhere, horribly maimed and decaying, magnets for millions of flies. And there were the injured and dying, waiting and hoping for help. Two hundred thousand people died after the initial explosion. The city was eerily quiet. The sobs and screams of children occasionally pierced the silence, but adults didn’t speak. What could be said? People continued to die. But there were no words. There was no time for mourning. There was little food. Drinking water was scarce with the rivers weaving through the city contaminated with dead bodies and the fallout from the bomb. There was neither help nor medical supplies. There were too few doctors. Shock and suffering, chaos and destruction … Of course we, like the citizens of Hiroshima and the military leaders, did not know the nature of the bomb, only rumors. Many had heard the Emperor’s surrender speech, the first time he had spoken on the radio in a language that common people had difficulty understanding. A joint army-navy meeting on August 10, under the auspices of the Imperial Headquarters, confirmed that the Americans had dropped the atomic bomb. But the information filtered to the people more slowly and it was more than a week for most to hear the truth but it was almost impossible to understand. There was no comprehension and certainly no knowledge of the long-term effects of radiation. Moreover, the Allied Occupation GHQ issued a press code on September 19, 1945 restricting references to the atomic bomb in speech, reporting, and publications; GHQ had to give permission, and generally refused, prohibiting any publication of A-bomb information. Kendo training teaches not to be afraid. Fear alters the body, creating tension and compromising response. Kendo training failed me at Hiroshima. This was a world gone mad, pure destruction and I felt a deep, dark, paralyzing fear beyond reason or action. But maybe Kendo training did help, because I did remember to breathe deeply, five meditative breaths to the hara, and regained some calm. At the Hiroshima railroad station, from where no trains were now dispatched, I turned to my soldiers and asked if they had a home. Their replies were immediate. “Hai, hai, hai!” Everyone had a home. “Go,” I said, and they all started walking toward home. Then I realized I was alone. Did I have a home where I could return? The question was empty, an echo from nowhere. I had no home. I longed for Hawaii, but I could not return. But Wahiawa was where I longed to be, in the gentle islands smelling of plumeria and wild ginger. Even rotting mangoes have a fecund, sweet smell. All I could smell here was burnt flesh, and that smell is something I tried to forget. In fact, I try to forget everything about Hiroshima after the Bomb. During the times when I had nearly been killed, I lost the capacity for fear. No flinching, no jumpiness. Instinct takes over; no thoughts of terrible possibilities or hopes of the future, or even dying. I just blocked everything. The War was finished but war is never finished just because one side surrenders. Hiroshima is proof of that. I turned toward Kure and my grandfather’s house. There was no other choice. I didn’t know whether the house was even there. But I was lucky. I was alive, not injured, and I had to respect this life I was given and get up, move, act. I set out from Hiroshima Station to walk the ~50 miles to Kure. All I had was my soldier’s uniform to cover my skin, a military backpack, and my Japanese sword hung from my left side. I didn’t know whether I would get there or not. There was no time commitment for me. I didn’t care. I just walked at a slow pace chewing on the remains of hard crackers that I had left. It was the only food I had, and soon I had none. I had no water. And the Hiroshima in August is hot and humid. I was thirsty and hungry. When I saw a green plant along the road, although most often it was only a blade of grass, I ate it. Fasting is said to enhance clarity. Perhaps, but starvation is just painful. I understood hunger. The gut feels like it is ripping apart, twisted and stretched. All I could think of was food, and then nothing. I just put one foot in front of the other. The road was full of other soldiers and entire families leaving Hiroshima. There was no food for any of us. We were all helpless. We were all in rags. Nobody was in any position to give help. There was no shelter. People slept by the side of the road, under rags or lean-to’s made of debris or pieces of metal; abandoned vehicles gave some respite. It was cold at night, boiling during the day; at times it rained, at times the wind blew, but there was no shelter. I turned east toward the shores. Along the shores between Hiroshima and Kure were seaweed, clams and some small fish. I scooped them up with both hands and stuffed them into my mouth, whole and raw. I ate everything raw. I told myself, “If anything moves, eat ‘um.” Living creatures are either prey or predator. I would live, but I no longer cared. Walk, walk, walk. Continuing to walk but no longer caring whether I got to Kure or not. One foot at a time. Walking, walking… CHAPTER 4 Wind To renew, when we are deadlocked with the enemy, means that without changing our circumstances we change our spirit and win through a different technique. (Musashi) I don’t remember how many days it took me to reach Hayashi Yama (now Miharashi Cho), my grandfather’s village in Kure, but when I finally looked up it was sunrise, and I saw my grandfather working in the fields just as he had done when I had left for the army that morning in 1942. Unlike the 15 million homeless people throughout Japan, I had a home to live in and some food.
–Rod Nobuto Omoto, Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 39-43. Available as free download at lulu.com.
Kenyu – Monthly Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation PLEASE NOTE: Kenyu Online IS THE EDITION OF RECORD FOR THIS NEWSLETTER – http://www.pnkf.org/ Tom Bolling, Editor – 7318 23rd Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98115
