Volume 25, number 8
August 2011
PNKF DATEBOOK
- Sep 1/5, American Kendo Leadership Seminar, Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon, Broadview Thomson Elementary, 13052 Greenwood Ave N., Seattle, WA 98133, Conducted by Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan Robert Stroud and Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan Jeffrey Marsten, based on the AJKF Foreigners Kendo Camp. For details see http://americankendo.com.
- Sep 9/11, , Fri/Sat/Sun, Boise, Idaho Kendo Club Annual Kendo Seminar.
- Sep 11, Umemura Hai Kendo Championship, Sun, honoring Umemura Toshihiko Sensei, Boise, Idaho.
- Sep 17, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton Community Center.
- Oct 1/2, PNKF Iaido Seminar, Sat/Sun, Rain City Fencing, 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue, Featuring Iaido Kyoshi 8th Dan Noguchi Hideo and Iaido Renshi 7th Dan Suzuki Kaoru.
- Oct 8, PNKF Shimpan Seminar, Sat, 12-5pm, Kent Commons.
- Oct 22, Tacoma Taikai, Sat, 10am-4pm, Washington High School, 12420 Ainsworth Ave. S., Tacoma, WA 9844-2398.
- Nov 5, PNKF Taikai, Sat, 9:30am-6pm, Kent Commons.
- Nov 12, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton Community Center.
- Nov 19, Kent Taikai, Sat, 9:30am-5:30pm, Kent Commons.
OTHER DATES
- Sep 2/3/4, AUSKF Kendo Summer Camp and Kodansha and Shogo Shinsa, Fri/Sat/Sun, featuring Kendo Hanshi
8th Dan Ishizuka Yoshifumi Sensei and Kamei Toru Sensei, Ernst Cultural Center, Annandale, Virginia,
with the assistance of Shidogakuin Washinkan. For details and forms see
http://www.auskf.info/news.htm - Nov 12, AUSKF Board.
- Nov 19/20, 4th US Nito Kendo Seminar, NoVA Budokai Kendo Club, Alexandria, VA.
- May 25-27, 2012, 15WKC, Novara, Italy.
http://www.15wkc-italy.org/.
AISHINKAI AND FEDERAL WAY PERMANENT STATUS
At their July 16, 2011 meeting, the PNKF Board of Directors voted to recognize AiShinKai and Federal
Way as PNKF Dojo with permanent status.
MIYAYARA SENSEI DECORATED BY THE HEISEI EMPEROR
Kendo Hanshi 8th Dan Maki Hiroyuki Miyahara, age 90, was decorated with “The Order of the Rising Sun,
Gold and Silver Rays” by Consul General Junichi Ihara at the official residence in Los Angeles on July
21, 2011 for contributions to the promotion of Kendo and the enhancement of friendly relations between
Japan and the United States. Born May 8, 1921 in Montebello, California, Miyahara Sensei started
learning Kendo at age 11 from his father Hiroji Miyahara Sensei who was teaching at six Dojo and
instructed him in a strict manner. When World War II broke out, he was interned at Pomona Assembly
Center, and Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. From there he went on to serve in the US
Military Intelligence Service, and following the war, Lt. Miyahara worked for GHQ in Japan, where he
continued his own Kendo, and influenced the future Kendo development of Benjamin Hazard Sensei among
others. He returned to the US in 1954. A mechanical engineering graduate of Park College in Mississippi,
he resumed his career as an architectural engineer. Active in the Southern California Kendo Federation
since its formation in 1962, over the years Miyahara Sensei has served as its president, head instructor,
and advisor, and coached the Team in the first US Kendo Championships in 1978. In the late 1960s in
support of Torao Mori Sensei he was instrumental in the inception and development of the Kendo Federation
of the USA, serving as president, executive secretary, representative to the Canadian Kendo Federation,
and author of the constitution and by-laws of the KFUSA as he had been of SCKF. In 1970 his father was the KFUSA
representative to the first World Kendo Championships in Tokyo. In 1973 Miyahara Sensei was on Team USA at 2WKC in
Los Angeles. In 1976 he coached Team USA to a 3rd place win at 3WKC in England. He was Kendo instructor
at Pomona College from 1972 to 1975 and advised the UCLA Kendo Club from 1971 to 1975. From 1966 to
present he has been instructor at the San Fernando Valley Kendo Club, and from 1978 to present instructor
of the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute Kendo Dojo. Heartiest congratulations to the great Miyahara
Sensei.
2011 UCLA INTERCOLLEGIATE YUHIHAI – March 6, 2011, Student Activities Center, Los Angeles
Individual Kyu Individual Dan 1st place - Tony Won, UCLA 1st place - Kyle Umeda, UC Davis 2nd Place - Jason Ahn, UC Irvine 2nd place - Kentaro Hirai 3rd Place - Patrick Kim, UCLA 3rd place - Shintaro Takahashi 3rd place - Yosuke Yazawa USC 3rd place - John Song Teams 1st place - UC Riverside A (TakuKano,AkaneKinjo,MatthewLee,RieTagai,IsabelLorimer) 2nd place - UC Berkeley (DanielChung,TerukiIto,StevenTseng,KathleenKang,YuzoIshikawa) 3rd place - SOKA Univ (DaniJurado,KentoYoshida,ShoNakagome,DaijuMatsukura,YujiroMori) 3rd place - UC Irvine A (JasonAhn,ThienDoan,ShingoAmano,TonieZhu,KevinYokota)
12th ALL UNITED STATES KENDO CHAMPIONSHIPS – August 12-13, 2011, Atlanta, Georgia
Junior Youth Boys Individuals Junior Youth Girls Individuals 1st place - Kazukiyo Kobayashi, SCKF 1st place - Esther Kim, SCKF 2nd place - Daniel Bodine, WKF 2nd place - Minami Sasaki, SCKO 3rd place - Yuya Urayama, CCKF 3rd place - Melanie DeJong, PNKF 3rd place - Kahn Jo, WKF 3rd place - Aimi Shibata, SCKF FS - Yoon Jong Suk, WKF FS - Mariko Hutchison, SCKO FS - Tsukasa Ito, PNKF FS - Chloe Lyu, NCKF Senior Youth Boys Individuals Senior Youth Girls Individuals 1st place - Teppei Makiuchi, SCKF 1st place - Ryoko Kambe, GNEUSKF 2nd place - Yuki Kasuya, SEUSKF 2nd place - Masumi Kamimura, SEUSKF 3rd place - Haruka Komiyama, SCKF 3rd place - Haruna Ariga, SCKO 3rd place - Sean Cresse, PNKF 3rd place - Martha Adams, GNEUSKF FS - Julian Williams, CCKF FS - Midorimo Abe, EUSKF FS - Kevin Nguyen, NCKF FS - Yuka Sugino, NCKF Mudansha Individuals Senior's Individuals 1st place - Alan Kern, SCKF 1st place - Michio Kajitani, SWKIF 2nd place - Shingo Ujiie, SCKF 2nd place - Shinobu Maeda, SEUSKF 3rd place - Chen Kao, SCKF 3rd place - George Sakazaki, CCKF 3rd place - Toshikazu Katsuo, SCKF 3rd place - Masataka Sakaue, SCKF FS - Alex Zhang, GNEUSKF FS - Walter White, SEUSKF FS - Matthew Miyata, SCKF FS - Akira Mizunoue, NCKF Women's Individual Men's Individuals 1st place - Sachiko Tamura, SCKF 1st place - Danny Yang, SCKF 2nd place - Toshimi Yoshida, AEUSKF 2nd place - Sandip Ghodgaonkar Maruyama, SCKO 3rd place - Isabel Lorimer, SCKO 3rd place - Kohjiro Kinno, SCKF 3rd place - Mon Lu, MWKF 3rd place - Hajime Sugawara, MWKF FS - Keri Chen, NCKF FS - Akira Inoue, MWKF FS - Elizabeth Marsten, PNKF FS - Jason Brown, SCKF Junior Youth Boys Team 1st place - WKF (KahnJo,DanielLee,DanielBodine,DerekChoi,YoonJongSuk) 2nd place - SCKF (TatsuyaHorii,KazukiyoKobayashi,LuiSuzuki,KaitoHakamata,KenichiroMizobe) 3rd place - SCKO (RyoOgikubo,KentaroKato,GakuSasaki,BrandonMcNeil,YadaKeita) 3rd place - PNKF (TsukasaIto,TiarnanMarsten,AndySinclair,JorrenMills,TrentYamada) Junior-Senior Youth Girls Team 1st place - GNEUSKF (MireiKato,MarthAdams,RyokoKambe,YumiMatsuyama) 2nd place - PNKF (MelanieDeJong,BerniceLin,MiaAbe,EricaDeJong,AlinaSaltzman) 3rd place - SCKO (HiromiMiyawaki,MinamiSasaki,SayakaSugeta,HarunaAriga,SoonJuKwon) 3rd place - NCKF (ChloeLyu,MinaeCabral,YukaSugino,RenaWaltersDoi) Senior Youth Boys Team 1st place - SCKO (ShotaSugeta,TaishiHori,RayYada,HiroyukiOgikubo,KojiKamimoto) 2nd place - GNEUSKF (KeiTakahashi,DunkinAdams,GrantGallas,FunitakaNakayama,AnsonYan) 3rd place - WKF (JohnPark,AlbertLee,SteveChae) 3rd place - CCKF (YuyaUrayama,DamianWilliams,JulianWilliams) Women's Team 1st place - SCKF (AllysonDong,ElisabethHan,AsakiSano,EmiAnderson,SachikoTamura,NishikiSano) 2nd place - PNKF (ElizabethMarsten,HanaLee,AmyArsenault,NoelleGrimes,JulieChen,JanelleFrazier-Day) 3rd place - SCKO (CarolynYatoimi,SoYoungChoi,RyokoSato,IsabelLorimer,ShioriSegawa,YukkoHoshina) 3rd place - SEUSKF (TinaCanada,SonokoMori,SatomiLane,HiromiRobinson,YoshimiDesouza,EmikoArai,MasumiKamimura) Men's Team 1st place - SCKF (KohjiroKinno,GeorgeOwaki,JasonBrown,SimonYoo,NathanBrown,DesmondNakamoto,DannyYang) 2nd place - AEUSKF (HenryLee,AlexLin,ToshihiroOgimura,SungHoHan,JoshuaCaroll,TimothyRasmusson,JaeYeonLee) 3rd place - MWKF (TravisHill,KotaroYoshida,HajimeSugawara,AkiraInoue,TomohikoHayashi,StephenChaffin,MinsooJu) 3rd place - NCKF (HiroIchimura,HyunWookKang,JimmyEitoku,JarrodHatakeyama,AdamEitoku,JayKim)
SHINKYU SHINSA
IAIDO SHINSA, August 6, 2011, Kent
3RD KYU: Tsz Pang Lui (OSU).
2ND KYU: Shawna Williams (Musokai).
1ST DAN: Chris Parkins (Obukan).
2ND DAN: Brian Edwards (Everett), Danielle Ippolito (AiShinKai), Iraj Mohebalian (Seattle), Emily
Morgan (Cascade), Theodore Roosevelt (Idaho).
KENDO SHINSA, August 6, 2011, Kent
5TH KYU: Maya Blechschmidt (Bellevue), Ezekiel Blessing (SnoKing), Seth Mulhausen (Tacoma), Betty
Park (Bellevue).
4TH KYU: Maxwell Church (Highline), Kiana Hiki Johnson-Kugimiya (Northwest), Andrew
Nagasawa (Bellevue), Alina Saltzman (Bellevue), Wynn Wee (Bellevue).
3RD KYU: Jennifer DeJong (Highline), Sean Gillespie (Seattle), Billy Joe Griffin (Spokane), Kelly
Horn (Idaho), Howard Hwa (Bellevue), Oksun Hwang (Obukan), Han Lee (Obukan), Jin Lee (Obukan), Tsz Pang
Lui (OSU), Terry McManus (Kent), Camille Nagasawa (Bellevue), Changmin Park (Obukan), Junha Park
(Obukan), Oliver Saltzman (Bellevue), Shawn Stern (UW), Rio Takayanagi (Obukan), Sean Wee (Bellevue), Yan
Yee (OSU).
2ND KYU: Erica Kim (Northwest), Mick Lannigan (Idaho), Steven Le (Idaho), Truman Lee (UW), Jorren
Mills (Kent), Hyogun Park (Obukan), Christopher Parkins (Obukan), Tero Patana (Obukan), Matthew Yasui
(OSU).
1ST KYU: Noelle Bruce (Idaho), Harley Christianson (UW), Rebecca Cook (Idaho), Melanie DeJong
(Highline), Wes Horn (Idaho), Andrew Kato (Obukan), John Kliem (Tacoma), Chris Ruiz (Spokane), Phillip
Salang (Obukan), Ted Tagami (UW).
1ST DAN: Mia Abe (Bellevue), David Cheng (UW), Erica DeJong (Highline), Mary DeJong
(Highline), Brandon Goh (Seattle), Deborah Holden (Tacoma), Masafumi Iwama (Kent), Yoshito Kanamori
(Alaska), Jane Kang (Northwest), Nick Shiosaki (Pocatello), Damon Tsai (UW), Sandy Wong (Highline).
2ND DAN: Jordan Duplain (Spokane), James O’Donnell (Bellevue), Matthew Gaylord (Seattle), Justin
Lamb (Spokane), Kyung Soo Lee (Obukan), Mark Scott (SnoKing), Daniel Sinclair (Spokane), B. Tsutakawa
(Highline).
3RD DAN: Janell Frazier-Day (Kent), Stephen Day (Kent), Noelle Grimes (UW), Hide Iba
(Bellevue), Hana Lee (Highline), Shane Smith (Highline).
THE LAST WORD
Next, you should practice in a ‘straight line.’ That is to say take the initiative and always seek
to apply waza first. This is bolstered by doing lots of suburi. I believe that building a sturdy
foundation and training in ai-uchi is the golden rule for improving in Kendo. If you do not do this,
then it is impossible to reach a high level, and you will stagnate. The amount of training you do to form
your foundation is linked to how your Kendo blooms in the future, and making a concerted effort will bear
fruit further down the track. A body forged in this way will be able to react to any situation naturally,
and even if your strike is light, it will be decisive. It will be a strike with ‘sae,’ or ‘crispness,’
and this is a quality that is looked for especially in 8-dan. Building a sturdy foundation is time
consuming, and people are apt to think that they are not making progress fast enough. However, it will
serve you well to know that this is in fact the quickest way for improvement. Finally, I also study
Iaido, and am of the opinion that all high-ranking Kendo practitioners should study the art of drawing
the sword. In Iaido, it is said that the highest level is “to win with the sword in its sheath.” The
imaginary enemy that one subdues in Iaido can be transduced into the seme-ai or engagement in Kendo. As
the adage goes “teaching is the midpoint of learning.” In the spirit of this teaching, I hope that
readers will continue to study and train hard.
–Kojima Masaru, “Hanshi Says,” Kendo World 5.4 2011, p. 11.
- Kenyu – Monthly Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation
- Kenyu Online – http://pnkf.org/
- Tom Bolling,
Editor – 7318 23rd Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98115
- Kenyu Online – http://pnkf.org/