September 05, 2010

New York, New York!

Road trip!

Nine of us headed down to New York City over the Labor Day weekend to attend the WSKO North America Instructors Study Session and 2nd North American Shorinji Kempo Taikai.



Around 100 kenshi from WSKO Branches across the USA and Canada were in attendance.

The Study Session was led by Sato sensei (Fukuoka), Kuida sensei (Gumma), Sakashita sensei (Hombu) and Kuramoto sensei (Hombu). Each day the instructors rotated around the different rank groups, teaching us expertly. Kuida sensei also gave a lecture based on his memories of Kaiso and why Shorinji Kempo became an enduring path for him.

On the Saturday evening we had a dinner party at the Ginger House Restaurant (delicious Chinese-themed food). We especially enjoyed chatting with kenshi from other Branches and winning all the raffle prizes!

The Taikai was on the Sunday. Seven of our members took part in the events - randori (sparring), tandoku embu (single form) and embu (pairform). We were fortunate to be awarded seven medals in these events.

Finally, we wish to express our deep gratitude to the event instructors for making the big effort to come to New York to teach us and also to Ohashi sensei and the kenshi of New York City Branch for all of the long hours they put in to making the events so smooth and enjoyable for all attendees.

Gassho

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