Haru Matsuri 2005 Demonstration

On Saturday March 5, 2005, members from all the ShorinjiKempo Ontario Branches gathered at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) - the home of Leaside Branch - for the 2005 Haru Matsuri (Spring Festival) demonstration.

This year marked the first time that ShorinjiKempo was demonstrated to the public in this festival. Other budo also showed their skills to the public, including karate-do, kendo, aikido, iaido and judo.

The ShorinjiKempo demonstration consisted of showing elements of a regular class (meditation, warm-up, basics, pairform exercises, breakfalls) followed by group embu, women's self-defense, hokei (techniques) and kumi embu (pairform technical sequences).

The event served as a good occasion for ShorinjiKempo members to train together and for informing the public about the nature of our art.

Photos from the event are shown below.

Women's self-defense (Toronto Branch)

Hokei (Eglinton & Toronto Branch)

Embu (Leaside & Toronto Branch)

Embu (Toronto & Eglinton Branch)

Second Ontario Godorenshu

Kenshi from Ontario Branches* gathered at Toronto Branch for the second Ontario Godorenshu. A kyu examination was also held at this time.

* Representatives came from Eglinton, Leaside and Toronto Branches.

Training during godorenshu.

Mayfair Branch (London, UK)

Reunion with Mizuno-sensei (8th dan) at Mayfair Branch. It was wonderful to return to my former dojo!

Training at Mayfair Branch (London, UK)

Public Demonstation at JCCC

We will be participating in a public demonstration of ShorinjiKempo at the JCCC Spring Festival at 3:30pm on Saturday March 5, 2005. Click on the image above for more details.

Yudansha renshu. We're getting ready for the JCCC Spring Festival.

Donation to Red Cross

Louie-sensei (Eglinton Branch) presented a cheque for $735 to the Canadian Red Cross. The funds were raised by the Jan. 15 event.

ShorinjiKempo Ontario members raised over $2,000 for tsunami relief in January. The funds were provided to the Red Cross, Oxfam and Unicef.

Tsunami Relief

Immediately following the Kagami Biraki, kenshi took part in a pot luck dinner and silent auction to raise funds for the Red Cross Tsunami Relief appeal.

Kagami Biraki 2005

On January 15, 2005, the Branches of ShorinjiKempo Ontario gathered at the JCCC for the 2005 Kagami Biraki hosted by Leaside Branch.

Thank you to Oka-sensei for organizing the event.

Kenshi from Leaside Branch, Eglinton Branch, Huronia Branch and Toronto Branch enjoyed training together during the Kagami Biraki.

Embu demonstration by Yan (Toronto Branch) and Richard (Eglinton Branch).

Hiate-sensei receives award

Hiate-sensei (Seihanshi, 7th dan) was given an award at the Hombu Kagami Biraki ceremony in recognition of his efforts in youth development and supporting WSKO Branches (including our Branch) . Well done and thank you!

Major changes for ShorinjiKempo

WSKO Hombu announced today the new logo for ShorinjiKempo worldwide. This logo replaces the tate ken and tate manji symbols used previously.

Also, in the preceding year, Kongo Zen content was deleted from the WSKO curriculum.

Closing Ceremony 2004

Members from Toronto Branch, Eglinton Branch and Huronia Branch attended the 2004 Toronto Branch Closing Ceremony on December 22, 2004.

Closing Ceremony 2004: Toronto Branch demo

Eglinton Branch demo

Closing Ceremony 2004: Eglinton Branch members demonstrated kihon, kata and embu.