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Monterey Branch, U.S.A / July 2011
- Contributor: Branch Master Kazuki Arita
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On July 10th (Sun), 2011, 20 Kenshi demonstrated Shorinji Kempo at the "65th Obon Festival" of Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple in Monterey, California, U.S.A. The participants were Mr. Makoto Hagata sensei (Mt. Diablo Branch Master), Mr. Kenfichi Takahashi (Mt. Diablo), Ms. Leela Hann-Soden (Mt. Diablo), Mr. Bobby sturgeon (Mt. Diablo), Mr. Carlos Gonzales (Mt. Diablo), Mr. Chris Hann-Soden (Mt. Diablo), Mr. Ryuta Saka (Silicon Valley), Mr. Yusuke Sakurai (Silicon Valley), Ms. Heidi Chen (Silicon Valley), Ms. Wakana Hirayama (Silicon Valley), Ms. Konomi Oe (Silicon Valley), Mr. Katsuya Hirayama sensei (Silicon Valley Branch Master) as an observer, Mr. Mr. Fumio Nishimura (Monterey), Mr. Merced Rodriguez (Monterey), Mr. Kleto Hernandez (Monterey), Mr. Gary Sumpter (Monterey), Mr. Roman Sumpter (Monterey), Mr. Brock Sumpter (Monterey), Mr. Kevin Monta (Monterey), and Kazuki Arita (Monterey Branch Master).
The Monterey Buddhist Temple was first established in the early-1940s by Japanese-American living in this area. There was Japan Town in Monterey. However, all of them were forced to move to the internment camp during the World War II and everything was gone. The Obon festival was restarted in 1946 a year after the war ended.
This is the 5th time to demonstrate Shorinji Kempo for all public in Monterey. Although we have demonstrated at the Language day of Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey for 7 years, the access to DLI is still very limited for all public.
The demonstration started from 13:00. We showed Chinkon, Kihon, Embu from basic to black belt, technique explanation, and more advanced Embu. Although the demonstration time was only for 30 minutes, more than 100 audiences enjoyed watching and were very impressed with our techniques with sharp movement and big Kiai. This year, explanation of various techniques by Hagata sensei, Embu of 3 women (Ms. Chen, Hirayama, and Oe), and more advanced Embu (Mr. Saka and Sakurai) impressed all the audiences. Additionally, a "children embu" was demonstrated. The audiences gave big hands to his kiai and techniques.
Especially because it took over three hours for Hagata sensei and Mt. Diablo branch members, and two hours for Hirayama sensei and Silicon Valley branch members to come to Monterey, I really appreciate their precious time, effort, and great kindness to join the demonstration. Gassho.
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