March 24 & 25, 2007
Shorinji Kempo 60th Anniversary Commemorative
10th All-Japan High School Students' Shorinji Kempo Taikai
For two days on March 24th and 25th, Shorinji Kempo 60th Anniversary Commemorative 10th All-Japan High School Students' Shorinji Kempo Taikai was held at the headquarters of the Shorinji Kempo Federation. This Taikai was first held in 1997 commemorating the Shorinji Kempo 50th anniversary. This year the event was participated in by 670 students of 205 high schools in Japan.
Three dojos; 1st Rensei Dojo, 2nd Rensei Dojo, and Kodo, accommodated the events at the same time. At each of them, students were practicing their embu to the last minute available.
The opening ceremony started in the morning of the first day, a chilly rainy spring day. High school student kenshi who had been selected in their local cities presented their speeches. They talked about their ideas of how we aim to be through practicing Shorinji Kempo.
In the afternoon there were preliminary round of male / female paired embu, solo embu, and group embu. After the announcement of the finalists, all the participants cleaned each dojo to finish the first day.
On the second day, the finalists presented their embu on each court. Audience were holding their breath watching the students show high-leveled skills with sharpness, speed and accuracy.
Then the hombu staff divided all the participants in groups of boys, girls, and branch masters/coaches to review some techniques together.
The rainy weather at the beginning of the Taikai had already cleared up by the end of the event. Students took many pictures with the blue sky and the hombu buildings in the back before they left.
Japanese version of this article is here
