The 1st Woman Shorinji Kempo Taikai was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on April 19-20, 2018. The event was held on April 19 – 20 to remind the born of Raden Ajeng Kartini, one of Indonesian national heroines and aristocrate who had been written that Indonesian women lived under pressure. She was born on April 21st and Indonesian people celebrate it every year. This event was followed by only woman Kenshi and this is the first time in the world of Shorinji Kempo. This event was also held in order to commemorate Christina Siwi Handayani, woman Kenshi, former Chairman of the Provincial Board of Yogyakarta who passed away on August 1, 2013. This event was followed by approximately 200 women Kenshi from branches in Indonesia.

Kartini is well-known to her tenacity and persistence to promote women equality and emancipation. Indonesian women in the past are felt far behind from men in every aspect of human life, speaking of freedom, education, sports, etc

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2018 France National Taikai and training camp took place on April 14 and 15 in Paris. Over 160 kenshi from France, but also from Belgium, Monaco, Holland, Sweden and even the USA gathered to practice and compete during the embukai. The event was supervised by Aosaka Hiroshi Sensei, 9th dan daihanshi.

 

Saturday morning

Saturday morning was very sunny in Paris. At 9 a.m., training started with chinkon gyo and taiso. A group of 30 kenshi then separated to take grading examinations, while the remaining kenshi continued practicing techniques with high graded instructors. They studied both goho and juho techniques and had the opportunity to work with kenshi from different branches.

 

Examination

The examinees were kenshi from minarai to 2^nd dan. They all gave their best and succeeded in their respective exams, obtaining ranks from 6^th kyu to 3^rd dan. Congratulations to all of them!

 

Gakka

The morning session ended with a gakka by Aosaka Sensei. Particular emphasis was placed on the importance of ichi go ichie (to live every day as though it were last) which is the correct way to apprehend our lives. By taking the time every action requires, no more, no less, we can walk on the path of health, strength, security and friendship.

 

Saturday afternoon – embukai

The embukai took place in the afternoon. The competition started with a demonstration by Didier Denmat and Frederic Juhel, both 5^th dan and received a prize of the best performers in the European Taikai held in Lisboa, Portugal, in october 2015. 13 kyukenshi and 15 yudansha couples competed. The competition ended with three more demonstrations, one by Yuko Irie Beyer (1^st dan) and her husband, Olivier Beyer (5^th dan), and two by children, to the audience’s delight. Thank you to all participants !

 

Here are the results of the embukai:

kyukenshi

• 1^st: Benjamin Blain (2^ndkyu) and Magalie Marchello (4^th kyu), from the Pontchâteau branch;
• 2^nd: Florian Renaudin (2^nd kyu) and Florian Mouliade (2^nd kyu), from Cholet branch;
• 3^rd: Gilles Amador del Valle (2^ndkyu) and Sébastien Node (2^nd kyu), from Vallet branch;
• Best women embu : Aurélie Rochelle (2^nd kyu) and Marie Valentin (1^st kyu), from Paris Shibu;
• Best 5^th/4^th kyu embu : Vanessa Moreau (4^th kyu) and Stéphane Fontanet (4^th kyu), from Pontchâteau branch.

 

yudansha

• 1^st: Emma Juhel (1^stkyu) and Mickaël Toscanelli (1^st dan), from Cholet branch;
• 2^nd: Rachid Guendouze (3^rddan) and Noël Ly (3^rd dan), from Gennevilliers branch;
• 3^rd : Kristen Regardin (4^thdan) and Laurent Leguay (4^th dan), respectively teachers from Pontchâteau and Lamotte-Beuvron
• Best women embu: Dominique Pasquier (2^nddan) from Vallet Branch and Laurence Joly (4^th dan), teacher in Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon branch.

 

Closing of Saturday training and embukai

At the end of the day, all kenshi were invited by the French federation to have a social gathering and take some time to deepen friendship. This is also what Shorinji Kempo is for: meeting, getting to know each other, sharing and evolving together. We all had a very pleasant time after this intense first day of the taikai.

 

Sunday

The training camp continued on Sunday. As on Saturday, it started with chinkon gyo, taiso and kihon followed by pratice in level groups with high graded teachers. Aosaka Sensei was active within each group, often showing techniques himself, to the delight of the participants.

At the end of the training camp, after having changed clothes and said farewell, everyone returned home, looking forward to the next event. This year, the following France national training camp will exceptionally be held in Brussels, Belgium. This will happen on June 16. It was also announced that the next European Taikai will be in Stockholm, Sweden, in July 2019.

We hope to see you there !

 

Illustration 1: Aosaka Sensei, 9^th dan daihanshi and Giovanni Tramontini, deputy national technical director of the French Federation of Karate

 

 

　　

 

　　

 

　　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Branch Masters,

We deeply appreciate your cooperation and support for the Shorinji Kempo 70th anniversary events.

We are happy to announce that the Shorinji Kempo 70th anniversary commemorative booklet “Kakehashi” has been completed.

This booklet passes on these commemorative events to the future generations, and we can look back all the history of Shorinji Kempo and its principle, and the present activities through this booklet. I hope you will read it with the kenshi of your branch.

We will give “commemorative DVD and pin badge” as special presents to those who reserve this booklet on this occasion. Please use the reservation form for your order.

 

[Contact]

 World Shorinji Kempo Organization Secretariat

　TEL：+81(877) 32-2577

　E-mail：wskohq@shorinjikempo.or.jp

Commemorative Publication “Kakehashi” Order Form

5th Annual Shorinji Kempo Russian Training Camp

For three days from 6 to 8 of April, the 5th Annual Shorinji Kempo Russian Training Camp in Saint-Petersburg (Russia) was held.

All branch masters and kenshies from all Russain branches: Moscow Branch and Sungir Branch (Moscow), Baltika Branch (Saint-Petersburg) and Volga Branch (Nijniy Novgorod) took part in this training camp. Moreover senseis and kenshies from Sweden, Germany and Kyrgyzstan came to Saint-Petersburg to take part in this training camp. Total number of participants were 68 people.

Training sessions during the camp were conducted by instructors from Russia and Sweden: Anders Pettersson (Sweden, 6th dan), Alexei Rokitskii (Russia, 5th dan), Alex Tilly (Sweden, 5th dan), Makoto Hamakawa (Russia, 5th dan), Alexander Sofronov (Russia, 4th dan) and Anatoliy Lukutin (Russia, 4th dan). Assistance for the senseis was providing by Alexander Kramar (Russia, 3rd dan), Valeriy Karibyan (Russia, 3rd dan) and Anton Kozlov (Russia, 3rd dan).

On the first day there were training sessions of randori practice: distance, speed, counterattack, the entrance to the enemy, psychological preparation.

On the second day the participants were divided into 4 groups (minarai-4 kyu, 3-2 kyu, 1 kyu-1 dan, 2 dan+), and there were at first some practice on basic forms, then practice on different go ho and ju ho technics. Also Alex Tilly (sensei from Sweden) gave a lecture: “Thinking man’s martial art”.

On the third day there were also practice on some basic forms, then go ho and ju ho practice in groups, and at last some kumi embu and randori practice. Also Alexei Rokitskii (branch-master of Moscow branch) gave a lecture: “Mediation – the discipline of mind, improving the discipline of the body”.

This time Russian Shorinji Kempo training camp in Saint-Petersburg became one of the participants of the 18th festival “Japanese spring in Saint-Petersburg”. This festival is holding by the General Consulate of Japan in Saint-Petersburg every year. This festival collects different cultural and sport events, which are related with Japan and Japanese culture.
Within the framework of the festival there were held demonstrations of Shorinji Kempo technics on the second day of the training camp. Kenshies and senseis from all Russian branches took part in the demonstrations, also two participants from Germany performed kumi embu.

Southeast Asia Region WSKO Study Session

Southeast Asia Region WSKO Study Session was held on February 2nd (Fri.) and 3rd (Sat.), 2018 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

WSKO instructors Mr. Kazuhiro Kawashima (WSKO Secretary-General), Mr. Masanori Nagata, Mr. David Wang, Mr. Shoji Arai were dispatched to the Study Session. The participants came from 8 countries. We never had kenshi from such many countries attend study sessions that had been held in Southeast Asia. (Participating countries: Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan) span>

On the previous day of the Study Session, Feb. 1 (Thur.), dan examination (from 1st to 3rd dan) and special dan examination (4th dan) were held and 19 members took the examinations.

The Examiner / Judge Study Session was given by Instructor Arai on the same day, and the qualification of participants was given or renewed for the term that starts in FY 2018.

On the first day of the study session, Feb. 2 (Fri.), a supporter of the Cam-bodia Branch Mr. Okhna Sok Pheng gave the opening address. Mr. Sok Pheng has been a great help for the promotion of Shorinji Kempo in Cambodia. 

Instructor Arai gave the basic training after the opening ceremony, and with instructors Kawashima, Nagata, David Wang, technical instructions were given in each rank. The participants were very eager and they asked questions to instructors whenever they were in the Dojo, even during breaks.

 

Instructor Kawashima gave a lecture on WSKO business policy and gen-eral situation, then WSKO staff Mr. Kato gave a lecture on intellectual property and Branch Master Qualification Certification Seminar.

Each instructor gave technical instructions on the second day of the study session and then instructor Arai gave a lecture on the teaching of Shorinji Kempo.
The success of all 19 examinees was announced at the closing ceremony and the certificates were given to them from instructor Kawashima.

 

 

 

At the closing of the study session, we felt and shared the joy when in-structor Kawashima addressed that the number of the participating coun-tries of this study session was the greatest amount comparing to the num-ber of participating countries of the study sessions that had been held in Southeast Asia.

In the evening of that day, all the participants enjoyed the food, songs and the dances that had been provided and performed at the social gathering, and made good friends with each other. In the next morning, we had a discussion period (free practice) which was only for who wanted to participate, however, the most of the participants including adult and children kenshi of Cambodia Branch attended, and it ended successfully.

We would like to express our gratitude to the Cambodia Branch, its Branch Master Lach Chan Sovan and kenshi, Branch Master’s family and the persons concerned for the great help in preparing for this study session. I hope that this study session became the foundation in promoting Shorinji Kempo in the Southeast Asia.