The 8th European Taikai and 2019 European Regional UNITY Study Session in Stockholm, Sweden

From July 5th to 9th, 2019, we had four wonderful days of gradings, embukai, training, party and social gatherings with participants from 22 countries and a total of almost 450 people. From the look of it, we can proudly say it was all in the spirit of So Doshin’s philosophy, where everybody involved worked hard towards our common goal, looking beyond winning and personal gain.

>The Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation is grateful for the trust given by Aosaka sensei, letting us host this event, and by Shike So Yuuki, serving as the Honorary President of the Taikai. We also want to thank Kawashima sensei, Arai sensei, Matsumoto sensei and all the European instructors who made the study session success. The Taikai was a great opportunity to promote Shorinji Kempo, with the finals and demonstrations broadcasted live. For Sweden, the results were promising, with two gold medals and one bronze. Mixed pairs competed in the Mens division, and half of all the winners in the entire embukai were women. Quite unique in the world of budo, just as our President of WSKO, So Yuuki, is.

During the Taikai, several Honorary Guests attended:

The Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Shigeyuki Hiroki

H.E. The Marshal of the Realm, Mr. Fredrik Wersäll

The Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of Japan, Mr. Toshio Yadomi

The President of the Swedish Budo & Martial Arts Federation, Mr. Gundmark

The Vice President of the International Aikido Federation, Mr. Leif Sunje

The General Secretary of the Swedish Taekwondo Federation, Mr. Ala-Häivälä

The most important part of the event was perhaps the actual training, as it is during practice that we refine the practical aspects of our teachings. We believe that our beautiful philosophy of personal development in harmony with others, stressing the importance of contributing to a better society, can be of great importance in wealthy countries in the west, where individualism has broken many ties with our past. Welcome back! Alex Tilly, Vice President of the Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation