Kendo Magazine

Here is a video clip that I posted on Youtube of a Kendo Kata performed by Miyagawa Hanshi 8 dan and Okido Kyoshi 8 Dan. By the way, Okido sensei was the World Kendo Champion at the 7th World Kendo Championships in 1988 (Seoul Korea).

The video quality is not that great, because I did not have a tripod, but you can still see the techniques of Nihon Kendo Kata performed by two World known 8 Dan.

(Caracas, Venezuela - October 11, 2008)

Every year, I go to a Caribbean country that hosts the Caribbean Championships. It is an yearly event. I have in the past visited Mexico (1990), Aruba (2006), and Colombia (2007). This year, the tournament was hosted by the Venezuelan Kendo Federation http://fvkendo.com/ on October 9 -12, 2008.

I had the opportunity to do Jigueiko with Ohkido Sensei (World Champion, 1998). Very strong!

With the Peruvian team

With an old friend Eddy Devisse

I have been noticing every year, that the level of Kenshis in this area is exponentially improving. Venezuelahas always been one of the strongest, because of the long history of Kendo in the country, because Ebihara Sensei from NY has been visiting Venezuela to coach their team. Also, I can see other countries such as Colombia, Peru (who placed second this year in the team matches), Trinidad improving rapidly every year.

Senseis visiting this event were the following, including two well known Senseis from IKF:
Hidetoshi Miyagawa (JPN) Hanshi 8Dan
Okido Isao (JPN) Kyoshi 8 Dan
Ebihara Daniel (USA) 7Dan Kyoshi
Tamaki Tadashi (BRA) 7Dan Kyoshi
Ciutoco Kogima (BRA) 7Dan Kyoshi
Furuya Isao (JPN-HOL) 7Dan Kyoshi,
Ariga Taro (CAN) 7Dan Renshi  

The tournament results are below:

8ºCCCK Campeonatos Oficiales – Championship Officials

Equipos Masculino / Men’s Team
1° Venezuela: A. Pintos, J. Araujo, A. Sánchez, G. Auvert, P. Lizardo
2° Perú: J. Rodríguez, E. Loo, J. Pajuelo, L. Guillen, A. Goyburo
3° Trinidad: M. Chiba, N. Alexis, H. Williams, H. Tanaka, H. Hirod
3° Ecuador: M. Polo, F. Concha, C. Ordoñez, D. Sosa, D. Ho-Son-Kim

Individuales Masculino / Men’s Individuals
1° J. Araujo (Venezuela)
2° N. Yamaguchi (USA)
3° S. Lamboo (Aruba)
3° H. Williams (Trinidad)

Individuales Femeninos / Women’s Individuals
1° M. Chiba (Trinidad)
2° S. De Wolf (Aruba)
3° D. Rincón (Venezuela)
3° M. Panza (Venezuela)

More information can be found on the Venezuelan Kendo federation website.

Every year, I go to Portugal to run a Gasshuku. Usually, I am there at the beginning of the year, but this year, it was last week, during the weekend of October 25 - 26, 2008. We had the Gashuku in a small town, Luso, about 150KM north of Lisbon. Luso is famous for its spring water, which is sold all across Portugal. http://www.travel-in-portugal.com/Luso/

Here are some of the videos of the Jigueiko:

The two days schedule was the following:

Portugal Gasshuku 2008

Sabado
9:00 – 9:30: Aquecimento/Suburi
9:30 – 10:00 Teoria do Taro de como ganhar um ponto no Shiai
10:00 – 11:30 Treino Basico com Bogu
- Kirikaeishi
- Uchikomi
- Kakarigueiko
- Renzokuwaza
11:30 – 1:00 Almoco/Descanso
1:00 – 1:30 Aquecimento/Suburi
1:30 – 3:00 Treino Avancado com Bogu
- Ohyo Waza
- Tecnicas para Shiai
3:00 – 4:00 Shiai (Equipe Portuguesa vs outros)
4:00 – 5:00 Jigueiko

Domingo
9:00 – 9:30: Aquecimento/Suburi
9:30 – 10:00 Kirikaeishi/Uchikomi/Kakarigueiko
10:00 – 11:30 Treino Avancado com Bogu
- Waza (Ohjigaeshi/Suriague/Shikake)
- Tsubazeriai
- Tsuki
11:30 – 1:00 Almoco/Descanso
1:00 – 1:30 Aquecimento/Suburi
1:30 – 2:30 Treino Avancado com Bogu
- Ohyo Waza
- Tecnicas para Shiai
2:30 – 3:30 Shiai
3:30 – 5:00 Jigueiko