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.
