Volume 31, number 1/2/3
January/February/March 2017
PNKF DATEBOOK
June 2017
- 6/10: Rose City Taikai, Sat, doors open 8am, start time 9am, PCC Cascade Campus Gym, 705 N. Killingsworth Street, Portland, OR 97217.
- 6/10-13/2017: AUSKF Iaido Seminar and Jodo Seminar and Shinsa, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA.
- 6/22-26: AUSKF Championships and Junior Championships, Wed-Sun, Independence High School, San Jose, California.
- 6/21: Manager/Referee Meetings, Wed.
- 6/22: Junior Open National Championships, Thu.
- 6/23-25: AUSKF National Championships, Fri-Sun.
- 6/25: Leeward Oahu Kendo Tournament, Sun, Mililani District Park Gym, Hawaii.
July 2017
- 7/6-9: 10th US Nito Seminar and Shinsa, Thu-Mon, Boise State University, Rec Center Main Gym, 1515 University
Drive, Boise, Idaho. - 7/22: PNKF Board, Sat, 9-11am, 525 4th Avenue N. (corner of 4th and James St.) Kent.
August 2017
- 8/12: PNKF Shinsa, Sat, Iaido 9am-12noon; Kendo 12:30-4pm, open keiko 4-5pm, 525 4th Avenue N. (corner of 4th and James St.) Kent.
September 2017
- 9/16: PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, 525 4th Avenue N. (corner of 4th and James St.) Kent.
- 9/22-9/24: PNKF Iaido Seminar, Fri/Sat/Sun.
- Rain City Fencing, 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue. Teachers: Iaido Kyoshi 8th Dan Hideo Noguchi; and Iaido Kyoshi 7th
Dan Shigehiro Aoki and Kaoru Suzuki. - Schedule: Fri, 7-9pm Jodo/Iaido; Sat, 9am-5pm Iaido; Sun 9am-12noon Iaido Tournament; 1-5pm Iaido.
- Rain City Fencing, 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue. Teachers: Iaido Kyoshi 8th Dan Hideo Noguchi; and Iaido Kyoshi 7th
October 2017
- 10/7: PNKF Shinpan Seminar, 12noon-4pm, open keiko 4-5pm, Tyee Educational Complex, 4424 S. 188th Street, SeaTac, located
right off I-5 at S. 188th Street. - 10/21: Tacoma Taikai
- 9:30am Opening Ceremonies (doors open at 8:30am), Curtis High School, 8425 40th Street West, University Place, WA 98466
(tentative).
- 9:30am Opening Ceremonies (doors open at 8:30am), Curtis High School, 8425 40th Street West, University Place, WA 98466
November 2017
- 11/4: PNKF Taikai, Sat, 9:30am,525 4th Avenue N. (corner of 4th and James St.) Kent.
- 11/11-12, AUSKF Board and Kodansha Shinsa, Sat/Sun, TBD.
- 11/18: PNKF Board, Sat, 9-11am, 525 4th Avenue N. (corner of 4th and James St.) Kent.
December 2017
- 12/??: Kent Taikai, Sat, report time 9am, start 9:30am, 525 4th Avenue N. (corner of 4th and James St.) Kent.
September 2018
- 9/14-16: 17WKC, Fri/Sat/Sun, Incheon, Korea.
12th ANNUAL PACIFIC INTERCOLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT – January 28, 2017, Langara College, Vancouver, BC
Women Non-Bogu 1st place - Bernice Lin, UW 1st place - Gene Ju, SFU 2nd place - Erica DeJong, UW 2nd place - Edward Li, SFU 3rd place - Kaylyn Kale, UBC 3rd place - Sean Lu, SFU 3rd place - Becca Hsu, SFU 3rd place - Eric Gao, SFU Men 1 Kyu and Above Men 2 Kyu and Below 1st place - Tsuyoshi Hamanaka, UBC 1st place - Brandon Vernon, Langara 2nd place - Ryota Kuki, UBC 2nd place - Kevin Chiang, UBC 3rd place - Andrew Chen, UBC 3rd place - Chris Tang, SFU 3rd place - Tiarnan Marsten, UW 3rd place - Jason Tang, Langara Teams 1st place - UBC (Andrew Chen, Kaylyn Kale, Aya Hioki, Kevin Chiang, Ellis Cheng, Ryota Kuki) 2nd place - SFU (Chris Tang, PoWei Chen, Michael Hong, Spencer Myrtle, Gabriel Ng) 3rd place - UVic (T. Koyano, Matt Pomeroy, S. Nichols, Kirk Mercer, Mark Pomeroy, S. Shan, Makiko Tahara) 3rd place - UW (Bernice Lin, Khang Le, Erica DeJong, Corey Chan, Marco Eum, Anna Ngo, Connor Blomquist, Tiarnan Marsten)
55th ANNUAL STEVESTON KENDO TOURNAMENT – February 11, 2017, McMath High School
10 Years and Under 11 to 13 Years 14 to 15 Years 1st place - T. Ariga, Butokuden 1st place - J. Huang, NCKF 1st place - P. Ikeda, NCKF 2nd place - K. Yoshimura, Renbu 2nd place - A. Onitsuka, NCKF 2nd place - R. Kim, Renbu 3rd place - N. Son, Renbu 3rd place - B. Miki, Steveston 3rd place - E. Chui, Steveston 3rd place - S. Tominaga, Renbu 3rd place - C. Robillard, Steveston 3rd place - ET Chen, NCKF 0-4 Kyu 1-3 Kyu Women 1 Dan and Under 1st place - R. Soriano, UW 1st place - J. Yoon, SCKF 1st place - A. Kojima, Bellevue 2nd place - K. Fukuda, Cascade 2nd place - T. Shiomi, Zousoukan 2nd place - C. Ikeda, NCKF 3rd place - JS Lee, Central 3rd place - S. Myrtle, SFU 3rd place - S. Maekawa, SCKF 3rd place - A. Drake, Kelowna 3rd place - M. Park, Central 3rd place - I. Kim, Renbu Women 2 Dan and Over 1-2 Dan 3 Dan 1st place - H. Yamada, Vancouver 1st place - M. Uto, NCKF 1st place - J. Williams, SCKF 2nd place - J. Kurahashi, Renbu 2nd place - E. Lee, Renbu 2nd place - R. Asato, Vancouver 3rd place - M. Otsuka, NCKF 3rd place - J. Croes, Portland 3rd place - K. Mizobe, SCKF 3rd place - E. Marsten, Highline 3rd place - T. Marsten, Kent 3rd place - B. Shin, Central 4 Dan and Above 1st place - D. Huh, SCKF 2nd place - J. Chang, SCKF 3rd place - R. Yasumura, Ontario 3rd place - J. Brown, SCKF Junior Team Senior Team 1st place - NCKF A (Chen,Onitsuka, 1st place - SCKF (J.Williams,J.Chang, Chen,Ikeda,Park) D.Huh,J.Hakakeyama,J.Brown) 2nd place - Steveston A (Robillard,Miki, 2nd place - Renbu (H.Shim,E.Kita, E.Chui,M.Iwai,S.Ito) J.Kurahashi,D.Taguchi,D.Ara) 3rd place - Tozenji (Shimizu,Kanauchi, 3rd place - Century (D.Hong,IS.Chun Kanauchi,Mereigh,Fukuoka,Kono) J.Lee,B.Shin,HK.Ryu,M.Park) 3rd place - NCKF B (Hong,Ikeda 3rd place - JungKo (K.Lee,I.Park, Huang,Vasquez,Fan) H.Kim,K.Kim,J.Choi) Sportsmanship Pledge - Leanne Kiyomi Murao
41st ANNIVERSARY HIGHLINE MUDANSHA CHALLENGE CUP – March 18, 2017, White Center
Yudansha Mudansha 1st place - T. Marsten, Kent 1st place - R. Soriano, UW 2nd place - K. McManus, Kent 2nd place - A. Yorita, UW 3rd place - J. DeJong, Highline 3rd place - K. Wang, UW 3rd place - P. Lin, Bellevue 3rd place - V. Blancarte, Sno-King Teams 1st place - UW, 47 points 2nd place - Bellevue, 25 points Portland - 23 points Sportsmanship Pledge - Jennifer DeJong, Highline
SHINKYU SHINSA
PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, January 8, 2017, Boise State
2ND KYU: Rhett Atagi (Idaho), Jared Bowler (Zenbukan RMKF), Hiroyuki Maeda (Idaho), Gary Moulder (Palo Alto
NCKF), Tyler Peterson (Idaho). 1ST KYU: Cliff Asai (Venice SCKF), Nathan Williams (Dallas RMKIF). 1ST
DAN: Frank Hauser (Alaska), Aleasha Jay (RMBK RMKIF), Sangki Lee (Dallas NCKF), Ashley Moore (Dallas SWKIF),
Denise Verastigue (Dallas SWKIF), Sean Zhu (Dallas SWKIF).
PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, February 25, 2017, Middle School, SeaTac
3RD KYU: Yuriko Lee (Obukan), William Setunsky (Tacoma), Nikhil Varma (Seattle), Nicodemus Edwin Widjonarko
(Obukan). 2ND KYU: Khoi Duong (Kent). 1ST KYU: Mikako Barlow (Musokai), Sean Horita (Musokai).
1ST DAN: Victor Whitman (Seattle). 3RD DAN: Benjamin Cassel (RenMa), Ronen Totonchi (Musokai).
PNKF KENDO SHINSA, February 25, 2017, Middle School, SeaTac
6TH KYU: Jordan Bone (Northwest), Selin Kim (Bellevue), David Sterling (Northwest), Jonathan Yu (Northwest).
5TH KYU: Kristofer Chiu (Obukan), Kyle Chiu (Northwest), Nicholas Chu (Bellevue), Devin Chung (Cascade), Teo
Dage (Bellevue), Justin Davis (Northwest), Matt Miyamoto (Northwest), Taiki Miyamoto (Northwest), Daniel Shilov
(Bellevue), Ethan Sugimoto (Kent), Nina Underhill (Northwest). 4TH KYU: Matheus Bandur (Cascade), Danny Chung
(Cascade), Nikolas Faulkner (Edmonds), Kyle Hale (Seattle), Hayeon Kim (Bellevue), Isabella Lee (Federal Way), Ian
McAbee (Meadowbrook), Sergio Ortega (Seattle), Kassidy Ting (Northwest), Timaeus Ting (Northwest), Nikhil Varma
(Seattle), David Yip (Cascade). 3RD KYU: Kamia Acoba (Everett), Victor Blancarte (Sno-King), James Faulkner
(Edmonds), Helen Fukuda (Cascade), Kiana Fukuda (Cascade), Kyle Fukuda (Cascade), Tom Fukuda (Cascade), Keila Kimura
(Federal Way), Sudhanvi Koneti (UW), Noah Larson (Federal Way), Khang Le (UW), Daniel Lee (Tacoma), Simon Lee
(Federal Way), Benjamin Marx (Federal Way), Jason Nguyen (UW), Poul Nichols (Edmonds), Rouen de la O (Edmonds),
Nagato Orita (Seattle), Lea Reuter (Alaska), Michele Soleimani (Portland), Blake Sprenger (Obukan), Fred Wang (UW),
Francis Welsh (UW), Gerald Whitmarsh (Edmonds), Nicodemus Edwin Widjonarko (Obukan). 2ND KYU: Hien Katayama
(Edmonds), Josh Kim (Bellevue), Sandra Mizuno (Seattle), Jamie Mulvihill (Edmonds), Leonardo Ohata (Bellevue),
Michizane Ohata (Bellevue), Chi Pak (Portland), Edward Park (Bellevue),Ann Rubin (Tacoma), Keiji Underhill
(Northwest), Yuki Wakasaki (Obukan), Shun Wetlesen (Obukan), Victor Whitman (Seattle), Donna Wilson (Seattle), Binah
Yeung (Seattle). 1ST KYU: Brian LeSmith (Edmonds), David Nash (Edmonds), Tyler Peterson (Idaho). 1ST
DAN: Cougar Capoeman (Tacoma), Allison Kojima (Bellevue), Spencer Kua (UW), Yuriko Lee (Obukan), Charles Matthews
(Cascade), Dan McLean (Portland), Camille Nagasawa (Bellevue), Peter Palmer (Northwest), Betty Park (Bellevue),
Gregory Vielhaber (Portland), Tyler Yamashita (Seattle). 2ND DAN: Murray Bratland (Highline), Jacob Colter
(Cascade), Van Le (Obukan), Mikiyo Ohashi (Edmonds), Jason Yu (Northwest). 3RD DAN: Jaered Croes (Portland),
Tiarnan Marsten (Kent), Masumi Rinaldi (Bellevue). 4TH DAN: Sean DeBlieck (Sno-King), Young Kim (Northwest),
Marko Scott (Sno-King).
THE LAST WORD
In the Water Book are all the specific instructions for the skills of Kendo: bearing, stance, gaze, grip, footwork,
attitude, approaches, timing, cuts, parries, communications. If I did 10 or 50 suburi per week in Hawaii, I did 50 to
100 per day at Busen, just for warm-up. I made so many strikes that I forgot I was striking. Pushed physically beyond
all thought and concept, the sword truly became an extension of my body just as the hand is an extension of the arm
and taken completely for granted. It felt natural. If one thinks about the action, it does not produce the natural
smooth and effective motion that though not hurried, is quick. I learned Zanshin, practiced best when exhaustion is
so great that no more physical movement can be imagined. The literal translation for Zanshin is “remaining spirit.”
No matter how conclusive a strike may be, whether in the battlefield or in the sports match where the final point is
seemingly won, the kendoist must not quit; the kendoist is always prepared! The spirit must remain. Training – the
10,000, the 100,000 suburi – is to achieve spontaneity, to teach the body to act without thought. Always alert,
always present, never over eager or uptight or assuming victory, Zanshin as “Kokoro Ga Nokoru” (the heart remains) is
the essence of Kendo spirit. Zanshin can only occur when the sword and the swordsman are one, itchi, and sword
actions are as natural as walking calmly and easily along a street. And so, we practiced and practiced and practiced
some more at Busen. This I now realize was the wisdom of Ogawa Sensei requiring kirikaeshi for an hour a day for an
entire year. Zanshin is essential aspect of the Nihon Kendo Kata. The Kata, or forms, were a significant part of our
practice. Not only do the forms use all of the techniques, but also necessitate relationship with the opponent as the
Kendo Kata is always performed by two people. Usually the Sensei or the senior kendoist plays the “Uchi Tachi” and
the student or less experienced kendoist plays the “Shi Dachi.”
–Rod Nobuto Omoto, Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 24-25.
Available as free download at lulu.com.