Last night we were joined for keiko by Ralph Lehmann sensei (kyoshi, 7-Dan), former coach of the German national kendo team. We had a great keiko and learned a lot. Thank you for visiting and practicing with us, Lehmann sensei!
Farewell practice for Jon Hoin and Kensei Kikuchi
Saturday night was the last practice for our members Jon Hoin and Kensei Kikuchi, who are both moving away from Atlanta. Thank you both very much for practicing with us and we wish you the best of luck in the future! Please come back and visit us soon!
AKK Member Competing in the 16th World Kendo Championship
The 16th World Kendo Championship is fast approaching and kenshi all over the world are looking forward to the exciting tournament. The championship is held every three years, and this year the event will be held in Tokyo, in the world-famous Tokyo Budokan, which was also the site of the very first World Kendo Championship in 1970. The first WKC had 17 participating countries, and since that time, the event has grown to its present size of 56 countries and territories. Atlanta Kendo Kai is lucky to have a member that will be competing in the upcoming tournament: Pavel Litterbach.
Pavel began Kendo 10 years ago, and has progressed all the way to the rank of 4th Dan. When he participates in the WKC, he will be representing his home country of the Czech Republic. He practiced karate when he was younger, but he had always dreamed of doing a martial art with a sword. When he was 27, he was able to find Kendo and he hasn’t looked back. Pavel trains with Atlanta Kendo Kai three times a week, but he also let us know that he trains privately, or with friends and visitors, almost every other day of the week. He said that his private training focuses on stamina, execution of waza, and carefully analyzing and seeking to improve every detail of his technique.
In order to join the Czech national team, Pavel had to compete in a series of elimination matches with other candidates. Several of the top kenshi were then selected to join in group practices, in order to evaluate their ability to keep up with challenging keiko, as well as their ability to gel with the team. Pavel was eventually selected to be one of the seven members to attend the WKC. When asked about Czechnational team practices, he told us that while the keiko menu is very similar to that of other dojo, a lotmore time was dedicated to kirikaeshi, uchikomi-geiko, and kakarigeiko.
The WKC will be the largest competitive stage that Pavel has encountered. When asked about his goals, he said that for both the Men’s Individual and Team divisions, he would like to make it out of the initial group bracket. He would consider this to be a great achievement, both personally and as a team.
Finally, we asked Pavel about advice for both kenshi looking to compete on an international level, as well as for those just looking to improve their own Kendo. He said that the most important thing is to never look for excuses. “Try to find a way to practice more, and push your limits farther each time.” He said that even in his relatively short Kendo career, he has seen people who seem complacent in their practice; they just show up and go through the motions, and as a result their Kendo looks empty. He said that it is important to always have goals, not just in Kendo but in everything we do in life. And we shouldn’t be afraid to set big goals for ourselves. He feels that “the bigger the goal, the greater the achievement will be.” It helps to set up small goals along the way, but we should keep the larger goal in mind at all times.
We are very proud of our member Pavel for his achievements and we wish him the best of luck in the 16th World Kendo Championship!
Cleveland Taikai Results
On Saturday, April 4th, the Cleveland Kendo Association hosted the 27th annual Cleveland Kendo Tournament / Greater Northeastern United States Kendo Championships. Here are the results from our Atlanta Kendo Kai members who participated in the tournament.
3rd and 4th Dan Division:
- Pavel Litterbach – 2nd Place
- Victor Koh – 3rd Place
Teams Division
- Pavel Litterbach joined as a participant of the Mix USA team, which won 1st place.
Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to the Cleveland Kendo Association for hosting another amazing tournament!
2014 SEUSKF Tournament
Practice with Matsumoto Sensei
Thank you to Matsumoto Sensei and Eric Hibbs who practiced with us last Saturday!
Youth Beginners Classes Starts!
Atlanta Kendo Kai is proud to announce the addition of youth beginners classes in our Saturday schedule.
The first session will start on September 7, Saturday from 5-5:45pm. This class is for ages 7 and up. Parents or guardians can register their minor online here: https://www.atlantakendokai.org/starting-kendo/beginners-registration-form/
The youth beginners classes are 8-week sessions. Dues for the entire 8 weeks will be $80 plus $20 for the cost of a shinai for a total of $100.
Deadline for registration is August 28.
Please email [email protected] for any questions.
Thank you and see you at the dojo!
2013 All-Carolina and Cleveland Tournament Results
Congratulations to everybody who won and passed their promotion exams in the All-Carolina and Cleveland Tournaments!
2nd All-Carolina Tournament results:
1st place Women’s – Yoshimi Desouza
2nd place Women’s – Reiko Desouza
2nd place Mudansha – Jon Hoin
3rd place 1Dan-3Dan – Jeremie Lorant
3rd place 4Dan and up – Yoshimi Desouza
3rd place 4Dan and up – Reiko Desouza
3rd place Teams – Atlanta Kendo Kai B (Jon Hoin, John Adams, Eric Bowman, Bryan Kapplow(Tallahassee) , Jose Contreras(Seminole))
Jon Hoin – passed 4Kyu
25th Cleveland Kendo Tournament results:
2nd place Women’s Division – Yoshimi Desouza
Eddie Facey – passed 3Kyu
2013 AUSKF/SEUSKF/Atlanta Kendo Kai Registration
As announced, the 2013 registration process for the All US Kendo Federation (AUSKF), SouthEastern US Kendo Federation (SEUSKF) and of our dojo, Atlanta Kendo Kai is now ongoing.
If you wish to participate in any AUSKF/SEUSKF event such as a tournament or promotional testing this year, you will have to register and pay the appropriate dues for AUSKF/SEUSKF.
We highly encourage everybody to pay these dues so we can all test together and compete at tournaments. Otherwise, you can still opt to just pay the annual dojo fee.
The deadline for the registration and payment of fees is February 16, 2013 – Saturday.
We have outlined the requirements and fee schedule below and divided them between AUSKF/SEUSKF/Atlanta Kendo Kai and Atlanta Kendo Kai Only registration. We apologize if these may seem a lot, so if you have any questions or concerns please approach either Barr sensei or Oliver senpai after class. You may also email us at: [email protected].
AUSKF/SEUSKF/Atlanta Kendo Kai Registration
1. Required form: If you were NOT a member last year, please complete the SEUSKF AGREEMENT AND RELEASE FROM LIABILITY.pdf.
2. Payment of fees: Please make one check payable to “Atlanta Kendo Kai” for the amount of $90 for Adults aged 18 and over or $70 for Youth aged 17 and under.
3. Breakdown of the fees are as follows:
Adults (18 and over):
AUSKF Annual Registration – $40;
SEUSKF Annual Registration – $30;
Atlanta Kendo Kai Annual Registration – $20;
Total $90
Youth (17 and under):
AUSKF Annual Registration – $25;
SEUSKF Annual Registration – $25;
Atlanta Kendo Kai Annual Registration – $20;
Total $70
Atlanta Kendo Kai Registration – only
1. If you have no plans of going to a tournament or testing for the entire year, you can opt to just pay the annual Atlanta Kendo Kai dues.
2. Payment of fees: Please make a check payable to “Atlanta Kendo Kai” for the amount of $20 which is our annual dues. The dues are used to fund the different internal projects the dojo undertakes throughout the year.
3rd Annual Ota Cup Taikai Results
Thank you to everybody who made the 3rd Annual Ota Cup Taikai a success!
Mudansha
1st Place – Cameron Robertson
2nd Place – Kristine Banados
3rd Place – Matthew Graham
3rd Place – Fernando Navarro
Yudansha
1st Place – Jeremie Lorant
2nd Place – Max Brown
3rd Place – Victor Koh
3rd Place – Yuki Desouza
Team Champion
Reiko Desouza
Derrick Alston
Eddie Facey
Runner-Up
Jeremie Lorant
Sean Gill
Felipe Restrepo
Kantou Sho
Eddie Facey – Mudansha
Rodney Pacis – Yudansha
Felipe Restrepo – Teams
