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!

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!

Thank you to Matsumoto Sensei and Eric Hibbs who practiced with us last Saturday!

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

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.

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

Congratulations to everybody who won and passed their promotion exams! Let’s keep it up!

Ryoko Barr Sensei – 1st place Women’s Division
Yoshimi Desouza – 2nd place Women’s Division
Hayato Desouza – 3rd place Shodan-Nidan
Cameron Robertson – 3rd place Mudansha

Jeremie Lorant – 3Dan
Hayato Desouza – 3Dan
Sean Gill – 2Dan
Derrick Alston – 1Kyu
Eric Bowman – 2Kyu
Matthew Graham – 2Kyu
John Adams – 4Kyu
Corey Cardarelli – 4Kyu
Brian Eberhardt – 4Kyu
Edwin Facey – 4Kyu
Scott Hinkelmann – 4Kyu
Fernando Navarro – 4Kyu
Felipe Restrepo – 4Kyu
Cameron Robertson – 4Kyu
Anne Tan – 4Kyu