First of all, thank you to all volunteers and participants who made the 20th MWKF Tournament possible.  Without you, it would not be possible.

Secondly, we would like to congratulate all the winners of the tournament, and Cochran sensei won 2nd place in Seniors!  Results will be posted later this week on this website and the MWKF website.  So stay tuned!

Finally, we would like to congratulate the following Minnehaha members who have successfully passed their exams on Sunday:

• Justin Brunnette - Shodan
• Jacob McClure - 2 Kyu
• Hanae Tsujimoto - 2 Kyu

Actually, one more announcement.  University of Wisconsin will be hosting a team practice on November 15 & 16.  More detail will soon follow.

Please be at the dojo at 2:30 and get ready to go by 3:00 so we can practice entering and exiting a Shiajo (Match area/ring).  Also if you have not pay for your registrations, please do so.

Thank you

As we all know that the 20th MWKF Tournament is approaching, we will need a good number of volunteers to assist us for variety of duties on October 18.  As a small token of appreciation, you will receive a FREE bento lunch at the tournament.

We will need volunteers for the following duties through out the tournament:

• Timing - All you have to do is to time a 3 minutes match
• Score Keeping - Writing down scores and arranging matches
• Tying Red/White Ribbons (Tasuki) for competitors
• Passing out water for referees

There are also many miscellaneous duties through out the tournament, so if you are interested in helping, please fill out the application or contact:

Mon Lu (Please use the contact form).  Please include your name, phone numbers, and availability.

We will also have a volunteer meeting tentatively on Friday October 17, time is to be announced.

Thank you very much in advance!

This is a very short notice!  Kawashimo sensei is visiting us tonight and this Saturday.  Kawashimo sensei will return to Japan next week, so come join us!  Please be at the dojo at 7:30 tonight and ready to go by 8:00, and please be ON TIME on Saturday so we can start as 3:30!

Besides that, congratulations to Narumoto sensei who took 2nd place at the Nationals, and our MWKF team took 3rd place!!!

Please note that there is no practice on July 4th. Practice will resume on July 5th, Saturday.

Also wish Alex Hendricks best of luck for the Nationals! He will be participating in the Junior Youth Individual division on July 3rd. Good luck! Alex!

Another note is if you are thinking about attending the summer camp on August 8, 9 & 10. It’s time to start brining in the form because it is due on July 25th. Of course, let each other knows so we can arrange car pooling and sharing a room with someone.

Happy July 4th! (Don’t go blow things up or get too drunk )

Sadly to announce that Keiichiro Narumoto sensei is leaving us to Pennsylvania continue to pursue his career. To thank him and farewell to him for his teaching and biru-geiko in the past 3 years, we will have a special practice and party for him as followed:

Date: June 25th, 2008 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:00pm - 8:15pm (Practice) - Please be there AT 6:00 and ready to go at 6:30!
Food: Please bring something to the party, and let me know whatever you’re bringing so we don’t have 10 bags of potato chips and 5 packs of cokes. (Email me using the contact form OR call me: 612-251-4308 - don’t do both, I will hurt you…)

Hope to see you all there!

UW Kendo once again is hosting the annual MWKF Summer Camp. Yamanaka (8th Dan Hanshi) and Saito (8th Dan Kyoshi) Sensei’s are also once again flying from Japan to help us learn. This is for all levels of Kendo practitioners, so sign up! Here is a summary of the event:

Dates: August 8, 9, 10
Practice Location: SERF, 715 W. Dayton St., University of Wisconsin, Madison

Schedule

Friday, August 8, afternoon and evening arrival, dinner on your own

open practice in SERF Gymnasium Gyms 2, 6-9 PM

Saturday, August 9

9-12 AM - Practice in SERF, Gyms 2 & 4

12-2 PM Lunch – Gordon Commons

2-5 PM - Practice in SERF, Gyms 2 & 4

6-7PM- Dinner – Gordon Commons

evening gathering or demonstrations

Sunday, August 10

9-12 AM - Practice in SERF, Gyms 2 & 4

12-2 PM – Lunch – Gordon Commons

afternoon departure

Registration Fees: Due by July 25, 2007 (a $20 late fee will be added to registration after this date) Registration includes Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday, and Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday. Free parking passes at a nearby Campus parking lot are also available for out of town participants.

Adult $100 for double occupancy room ($140 single occupancy)

Youth (18 and younger) $70 for double occupancy room

Local Meals Only $60 , Local Youth Meals Only $ 45

Registration form: 2008 MWKF Summer Camp Info & Registration

Last but not least, don’t forget to practice a song or two without music for the camp. Because Yamanaka & Saito sensei want to hear you sing during the “gathering”!

As expected, Kawashimo sensei (7th Dan) will be joining us this Wednesday 4/16 from 7:30-9:30. Please be at the dojo at 7:30 and be ready to go at 8:00. Same thing for Saturday 4/19, be at the dojo at 3:00 and be ready to go by 3:30. Kawashimo sensei had been very resourceful and helpful to us in the past few years, please come to give him a warm welcome.

First and foremost, a big thanks to Carleton College for hosting a successful and helpful annual seminar this past weekend.  Also big thanks to Okawara sensei (Choyokan dojo, Chicago) and Imanishi sensei (Casade Dojo, Seattle) came all the way here to Minnesota to help us learn.   I hope we all learned a lot, meet some new people, and most of all, had fun.

Kawashimo-sensei visit 

Another announcement is that Kawashimo-sensei will be visiting us next week.  If you don’t know about Kawashimo sensei, Kawashimo sensei is 7th Dan from Japan and visit our small dojo almost annually to help us learn.  For the moment, the schedule is to be announced, so please check back often as I find out more about the special practice with Kawashimo sensei next week.

I apologize for not being clear in the last update:  THERE WILL BE NO CLASS AT MINNEHAHA ON SATURDAY, 4/5!   And this is a 2-day-event:  4/5 Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  4/6 Sunday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

IMPORTANT: 

One last thing for the Godo keiko, please download the form Hold Harmless Agreement below, fill it in and bring it to the event.

Carleton College Hold Harmless Agreement

Reminder: If you want to order lunch at the event, please contact John Born (johnborn [at] mnkyudo.org) by 5 P.M. today!