Open letter to Mingshi and KML

[William Honda]

To Mingshi and KML,

I hear you’ve met Moocow and Tenken. So what did you think?

Especially Mingshi, only because you’ve called Moocow a Musashi wannabe. Also I hear that Mingshi met Shikai sensei. Did you tattle on Mr. Kurukuru?

I’ll say it. We are not so bad in person, are we? Well then again, you have not met me yet.

Yeah baby!

[Inouye02]

honda san , do you really expect them to answer you ? after hearing about them meeting Uto Sensei , Tenken, Moocow , how can it be " just a misunderstanding " weirdo's, musashi wannabee's , yeah its all just a misunderstanding...but i do hope they changed their minds about Jodan and Nito Ryu...

[KhawMengLee]

Haha...I never said anything against Jodan or Nito ryu...(actually after watching Moocow and Raymond I wanna learn Nito but better to improve my itto first).

Yeah, Uto Sensei was cool. She spent a long time talking about you guys. I like the sound of the kurukuru kote, sounds really "unorthodox".

Yeah, I was in the same hotel as Uto Sensei, Yamaguchi Sensei, Hazard Sensei, Mr Hodges and Hashimoto Sensei in Glascow and
was lucky enough to spend time with them.

So I might be heading to Socal. at some point in time to train...heehee....

[Inouye02]

sounds good KML, theres a open invite at Venice Dojo should you ever visit SoCal

[Hongsermeier]

KML, I think you'd find an open invite to all so cal dojos. Just let someone know your coming and we'll help you get around. :cross_eye

[KhawMengLee]

cool.:)

[KATSUJIN]

i could only see mingshi, mccall and meng lee at wkc....how come i couldn't see anyone else there?

[PhilMcLaughlin]

Katsujin

Thats cos we were all working our WKC socks off during the day & a lot of us just collapsed in the bar afterwards and went to bed early

Next time as a spectator only !

cheers

[gill]

Originally posted by PhilMcLaughlin
Thats cos we were all working our WKC socks off during the day

All you did was sit behind a computer all day - what do you mean hard work???????

G :D

[m_french]

Originally posted by KhawMengLee
Yeah, I was in the same hotel as Uto Sensei, Yamaguchi Sensei, Hazard Sensei, Mr Hodges and Hashimoto Sensei in Glascow and
was lucky enough to spend time with them.

So I might be heading to Socal. at some point in time to train...heehee....

Meng was that Hashimoto of Palo Alto? Cool sensei, he was the sensei that first cracked me and Brad on the head.

Make sure you include Venice on your So Cal tour... we'll open up the doors and let the sea breeze in.:beard:

[mingshi]

Some of the things I learned at the WKC:-

1) Jodan and Nito... absolutely normal!!! Kusarigama... weird!! (I was about to find Katsuse Soke but he disappeared in the crowd...)
2) I looooove the Koreans.
3) Kendo Kata still sucks.

Yes, I should talk a little bit more but I have been sick since Day 1. I guess the Queen sent me some SARS!!

Shiai-jo assistant (aka Ribbon-tiers) is the most physical job of all as it involves finding the competitors out of nowhere. For example, Bloody Tenken didn't turn up in his first pool until 5 seconds before his match --and I am the one delaying the match for him!! There was no lunch break until 2.30pm, and we have to sit on the hard floor all the time.

Besides I was also the incompetent interpreter for the Chinese Taipei team. I was trying so hard to explain the pool system to their enraged coach... Shikai Sensei tried to talk to me when I was really busy and stressed out. But the Taiwanese gotta love me afterwards as I brought them Team Japan...

The best thing for me is to be able to move around the front and watch some interesting matches without any obstacle. Being able to TOUCH some of the famous competitors is a bonus.

Some people I said hello to (excluding those already in the UK):-
Alex (I lost the attention when you had the long encho)
Hamish (the busy cameraman)
Moocow, Tenken (via Uto-san, and also Shikai Sensei)
Katsujin (yeah you fought in my court)
Sensei of AlexM, Kendokamax and Saki
Abe Akihiro (not from the KWF but he made the popular Kendo site, and also the much-better AJKF WKC site)

P.S. I was so sick at the grading, but Miyazaki gave me Shodan out of pity. Yay!

[gill]

Originally posted by mingshi

P.S. I was so sick at the grading, but Miyazaki gave me Shodan out of pity. Yay!

Pants!!!! Your grading looked excellent - Congratulations!

Gill

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by mingshi
Sensei of AlexM, Kendokamax and Saki

Christian D'Orangeville?

P.S. I was so sick at the grading, but Miyazaki gave me Shodan out of pity. Yay!

Congratulations!

[PhilMcLaughlin]

Gill, thems fighting words !

By the time the competition actually started it had calmed down a bit (enough to watch some matches at least)

but before. ack !

best not to delve deeper, after all its over ;-)

mingshi - congratulations !

cheers

[gill]

Gill, thems fighting words !


Would you expect anything less?????

:D

[Karaken]

Originally posted by mingshi
Some of the things I learned at the WKC:-

2) I looooove the Koreans.


Congrats Mingshi..

Re: your comments above - can you elaborate? In what sense?

[Danny Boy]

I feel really suprised that i was not mentioned...after all if it were not for me, who else would play the role of the constantly intoxicated kendoka ;).

P.S.
I was the guy at shai-jo 1 computers that was causing Phil all that stress :P and the guy that had way too much "refreshments" on wendsday night hehe.

[KhawMengLee]

Meng was that Hashimoto of Palo Alto? Cool sensei, he was the sensei that first cracked me and Brad on the head.

I think so. It was Walter Hashimoto who is a dentist by profession.


Sensei of AlexM, Kendokamax and Saki

Christian D'Orangeville?

Heh, I did jigeiko with his son Lioc(?) at the Edinburg keiko.

**************************************************

Oh, Yeah...felt real sad for Korea. Good luck to 'em next WKC. Got a nice little souviner courtesy of the Korean coach Mr Park(heehee Alex and Hamish know what it is).

[moocow65]

open letter to mr ikuiku and honda. i'll will try to transfer the video i have of tenken and myself as well as some of the other US team members on to a VHS, and i will bring my tv/vcr combo on friday. well hopefully i'll be able to do it by friday. as an added bonus, i'll try to put in the retarded stuff that tenken and i did on the last night in glasgow. and yup.. we all love the koreans. well, the dude that i went against was really cool. he got all the ladies too. man, i couldn't count how many girls wanted to take a picture with him after the shiai! i had to wait!!!!! dammit, i'm the one who went against him and did hikiwake and i had to wait just because some girls wanted to take a picture with him!!!??? hahah, but i guess khaw-ming-me all reconciled our "differences" and "misunderstandings" heheheh. hey, i know. i'll scan that group picture of all of us and i'll post it up here and then everyone can see what a happy bunch we are. we'll see. and ooooh katsujin is suresh??? you looked pretty good out there. singapore 1 right? i was usa lucky number 7. wish i could have done some keiko with you guys. but khaw, you must come to our dojo so you can practice with myself and tenken. same goes to you ming. hey now that you're shodan you should start learning jodan or nito. all for now. laters

[sminki]

moocow, who did you go up against? YK Kim?

[KATSUJIN]

yo mingshi, congrats for your shodan grading...and by the way....i was on your court??? which day was that?

[dorkusxmaximus]

so yk kim is the cute guy i saw in the wkc pictures =)***???

[Hongsermeier]

KML..that Hashimoto sensei was my first sensei. I will be going up north to practice with him the first week in Aug. Very nice guy. :cross_eye

[sminki]

YK Kim is the tall(est) guy in the Korean team.

[mingshi]

Thank you all. I am so touch by the unconditional online friendship you people offered :cry: :cry: :cry:

Hey we have THREE KWF members winning the Fighting Spirit award!! Well done everyone!!

----------------
RE: I love the Koreans...

I just find myself supporting the Korean team whenever they go against any Japanese... Both the girls and the guys. They make the whole game so exciting.

At one point when the Korean men team was fighting in my court, I was clapping together with the girls. :D
----------------

Hey Moocow and Tenken, too bad you guys are not drinking. Or maybe that you CAN'T DRINK??? Next time I'd challange you in Beer Keiko!! Be prepared and train hard!!

:D yeah post the group pic up!

[Karaken]

Originally posted by mingshi
----------------
RE: I love the Koreans...

I just find myself supporting the Korean team whenever they go against any Japanese... Both the girls and the guys. They make the whole game so exciting.

At one point when the Korean men team was fighting in my court, I was clapping together with the girls.

Guess it's a human nature to root for an underdog. I thought you found a real cute guy(s)..:-)

Center..yes

[sminki]

I guess that cute guy could also have been Lim Kun Bai who took third in the individual.

[samurai999]

Originally posted by KhawMengLee


Yeah, I was in the same hotel as Uto Sensei, Yamaguchi Sensei, Hazard Sensei, Mr Hodges and Hashimoto Sensei in Glascow and
was lucky enough to spend time with them.



Hmm.. Lemme guess. Benjamin Hazard Sensei? He knows A LOT about kendo, kyuudo, iaido, and naginata especially stuff that formed in Norcal. He's one of the founding fathers of 2 of the biggest dojos in Norcal.

If you talk to Hashimoto sensei, he'll go on and on about his "war stories". I know since he's my sensei. :D He is more modern than other sensei. He's the one that brings up the fresh, (but a bit surprising) ideas of dark green hakama, colored men himo, etc.

Could Yamaguchi Sensei be from Norcal too? If so, he's the head of Mt. View dojo. Very interesting practice techniques. Thats all i have to say about that. If Mr. Hodges was hanging out with him, then thats the Yamaguchi Sensei I'm talkin about.

Lastly, congratulations mingshi on getting your shodan. It's like opening a door into a whole new world. (well at least to me it is :D)

Tim

[Will]

yeah the door to the snapped achilles tendon, right tim?

[m_french]

Originally posted by samurai999



Could Yamaguchi Sensei be from Norcal too? If so, he's the head of Mt. View dojo. Very interesting practice techniques. Thats all i have to say about that. If Mr. Hodges was hanging out with him, then thats the Yamaguchi Sensei I'm talkin about.

:D)

Tim

First time I went to Mt Veiw Yamaguchi had me run the Gauntlet.
He was my last opponent....I think he tsuki'd me 20 times...mostly in the shoulder I was purple and yellow for weeks....now that's kendo!:beard:

[dorkusxmaximus]

ohhh it could be Lim Kun Bai. I remember seeing a picture of a guy kenshi on the korean team receiving an award. was that him? i hope so =)***.

[Antonin]

Hey I was there as well !
I was tieing ribons on court 2. But as Mingshi said, we've been pretty busy. You guys have no idea how hectic the whole thing was... Running after teams or fighters, arguing with managers and team (BTW, I can never go back to train in Paris after the arguments I've had with the French team I think....), puting ribbons, following the progress of the matches so that we knew what was coming next (no-one kept us informed since we were on the 'wrong' side of the courts), etc...
Altogether, a very very nice week (yes, a whole week: we arrived on tuesday and left on the next monday...), full of exciting kendo. Getting to sit with the japanese team during the last final was very nice (KLM and I were doing the ribbons for that one ! ).
It's a shame i could not talk to more people, I would have liked to be able to appreciate them more than online. But no-one approached me either, even though my KWF name is my real name and I was wearing a nametag.
oops, got to do some work..
more later.
A.

[KhawMengLee]

If you talk to Hashimoto sensei, he'll go on and on about his "war stories". I know since he's my sensei. He is more modern than other sensei. He's the one that brings up the fresh, (but a bit surprising) ideas of dark green hakama, colored men himo, etc.

Actually, no war stories came up, a lot of talk about dentistry and luekemia for some reason. Uto Sensei and I looked really lost.

Haha, yar. He was a lot more "understanding" about beginners. He was saying you have to slowly bring them in and not scare 'em off by bashing them silly.



First time I went to Mt Veiw Yamaguchi had me run the Gauntlet.He was my last opponent....I think he tsuki'd me 20 times...mostly in the shoulder I was purple and yellow for weeks....now that's kendo![QUOTE]

Haha, yar...Yamaguchi Sensei was arguing at this point that bashing is good.

Yup, its the same Yamaguchi sensei who just got his nanadan. Yup, Mr Hodges was there too.

[QUOTE]Hmm.. Lemme guess. Benjamin Hazard Sensei? He knows A LOT about kendo, kyuudo, iaido, and naginata especially stuff that formed in Norcal. He's one of the founding fathers of 2 of the biggest dojos in Norcal.

Good God! lots of knowledge. I hope he puts it all down to paper or in a book. I know I'd buy a copy. He was talking very softly so I could only hear half of what he said but it was very interesting.

**************************************************

Yeah I got the white ribbon(well, sorta white after all the kendoka its been on) and got the 2 Kims, Lim and Park to sign it.

Heh, I remember one of my dojo mates was saying why did you keep the ribbon of the losers. Well, they were the winners in my book.

[samurai999]

Originally posted by Will
yeah the door to the snapped achilles tendon, right tim?

Hey hey. There is no scaring of other kenshi in this forum. :D Remember that bad stuff only happens to me. LOL
You're going to the SJ Taikai right? If so, i'll see u there.


Tim

[samurai999]

KML,

Hazard Sensei told me most of the Norcal kendo history at one sitting in the orthopaedic specialists waiting room one day. He happens to have the same doctor as I do. :D

Yup, thats Hashimoto Sensei alright. He starts talking about random things as well. Such as. Selecting good meats, leukemia, cancer, dentistry, about rivalries among Norcal dojos etc. He's cool in that he doesn't want you to go crazy. He just requests that his students come to practice and stay diligent. He actually encourages students to go to other dojos and he rather you work or study than be "kendo-crazy".

Tim

[Inouye02]

when is the SJ taikai ? is it open to the sckf too ?

[m_french]

Jamie it's the same weekend as Nessei.... you'll be at the dodgers:beard:

[Inouye02]

well heres the good news , nisei week will a 2 dat event now ..

[Hongsermeier]

Inouye...SJ taikai is same weekend as Nisei week. :cross_eye

[Inouye02]

ooooo stereo sound

[Inouye02]

before i forget , congrats to you Mingshi, Shodan now eh, is it going to be Jodan or Nito Ryu you want to learn ?

[samurai999]

Originally posted by Inouye02
when is the SJ taikai ? is it open to the sckf too ?

Aww man, you shoulda came last year. SJ Dojo had their 40th anniversary taikai at Santa Clara U. A whole bunch of Socal dudes came. D. Yang came and I think I saw tenken then but not moocow. Tenken was the only one doing Jodan i think.

Tim

[moocow65]

yeah, i went against YK Kim. that lim guy was kakkoii too. damn, he got third with a broken toe. i think if that lim guy was on the team competition, korea would have won it, cause he was damn good. so pikachu, i'm not sure which person you saw in the pictures. lim had like light brown hair, so i guess that's the way you could tell. which people got kantosho on this forum??? i saw that kantosho trophy... it looked better than my third place!!!! what's up with that?? it had a freaking stand too!!! as for the drinking game mingshi... no thanks. i'm like a 999-kyu in drinking, mainly cause i don't drink alcohol. and besides, i would rather be sober and watch all the drunk people act like idiots at the sayonara party. hahahah. damn, that banquet hall was hot. anyways, i think i spent most of my money in glasgow updating all the SCI folks on this forum. 1 pound for 11 minutes. yeah inouye2, the yudansha division is on the 10th and it's at long beach state. so you can participate. see you friday.

[dorkusxmaximus]

Thanks Moocow. Time to see if he has light brown hair.

[Inouye02]

ok moocow, i'll be there but maybe late gotta do some service calls , lots of ceiling fans to be hung...chaching !!!!

anyways cant wait to see the video ..can i get a copy also ?

and yeah i signed up for nisei week at the pyramid tonight .i need some keiko ....

looks like Chinen Sensei and Chinen Sensei will be doing kata at the 1st tournament ...Father and Son now thats cool ...

[AlexM]

Originally posted by KhawMengLee
Heh, I did jigeiko with his son Lioc(?) at the Edinburg keiko.


That's Loïc not Lioc. tsk tsk... really Meng... who won by the way? :D

Moocow,

My sensei saw you against Team Canada and referred to you as the "excellent and combative nito" and the "secret weapon" on the US Team. He liked Tenken too I think. Not that it matters much.

Canada didn't manage a single point on the US. That is as lousy a result as one could get. Makes the US victory even more impressive.

[KhawMengLee]

haha...draw AlexM.But then again it was Jigeiko...the real test is in shiai;) he's got good form though and good footwork..you can feel it in tai atari.

[Hai_hai]

Originally posted by AlexM
...Canada didn't manage a single point on the US. That is as lousy a result as one could get...

Going by kendo principles, Canada benefitted from losing because each kenshi was made aware of his weaknesses. That is not lousy unless each one was purposely lazy.

[Hongsermeier]

Hai Hai...true. However, it is a little disapointing when your whole team gets shut out. :cross_eye

[William Honda]

Moocow,

I’ll be fishing off Mexico this Friday so I’ll miss the video. If you loan it to Mr. Ikuiku, I can watch it and get it back to you later?

Damn, sounds like I’m going to miss the fun. However, there might be sashimi for all later on. Or I’ll make Hawaiian poke (pronounced poki) and you guys are going to die.

Like the Hawaiian’s say “broke da mout!” (delicious) One hitch, I gotta catch something first I guess.

[KATSUJIN]

wah meng...u really got the koreans to sign on your white ribbon??? waaah.......:D

[KhawMengLee]

yup, actually it was Kim's white ribbon from the team final's against Eiga...well, I felt the Korean's won in my book.

[Yamakura]

Wow, Canada lost to team USA ?

They must of had a very strong team, I remember one Kenshi on the US team was really impressive from the last WKC, Yang I believe. Was Ariga Sensei on Team Canada this year ? After Canada almost beat Japan last WKC it looks like the top countries are getting closer and closer to winning.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Ariga-sensei was taisho again this year. The other members were Suguru Asaoka, Daisaku Taguchi, Matthew Raymond and one of the Kamata bros (Shigemitsu, I think).

[samurai999]

I really don't remember USA going up against Canada before this taikai. When was the last time?

Tim

[moocow65]

i think the last time we went against them was the world championships in vancouver i think? well, it was the one in canada a few years back. we lost, by the way. and we always have a usa (california) canada match every year at the steveston tournament. probably my favorite tournament. huge tournament and i get to go against people i've never went against before. the little after-party at blarney's is pretty fun too. might be more fun if you drink. i wouldn't know.

[moocow65]

oh yeah... neil.. it was shigemitsu. i went against him

[samurai999]

Man, I went 2 yrs ago when I just got 2kyu. (err to Steveston that is) That was fun. The whole tournament was huge and pretty cool. (good food as well) I can still claim my undefeated streak against Canadians in a tournament. :D Of course it might not last too long in the dan division if i go again. :D

Tim

[Neil Gendzwill]

oh yeah... neil.. it was shigemitsu. i went against him
Maybe you'd have worse luck with his brother - he took out Matthew 2-0 at Canadians this year fighting from kasumi. Gyaku-doh both times.

[moocow65]

hmm... maybe... but i've had my share of people who did kasumi against me. i've found ways to beat it tho. it's probably the toughest kamae to go against for me. that would have been pretty fun tho.