Message from Shihan Midori - October 2009

Dear Branch Chiefs and Contacts,

I hope that all of you are fine.

Here in Japan, we are in the midst of autumn which offers us a fantastic landscape colored in yellow, red and orange.

The training in our dojos all over the world is going on as usual, and all our students are heading towards the goal each one of them has set up for themselves. It is especially encouraging to watch the children in their practice; they are all very serious in their training, like small Samurais. I am very grateful to the parents who trust our organization and enroll their children in our dojos. Most parents wish their children to become “a gentle and kind child, with a strong heart and good behavior”. We must always keep this in our mind, to be sure not to let down these parents. In our work it is also important to teach the children what is said in “Kyokushin Seishin” (“Kyokushin Spirit”) about filial piety and gratefulness to our parents. In order to bring up these children to become people with great personality, we must never forget ourselves and our behavior; we must always work on our own personal growth.
Here in Japan the 41st All Japan Tournament was successfully held in the beginning of October, and we are now focusing on the upcoming 10th World Championship in 2011. We could see at the All Japan Tournament that the Japanese competitors fought with the World Championship in their mind, there were many great battles to be seen. The Champion of this tournament was Norichika Tsukamoto. Tsukamoto is working hard as a Branch Chief to bring up strong students and at the same time he is challenging himself with severe and hard training. He became the World Champion at the age of 21 and has continued to be the world’s top fighter all these years; he is today 35 years old. Although the competition level is increasing year by year, Tsukamoto has managed to continue to develop himself and remain at the top; he gives us a splendid example of what true Budo Spirit is.
The autumn has been very busy all over the country with many local tournaments, it is now starting to calm down a little bit, and I hope to be able to visit some of our overseas branches if my schedule allows it. I just visited Switzerland and watch the Swiss Open, organized by Branch Chief Peter Steinmann. The tournament was of a very high level, and competitors from many different countries participated in this event. There was a large audience with a great atmosphere. It is a great joy for me to see these kinds of events overseas, and it makes me proud of Japan and our Karate. I would like to express my gratitude to everybody who was involved in organizing this great tournament.
Now when Karate is becoming more and more globalized, it is even more important for us to retain our Budo Spirit and to always be sure to behave and act in true Budo manner. We must never forget to be grateful to others, to act with respect and modesty towards those around us. We are working for a globalization of Karate, but we must be careful to keep the tradition of true Budo.
I’m sending you my message every month, and I hope that you show it to your students as well, it is important that all members of our organization are working together, with the same goal, and in the same manner.
As always I would like to end this month’s greeting with thanking all of you for your hard work.

OSU!

Kenji Midori
President
WKO