A note of thanks

Minako and Ian Jackson from Smiles for Japan have sent through a message of thanks to all those who took part in the display at CUC at the weekend. Joe will write up a little report when he gets chance but in the mean time here's what minako had to say:

We would like to express our big thanks to all the Liverpool Kendo Club members for presenting the demonstration at Smiles For Japan event last Saturday. We heard quite a lot of positive comments about the demonstration, people were thrilled and impressed. Some commented 'artistic' too.

Please pass our gratitude to Sensei and other members for us. Also please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused with regards to the facilities arrangement.

We hope that everyone had sometime to look around and enjoy other parts of the event as well.

This Smiles For Japan event has raised £3,408.00 and we have handed over the money to British Red Cross yesterday.

Thank you very much once again for taking part of Smiles For Japan.

Best wishes,
Minako & Ian Jackson
Liverpool For Japan/Artinliverpool.com

My own personal thanks to those who stepped in to help with the display.

Smiles for Japan Charity Event

Just a reminder we have been asked to put on another performance at Smiles for Japan

This is a day and Night of Music, Performance, Film, Art & Fun! Give your smiles and support from Liverpool to Japan, here are the details:

Venue: CUC Liverpool, 41 -51 Greenland Street, Liverpool, L1 0BS 
Date: Saturday 14 May 2011, from noon til late. Entry by donations.

Any volunteers please step forward to help with our display. We have been asked to be there for 3pm



BKA AGM

For those that are interested this years BKA Annual General Meeting is scheduled as follows: Date: Saturday 21st May
Location: Caroline Chisholm School, Wooldale Rd, Wootton, Northampton NN4 6TP
Map Link: Here
You can find more information about the AGM and all of the End of Year Reports here:
http://kendo.org.uk/agm/

As the AGM also includes over two and a half hours of kendo with the most senior kendoka in the country it may be worthwhile considering attending [sadly I'll be on holiday]. At the very least, take a look at the reports and see what is going on with the Association. The BKA is it's members, that's you, you pay to be a part of it so it's worth your while to understand what goes on, and if you can add more to the Association than just your weekly practice.

Flickr

I mentioned in the past that I had set up a Flickr account to display photographs of the club. I've just added photos from the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai and also a few photos from the display for the Etsu Restaurant Japan Fun Day.

The plan is eventually to link these images to our gallery page, which I'm trying to figure out, but in the mean time you can access them directly via the links.

Etsu Restaurant Japan Fun Day Charity Event

If you recall last week Joe mentioned the Japan Fun Day organised by Etsu Restaurant Liverpool (where we had our Christmas Meal) which was yesterday.

Firstly I have to apologise for turning up late, by the time I got there the first display was already underway. Sensei Ware, Joe Willmott, Geunsu Lee and Kobudokan Kendo Club and GB Squad member Tom Widdows put on a demonstration of kata, kiri-kaeshi, cutting each of the targets and finished with jigeiko. After they finished, and I'd accepted the jokes about my poor time-keeping ;) I was informed that the other martial arts demonstrations had been cancelled due to various reasons. Which was sad but also a prime opportunity for us to show what kendo was about.

We put on two more demonstrations around displays from a Taiko Drumming Group. It was made difficult with the fact that we were practicing on granite paving slabs but we put on a spirited display with many people impressed by our efforts. Hopefully a lot of money was raised.

Further to our display we have been asked to put on another performance at Smiles for Japan

This is a day and Night of Music, Performance, Film, Art & Fun! Give your smiles and support from Liverpool to Japan, here are the details:

Venue: CUC Liverpool, 41 -51 Greenland Street, Liverpool, L1 0BS 
Date: Saturday 14 May 2011, from noon til late. Entry by donations.

We believe this will be an even bigger event than Monday so we would ask for any volunteers to step forward to help with our display.



Beginner's Nights all right for fighting.

Thanks to everyone who turned up for the Beginner's Night. I think there were seven, hopefully we'll see you all back at the club next Wednesday, where it'll only get better and more confusing.
Just a reminder to all that next week will be the first Wednesday of the month, which is 'fees night', £20 for the gainfully employed, £10 concessions. This includes all the Wednesday practices and any kata sessions. There is no kata on Monday though, as it's a Bank Holiday. Details of all practice dates are updated on the calendar so please keep an eye on it or add it to your RSS readers [details on the forum on how to do this, feed link below].
Liverpool Kendo Club Training Calendar RSS Feed

The next kata session will be on Monday 16th May, only one seeion this month, so any beginners wishing to attend note it in your diaries. Some clubs find it can be difficult to grasp kata early on, but Sensei believes there is a lot a beginner can learn which can help with the Wednesday night sessions. So come along to Chesterfield High School in Crosby, details in the Training section.

Anyone who missed Beginner's Night and still wishes to attend, next week is your 'last chance to dance' before our next Beginner's Night. Anyone who wants to try kendo can do so but after next week, for the benefit of all the beginners, you will have to wait till our next Beginner's Night. Thanks for your understanding.

Lastly, Joe mentioned the Japan fun day organised by Etsu Restaurant Liverpool where we had our Christmas Meal. Here are the details -

Japan Fun Day at Etsu Japanese Restaurant – 2 May 2011
Venue: Etsu Restaurant, Beetham Plaza, 25 The Strand, Liverpool L2 0XJ
Date: Bank Holiday Monday 2 May 2011 from 12noon – 18.00
Entry fee: £1

And you can get more information here: http://www.liverpoolforjapan.com/?p=456 hope some of you can make it, we'll try to be there in bogu for a little display.

Beginner's Night 27th April 2011

Just to remind everyone that tonight is Beginner's Night. For current members please try to be on time so we can get ready and please bring any spare shinai you have. I checked mine and found I'd broken one last week so we're another spare one down. Oh, and please check yours, just in case.

Beginners please be in the dojo no later than 7:15pm so we can go through all the Health and Safety aspects. Please remember to wear loose fitting clothes, tracksuit pants or three-quarter shorts are ideal. For more information click the Beginners link on the website. Just a reminder that your first session is free and if you cannot manage it this week then we will only accept new beginners up to May 4th [next week]. If you miss these dates anyone wishing to start kendo will have to wait until the next Beginner's Night in July. The 2011 Beginner's Nights are:

• Wednesday January 26, 2011
• Wednesday April 27, 2011
• Wednesday July 27, 2011
• Wednesday October 26, 2011