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| Archives:
Q1 2009
| Hey all! There hasn't been any update this
week, and there should have been, but it's been hectic for me.
First and foremost, I would like to congratulate Robert on his
promotion to 5th kyu!!! I was very happy with the progress he's made
while working alone. He was here last Saturday, and I got to watch
him - when I put him on the spot, he knew exactly what I meant.... good
job!
Secondly, I would like to thank Gøran Grønvold
and the Sørreisa Bujinkan for a really good seminar on Sunday! We
got alot out of it, and look forward to the continuation of the seminar!
Just let us know when (and where if it's at the new dojo - never been
there), and we'll be there.
Wednesday's training was run by Tommy (since,
unfortunately - I had a million and one things to do on my honey-do list),
and there was significant work on leaping rolls. Good job!
The next training is of course tomorrow from
5:30pm (kl 17.30) until we get done... about 8pm (kl 20.00). Don't
forget to take the opportunity to work on kamae and ukemi on your own.
As Gøran reminded us,
it's good to try and stretch out every, not just
when you're at class.
Just remember to keep going!!! You can't
improve with out working at it.
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
Kris Quinn, nidan30 January, 2009
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Hey all!
Welcome to the new (kind of) Rakunin Dojo website.
The format is the same, but everything else has been updated! We
also now have the new website address:
http://www.bujinkan-harstad.com.
The old web address
http://starbuck.virtualave.net/main/ninpo/home.htm continues to work, and both
addresses point to the same place - but I've gotten rid of the "personal"
website, Starbuck's Place - or at least, I've gotten rid of the this
website as a subset of it. Please note, that the initial page on the
website is intended for use with Internet Explorer, and doesn't seem to
function with Firefox, so you'll just need to click on the "skip intro"
button.
 As
a reminder, we have training today at 17.30 til 20.00. Tomorrow,
there is a scheduled seminar in Sørreissa with Gøran
Grønvold from 10.00 to 16.00. The cost is 100Nkr, plus you should take
with gas money (about 100kr) and whatever money you need for yourself.
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
Kris Quinn, nidan21 January, 2009
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Hey all!
To remind you all, we have our normal training Saturday, from
17.30-20. But Sunday, there is a full days training from 10.00 to probably
around 16.00. The cost of the training is 100kr. Just remember we
need to be on the road by 06.00 to make it at a reasonable time. We may
well need to take two cars - but well see how that goes. Have enough cash
for food (if you run out of money, don't look at me...) and a bit extra to help
cover the cost of gas ... 100kr should cover it per person, I guess.
Today's training went really well! We had a nice
turnout, and everyone learned something, I think.. Good job all!
The post by Shawn Gray on 14 January set off a whirlwind of
rumors, guesses and debates (and that was just here in Troms fylke!) Well today
I got a link from Gøran Grønvold for
Doug Wilsons blog. He's
written what I think can be considered a definitive response to all the debates,
aptly entitled:
Holy Honbu
Batman! During the Daikomyosai, you couldn't
miss Doug, because he was always translating for Hatsumi sensei - so I'd say if
anyone has a good take on soke's intention, he does.
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
Kris Quinn, nidan21 January, 2009
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Greetings all!
Boy, did that announcement of Shawn's start a discussion!
My email's full of posts back and forth about what it means. Needless to
say, no one really knows, but it sure is lively!
I'd like to take the opportunity to congratulate Kenneth on 6th
kyu! Kenneth has been training both in Harstad and Sørreisa,
and it shows! His technique is significantly stronger, and he's obviously
worked hard to improve. Good job, Kenneth! Gambatte!
In other news, welcome back to Ivan Skodje,
who returns from a 6 month exchange student program in China, where he has
studied various martial arts in addition to his regular school work. He
arrived back on Friday night, and managed a quick visit over to me.
Hopefully we'll see him today, and he'll be a regular back in class!
Kris Quinn, nidan18 January, 2009
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Hey all!
This was just posted on
Kutaki no Mura today!
Hi All,
Sensei has repeated some news at the beginning of the first classes this
year, so I think it bears posting here as well.
1) Sensei is planning to build a new Honbu dojo in the next 3-4 years.
He sees this as a type of Mecca for the Bujinkan. To avoid getting hit
by taxes as much as possible, he would like it to be built with tax-deductible
donations, so he would like the international Bujinkan community to
donate funds for the new dojo. (Shiraishi Sensei was the first one to
make a donation for the new dojo, to the tune of 500,000 yen. Sensei
mentioned this specifically to the whole class at least twice.) The
existing dojo will not be torn down any time soon, but will remain where
it is for the next 3 to 4 years.
2) Sensei will be registering the Bujinkan as a religious
organization (the term he used each time was "宗教法人" - shuukyou houjinn,
for those who might wish to clarify) - again, for tax reasons. The first
time I heard him say it I thought I must have heard wrong, and asked
another Japanese-speaker sitting beside me for confirmation - he told me
that I heard wrong, but Sensei announced it again last night at Ayase,
and there was no mistake. He joked that we'd soon all be training with
shaved heads (ha ha). This will probably come as a shock to some people,
but there is no mistake about what he said.
So, interesting times ahead for the Bujinkan. Sensei is always keeping
us on our toes.
万変不驚
Shawn (Grey)_________________
Japan Accommodation
BJK Shiraishi Dojo |
Gurei Dojo
稽古していればいい。
|
So now we're a religious order!
 (See, Puyan - you
aren't the only person to start your own religion!). On top of that, Ed
"Papa-san"'s website address has changed, and I've fixed it in my links page.
Kris Quinn, nidan14 January, 2009
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Hey all!
Let's see. Couple of things to add here. First, and
probably most important, I've spoken with the administration at Seljestad
Barneskole, and it seems there is another group using the Wednesday 17-19 (5pm -
7pm) timeslot, but 19-21 (7pm-9pm) is available. We'll try it this week,
and see how it goes. This means that for this week, training will be:
Wednesday 19 - 21Saturday 17:30 - 20
It looks like Ed "Papa-san" Martin's schedule is gonna be
busy this year too. I'm planning on seeing him at one of seminars he'll be
going to between now and July. I'm still paying off the trip to Japan, so
I'll have to play it partially by ear... probably one of the seminars in May or
June though.
Reminder: You need to get in your membership fee for 2009! It
takes awhile for us to get them, and the sooner I can send the payment to Hombu,
the sooner I can get everyone's 2009 membership cards back! The cost is
150kr.
Keep Training!!!
Kris Quinn, nidan09 January, 2009
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Happy New Year!
The changing of the calendar is, in many ways, a renewal for people. It
is a time to look back at the passed year's accomplishments, and forward to the
new opportunities and challenges. 2009 seems filled with both. Over
the New Year, I had the opportunity to see many of my old students who have gone
off to college. It was good to see you all, just wish we had more time to
get together...
Obviously to those who actually check this site, my new year's resolution
includes trying to keep it at least moderately updated from now on in.
During my time in Japan someone asked the reasonable question, "What is this
year's theme?" His answer was simply, "Everything". So, that's what
we're going to work on! I've taken it upon myself to editing the excellent
Bujinkan Training Curriculum that was written by Thom Humphreys, and that will
be an ongoing project for quite some time. He's put so much good stuff in
there - the only goal on my part is just to organize it, and make it more user
friendly for Bujinkan budokai everywhere.
I still need to contact the administration at Seljestad Barneskole about
changing our Friday class to Wednesday, hopefully between 18-20. I'll try
to do that this Thursday, since I work the late shift that day.
Just a quick reminder for you to check out the upcoming
Kaigousuru which will be held in Stockholm May 1-3, 2009. It isn't
too late to sign up if you wish to go, and it's definitely a good training
opportunity! Use the link to check it out.
I've gone over the links I have posted - deleted a few dead ones, and added
several that might be worth checking out. Dojos, places to buy training
gear, Tim Bathurst's site for those cool bokken everyone seems to have, etc.
Some good info there, just check 'em out!
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
Kris Quinn, nidan06 January, 2009
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Wow, another update... I guess I must be sick or something... I hope everyone has had a really good Christmas with lots of good stuff!
I'm really gonna try to update this site a bit more often. In fact, I'm
considering moving the server, and putting the Bujinkan pages on their own site
address, instead of as a sub site of Starbuck's Place. Like other ideas
running through my head at the moment, this'll probably have to wait until after
New Year's.
REMINDER: Everyone should be thinking about their 2009 Bujinkan
Membership dues! I need to send it in to Japan for the new year - and the
whole process will take a bit of time. I'll mark off on the
Training Roster after each person has paid up to date.
I'd also like to make up some t-shirts and maybe some caps with our dojo
name... dunno what it'd cost, but it'd be cool to have.
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
Kris Quinn, nidan26 December, 2008
|
 Ho ho
ho! I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Just a quickie update. Seems my younger students are having a problem
making it to the Friday training. They've requested I switch it back to
Wednesday's starting around 18:00. I'm gonna have to check with the
administration at Seljestad Barneskole, but if it's okay with them, it's okay
with me. Unfortunately, because my work hours shift, I can never guarantee
being at class. Fortunately, we had already worked out this little problem
at the beginning of the season when Tommy agreed to head the youth class.
I'll be there when I can, but for all intents and purposes, he's the teacher in
the class.
ALSO beginning January, all students will be charged the small monthly fee of
50kr. This is more to offset costs then some attempt to make any kind of
profit - I'd prefer payment at the beginning of the month please, but
arrangements can be made. Anyone interested in beginning to train with us
will forego the first month, so you can see if you like training with us or not.
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Just discovered the date for this year's Kaigousuru seminar in Stockholm.
As you can see from the banner above, it will be May 1-3, 2009. The
seminar prices are: One day - 700SEK, Two days - 1100 SEK, All 3 days -
1250SEK. When you sign up, you also have the option of having lunch
available, or joining the banquet on Saturday night. There's apparently
still room left to stay at the Dojo, but I'd contact the webmaster to be on the
safe side.
Congratulations to Steve, who has now been promoted to 6th kyu! He's
worked really hard, and he's definitely progressing well.
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
23. December 2008
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Hey all!
 Well, not a big shock, but this year I managed to make it to Daikomyosai in
Tokyo - which was a blast. Tommy Robertsen and Julia Levenets joined me as
we all got to experience the seminar together. I had been lucky enough to
see Hatsumi-sensei in action during the 1989 Tai Kai in Maryland, but this was
the first time to see him for real for Julia and Tommy. I got the
impression they were suitably impressed. I will definitely be picking up a
copy of the 2008 DVD when it's available if for no other reason then to remember
all the techniques that were shown off!
H ad a real blast hanging out with shihan Ed "Papa-san" Martin and his brother
Gus the first week. They were nice enough to take us under wing and help
us get familiar with things so we didn't get too many "gaijin points" - but I'm
sure I earned a few! The weather was absolutely perfect on Saturday and
Sunday - beautiful fall days, as we (all 360ish of us!) trained in the park and
earned plenty of stares from the locals who were out enjoying the fall.
The weather turned rainy and chilly for the last day of training on Monday -
which coincided with Hatsumi-sensei's birthday. I wasn't able to attend
the party afterward - which was just as well considering I didn't have any
appropriate clothing (ie: suit and tie). I'll remember to pack accordingly
next year.
During the two weeks, we (Tommy, Julia and I) tried to make as many training
sessions as our funds would allow. For anyone thinking of heading to Japan
to train? Figure out how much you'll need... then double it to be on the
safe side.
A few things of note happened - which are worth mentioning. Firstly, a
big old congrats to Tommy and Julia who were awarded their Shodans!!!!
They've even got the certification from Hatsumi-sensei to prove it. In
addition, I was promoted to Nidan, and theoretically all my paperwork is finally
in order to get supplies from Hombu (patches, certificates, membership cards,
etc). Which of course reminds me that we'll need to order 2009 membership
cards for everyone who still considers himself actively training soon - should
be 150kr.
 Another mentionable honor I received, and a significantly bigger shock, was
that at my last training with Shiraishi-sensei, he gave our dojo two gifts.
The first was a demon mask that he made himself - this was huge for me
personally. Papa-san had gotten one the week before, and when Shiraishi-sensei
pulled the mask out and passed it around for all to see, I NEVER expected him to
offer it to me. It will absolutely have a place of honor. The other
thing he did for us, at my request actually, was to give me a choice of 6 names
for the dojo here in Harstad. I chose Bujinkan Rakunin Dojo
(武神館
楽忍
道場).
Rakunin Dojo can be translated as "Place of Easy Perseverance Training". Next year on my visit
I hope to have 2 flags with our dojo name made to put outside the gym when we're training.
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
12. December 2008
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