Photos are up in the gallery!

Thanks again for all of the support everyone, lots of photos are up in the gallery, more to come!

You guys are awesome,

Last night Erin, a newer student came in and said "ok i'm hooked", I asked her to elaborate a bit, considering her career will only allow her 4 days or so per month in the Dojo. She expanded the comment by letting us know she is looking for new employment, one which allows for more Dojo time...

I would say our folks were most impressed by everyone who came out to support, Shimabukuro Sensei was a joy as always, Alvarez Sensei and his Senior guys Bill Henderson and Dave Neeley were instrumental in the event running so well. Drawdy and Kim Sensei, your seminars were well received, next year we might expand the time allowed for all of the seminars. Unfortunately Brian Stokes had to leave early, thank you for your help Brian, the seminar looked fantastic.

McClafferty Sensei, Keupp and Gettings did you proud, they are great examples of the SGR family here in the states, the hardest thing about any of this is "showing up" Dan Keupp and Mark Gettings have that part down pat, the rest I chalk up to time served. One of my students took the SGR seminar and has not stopped talking about it. Nice Work!

I would like to publicly thank all of the instructors and students who made it to our first event, a special thank you to Kevin Parsley who was the official event coordinator, coming in from Sacramento and taking charge of the support staff (anyone with a pulse not doing anything) and putting them to work, setting the example on how to make the wheel turn.

An additional thank you to Sarah Henderson, who helped with behind the scenes, making tournament brackets and organizing the Shojo for each event.
The husbands, wives and parents of the attendees, you all make it possible.

A number of folks from the Gasshuku were not present for the Taikai and vice-versa, here is a group shot taken after the awards presentation. This photo represents about 50% of the people that attended throughout the weekend. We ended at 36 preregistered with another 6-8 at the door.

This event was hosted in October this year to provide a venue for new coming students to attend something prior to the 2010 Taikai lineup. In the future, we intend to run the Kern River Budosai on May 15th 2010, filling a 6 month void between the Tucson SGR February event and the West Coast Taikai in September.

A final congratulations to Ron Taniguchi Jr. who was our Yusho for the event, Ron recently moved to San Leandro Ca. and is setting up shop there soon. Nice work Guchi-san!

More photos and overall results to come in the next few days, we are editing and resizing now,

Sincerely,

Robin Ramirez

Taikai patterns are posted!

Hey everyone, the Shizan patterns for the Taikai are up and viewable HERE.

Thank you to everyone who is showing up next weekend, the Koryu family here in the United States is one of slow growth, hopefully through gatherings such as these we can continue to build enthusiasm beyond our own home Dojo. We all have seen classmates and students come and go over the years. I recently had a discussion with some of my students about this event and others like it, participation in things outside the Dojo is never required but always suggested. When given the opportunity to learn from senior Budo practitioners, the people who step outside the norm and make the journey are the ones who tend to stick it out for years to come.

See you soon!

Kern River Budosai 2009 Oct. 23rd-24th

The Kern River Budosai is a Martial Arts Festival and Tournament designed to support and grow the Koryu (ancient schools) Arts. Understanding why we train in these disciplines is always difficult to explain, this is an opportunity to to witness first hand the beauty and precision that these endeavors so readily manifest. Come join us on Oct. 23rd and 24th for this first of many Kern River Budosai! If you would like to attend any of the Friday Seminars or the Saturday Takai, please click HERE

Kokodo Jujutsu Taikai 2009 Success!

A wonderful time was had by everyone, Irie Sensei had a great time, his comments reflected how happy he was to teach seminar where everyone was so eager to learn his Kokodo Jujutsu. We here at Bakersfield Budo sincerely thank everyone in attendance for showing such good spirit and displaying such a heart for learning. Hobbs Sensei was elated by the weekends training sessions, if any of you get an opportunity to send a note to Derek Morris of Shindenkan Budo and thank him for his efforts. Thank you also to everyone who travelled from Europe and all over north America to attend this event. We hope to see everyone again soon.

Yasuhiro Irie, Soke, Kokodo Jujutsu Seminar Sept 26th

Bakersfield Budo and Shindenkan Dojo are proud to announce a seminar with Yasuhiro Irie, Soke, Kokodo Renmei Jujutsu at our Dojo on Saturday Sept. 26th. Check the events section of our main website for details. www.bakersfieldbudo.com and click on the Events tab. This seminar is a collaboration with Derek Morris of Shindenkan Budo Dojo in Lancaster Ca. Morris Sensei is a direct student of Irie Soke and asked our assistance in hosting him to California.

If you are interested in attending please contact our Dojo to secure a spot prior to registering for the event. 661-398-2100, or email us dojo@bakersfieldbudo.com

Shito Ryu Karate Do

Masayuki Shimabukuro, Hanshi was hosted on June 27th for a three hour seminar on Shito Ryu Karate Do, Sensei was happy to teach Myojo and Aoyagi kata, followed by a small gathering at Lengthwise Brewing Company for food and good conversation.