From March 19th to the 29th I had the tremendous joy of training in and around Naha, Okinawa— a trip that not only revealed to me untold new understandings of fundamental kihon, kata, bunkai, and yakusoku kumite, but also brought to life karate history and culture in a fascinating and most unexpected way.
In order to divide the current work, we assign Mr. Riki Nomura, the former WMKA oversea manager, from 15th December 2018, to be responsible for oversea interaction again. To be joined Mr. Nomura, we are dividing the current tasks into two. One is “Printing certificates” and the other is “Communication with overseas”. “Printing certificates” is handled by Manabu Kinjo. This includes: Dojo Licenses, Yudansha Certificates and Membership Cards. Please send the necessary documents for issuing certificates directly to Manabu Kinjo as before. Mr. Nomura will be in charge of “all exchanges with oversea” such as except printing certificates. This should include communication regarding visits to Okinawa and training schedules, overseas seminar requests, membership and other questions for the board of directors. For future exchanges, it will be changed to the new representative e-mail address “wmka-rep001@pdt-duo.com“.
Dear WMKA members from around the world, A Happy New Year! Shin-nen akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! I congratulate you all in welcoming a bright new year wherever you are living now. We are celebrating a wonderful new year with our families, friends and communities here in Okinawa.
On November 8th, 2017 Yoshitaka Taira Hanshi, President of the WMKA, was awarded the prestigious Cultural Commendation from the Prefecture of Okinawa. This commendation was awarded for his cultural contribution in the field of karate and kobujutsu.
Dear Members, I hope you are all well and training hard. I would like to apologize for the lack of communication from Okinawa. Our overseas manager has been very busy. Please know that we have received all your documents and fees. We will be processing them as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding. Yoshitaka Taira President WMKA
The next USA Matsubayashi Seminar will be held in San Jose, California from July 20, 2018 through July 22, 2018. The seminar will include kihon drills, specific kata review and corrections, kata applications, Sotai Renshu drills and instruction in bo Kata. Arakaki Sensei will be sharing his insights on kata and various new aspects of traditional karate.
In November 2017, the Matsubayashi-ryu Karate Association of Australia hosted Sensei Toshimitsu Arakaki, Hanshi 10th Dan of the World Matsubayashi-ryu Karate-do Association for his third training tour to Australia.
Practicing Matsubayashi Ryu martial artists from across the continent came together this weekend in Cocoa Beach to honor Soke Takayoshi Nagamine. Soke previously came to visit Cocoa Beach in July of 2011. He was to do so again in 2012, but passed away in April of that year.
News Post August 10, 2917: On July 31st to August 6th Toshimitsu Arakaki, Hanshi, 10th,visited Canada. Hosted by Steve Trombly, Kyoshi, 7th Dan, training sessions were conducted twice daily. Arakaki Sensei corrected kata and instructed various new aspects of traditional karate.
The WMKA/EMKA Matsubayashi Ryu Taikai 2017 was held in Grossefehn/Germany on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of May. This yearly event was created by Martin O‘Malley Sensei from Ireland in 2015. In this occasion we received Matsubayashi Ryu Karateka from Spain, Norway, England, Ireland, The Netherlands and Germany.