Dear Branch Chiefs and Contacts,

I hope you all are doing fine. Already one month has passed in the year, and usually this first month is quite busy for most of us, but I hope that you also are having a good time.

On January 10th, the traditional Kagami Biraki was held at the Gokokuji Temple, where Sosai’s rests. Around 100 Branch Chiefs and Dojo operators from all over Japan had gathered to this event, and we all enjoyed a good training filled with strong and powerful ”Kiai”. Although the weather was quit cold, we all felt warm inside, and it was a fresh start to a New Year. As is done every year, one of the Branch Chiefs performed a Kata Demonstration. This year it was Shihan Kazuo Miyoshi, who performed Seienchin. It was a great performance and you could easily see the many years of training behind the techniques that were performed, which he demonstrated in front of Sosai Oyama’s portrait. The energy and Kiai that was passed on from Shihan Miyoshi to all of us was quite impressive, thank you very much.

The Kagami Biraki ended with a silent prayer by Sosai’s grave. Thanks to Sosai Oyama, we have met with the great Kyokushin Karate, and through practicing his Karate, we have built up a healthy mind and body, and we have been given the opportunity to meet friends all over the world. We must never forget this, and to pay back at least a bit of what we have been given, we must continue our work; to build up our organization in the way Sosai would have liked us to do, an organization that will become the Strongest and Largest Budo Organization in the world. Let’s continue our work, and create an organization full of honor that will last forever!

Recently, several new Branch Chiefs have been appointed, for example the Russian Fighter Denis Grigoriev has just become a Branch Chief. He became the Heavy Weight Champion at the World Cup, and had been fighting at a high level for several years as the ace fighter of Russia. Now he has entered a new stage, and I hope that he will continue to work hard and to bring up strong fighters and be a good leader. I have also hopes for the other new Branch Chiefs and Contacts, that they will bring new energy into our organization, I’m glad to have you all with us.

Next month, the Annual WKO Dan Grading test will be held, and people from all over the world will come to Japan to take part in this Grading Test. As you know, the WKO puts a strong emphasis on the quality of each Dan, and therefore the Grading Test is very hard and severe. We, who are practicing Budo, must continue our daily training no matter what, and I am sure that those who will take part in this grading test are training even harder than usual, in order to make a good performance next month.

The world is continuing to face natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and so on. I think that we all feel saddened about the recent earthquake in Haiti, where we see so many people suffering on the news provided by the internet, television and other mass media. I hope and pray that the rebuilding work will proceed fast, and that the living conditions of the people suffering will improve soon.

We all must continue our Way, and overcome whatever obstacle that might appear before us. Remember that you have friends supporting you all over the world! This friendship will help us prevail in our challenges.

OSU!

Kenji Midori
President
WKO