Dear Branch Chiefs and Contacts,

As always, I would like to start my monthly greeting by thanking you all for your support and hard work for our organization.

Here in Japan, the spring has finally arrived, bringing to us the cherry blossoms, which are in full bloom. The beauty of their pink petals fills our hearts with peace. Although the season differs depending on where you live, I hope that you all are enjoying yourselves.

On March 7th, the WKO Annual Dan Promotion Exam was held here in Japan, and amongst others, internationally well known fighters such as Norichika Tsukamoto, Takayuki Tsukagoshi, and Vasily Khudyakov took part in this test. Several overseas Branch Chiefs also took part in the test this year. As you all know, our organization, the WKO, is working to keep a high level of our Dan grades, thus the Dan examinations held worldwide is not an easy task to clear. The test is divided in two parts, in which the First Exam looks at the Basic Techniques, such as Kihon, Ido, Kata and other factors. Those who pass the First Exam will be able to continue to the Second Exam, in which one’s fighting will be carefully observed during a 10-man Kumite. You will not pass the exam, just because you are good at Kata, or just because you are a good fighter, you need to clear both parts of the exam, thus you need to show the grading panel that you are a complete Karate-ka, by demonstrating a high level in both techniques and Kumite. You also will have to prove yourself to be a person of good personality, who works to make a valuable contribution to society, thus you must show yourself to be a true Budo-Ka, in order to pass the Dan Examination of the WKO.

Unfortunately, everybody who attended the examination did not pass. As for those who failed the test, it is up to you whether to use this disappointment as a motivation, or let it ruin you. You need to face yourself, to see what is it that you need to improve, and what is it that you need to change. If you manage to do that you will most certainly pass the test next time. That is the spirit of a true Budo-Ka, and I will be looking forward to your next challenge, in which you will put your pride on the line and give it your all. Everybody who had come from overseas to challenge the examination passed the test, and I believe that you all showed the determination of a Karate-Ka, which is to do your best. It was great to see that you all had prepared yourselves for this test very well, and I would like to express my deepest respect and appreciation to your efforts.
Lastly, the grading panel at this test consisted not only of Japanese members, but also the WKO Grading Committee Members from overseas visited Japan to attend this exam. The overseas members were: Shihan Brian Fitkin, Shihan Furko Kalman, and Shihan Peter Volke. I am very grateful to these people for finding the time in their busy schedule to come all the way to Japan to attend this year’s grading test. I am confident that these activities play a very important role in maintaining the steady growth of “Our WKO”, and that it helps us to further strengthen our close relationship.
Also, I would like to inform you about the meeting we had with the JOC the other day. The purpose of this meeting was to see what possibilities exist for our organization to enter the Olympic Games. It was a great meeting, and I believe that we made a big step forward towards the future. It will not be an easy task to unite the Karate World, especially all of the Full-Contact karate groups, but as Karate-Kas, our mission is to continue challenging difficult tasks. Since dreams are meant to be fulfilled, we will continue to pursue all possibilities, and I ask for everyone’s understanding and support.

The world is continuing to face natural disasters, recently in the form of earthquakes. I pray for the victims of these disasters and I hope that they will receive enough help in order to rebuild their lives. There is also a lot of news about crimes these days, especially cases relate to child abuse. The anger and emotions I am left with when I hear these news are unbearable, especially when I imagine what the children went through during the abuse. We all need to protect our children, and no child should ever have to experience such a terrible thing.
Let’s continue our efforts to spread Budo Spirit around the world, which we know will play a large role in the bringing of World Peace.

Kenji Midori
President
WKO