Dear Branch Chiefs and Contacts,

As always, I would like to start my monthly greeting by thanking all of you for your hard work and dedication to our organization. Here in Japan, summer is heading towards its end. However, this summer has been quite warmer than usual, and I believe this is another part of the environmental change that we are experiencing all over the world. I am sure there are different kinds of environmental changes in your country and region as well.

The Karate Dream Cup 2010 was held in great success. A total of 1,361 competitors participated in 53 classes of the Kumite and Kata category of this event. I would especially like to express my appreciation to the fact that we were able to welcome 100 overseas fighters from seven different countries in this tournament. It was also very moving to see two of the world’s top fighters, Donatas and Denis at the tournament, with their students that they brought along for the competition. They were very active in supporting their fighters, and watching them convinced me that the future of the WKO is bright.

The 10th World Championship is only one year away, and the preparation work for this event has started. This 10th Anniversary has a great importance for our organization, and while looking back at the history of Kyokushin Karate from its beginning until today, I feel a deep gratitude towards all of you for your strong support. This will be the 5th time organizing the World Championship, after Sosai had passed away. The path we have followed these years has not been easy, and we have struggled on occasions. However, we have managed to overcome the obstacles that have appeared in front of us, thanks to the strong friendship we have around the world. Together we have not only shared pain and hard times, but also joy and happiness. Together, by building up these feelings step by step, we have created our history. Our organization, the WKO has been built up “slowly, but surely” on our two pillars, self-governing regions and democratic values. As you know, and as I often mention, the practice of democracy requires a lot of time and patience, since democratically held discussions are constantly active and “alive”. It is always important to listen to the opinions of our Branch Chiefs and students, and to be flexible in our solutions, so we will be able to pursue our ideal path.

We were recently able to welcome many new friends from Canada and Poland. The ideal solutions for these successful cases were also guided by the opinions of everyone involved.
Through these constant efforts, we have managed to build up our strong friendship. Looking back at our history in this way, I can only feel a deep gratefulness. I am very proud of being a member of the WKO, an organization that cares about its friends. I am looking forward to seeing you all, our friends, at the 10th World Championship next year. As the organizing country we will do whatever we can to make this a memorable event for you.
Lastly, in order to pursue our goal, which is to make our organization the strongest and largest in the world, your support and cooperation is a must, but what is more important is your health. Please take care of yourself; so that we may continue on our Path of Karate together, through the wonderful “Karate” language we all share.

OSU

Kenji Midori
President
WKO