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Shinzen Tournament

08-October-2006

On October 8th, 2006 The International Budo Institute travelled to Queens, New York to participate in the 20th Anniversary Shizen Kyokai tournament. The tournament saw over 300 participants and was a great success. The tournament started at 8:30 am and finished at 6:30 pm with a follow up dinner and dance.

Participants came from as far away as Australia and a good time was had by all. Demonstrations were performed by many Sensei including Shihan Henderson who presented Naihanchin Ichi Kata. Shihan Henderson's Welcome Letter to the participants and visitors is presented below after the photos.

We all look forward to participating again next year.

The long road to New York

The trophy table

The top competitor trophies

The Black Belt trophies

The Bubishido Banner hangs proudly

Demonstrations for all to enjoy. Shihan Kazuo Kato demonstrates Iaido

Sensei Kukura with Shorinjiryu students

A Kata competitor concentrating

Some of the judges for Kata including Shihan York

Shihan Bujold as center judge for the children

Kata judging including Shihan Max Mastrocola, Shihan John Salasko and Shihan Jim Griffin

L to R: Shihan Max Mastrocola (Canada), Shihan Jim Griffin (Australia) and Shihan Henderson

Shihan Ghislain Dore (Canada) performs the duty of corner judging Shiai competition

L to R: Kyoshi Myron Lubitsch (USA) and Kyoshi John A. Mirrione (USA)

Shihan Des Paroz (Australia) and Renshi Max Estens (Australia)

L to R: Sensei Pete McMahon, Sensei Tony D'Avino, Shihan Brian Berenbach and Sensei Martin Becker

Shihan Henderson and one of his favorite students Rachel Kidd

Shihan Gilles Labelle and Sensei Melanie Sher

Sensei Richard Alicia performs the duty of line judge

The tournament's cutest winner with a trophy that's bigger than he is !

Shihan Henderson and Shihan Des Paroz

Renshi Max Estens (Australia) and Shihan Henderson

L to R: Shihan York, Shihan Max Mastrocola (Canada) and Shihan Henderson

The i-Budo Team: (L to R) Sensei Doug Kukura, Shihan Henderson, Shihan York and Shihan Bujold

Shihan Henderson and Kyoshi Lubitsch

i-Budo showing its appreciation to Kyoshi Lubitsch

Dear Kyoshi, Shihans, Senseis, Participants and Visitors,

Let me welcome you all to a very important anniversary tournament for the Shinzen Kyokai. Like all anniversaries this one, the 20th, is of particular importance as it represents the enormous amount of work put in over the years by many of the members involved in the Shinzen Kyokai organization. And so as a first order of business join me in thanking those many members and participants for their efforts.

There is a rule of mathematics called the rule of additive numbers that says, no matter how small a number is and no matter how small another number is when you add the two together you inevitably get a larger number.

This rule has a lot of implications for the Shizen Kyokai as well as for ourselves in our own daily lives. Firstly, the Shinzen Kyokai was founded based on the underlying truth of this mathematical rule. Essentially, Kyoshi Lubitsch believed that if everyone in the larger Shorinjiryu family came together and each contributed something of themselves, no matter how small, then the end product adding up all those contributions would be large. This was an insight and universal truth Kyoshi Lubitsch gleaned from the masters of numbers and logic and put into his Budo practice for the benefit of us all.

In our daily lives we have many conflicting obligations that pull us each and every way: parents, children, work, school and extra-curricular activities, to name only a few, With so much we can feel that our disconnected efforts in the end do not produce as much as we would have hoped. This is when we must keep in mind the rule of additive numbers, or as I like to rename it, the rule of additive effort.

The rule of additive effort works in the same way as the mathematical rule and shows us that no matter how small an effort that is made it will help to build up a larger product or end result. Add-in a host of other people all contributing their own individual efforts and you obtain a much larger end product. And thus we have the present day Shinzen Kyokai organization.

In particular to the martial arts, Kyoshi Lubitsch’s example is all important. Through his effort, along with the other members of the Shinzen Kyokai, students of all ages are reminded that when life takes on a lot of obligation and there seems to be not enough time for Budo training, we must remember that every small effort counts. If you only have 20 minutes for training then train for 20 minutes, since it will inevitable have a positive and additive effect on your studies.

Moreover, in life when we feel that our efforts or perhaps our concerns such as environmentalism are not being heard, we must remember that great change can come from many people all completing seemingly small independent and unrelated efforts. An often quoted example is that of a group of small butterflies who on one side of the world flapping their wings create a hurricane on the other. This visual example is a powerful way to understand the rule of additive effort.

And so as we look forward toward another 20 years at the Shinzen Kyokai, I hope that you remember the mathematically proven rule of additive effort that was the inspiration for Kyoshi Lubitsch both for your life and for your Budo training. Together we can create hurricanes simple by flapping our wings.

With the kindest regards,

Shihan Henderson

The International Budo Institute