On Saturday, May 15, all members of the dojo came together to hold a regional shōdan shiken for both Clear Lake and the San Antonio dojo. We were honored to have John Ray Sensei come down again to lead the judging panel, and for Jon Andresen Sensei’s support. Also we were privileged to have the support of Michael Goodman’s spouse, Melissa, assist us as the Candidate Organizer (CA) for the bow-out area. Even those who were not testing played key roles,– Laurence Ching was the CA for the bow-in area and managed the number tags; Sean O’Hara was the Ceremony Master (CM) for the opening ceremony, testing (1-4dan), and closing ceremony.

Before the test Ray Sensei lead us through a short practice of the Battō Hō set, pointing out and reiterating kihon as he went. Then there was a brief rehearsal of the process for the benefit of the two students from the San Antonio/Austin dojo who were new to the Clear Lake dojo and our testing process. Next the written tests were administered and graded. Finally we were ready to begin the main part. The opening/closing ceremonies and everyone’s practical tests went very smoothly, thanks to the weekly rehearsals. During closing remarks Ray Sensei announced that he would recommend all for the rank they tested for. Below is a listing of who tested for what. After the group photo (see below) was taken and break down complete, everyone walked to the nearby Italian restaurant for a long relaxed meal with much fellowship.

Note: In addition to the expected shodan through yondan tests there was a surprise (surprise to everyone except for Ray Sensei and myself) hachidan test. Michael Goodman was the CM for that segment.

Testing for shodan: Jonathan MacDonald (CL), Collin Rogers (SA/A), Billy Tran (CL).

Testing for sandan: Michael Goodman (CL), Eric Simon (SA/A)

Testing for yondan: Troy Beckman (CL)

Testing for hachidan: Emily Egan (CL)

If you haven’t yet been to the Evelyn Meador Public Library in Seabrook, Texas, to see the Japanese cultural display in their display case, you have until Wednesday next week (May 30) to do so.  The next day the items on display will be removed.

The dojo brochure has been updated with mainly new photos and some better written content.  It replaced the older version at the link at the bottom of the home page.  Also here:

http://www.clear-lake-iaido.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Clear-Lake-Iaido-brochure-2018-low-res.pdf

On Sunday, April 22, Jon Andresen Sensei of The San Antonio dojo was able to join us at practice.  All of the active, local students were also there, so I took a group shot.

On the 2018 February 9-11 weekend John Ray-Sensei came down from Denton to the Clear Lake dojo to conduct training for the southern Beikoku Tendai Iaido Kai (BTIK) branch dojo.  Attending from the Baton Rouge dojo was Neil Melancon-Sensei.  Jon Andresen-Sensei represented the San Antonio dojo.  In the course of the weekend we practiced Seiza, Battō Hō, Tōhō, Tatehiza, Oku Tachi, Kaewaza, and Tachi Uchi No Kurai.  Everyone worked hard and came away with fresh insight.  Even after years (20+) of practice there is still so much more to learn.  This is what makes MJER Iaido so rewarding for the effort put in.

Also, in addition to the waza practice, Jon Andresen-Sensei brought some of his tantō for a show and tell.  

Many, many thanks to my teacher, John Ray Sensei, for visiting us to share his passion for Iai.  In addition to two students receiving their Shodan certificates, we had a great practice with him yesterday.  Everyone worked hard and benefitted from the sincere instruction.

I recently finished uploading almost all of my Japan 2014 photos to Flickr.  The galleries on this site are slimmed down sets.  So if you want more, please head on over to:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30017578@N04/sets

Start at “Waiting at IAH” and work your way to “Narita 1 Observation Deck”.  Thank you for your patience.

In other news the tri-fold style brochure for the dojo is now available for download as a PDF from the main page.  It has its own header and is located at the bottom of the main column.

I tweeted a lot during this trip and thought including my June Twitter archive, which covers all but the last day, would provide an additional point of view of how things went.  Unfortunately the archive that Twitter generates has no dates attached to the tweets.  They are arranged with the oldest tweets at the bottom so please start there and work your way up.

Your June Twitter archive