COMBINED TRAINING WITH SENSEI ED THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 7

Talk about God’s timing. A few days ago, I sent Sensei Ed Fujiwara a note suggesting that his group and us, having a combined karate training together. In case you don’t know, Sensei Ed was my instructor for a period of 7-8 years and I can’t describe how much about Shotokan I learned from him during that time. Today, he’s the ministry leader of the New Hope Mililani Karate Club. Now, here’s where the Lord’s timing comes into play: At the same time that I sent him my note, suggesting joint training, the NHM Karate Club was temporarily without a training location…this past Saturday was the last time they were able to use Mililani Waena. Not to worry, their pastor secured Mililani Iki for their use, but that commences on Saturday, three weeks from now. So, at the exact same time that the NHM group was temporarily without their Saturday training place, NHPC’s offer of combined training at Momilani Rec Center was made. Neat, eh?

This Saturday is also the first one of the month, which means everyone is invited for two hours of training. Please try to make it…I’m not sure if we’ll be blessed with NHM and Sensei Ed’s presence for just this one time, or whether they’ll be able to join us for the next three Saturdays. As he was my sensei for many years, I plan to have him lead the class, but we’ll see what he’s comfortable with. I believe that Sensei Ed began his martial arts studies back in the 1950’s, and became one of the early members of the KAH when Shotokan came to Hawaii in the early 1960’s. From the 1970’s through the 1990’s, he was the Chief Instructor of the JKA in Hawaii . He was a personal student and friend of the legendary Tetsuhiko Asai for many years, up until Asai Sensei’s untimely passing in 2006. (Asai Sensei became the JKA’s world-wide Chief Instructor after the passing of Nakayama Sensei and subsequently formed the world-wide JKS organization). Several years ago, Sensei Ed established the New Hope Mililani Karate Club. He has much to offer and I’m sure we’ll all benefit from his unique perspective on Shotokan.