On the 5th Oct 2011, Shihan Jim Griffin, Tasshi Tony Fletcher and Sempai Dee Foster, headed off to New York to attend the 25th Silver Anniversary Shinzen Shiai Tournament. They arrived in Manhattan at around 8.30pm at their apartment and headed straight to Times Square which was 1½ blocks away for a pizza and a beer NY style.
On Thursday morning they visited Ground Zero and the memorial, a very sobering experience, and then took the subway to Battery Park for the ride past the Statue of Liberty on the Staten Island ferry.
Thursday afternoon saw the team heading off by train to the Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo, the headquarters of Hanshi Myron Lubitsch’s Kenryukan Karatedo School in Jamaica Ave, Brooklyn. They were met by Hanshi Myron and after welcomes all round and Shihan Jim renewing old friendships, Sempai Dee and Tasshi Tony were introduced to Shihan Troy Lester 6th Dan, Shihan Vincent Capers Jr 6th Dan and Renshi Big Al Gonzalez 5th Dan plus a host of other karateka from the Hombu Dojo.
The team enjoyed a good training session with everyone there and also had the chance to view some of Hanshi Myron’s students go through their paces for the upcoming tournament. The team then went for dinner with Hanshi Myron, Shihan Troy, Shihan Vincent and Renshi Big Al. Great people, excellent dinner.
It was a very early start for the team on Tournament day, Saturday, to ensure they were on time. The venue for the competition was a large timber floored basketball hall at a High School in Middle Village. The floor area had been setup to handle the 10 rings and close to 300 competitors.
It is amazing to see such a large hall with that many people, all Shorinjiryu. As Hanshi Myron proudly proclaimed, this special event was supported by 17 different schools of Shorinjiryu. The line up for the bow in was a sight to be seen with four (4) 9th Dans heading the line followed by a couple of 8th Dans, a handful of 7th Dans, a group of 6th Dans followed by the 5th and 4th Dans.
After the bow in, the opening ceremony began with presentations to a range of senior karateka, recognitions for long service and dedication to Shorinjiryu and the Shinzen. Shihan Jim was presented with a special appreciation award by Hanshi Myron. This was followed by a resounding session with a group playing the drums. This was an outstanding ceremony with lots of pride and emotion.
The tournament began with the black belt kata divisions so the black belts could then officiate throughout the day. The first division was the over 50’s kata of which Tasshi Tony was a competitor. In a large field, he was able to achieve a well deserved 4th place trophy. Obviously he was very happy with the result.
Sempai Dee had to wait till midday before she was able to perform her weapons and kata for which she also received a 4th place trophy and 5th place medallion respectively, both in strong fields. These were excellent achievements for Sempai Dee and Tasshi Tony in their first international tournament.
During the rest of the day both Shihan Jim and Tasshi Tony officiated at the tournament and used any free time to meet as many other karateka that they could. Sempai Dee was very conspicuous taking lots of photos of the tournament and people in general. The tournament finished around 5pm with the sun still up, proving a well organised and efficient team were running this large event.
We all left and arranged to meet later for the evening formal dinner being held at the Roma View function centre, Howards Beach. Just on 200 people attended this function, which was just superb. The camaraderie shown by all was outstanding and testament to the continued support of the Shinzen in it’s 25 years.
The evening was a combination of awards, presentations, meeting people, reliving old memories, making new ones, music and dancing. Shihan Jim and Tasshi Tony were presented with beautiful trophy cups to commemorate their most recent promotions and Shihan Jim presented Hanshi Myron with a nice katana on behalf of Shorinjiryu Koshinkai Karatedo in appreciation of the great work he has done over many years unifying Shorinjiryu worldwide. Hanshi Myron is a true friend and mentor of Koshinkai Australia. Around 1:30am on Sunday, the team wearily took their Lincoln town car and headed back to the apartment very late and tired but very happy.
The remainder of the time the team spent in New York was filled with doing the “touristy things” like visiting the Empire State Building, Central Park, Central Station, Rockefeller Centre, shopping on 5th Avenue and walking the Brooklyn Bridge. They attended a Broadway show, seeing Brooke Shields in the Addams family. Tasshi Tony managed to sneak in a visit through the Apple Centre in New York and took some photos to show off to Shihan Max and Renshi Des, who will be extremely jealous. The Columbus Day Parade was a highlight as was Canal Street, China Town and Little Italy. A great days haggling was had by all.
All in all, this was a very enlightening and satisfying trip for the team members. For those of you who haven’t taken the chance to visit a Shorinjiryu Shinzen Shiai yet, start saving now as you won’t regret it.