10th Anniversary Edition
The 10th Edition of the ABKF Koryu Seminar was held the 26-27-28 august 2011. The seminar was organised as part of the ABKF Summer Seminar 2011 and was located in Louvain La Neuve. It was a success thanks to our faithful Japanese sensei delegation composed of Oda K. 8th Dan Hanshi – Katsumata K. 8th Dan Kyoshi – Furuichi N. 8th Dan Kyoshi – Tsuchiya H. 7th Dan Kyoshi and the help of the koryu seminar staff.

During those 10 years many other sensei honoured us with their teachings and the ABKF wanted to celebrate this anniversary by giving a present to all the participants, a small magnet replica of the Hokusai Katsushika Ukiyo-e Gaifū kaisei (凱風快晴) accompanied with the list of all the great sensei who teached us: Kishimoto Chihiro, Oda Katsuo, Hattori Yoshihiro, Hattori Hizu, Miyata Tadayuki, Aoki Eiji, Kuno Michio, Katsumata Kenichi, Furuichi Norio, Harada Hideo, Yoda Fumiko, Nagayama Kuniaki, Tsushiya Hisao, Kamoshita S., Takeda N., Shooji Toyoko. Thank you senseis.

This year’s edition gathered more than one hundred participants including Belgians but also many friends from other countries such as Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Hungary and Russia. Our first training was dedicated to ZKR Iai practice dividing participants into 3 groups: mudan-shodan, nidan-sandan and yondan-godan. The participants were then (saturday and sunday) divided into 5 groups: Muso shinden Ryu, Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, Tamiya Ryu, ZKR Iai for mudan/shodan and Examination group.

The 10th edition anniversary was also the opportunity to organize a special event. An embu taikai with modified rules: 3 participants per match, 4 judges with one additional blue flag, the 4th judge only deciding in equality cases. For participants under nidan 3x free zkr iai kata were requested and for nidan and up 3x free Koryu. Embu taikai was fun and judgment was mainly focusing on the depth of practice, kigurai and fukaku of the competitors.

This year’s edition was a success and the Japanese sensei were very happy to see all participants making year after year efforts to improve their Iaido level and we hope to see you all next year for the 11th ABKF Iaido Koryu seminar.