WKA Minutes and Documents


This page includes WKA meeting minutes and other documents. Minutes are not available for all meetings. For a brief summary of all meetings and activities, see Past Events .

Current list:

Past list:

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11/24/96: Fundraising Dance pre-event summary

The dance is almost here! Basic info:

Rules for guests (each guest initials sign-up sheet and sign-in sheet to indicate agreement to terms): Rules for using the facilities (per agreement with SEJCC): When giving out flyers: Dance night:

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01/20/97: Meeting and Dojo Visit @Chuo Dojo

The first dojo visit and meeting of the year was held at Chuo Dojo on Monday, January 20, 1997.

Survey

A survey regarding the following items was taken to determine the logo and 1997 activities for WKA.

Logo

The matter was voted on again and discussed. It was decided to defer selecting a logo until other designs are submitted, including a design combining the two logos. If you would like to submit logo designs, please give them to Jean Kodama by February 9, Sunday morning. The designs should be approximately one inch high. Ideally, the logo should be more than a good design, it should visually convey the meaning or character of our organization (women in kendo, etc.) even to people who don't know much about us.

San Diego Trip

This is scheduled for February 22-23, 1997 (approximate arrival time at San Diego: 6:00 p.m.). It will include a practice on Saturday night, slumber party, and indoor climbing on Sunday morning. The cost for the trip will be $20 per person; if other people, including guys, are interested, they are welcome to join in. Lisa Yamamoto's apartment will be set up for the guys; Lisa's parents' house will be available for the girls. Since space will be somewhat limited, please sign up with Jean Kodama or Yuriko Shikai as soon as possible. Maps, release forms, and other details will be forthcoming.

Next Dojo Visit and Meeting

The next visit will be at Monterey Park Dojo on a Friday in mid-April, due to a busy March schedule. The next meeting will immediately follow the dojo practice. The exact date will be announced later. We may also hold some discussions during the San Diego trip.

Tournament Divisions

The women's division during tournaments is composed of a mixture of kyu and yudansha kenshi, although we had expressed a desire to have two divisions for kyu and dan. Since having two divisions is more expensive (SCKF must buy more trophies), Jean Kodama suggested that WKA may want to provide trophies for a second division with the money accumulated through WKA fundraisers. There are several possibilities for the two divisions, such as dan and kyu, 18 years and older and under 18, etc.

Committees

The following committees will create proposals to be presented at upcoming meetings. If you are interested in participating, contact the committee members.

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02/22-23/97 Overnight trip to San Diego

Project leader: Lisa Yamamoto

Summary

Basic Schedule What to bring When signing up, provide the following info:

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04/27/97: Meeting @Jean's house

A WKA meeting was held on Sunday, April 27, 1997 at Jean Kodama's house from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., after which Jean treated the members to delicious curry rice. (Thank you, Jean!)

Attendees were:

Tshirt and Calendar Projects

These projects are still in the early stages. Linda may have a connection at school for Tshirts. A budget should be researched for the calendar, perhaps based on current SCKF membership. People interested working on the calendar should find examples of calendars they like and pool their ideas. Interested people include Linda, Nora, Astra, Yumi, Charlene, and Casey Kuykendall.

Summer Event

A beach party or barbecue may be held in the summer. This would be a good time to get together with those friends who will be off to college this fall. The party committee will be in charge of making arrangements. A date needs to be found which does not conflict with the many carnivals and other scheduled activities.

Invitation to Japan's Former Women's Champion

Tom Tew has offered to help in inviting Yurika Taniyama, a former women's kendo champion of Japan, to Southern California to practice with us. Taniyama-san is with the Kyoto Police Department and was the captain of the Japan Women's A team in Kyoto.

One way to raise funds for this endeavor is to sell candy at the next tournament, the Southern California Championships on May 18. We need to have as many people as possible donate a box of candy or other treats to sell. Astra and Nora will head the candy sales committee. Jean will ask permission from SCKF to sell the treats.

Another way to raise funds is to accept donations. We may be able to provide a jar for donations at the entrance to the tournament.

San Diego Trip

The San Diego trip last February was thoroughly enjoyed by those who participated. We will schedule another trip sometime on the weekend. It may be combined with Taniyama-san's visit.

Takako Yamamoto's Invitation

Takako Yamamoto Sensei, the person who originally encouraged the formation of a support group for women kenshi, had extended an invitation to participate in a women's practice session in Japan last March. Lisa Yamamoto was able to participate. It may be possible in the future to organize a group of women from Southern California to travel to Japan and practice with the women kenshi in Japan.

Videos

After the meeting the group watched videos provided by Tsvia (Kozure Okami performance), Jean (10WKC home video), and Yuriko (10WKC programs taped from Japanese television).

News since the meeting

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05/21/97: Meeting @Nice Cafe

A WKA meeting was held following the Monterey Park Dojo visit. The meeting was held at Nice Cafe.

Attendees were:

Financial Report - Judy made a treasury report. Contact Jean or Yuriko for details.

WKA Picture - Due to unexpected circumstances, Mr. Parr was not able to take a group picture of WKA members at the last tournament. We will try to get a group photo taken during the Nisei Week Kendo Tournament in August.

Kawasaki Practice - The WKA is hosting a special practice with Kikuyo Kawasaki Sensei from Vancouver at Norwalk Dojo on Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Please bring munchies or drinks to the practice. After practice, we will go to Jean's house for more drinks and munchies to get better acquainted with Kawasaki Sensei.

Dance - The following was reported on by Annie and discussed.

T-Shirts - WKA shirt prices will depend on color, design complexity, etc. Linda will investigate further regarding getting T-shirts for WKA. Miwa's acquaintance has extra T-shirts for sale; they are red with the Nike mark. It was decided not to use these for WKA shirts, but if anyone wants to buy them individually they are $7 each.

Calendars - Ideas for WKA calendars include collages of kenshi and tournaments, funny or lighthearted pictures of head sensei, and WKA group photo. Cost, time required to produce calendars still unknown. We need to know how much to sell, when to sell and budget. Calendars can be advertised at the October promotional tournament, but a sample needs to be ready by then. This project must be started as soon as possible. Linda will gather information.

Next meeting - Saturday, May 31, 1997 at 5:30 pm at Norwalk Dojo, before the Kawasaki special practice.

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05/31/97: Meeting @Norwalk Dojo

A WKA meeting was held at 5:30 pm on Saturday, May 31, 1997 at Norwalk Dojo, after which a special practice with Kikuyo Kawasaki Sensei from Vancouver was held. Kawasaki Sensei gave WKA members some useful kendo tips regarding holding and swinging the shinai, body movement of women as opposed to men, how to do jodan, and defense and offense against the jodan.

Dance - Location is the only undetermined item as of this meeting date. Torrance seems to be the best choice. Old World may be another choice; the place is safe, although it may not be "pretty." Gordon, the person in charge of security, may have some suggestions regarding location. Everything else is set. D.J. will be Mainstream. The flyer design will be something simple, such as a photo of a sunflower. If the location cannot be determined within one week, the dance will be cancelled.

Calendars - Astra brought her school calendars as samples of how we may want to make our calendars. Ads can be put at the end of the calendar. They are sold for $5 at her school. If enough ads are sold to cover the cost of printing, the calendars sold would be pure profit.

Barbecue/Beach Party - Date is changed to August 2, 1997

Candy Sales - The rest of the candy which was not sold at the last tournament will be sold at the Nisei Week Tournament on August 10, 1997.

11th World Kendo Championships in Santa Clara (2000 A.D.) - An elimination tournament to pick semi-finalists for the U.S. team will be held in February 1999. From those participating, 20 women and 20 men will be chosen. During the summer (either June or July, probably at the kendo summer camp), the chosen group of women and men will be eliminated to 10 women and 10 men; they will be part of the U.S. team (12 women and 12 men) to the world championships. The first and second place winners of the women's and men's divisions at the U.S. Championships will become the last 4 people on the team. If these winners happen to be non-citizens or already on the team, the coach and manager will choose replacements based on tournament records. Now is the time to practice to make the team.

Next Dojo Visit - San Fernando Valley Dojo will hold its 30th anniversary practice at PCI Dojo at 10:30 am on Sunday, June 22, 1997. WKA will have its next dojo visit there.

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08/03/97: Meeting @Jean's

A meeting was held at Jean Kodama's house on Sunday, August 3, 1997, at 4:30 p.m. Attendees were:

Treasury - Because WKA does not have a checking account, we cannot accept checks. Judy has been investigating checking accounts. Free checking is available for one year at Union Bank, after which the service fee would be 15% unless a significant balance ($2500?) can be maintained; other banks have similar offers. In order to open an account we need officers and a tax ID number from the federal government. Additionally, since we are not a nonprofit organization, donations to WKA are not tax-deductible. Since Southern California Kendo Federation has tax-exempt status, perhaps we can work out something with them.

Dance - The WKA dance was cancelled due to lack of an appropriate location.

Taniyama Visit

Fundraising. Sign-ups for various fundraisers will be passed out at the next meeting.

Nisei Week Tournament. The Nisei Week Tournament is on Sunday, August 10, 1997. We will ask Mr. Parr to take a WKA group photo on that day early in the morning.

Visit. Judith Mack of Oregon will be visiting Los Angeles in September. Our next dojo visit will be at Norwalk Dojo on Friday, September 12, 1997, to coincide with her visit.

Meeting. We will have a WKA meeting at 6pm on September 12 at Norwalk before keiko.

Late news as of 8/9/97:

Late news as of 8/16/97:

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09/12/97: Meeting @Norwalk Dojo

WKA held a meeting and practice at Norwalk Dojo on Friday, September 12, 1997. Attendees were:

Also present was guest Judith Mack of Obukan Dojo in Oregon. We thank her for her participation in our meeting and practice and are looking forward to seeing her again in November.

Fundraisers:

Taniyama Visit

Yurika Taniyama, along with her companions, Nahoko Yamamoto and Miho Kinoto, will arrive in Los Angeles on Monday, November 17, 1997. Their tentative schedule is:

The guests will be staying at the Miyako Inn in Little Tokyo. Jean will take the guests to San Diego on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yuriko will take them to Chuo Dojo on Monday and Universal Studios on Friday. Tom Tew will cook a traditional turkey dinner on Wednesday and has arranged for the LAPD tour and sheriff's drive along on Thursday. We still need volunteers to pick the guests up from LAX on Monday, take them to Disneyland on Tuesday, take them shopping on Saturday, provide transportation to Norwalk Dojo for the seminar, take them to LAX on Sunday, and whatever else needs to be done to allow the guests to enjoy their visit here. If you are interested, please contact Jean at (562) 926-9406 or Yuriko at (213) 261-6501. We may want to consider an additional kendo activity on Sunday for other out of town guests who are staying over.

The seminar will be open to women only. Kikuyo Kawasaki, who had visited us a few months ago, may be able to come to the seminar also. Members expressed a desire to learn new techniques and practice tips when playing larger opponents. It was suggested that small groups of kenshi rotate around different sensei stationed at various areas of the dojo. People from other states and Mexico expressed an interest in attending the seminar. We need interpreters for the seminar; if you are interested in translating, please let Jean know.

After-Thanksgiving Practice

Members have expressed a wish to have another after-Thanksgiving practice to burn off some of the turkey dinner calories. Last time we saw a good turnout at the practice. Details will be announced in the near future.

Next Meeting - Sunday, October 5, 1997, at 3:00 p.m. at Linda Fu's house.

(end of minutes)

Addendum:

Bowling - At Friendly Hills Lanes, 15545 E Whittier Blvd, Whittier, 90603, across the street from the Whitwood Shopping Center, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Cost includes two hours of bowling, shoe rental, and door prizes. Tickets will be printed for us by Friendly Hills Lanes and should be available by the Gardena Team Tournament. 200 tickets will be printed, since the capacity of the facility is 32 lanes with 6 people maximum per lane.

Taniyama visit - Yuriko is working on biographies of the guests. Kawasaki-san will not be able to join us because she is returning from Canada to Japan in October. The dojo visit to Chuo Dojo on Monday night may be cancelled.

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10/05/97: Meeting @Linda's house

A WKA meeting was held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 5, 1997 at Linda Fu's home. Attendees were:

Bowling - Will be held at Friendly Hills Lanes in Whittier. We may be able to rent out the whole facility if we sell 128 tickets or more. We will probably be able to sell at the door. Deadline to let the bowling alley know how many people will attend is October 15. The event will be from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. WKA members are to donate $10 worth of prizes - either one $10 prize or two $5 prizes. To offset this donation, WKA members will pay $6 for their own tickets. The shinkyu shiai (promotional tournament) will be the last chance to sell the tickets; we need to sell as many as possible before then.

Taniyama Visit - The following is a schedule of their visit:

We should also have gifts for the guests; a collage of pictures of their kendo practice here with engraved picture frame was suggested. Astra will look into the engraved picture frame; Jean will ask a photographer to take the pictures.

If we need another fundraiser, a garage sale may be a good possibility. We may do this fundraiser in front of Linda's house on a Sunday morning, October 26 or November 2, depending on the bowling fundraiser and the weather.

Next meeting will be at Lisa Tauchi's house at 3:00 p.m. on November 2, 1997. We will finalize plans for Taniyama sensei's visit and have a full bowling report.

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02/25/01: Meeting @Jean's house

A WKA meeting was held at 2pm on Sunday, February 25, 2001, at Jean Kodama's house. Attendees were Meeting notes