two weeks ago butokuden had their annual xmas party and tournament and i was fortunate enough to win one of the divisions that i was participating in (adult kyu).

part of the 1st prize package (the perpetual trophy, 1st place certificate and the 3G tozan bag from ebogu.com…our house tournaments are the best) included a watercolor print by Okazaki sensei. you can find his artwork @ galleryhiro.com.

hopefully it will work /crosses fingers.

Store will be open next week at the earliest.

this is my first year of kendo since march. and i hope to be doing this for some years to come.

what i hope to achieve with this website is to share some kendo musings (from a kendo noob) and perhaps sell some kendo apparel that i would (you would) have wanted to wear, but haven’t been able to find (you can only wear so many dragon, chibi-kendo and calligraphy designs). rather than making one-offs, i’ll be releasing limited runs of shirts, that way i can pay for my shirt and you can add a nice one to your wardrobe that you wouldn’t mind being caught outside the dojo with.

for now the shirts will be available to the u.s. and canada only until i can get comfortable with the shopping cart plugin.

ps- i’ve been privileged to be able to practice at butokuden in irvine, ca. if you are visiting southern california, please check it out.