Oku Damashi Martial Arts: CMAC West Seminar and Black Belt Grading

Monday, May 30, 2011

CMAC West Seminar and Black Belt Grading

Oku Damashi Martial Arts just finished a wonderful and exciting Seminar and Black Belt Grading weekend!

A few "Thank You's!" on behalf of Oku Damashi Martial Arts:

Thank you so much to Senpai Globe for leading a very educational and inspiring Seminar weekend, and for coming out on behalf of CMAC to hold the Grading. Oku Damashi Martial Arts truly appreciates all the hard work and time you put into the weekend to make the Seminar and Grading such a huge success.

Thank you to Sensei Bassels for assisting in the Seminar and for helping lead the Black Belt Grading. It is always a privilege to have Directors from Toronto come out to work with the students of Oku Damashi Martial Arts. We appreciate your continuous presence during our Seminars.

Thank you to Sensei Sukys for your help and time during the Seminar and the Grading. Especially for offering your knowledge and support to all the Grading Candidates in the time leading up to the grading as well as throughout the weekend.

Thank you to Senpai Thankachen for assisting throughout the Grading as well as during the Seminar. Oku Damashi Martial Arts is grateful to have a Senpai in the Dojo as dedicated and helpful as you are. Your help in the months leading up to the Grading is greatly appreciated!

Thank you to Erin Shackleton and all the volunteers who came out to help set up for the Grading!

Last but definitally not least:

Thank you to Sensei Tammy Thankachen for continually being a wonderful representative of Goju Ryu and for sharing your love and knowledge of the Martial Arts wholeheartedly with your students. Your dedication to Goju Ryu, and the spirit of Martial Arts is truly inspiring.

To the Grading Candidates:

Congratulations on such a strong Grading! The students and their families of Oku Damashi Martial Arts are incredibly proud of all the hard work you did this weekend. Everyone did such an amazing job and the level of Kime you all brought to your Grading was incredible! It was an honour to have been a witness on such an important day in your Martial Arts journeys. You should all be proud of yourselves!

You all embodied Sensei Gogen Yamaguchi’s:

“Five Secrets of Japanese Goju Ryu”

Move quickly.
Sound, calm mind.
Be light in body.
Have a clever mind.
Master the basics."

Again, Congratulations to Sensei Tammy Thankachen who graded for her San Dan (3^rd Degree Black Belt) As well as to Alex Warbeck and Ryan Meisinger who both Graded for their Sho Dan (1^st Degree Black Belt)

You made Oku Damashi Martial Arts PROUD!

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO SAVE BC'S GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST

Save BC's Great Bear Rainforest from Enbridge10,0002,649 2,649 signers. Let's reach 10,000
Why this is importantBC's Great Bear Rainforest (the world's largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest) is under siege! Plans endorsed by Canada's Government are underway to build the Northern Gateway pipeline to pump crude, unrefined bitumen, from Alberta to Kitimat, on British Columbia's north coast. This pipeline would extend a distance of over 1100 kms. It would be built by Enbridge, a company that has been responsible for over 800 oil spills, since 1999. The proposed pipeline would cross many rivers, the Rocky Mountains and pristine wilderness. Much of this area is home to First Nations people. Oil tankers would collect and ship the raw crude to China (the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter).We can stop this irresponsible development- BC's First Nations have a constitutional right to be consulted-- and this hasn’t been met. Newly released documents reveal that the government knows that it cannot address the legitimate concerns of the aboriginal people from the area at risk and is attempting to silence them.Let Canada's government know that the voices of First Nations will never be silenced. Add your voice to the call to uphold the legal rights of the traditional custodians of the land and stop this reckless project from going ahead. It's not a matter of IF an oil spill would happen, but WHEN!An oil spill would have devastating effects on the region and its native species. One species at great risk is the Kermode or "Spirit" Bear, a genetically unique, white Black Bear possessing a recessive gene. With only approx. 400 of these bears left in the wild, they are rarer than China's Giant Pandas. In 1987, the Valhalla Wilderness Society started the Spirit Bear conservancy campaign and, along with many others including Simon Jackson's Spirit Bear Youth Coalition, were successful in 2006 in over 1/2 million acres of spirit bear habitat being protected from clearcut logging. Protection never would've happened without the full support of the Kitasso Xai'xais and Gitg'at First Nations. Now a larger threat looms for the Spirit Bear, which relies partly on the marine environment, including salmon. Giant oil tankers are planning to bring bitumen to Asia via the proposed Enbridge pipeline from Alberta's tar sands. Given the narrow marine channels, huge Pacific storms and the risk of Tsunamis in the Spirit Bear's homeland, an inevitable oil spill would devastate fragile marine ecosystems for many years to come, including salmon and other marine life that the bears depend on. Such a catastrophic spill would also destroy the traditional livelihoods of First Nations communities and others in the area, representing millions of dollars of loss annually. We can't afford to have another Exxon-Valdez like spill or any significant spill off the BC coast.Stephen Harper's Government has openly dismissed concerns of those opposed to the pipeline. We have a small window of time to influence the final decision during the review, so please sign the petition, which will be sent to decision makers regarding the pipeline hearings. Demand that the moratorium on tanker traffic off BC's coast remain in effect and that the destructive Northern Gateway pipeline should not be approved. We need to explore renewable energy sources and invest in a sustainable future for Canada and the world.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_Enbridges_Northern_Gateway_pipeline/?ctQDUcb

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Monday, May 30, 2011

CMAC West Seminar and Black Belt Grading