News & Events

We are all back from Summer Camp and the consensus seems to be that it was a particularly good one!  Our special thanks go to Jan, Julian and Joanne who put in a tremendous amount of work and time prior to camp to ensure that it ran smoothly.  Our teachers this year were a core group from Birankai which included two of our shihan, Senseis Kristina Varjan and Dennis Belt and three shidoin, plus Jenny Flower Sensei who came over from Greece.  There was lively training and opportunities to practice with students throughout Birankai.  For those who were interested, there were additional conditioning and low impact classes.  To add to the experience, the food was varied and surprisingly good (!) and everyone got to enjoy a couple of evenings to socialize and party.  It has been confirmed that Summer Camp will be held again at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for the next two years Starting with the 2018 Summer Camp scheduled to start July 20th. 

 

I would like to mention that many meetings take place during the Camp: the Senior Council, the Teacher’s Council, the Examination committee and of course Birankai’s Board of Directors, a couple of whom spent 20+ hours in meetings overall!  We are all part of a dedicated group steering this ship that is Birankai and looking out for the welfare of all our members, from our youngest students to their teachers and their dojos.

 

My thanks also to Norm Wight Sensei and our other teachers who kept the dojo going while such a large group of us were gone.

 

 

 

Please make sure that you consciously hydrate well before classes during this hot weather.   It is necessary to drink water in advance of class and not wait until you are dehydrated to do so.  It is too late!