Orlando Batto Jutsu Tai Kai

[bob elder]

A few thoughts and answers. It was nice to meet David Drawdy in person. We had a few e-mails when he was in Japan. A real nice guy , and quite honest I must say. There are people in the U.S making a name for themselves without the explanation of their currnet rank and how they got it. You would fit right in at our dojo. I am not sure why some things went so haywire except the late start due to the way the Japanese set up the events, and of course I had no idea, so I did not get it done. Nov 2001 the registration will all be pre- and end 1 week ahead of the tai kai so we can do the name charts and have them set up so no one member from the same dojo competes against each other. At least in the initial stages. That's step one. I really hated to see the team cutting left out. That is always a fun one, but it takes a long time. We had to be out of the gym by 7;00 for a basketball game, so..Also we will stagger the wara being pulled . we rolled 500 ( and someone said we started last summer, they were right. Of course when Sensei got here I asked how to figure it and he showed me, we needed 175! Jeez, well we won't have to roll any for awhile. As far as the home town advantage. We at our place don't play that. Kick my ass and I appreciate it. Don't, well don't whine. The only thing that I did notice is that while we cut twice a week ( and tatami at that) I could tell that some cut either half goza or beach mats. we had been cutting beach mats until June when I got 5,000 mats from Japan. Had to buy a 40' trailor and park it in the front yard to store them. Boy did that go over big with my wife! I may end up living in it. Oh well. Bob Elder

[socho]

Hi Bob,
thanks for the kind words. I did enjoy myself a lot. The best part was meeting some other folks who share my obsession with the sword. I asked your Philadelphia group if I could join them and train when you get up that way. I am very jealous of the amount of cutting your people get to do, hope it didn't sound like a whine. Tameshigiri is one of my favorite things and I haven't been able to do it since I got back to the states (until your tournament). I left the dinner early (no staying power, early flight the next a.m.) so missed the awards. Tom Smyth did great and was very deserving of a prize sword. Ditto Bob Lampp. Any descriptions available? I know the companies that sponsored and donated, but didn't see descriptions. Anyway, 'til next time, keep 'em swinging

[Carlos Estrella]

Hey Bob!

Wanna sell some of those mats pre-rolled? :-)

I'll probably need about half of that trailer's worth of practice for Nov '01!

Carlos the Jackal

PS: Kyle and Alex say hi!

[Ron Tisdale]

Out of curriosity, any contact info on the Philadelphia group?

Ron Tisdale

[carl mcclafferty]

Bob:
Just want to thank you for being a great host to my students and I. You did a great job, especially for this first one I will be at the next one. Russell McCartney was cutting good that day and you were really on your game. I would have been hard pressed to keep up with either of you. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did and let's hope it helped further swordsmanship in this country. I think all of us will have a better feel for the Renmei rules and nuances next time. Give me a e-mail about what you, Hataya and I were discussing when you hear more.

Carl L. McClafferty

[bob elder]

The branch dojo in Pa. is actually in Pittsburgh. Contact Will Graves at aikid19@home.com. He is a real nice guy. They have a great group up there. Bob Eler

[bob elder]

Thanks for the kind words. i hope you all had a good time. I am gonna have to figure out to insure that the rules printed in the program are the rules to abide by, and not subject to change based on each judge. Altho the judges are all just as different and political as anyone at karate tournament. I have seen the Machida dojo absolutely snaked at last years tai kai in Koriyama. I told sensei in the U.S. that kind of stuff could start a riot.They just take it and get 'em back at the next one. Anyway, as soon as I hear something I can understand, I will scribe you. Thanks for the demo. that was cool. Hows the knees? Bob Elder

[bob elder]

Well it's me again. After this I 'm gonna go have drink. Anyway I have heard way bad stuff about the nidan sandan cutting division. I did not see it but would appreciate any video any one has. I understand Tony Alvarez and David Drawdy tried to get to the bottom of the obvious discrepency , and could not. I will do my best to insure that next year we have a mediator . I will not tolerate bogus crap or whining but something like this needs a middle man. Jeez, it just goes on and on....Bob Elder

[WillG]

Ooh, a bone...<snatch>...hah, caught it! (But can I cut it?)

Haven't heard the way bad stuff, but it was clear that there were some mix-ups with cutting order. Bob Lampp was nearly overlooked, I think. Happened in the lower-ranked division also.

Still, I spoke at length with Mr. Drawdy and Mr. Alvarez after the event and both were very positive about the whole thing. Being the big men that they are (well, certainly Tony couldn't argue that point), they both seemed to enjoy the taikai, screw-ups and all. That's not a criticism, it's congratulations. Aside from a little bit of "well, they might have yada yada" the response has been very, very good.
Has it been good enough to inspire you for next year? You know what they say; once you've put on one taikai you can never go back...

And now in addition to improving kata and tameshigiri, we have to start serious seiza practice on concrete. At least we have a year to work on it....

Will Graves

[Jeff DeSantis]

Hey Mr. Bob,
Congradulations on your first Tai Kai, you did a great thing this past weekend in bringing together some of the top sword practitioners here in the U.S.. It was a great priviledge to be able to demonstrate and be judged by the Japanese judges. I'm sure even with all the little "glitches" that everyone enjoyed themselfs and look forward to next years event. As the S.E.USA Rep. for McClafferty,Shihan and the USIBSA, I can say we all had a fantastic time and will be out in stronger force to support your next event. Although I personaly bombed in Kata and Tameshigiri I was able to grab a second in the Kumitachi division and had a great time...losing only gives one insight on what they need to practice on! As for the Nidan/Sandan cutting division...I think what happened was the judges got a little mixed up and called myself and another first round loser up to start the secound round as if they were going to do double eliminations...when they found they had made a mistake,they started the round over again and after that all went well. I beleive this was what everyone is refering to! I would like to congradulate your student Mr. Tom Smyth. Tom is becomming a great force to contend with as he kicked my ass all day, he was on and had a great day. As a veteren Karate Tournament promoter I can tell you from experience that no matter how smooth you run an event like this you will always have the
little "glitches" pop up and someone will always find something to WHINE about. We learn from the past so now you know what to fix in the future. If all the competitors were to arrive and register on time, listened to the announcements and were where they are supposed to be at the right time , this in itself helpes to make the event run alot smoother. Well, off to work for me so I'll shut-up for now. Once again in closing, on behalf of My Sensei McClafferty,Shihan, the members of the USIBSA and Mizu Hi Kobukan...CONGRADULATIONS on a job well done. Please do not hesitate to call me if I can be of any help in the future.
See you next year...!