Results of Special Dan Examination Right Exams During JKA HQ Spring 2009 Gasshuku

During the JKA HQ spring 2009 gasshuku (April 16 - 19), where there were 95 participants from overseas and 237 from Japan, an examination for the special Dan examination right was conducted on April 17. The results are as follows:

Renewal Grantees
Name	Franchise Area	Effective Period	Right Limit
Naito, Takeshi	Italy	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Up to Sandan
Ohta, Yoshinobu	England	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Up to Sandan
Sasaki, Yasuyuki	Brazil	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Up to Nidan
Sato, Yuichi	Monaco	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Up to Nidan
Sawada, Kazuhiro	Belgium	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Up to Sandan
Strnad, Karel	Czech	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Shodan
Sugimura, Kouichi	Switzerland	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Up to Sandan
Wood, Jim*	Australia	2 yrs, from July 1, 2009	Shodan

*Jim Wood’s franchise has changed from Scotland to Australia

New Grantees
Name	Franchise Area	Effective Period	Right Limit
Cusson, Jean-Pierre	Canada	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Shodan
De Kock, Theo	Nambia	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Shodan
Friend, Dave	South Africa	2 yrs, from April 17, 2009	Shodan

On the last day of the gasshuku JKA Chairman Nakahara personally handed their special Dan examination right certificates to all the renewal grantees and new grantees, and offered them his congratulations. Then he told them that they should concentrate on three things: first and foremost on training themselves relentlessly in genuine JKA Budo martial arts karate-do, both mentally and physically; secondly, on bringing up youngsters with strong character and strong skills; and thirdly on finding, instructing and training good successors to themselves.

Chairman Nakahara also instructed them to keep careful records of all their activities, as for example the number of members they instruct every year, the number of dojos they instruct, the number of Kyu gradings they make (by Kyu), the number of Dan gradings they make (by Dan), the number of gasshuku they hold/join, and the number of championships they hold/join. These records, he told them, must be submitted on the occasion of their next renewal exam. Some who successfully renewed this year, he noted, did not submit such records. But in the future all will be required to submit them.

All the special Dan examination right holders signed the special Dan examination right pledge promising that they would follow the Chairman’s instructions as promulgated in the Chairman’s Administrative Guidelines of October 9, 2005. And they each received a copy of the pledge they had signed; the original was kept by JKA HQ.