Delegation Abroad 2008 Delegation to FIK Asian Zone Referee Seminar in Seoul Korea FY2008 FIK Asia-zone Kendo Referee Seminar was held on 25th and 26th October 2008 at Chamshi Gymnastic Gym in Seoul Korea. Japanese delegation consists of directors and instructors were as follows. Mr. Shuji Fukumoto   FIK Vice President Dr. Yukio Sato  FIK Secretary General Mr. Yoshio Okushima Hansi 8 Dan Mr. Hitoshi Murakami, Hanshi 8 Dan Number of trainee was 29 from 7 countries and total attendee was more than 60 including the exhibition match players and local Kendo staffs. Following to the opening message by Mr. Ree, former Director of Korea Kumdo Association, Mr Fukumoto FIK VP made a speech what is the important point for the refereeing, and also FIK instructors made the important explanation for Kendo Referee. The main point of this seminar was to clarify and ascertain Yukodatotsu and detail of refereeing. After 2 days seminar, judging skill of Yukodatotsu has been improved and confirmed that some trainees will be selected for the World Kendo Championship referee. Delegation to Indonesia Japan-Indonesia Golden Year Kendo Championship was held on October 12 in Jakarta , AJKF sent Mr. Eiko Nagao (Kendo Hanshi 8 Dan) and Mr. Yoji Iwai (Kendo Kyoshi 8 Dan) for this event. Players from Hong Kong, Burney, China and Japan are joined in addition to Indonesian players, total 115 players participated. **This delegation was financially supported by The Japan Foundation. Delegation to Venezuela 8th Caribbean and Central America Championship was held on October 11 in Caracas. AJKF sent Mr. Hidetoshi Miyagawa (Kendo Hanshi 8 Dan) and Mr. Isao Okido (Kendo Kyoshi 8 Dan) for this event. Players from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Aruba and Trinidad & Tobago are joined in addition to Venezuelan players, total 70 players participated. **This delegation was financially supported by The Japan Foundation. Delegation to FIK American Zone Referee Seminar FY2007 FIK American zone Kendo Referee Seminar was held on March 29 and 30, 2008 at Esporte Clubu Banespa in Sao Paulo Brazil. The instructors from Japan are follows. Mr. Masami Matsunaga, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Masaaki Arimitsu, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Tadahiro Ajiro, Hanshi 8 Dan  The trainees (Brazil=77, U.S.A.=17, Canada=4, Argentina=5, Ecuador=1, Chile=1, Guatemala) participated the seminar. On Mar. 29 (Sat.), following to the opening speech by Mr. Matsunaga, head of instructor and Mr.Kojima , President of CBK and Mr. Tamaki, president of SAK, Mr. Matsunaga stated about the significance of this seminar, object of judgment, duty and rules of refereeing. For 6 Dan and the above, we trained trainees, taking the World Kendo Championships in consideration, for improving capability and nature for exact judgment. For 5 Dan and the below, we trained mainly basic points like management of shiai, judgment of yuko-datotsu, prohibited acts & hansoku and senkoku & use of Shinpan-ki. Behaviors for acting, senkoku and use of shinpan-ki have been improved but it was observed that there are unclear judgments for yuko-datotsu and hansoku due to lack of experience for actual referee for shiai. Among the trainees of 7 Dan and the above, there are some who have experience of referee for World Kendo Championships and they show good posture and behavior but still hope them to make more efforts to improve judgment of yuko-datotsu backed up by Concept of Kendo. Delegation to FIK/EKF European Zone Referee Seminar FY2007 FIK European-zone Kendo Referee Seminar was held on February 9 and 10, 2008 in Brussels, Kingdom of Belgium, as in the past years. Before the formal seminar, Ji-Geiko for 90 minutes was carried out in the evening of February 8 joining 105 participants. The visited FIK instructors from Japan this year were as follows. Mr. Hitoshi Murakami, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Kiyoharu Kai, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Osamu Asano, Hanshi 8 Dan Number of formal trainee is 82 from 14 countries but including local players for referee training, the number of participant is over 120. Following to the opening message by Mr. Alain Ducarme, President of European Kendo Federation and Mr.Hitoshi Murakami, This year instructor of International Kendo Federation, Mr. Kai spoke to the participants about the aim of this seminar, i.e. making sincere efforts in improving the referring skills to judge Yuko-Datotsu correctly and to deal swiftly and properly with prohibition items and positioning among the referees. In the morning of second day, the seminar continued mainly reviewing last day's study and in the after noon the grading examination was held with the applicants of 96. The results were as shown in the following figures of success/number of applicants. Shodan 4/4, 2Dan 1/1, 3Dan 3/5, 4Dan 2/15, 5Dan 0/10, 6Dan 7/49 and 7Dan 0/12, Average passage was 17.7%. As general observation, almost all of the applicants presented an obedient KENDO and posture, attitude and Datotsu were well appreciated. We could have wished to do more challenging practice and expect further devotion. Delegation to FIK Asian Zone Referee Seminar in Hong Kong FY2007 FIK Asia-zone Kendo Referee Seminar was held on January 27 and 28, 2008 at Stanley Sports Centre in Hong Kong. In this time, the following Japanese delegation was visited to the Seminar including 3 FIK instructors (Hanshi). Mr. Hitoshi Murakami, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Yuji Nakata, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Takao Fujiwara, Hanshi 8 Dan Mr. Hiroshi Motoyashiki, Kyoshi 8 Dan Mr. Tatsuaki Kosaka, Kyoshi 8 Dan Mr. Toru Kamei, Kyoshi 8 Dan Mr. Arinobu Kurose, Kyoshi 7 Dan Mr. Junichi Kato, Renshi 7 Dan Number of trainee was 53 from 6 countries and total attendee was more than 80 including the exhibition match players and local Kendo staffs. Following to the opening message by Mr. Po Kit Wong, President of Hong Kong Kendo Association, Mr. Murakami FIK instructor, made a speech representing instructors. The main point of this seminar was to clarify and ascertain Yukodatotsu and detail of refereeing. After 2 days seminar, judging skill of Yukodatotsu has been greatly improved and confirmed that some trainees are capable for the World Kendo Championship referee.