Thank you to everyone who joined us for Toshikoshi Keiko this year.
For those who haven’t experienced one, the term “toshikoshi keiko” refers to a practice that is held over the new year.
Our version went something like this:
- Eat, drink & be merry
- Have fun with the kendo games in pursuit of “The Kawabe Cup”
- Keiko until 11:57 p.m.
- Meditate from 11:58 p.m. of 2015 until 12:01 a.m. of 2016
- Resume keiko until around 12:30
- Eat, drink & be merry
It was a pretty simple formula, and from the responses, it seems everyone had fun for at least some part of the evening 🙂
Meditating over the new year is not what North Americans usually do. Ball dropping and lots of hoopla come to mind. For us, it was an opportunity to meditate on the past year of kendo and the year to come; what was good about the past year and how we intend to change our kendo and our selves for the better in 2016.
We had participants from Toronto, Barrie, St. Thomas, Mississauga, Hamilton, St. Catharines and of course, some of our own club members. Thank you all for visiting and for your contribution of spirit to the evening’s festivities. This event would not have been possible without you. I am also grateful to my wife for her support of me running this event.
Also, congratulations to “The Better Team” for winning the kendo games and the “prestigious” Kawabe Cup. I hope we’ll be able to continue this tradition in future.
“The A Team” and “The Better Team” each won four events, necessitating a tie breaker, presented here for your viewing pleasure.