James Cumming, a longtime Shintaido practitioner from England now living in Brattleboro, Vermont, has given me his boh (six-foot staff) and has asked me to find a new home for it. This item is a treasure. It’s made of Japanese oak, which is difficult or impossible to get any more. The boh is probably forty years old and in magnificent condition, still straight and giving off no splinters. It is one of a batch that Aoki-sensei brought from Japan for the Second Shintaido International.
It comes in a beautiful cloth cover, decorated with colorful images of cranes. The fabric is from Japan and made in England.
Also, the boh is imbued with James Cumming’s wonderful Shintaido spirit. I have gotten to known James and his wife Vangie in the years since Bela and I moved East. You might check out their website, Paths to the End. This picture of James on a falconry outing comes from that site. I’d like to make whatever we do with the boh a tribute to James’s longtime dedication to Shintaido and a thank you to him for the donation.
I’m looking for creative ideas for what to do with this wonderful piece of wood. For example, we could have an auction to raise money for Shintaido. If I was an auctioneer, I might set the initial value of this boh at ~$150, but it’s priceless. Or someone could nominate a particularly deserving candidate who needs a boh. What else could we do with it? Please post your ideas as comments to this blog entry. I’ll read them, and I hope other people will also, and we’ll decide what to do with this beautiful boh.
Shintaido North East will be holding their Kangeiko in Massachusetts March 14-15. The theme for this weekend is, “Cutting through the False to See Anew”.
To register, please email: Matt Shorten mattshorten@yahoo.com by March 1, 2020 with the following information:
● Name: ● Email: ● Phone: ● Are you staying at the B & B lodging (y/n) ● Any dietary needs (veg, vegan, dairy, allergies):
Please bring payment: $128 (or $188 if you are staying at the B&B) payable to Shintaido North East to be collected Saturday morning.
And our 3 keikos will be at the Petersham Town Hall, a short drive away.
Details and prices will be forthcoming soon. Please contact Matt Shorten at 978-503-8225 or mattshorten@yahoo.com soon about attending Kangeiko, so we’ll know how many rooms to reserve.
The SOA board of
directors is pleased to announce that Shintaido of America has received an
anonymous donation in the memory of Joe Zawielski, General Instructor of
Shintaido. This donation is specific in supporting SOA members who are
Graduate/Shodan and above in attending international events to further their
knowledge of Shintaido and teaching of Shintaido. This generous donation will
total $5000 over these next five years from 2019 to 2023.
Japan 2020 will be the
first international that is available through this memorial scholarship fund to
provide scholarships. There will be 4 scholarships giving $500 for each
selected individual.
SOA members who are Graduate/Shodan and above can apply and applications will be available 1 January 2020. Selections will be made by the SOA Board of Directors. Should SOA Board members apply, these individuals will not be eligible to make the selections. The results will be announced by 30 June 2020. This is intended to allow enough time for the selected individuals to complete their plans to attend the November 2020 international event.
The application will request the individual to summarize their Shintaido activities and then state how attending the international in 2020 will enhance their teaching of Shintaido. One expectation is for the selected individuals to share a written report, or a video/photo report on sharing their learning from the international 2020.
The SOA Board is grateful to our benefactor and is excited to offer this scholarship for 2020! Future plans are for 6 scholarships to be available for 2024.
Thinking
about donating to SOA to add to the donations in memory of Joe Z. or for
establishing other memorial funds? Contact Connie at bordensheets@aol.com
