Plan B (1)

Hello to all,

Since yesterday, I have been looking in the Remax Quebec site for commercial rentals. They seem pretty expensive. There is a nice one corner of Beaubien and Drolet. But they ask 4800$ per month. The rest is between 1500 and 2000$ per month.

Another solution would be to rent time in an existing dojo, gym or dance school until we find a more affordable rental.

Does anyone know how much was the rent on St-Zotique or have the slightest idea it was?

Happy New year to all.

Eric

Update(4) on Disaster: Montreal Karate Club has gone up in smoke.

Hello fellow Karatekas,

Firstly, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year. 2009 will definitely be a year of new beginnings with some valuable traditions.

Update:

The Dojo is unsalvageable, basically all our equipment is no longer useful. Sensei does have a few things that are still good, mostly some personal items. The Dojo is barricaded and we are unable to enter, no matter though, nothing is pressing. The teacher will return from Japan on the 12th as planned. In the meantime, we will organize ourselves to have options for Sensei upon his return, we need to have alternative venues to start over again, there may be a possibility that we will not be able to return to St. Zotique in the future. Of course the best case scenario would be to go back but we need to have a plan “B” just in case. If any of you have any ideas, please forward them to me and I will be meeting with several senior students to have a plan of action presented to the Teacher upon his return.

I spoke with Sensei this morning and he is fine, of course concerned, but in relatively good spirits. He wanted to extend his best wishes for the New Year to all, and his gratitude. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to write me or call me.

Have a great day, and Happy New Year,

George

Previous updates here, here, here and here.

Update(3) on Disaster: Montreal Karate Club has gone up in smoke.

Ok thank Steve (Steve Humenay has offered his van to move Sensei's stuff), we have not yet gotten the go ahead from the landlord, I will be contacting everyone in the next little while to get together to discuss where we are and what can we do to help, if only a small group is assembled, I will keep everyone informed of what we are doing just the same.

Have a great day everyone,

George

Previous updates here, here and here.

Update(2) on Disaster: Montreal Karate Club has gone up in smoke.

First, a nice word from one of our Norway friends.

Le 08-12-27, à 06:33, Yngvar Åge Nilsen a écrit :

Dear all karate friends

I was shocked when I recieved the news about the fire in honbu dojo in Montreal. I don’t know what to say or how to express my feelings as it is sad news.

Visiting the dojo several times and meeting many of the great students to Watanabe sensei I am shure this case will be taken care of to the best for Watanabe, Shorinryu and all his students.

My best wishes to all of you and thanks for all the information. Hope to see you againe next year.

Regards from Ylla


Then some news from our dear Sensei who spoke by phone with our dear friend Hai.

Very dear friends,

I just spoke to Sensei: he is still very shocked and has difficulty to sleep.For I unsuccessfully tried to reach him yesterday, Sensei told me he called some of you to find out who tried to call him !I told him that the dojo phone number has been forwarded to Georges 's cell phone and Sensei was pleased to know that.

I also mentionned to him that we may be able to have a look inside the school sometime next week but that this still has to be confirmed since the whole thing is still under investigation.

At least Sensei is with his family; they are preparing the coming of the New Year following the japanese tradition.Sensei was at his Sensei's dojo yesterday for the last training of the year.

This is it for the time being.
Take care.Very truly yours,

HAI

P.S. Sensei stays at his brother in law 's place (Mr Ohuchida)
P.P.S. Please find attached the latest version of the list of names I have updated thanks to Serge Lemieux (updates are in green-dec27th2008 version)


Last but not least news: The dojo phone number will be forwarded to Georges 's cell phone on monday 29.

Previous updates here and here.

Update(1) on Disaster: Montreal Karate Club has gone up in smoke.

Update about the last post.

Hello to all,

I just wanted to update you all on the latest development, some of you on this email may not already be aware, but MKC was destroyed by fire last Tuesday, the Dojo must be rebuilt, all of the documents and most of Sensei’s memorandums, historic data, records are completely gone. Fortunately Sensei was is Japan when this occurred. I spoke to him last night and described in detail to give him a mental image of what to expect. He is unsure how long he will remain in Japan, I informed him that we will be taking care of business during his absence, and not to worry too much, and he can take his time coming back.

Next Monday, tentatively, we will be able to return to the Dojo to collect anything that is salvageable, there is not that much left, but still we will store all his personal affects in a safe place until he get up and running again. What is needed is for all of you to send me all contact information of all our past and present student’s seeing that all is lost and we must start from scratch, if you have any contact information Names, telephone numbers, addresses, emails ect…, we will compile a new list so once we get going again we could contact everyone.

Seasons Greetings to all, have a great Holiday Season.

George

Hello dear colleagues and friends,

This is a real nightmare .I have prepared a table with all the coordinates I have of our colleagues and friends of the MKC so that we can start with something in order to stay in touch.I hope this will be helpful.Paulo, thank you very very much for having the courage to call Sensei yesterday.Should we plan a meeting during the coming days ?I undestand Paulo and Lina will spend the next week in Florida and thus Paulo will be reachable as of January 2nd. Paulo : have a great time. I also understand that Bruno is the person in contact with the Fire department and the owner.

Thank you very much Bruno.

I look forward to seeing all of you shortly.

I wish you a nice and happy and quiet Christmas time.

Very truly yours,

HAI

Thank you Hai,

Bruno has placed a poster at the front door for those showing up at the Dojo asking them to call me (Georges) on my cell for any information.Hope to see you all soon.

George

A new update here.

Disaster: Montreal Karate Club has gone up in smoke.

Guys;

Don't know how to tell you that very sad sad sad news. But the dojo burnt down today. Total loss. We were shopping on St-Hubert and by coincidence, we walked up to St-Zotique . Clelia told me there was a big fire near the dojo. Nooooo! It is the dojo that is burning. So far, I can't believe it. Watanabe's life, 40 years of MKC, has gone up in smoke.

A policeman told me that Bruno had talked with him. He also told me that they will barricade everything. Leave a phone number when someone wants to visit the place. Those who wanted to go train on Jan 1st will have to meet to discuss the matter. I should be there. Don"t think I am going to Quebec City for the New Year. Let's keep in touch and try to reach all the black belts. I don't have any phone numbers, though. I leave a note on the blog, the Facebook page and so on.

Check the LCN news. There are two videos as well:

http://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/infos/faitsdivers/archives/2008/12/20081223-104346.html

Dans 24heures:

http://www.24hmontreal.canoe.ca/24hmontreal/actualites/archives/2008/12/20081223-144446.html

From The Gazette:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Another+fire+Rosemont+area+Montreal/1108510/story.html

I saw a video on RDI news but can't find it on the web. It was taken at the beginning of the fire and you can see those big flames gettitng out by the office window. I bet it is that damn little ventilator that caused a short-circuit. Anyway, something happened in Sensei's office.

(update) I found it. It is in the noon RDI broadcast. After the Telus ad, it is the third news at about the 2:00 mark. Chilling. Acccording to this report, a woman saw the front window exploded and then the flames. And I edited the news video before they erase them.

Fire at the Montreal Karate Club
envoyé par Montreal_Karate_Club

(update) Go to this post for the first update on the situation. To this post for the second update. To this one for the third update. The fourth update is here.

Sigh!!!!
Eric

Montreal Karate Club Christmas Party

Last night, we had our traditional MKC Christmas party. But before, a short Friday night class opened up some appetites. Everyone participated by preparing a dish or bringing something to drink. Then, we thanked our Sensei for his wise teaching. We congratulated him for another exciting year of training and a new crop of well-dedicated karatekas.

Montreal Karate Club Christmas Party
envoyé par Montreal_Karate_Club

Our 10 months old daughter, who is the new club "mascot", was present too. She enjoyed making new friends.

Black Belt Exam on Nov. 28th

It was exam night once again. But this one included two brown belts who were hoping to be the next MKC's black belt.

So after, a thirty minutes class to warm everybody up and loosen the nerves, they were all ready to show their stuff. First, the lower belts showed their stuff. Then, came the brown belts demonstrating some basic technics.


Black Belt Exam: Basic Technics
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club


In order to become a black belt, you also have to master the first ten Shorinryu katas.


Black Belt Exam: Katas
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club


Finally, you have to sustain three fights with older (not that old) black belts.

Black Belt Exam: Kumite
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

And remember, to get a black belt is not the end of the journey, it is only the beginning of a world of new learnings and teachings.

Kendo Class at MKC.

Our japanese sensei also offers private kendo class.

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From metro Beaubien to Montreal Karate Club

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Montreal Karate Club Fall 2008 Tournament

Yeah! It was that time of the year. November always brings the MKC Fall tournament. This year, the participants were all from MKC. Unfortunately, no members from the USA, Alberta or Norway could join us this year. We missed them, but managed to have an interesting tournament anyway.

The first video shows some moments before the official start of this tournament. As you can see, there is no script. At the end of it, you will notice that we even hired a clown couple to entertain the crowd.

preparation for the MKC Fall 2008 Tournament
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

Then, the kata competition began, but since I was judging , I couldn't film anything. If our number one dojo star Mario Imbeau would have participated, I would have made an exception and filmed his demonstration. What a pity. Want to know more about our Shorinryu katas, go to this post.

After the katas, the kumite (fight) competition started with the Juniors division, our own Shorinryu karate kids. Here are some moments taken from their fierce fights.



Montreal Karate Club's Karate Kids Fall 2008 Tournament
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

The next divisions were the mens' blue belt and the womens' open divisions.


Adult Mens' blue belt division
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club



Womens Open Division
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club


Then came the mens brown belt division including our dojo rising star Marc Leduc who actually won the division.

Mens Brown Belt Division
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

The last division was the black belt open division where Marc Leduc tried to repeat his brown belt division victory and take away the title from Derek Nathaniel who has dominated it for the last five years in a row.

Black Belt Open division
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

An the Winner is...
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

And now, all the winners are...

And the Winners are...
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

G.P. Shorinryu Karate Club Facebook's profiles.

Yes! Our friend dojo in Northern Alberta, the Grande Prairie Shorinryu Karate Club and its founder Joe Alfonso, both have a Facebook profile. Check them out. Better... Become a fan as well.

Our Shorinryu katas by Sensei Watanabe

Sensei Watanabe: the Shorinryu katas.
Uploaded by Montreal_Karate_Club

Our school/ Notre école

Our Shorin-Ryu school practices Karate in the traditional way. Basic, classical techniques are highly emphasized, in order that students may develop a strong grasp of true Karate techniques. There are three essential parts of our training:1 - Kihon (Basic techniques)2 - Kata (Classic Forms)3 - Kumite (Sparring matches) By observing these three important elements of training, students develop into well rounded martial artists, having not only the knowledge of Karate techniques, but the ability to apply this knowledge in real-life situations.

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Notre style Shorin-Ryu se pratiques de la manière traditionnelle. Dès le début, les techniques de base sont enseignés afin que les élèves puissent développer une solide maîtrise des techniques fondamentales du karaté. Il ya trois éléments essentiels de notre formation: 1 - Kihon (techniques de base) 2 - Kata (formes classiques) 3 - Kumite (combats) En observant ces trois éléments importants de la formation, les élèves deviennent des artistes martiaux accomplis, n'ayant pas seulement la connaissance des techniques du karaté, mais la capacité d'appliquer ces connaissances dans des situations réelles.

Sensei Watanabe.

Sensei Watanabe was born in Fukuoka, Japan. A direct student of Master Nakano, he began trainning at the age of 13, and has not stopped since. He came to Montreal in 1966, and began teaching Shorin-Ryu Karate in Canada.Many students have trained under our Sensei, and have themselves become teachers. They have opened schools internationally, in places such as Plattsburgh, N.Y.; Grande Prairie, Alberta, and in 6 cities across Norway. Master Watanabe often visits them, teaching them and their students directly, so that the Shorin style is preserved in it's true form.

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Sensei Watanabe est née à Fukuoka, au Japon. Un élève de Maître Nakano, il a commencé le karaté à l'âge de 13 ans et n'a pas cessé depuis. Il est venu à Montréal en 1966 et a commencé à enseigner le style Shorin-Ryu au Canada. Beaucoup d'étudiants ont été formés par notre Sensei, et sont eux-mêmes devenu enseignants. Ils ont ouvert des écoles internationals, dans des lieux tels que Plattsburgh, NY, Grande Prairie, Alberta, et dans 6 villes de la Norvège. Sensei Watanabe les visite souvent en enseignant en personne à leurs étudiants pour ainsi préserver la pureté du style Shorinryu.