“It was the day I vowed to work even harder to raise as many good students as possible who are not only strong as a fighter but also as a nice person.”
The SAW Name-Taking ceremony was held successfully on February 4th.
The venue was a room in a very large building where large weddings and formal ceremonies are held.
Many people came from all over Japan to congratulate me on my appointment as the SAW “Daihyō Shihan 代表師範” and as the President of International SAW Federation.
There were not only SAW students there but also sponsors and even politicians among them.
One of them has been helping SAW since I was still training and fighting in Japan, and he even remembered the details of my fight.
He said “The tackles that evaded the strikings and entered was amazing.”
I was happy to hear that.
I was overwhelmed with emotion to be able to reunite in this way with my old friends who I had trained and practiced together over 30 years ago.
On this day, I received three awards.
First, SAW Representative Shihan, then World SAW Federation President, and then SAW 8th Dan.
After the appointment ceremony, a party was held at the restaurant on the first floor of the building.
Everyone was relaxed at the party after the formal ceremony.
From now on, my Australian dojo will become the SAW World Headquarters, so it was the day I vowed to work even harder to raise as many good students as possible who are not only strong as a fighter but also as a nice person.
