The Asato Dojo is only 1 year old today but we have already been recognised and awarded for our achievements by one of the leading karate practitioners and scholars in the worldwide karate community, Patrick McCarthy Hanshi, founder of the International Ryukyu Karate Research Society. We are extremely grateful to McCarthy Hanshi for his support and encouragement, and will strive to continue to deliver an excellent and progressive learning environment for our students and visitors, in the spirit of this award.
We would also like to extend our congratulations to all our fellow recipients of Honour Roll Awards this year. Many are close friends and all exemplary role models richly deserving of this recognition for their contribution to fighting arts practice and human progress.
McCarthy Hanshi wrote in his announcement of this year’s awards:
“2018 ~ The 23rd Annual IRKRS Honour Roll Award Recipients
HONOUR – INTEGRITY – TRUST – LOYALTY
Congratulations, you’ve been nominated and inducted into the 2018 23rd annual IRKRS Honour Roll.
Your wonderful contributions have not gone unnoticed and we believe that your dedication to the fighting arts, and continual efforts to study, preserve and promote its practice, history and values, has been exemplary. The journey for each of us has not been without significant discipline, sacrifice and failure, and yet it is through adversity that we truly grow both inside and out. Ralph Waldo Emerson is remember for having said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” I like to think that much of our collective journey is about better understanding this and I’m honoured to be associated with you.
Breaking down walls that divide and building roads and bridges, the IRKRS boldly took an ambitious step in 1988 by being the first to blaze a new and unique path upon which to unite like-minded learners in pursuit of common goals, irrespective of style or political affiliation. In the years that followed we built a strong following, received widespread support, international accolades and a sterling reputation for unreservedly serving our alumni, empowering learners, celebrating personal achievement and camaraderie through this wonderful art. In 1996 we initiated the Honour Roll in an effort to recognise individuals whose exceptional dedication, commitment and contributions to the art of Karate, influence, inspire and touch the lives of so many.
It is my great privilege to announce this year’s annual IRKRS Honour Roll award recipients of which you are included:
- The Kinjo Hiroshi Humanitarian Award ~ Michelle Vanderlinden-Enfield, USA
- Lifetime Achievement Award ~ Meredith Gold, USA
- IRKRS Ambassador Award ~ Delia Piralli, Italy
- Person of the Year Award ~ Brett Hall, NZ [Posthumously]
- Dojo Award ~ Asato Dojo & James Pankiewicz, Japan
- Special Recognition ~ Miguel Da Luz, Japan
- Kurofune Award ~ Joe Swift, Japan
- Writer of the Year ~ Christian Bellina, Austria
- Instructor of the Year ~ Josh Stewart, Canada
- Yudansha of the Year ~ Manu Winter, Germany
- Mudansha of the Year ~ Kenneth Urrutia, USA
- Innovator Award ~ Adette Rice, Canada
On behalf of the IRKRS I’d like to congratulate and wish you the best of luck in your continued efforts. The fighting arts condition the body, cultivate the mind and nurture the spirit, in an effort to improve health, its holistic purpose; be better prepared to protect oneself, its defensive application; build moral character, its social aim; discover and overcome the source human weakness; its philosophical nature; and finally, to know inner-peace, its spiritual essence.
“Blessed are they who have learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate”
空手道は人生のためです
http://www.koryu-uchinadi.com/valuable-r…/irkrs-honour-roll/
Have a glass of awamori, hug your lovely wife, watch Bohemian Rhapsody and know that you are appreciated more than you may realise
Warm regards
よろしくお願いします
Patrick McCarthy
マカシー パトリック
Hanshi 9th Dan
範士九段
Australian Black Belt Hall of Fame 2000
Canadian Black Belt Hall of Fame 2012″
