First of all, I like to thank you for your enrollment with Chito Ryu Karate in this term. I am glad to see many new faces in our karate practice. I wish you all enjoy your lessons in the future and all the best to your way to become a black belt.

Chito Ryu Karate is a very fine style of karate. It is a traditional style of karate originated in Okinawa, Japan. There are many Chito Ryu schools in Japan and many foreign countries. From now on, I will use the newsletter to communicate with you about Chito Ryu Karate and other relevant information. Please check under "News" in our website www.chitoryu.hk regularly.

So much for now. Have a nice week.

Yours truly,
Heyton Tze
Chief Instructor

Chito Ryu karate was founded by Dr. Chitose (also known as O-Sensei) in 1956. Since then, the style has grew substantially in Japan and worldwide. This year is the 60th anniversary of Chito Ryu Karate. In August 2006, a grand celebration was held in Japan. There were many visitors from our member countries. First, we all gathered at Kumamoto, a city in southern part of Japan. We all visited the headquarter to re-union. Speeches from Soke sensei, the son of Dr. Chitose and our style leader, was delivered. Soke Sensei was very happy that many of our members travelled a long way to celebrate the event. In the afternoon, we all went to a city called Kikuchi. The town was famous for the nature hot spring. Kikuchi was the first place where Chito Ryu Karate was first taught to public. We visited the shrine in Kikuchi where Dr. Chitose gave lessons in the 50s'. Afterward, we had a lesson with Soke (the son of Dr. Chitose, our style leader) Sensei. The lesson was about a series of techniques against knife attacks. The techniques were invented by O-sensei but not yet our curriculum. It was impressive that the techniques were very effective and practical. And best of all, they are closely related to the forms and basics we practice regularly.

On Saturday, we were invited to watch a performance. It started off with a traditional Japanese drum orchestra. The sound of drums were very spiritual. It really energized the spectators. It was followed by a series of karate demonstration. There were group demonstrations of karate forms and self-defense drills. Various kinds of karate weapons were also used and performed. These weapons were mostly farm tools from way back in the old days. One karate teacher even demonstrated the usage of ninja stars throwing and sumari swords. To conclude the demonstration, all performers had one thing in common, and it is their level of mental focus.

If you want to view our photos from this wonderful trip, please visit:
www.chitoryu.hk/gallery/Chito-Ryu-60th-Anniversary