JUKF Boston Visit 2024 by CollegeKarate

USA TOUR 2024 - KARATE DIPLOMACY 12-18 SEPTEMBER 2024

USA TOUR 2024

DAY 1 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12

MIT-HARVARD Karate Hub was excited to greet the visiting JUKF delegation arriving in Boston at Logan Airport with 15 total members (6 senior JUKF members, 9 university students). After a coordinated transfer from the Airport to the Hotel, thanks to all the MHKH chaperones and volunteers, we hosted a welcoming dinner for everyone at Lucky Strike at Assembly Square in Somerville. The schedule for the week was discussed, finalized, and approved for Karate training and Boston sightseeing. The university students enjoyed their first night in Boston, bonding with our Boston area Karate students, j i b i d t d l i

DAY 2 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13

We had a busy first full day in Boston planned for our JUKF guests. First, we had a private tour scheduled in the Massachusetts State House. The JUKF members learned about the history of the MA State House and how politics in the US operates in these formal settings. We visited the government cabinet and saw the hall where public events are held, which holds all of the flags for the cities of the state of Massachusetts in the order they were founded, starting with Plymouth.

After the State House tour, we went to the Boston City Hall, where we organized a meeting with Mr. Juan Lopez and Eddy Flynn (Member of the Boston City Council). The JUKF members learned about the 400 year celebration of Boston 2030 and were surprised when Mr. Eddy Flynn provided an Official Citation by the City of Boston that this JUKF visit to Boston would become officially part of the Boston 400 year history celebration.

After the City Hall meetings, we went from Boston to Cambridge for a lunch and lecture by the MIT Japan Program. The lecture was given by Professor Cristina, who spoke about the history of the MIT Japan program and the first students who visited MIT from Japan. Cristina described the life story of the first Japanese engineer graduate from MIT 150 years ago. After the lecture, we got to enjoy a traditional Japanese bento (boxed lunch) together. The event concluded with a gift exchange between our members of the MIT Harvard Karatedo Hub (MHKH) and JUKF. Following our formal afternoon activities, we scheduled a Karate training at The Foundry in Kendall Square. Kobayashi Sensei from Osaka Institute of Technology (OIT) led the training, going through fundamental basics (kihon), basic sparring (kumite), and kata details. Kobayashi Sensei did a wonderful job of splitting the class during the kata portion of the practice, allowing students to practice various katas, such as Bassai Dai, Unsu, and Gojushiho Sho.

After training Karate together, we went to the Harvard Smithsonian Observatory to enjoy dinner and socialize together. The Center for Astrophysics (CfA) offered the JUKF students a wonderful opportunity to use the telescope and view the Moon and Saturn, thanks to the help of karateka Carol Cuesta and her CfA colleagues. It was a night filled with views of the planets and bonding between Karate students from universities in the US and in Japan, where we got to learn more about each other’s fields of study, hopes and dreams post-graduation, and Karate passion.

DAY 3

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14

We started our Saturday with various lectures organized by our MHKH members at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. This year, we organized a mini “ career fair,” for which we asked several members of our MHKH Karate community to describe their career choices and their professional life in the US. Lecturers included: Amandine Fromont, who studied environmental science and law to become an environmental lawyer; Nikita Patil, who pursued a PhD in bioscience, studying the link between human health and food; Ricardo Harripaul, who pursued a PhD in life sciences studying genetics and disease; Carol Cuesta, a PhD and post-doc in Astrophysics, studying the use of AI in Astrophysics; Bruce Hou, who chose the path of data analytics in business; Emile Zounon, who studied education theory and runs a non-profit teaching children computer literacy; and Lorraine Sin, who pursued clinical mental health counseling. With this variety of career choices, we offered the JUKF students an opportunity to learn more about various careers and fields in the US.

After the lectures, we walked through MIT campus for another Karate training, this time outdoors at the MIT Killian Court. This practice was led by Ikeda Koki from the Waseda University Karate club. Koki focused on practicing Karate basics (kihon) before moving on to teach a new kata for many students: Tekki Nidan. We then enjoyed the warm weather with some pizza lunch at Killian Court, before moving to the MIT Sailing Pavilion. The MIT Sailing Pavilion is the birthplace of university sailing in the US. Cassiano organized a sailing lesson for the students with several of the sailors from his Karatekas Sailors program, as well as a practice regatta racing event at the end of the session for the students to put their skills to the test.

At night, we hosted our formal welcome reception at Elevate Skydeck Rooftop Penthouse. The reception included food, drinks, and an opportunity for the students to meet and mingle, dance and have fun. The evening wrapped up with formal welcoming speeches by Osada Sensei, Chairman of the JUKF, and by Vazrik Chiloyan on behalf of our MHKH team. The Karate club presidents of each university also gave short speeches to introduce themselves and their clubs, and to foster this growing Karate network. Finally, we held a gift exchange to solidify our bond of friendship, and discussed future plans to continue to foster the growth of our Karate organizations through the power of altruism.

DAY 4

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15

Sunday was filled with an exciting schedule for everyone. First, the JUKF seniors hosted an official JUKF Dan exam for some MHKH members: Emile Zounon from Benin (Harvard University), Julia Van from Russia (Boston University), Bruce Hou from Taiwan (Boston University), Renata Costa from Brazil (União da Associação Educacional Sul-Matogrossense UNAES), Munawwar Abdulla from Australia (Harvard University), Angel Chan from Hong Kong (Lesley University), and Sasiru Pathiranage from Sri Lanka (Boston University). The Dan exam was held at the MIT T-Club Lounge in the MIT Gym. The students demonstrated their kihon, favorite kata along with a Heian kata, and free sparring to the examiners. After the official exam, Osada Sensei and Kobayashi Sensei gave tips to the students on how to take their kihon, kata, and kumite to the next level. Following the exam, everyone enjoyed lunch at Fogo de Chão in Boston, where the JUKF and MHKH discussed future opportunities in the US and Japan. Meanwhile, the JUKF university students enjoyed a day of sightseeing and lunch in Boston’s Quincy Market. They then visited the Museum of Science, experiencing various exciting exhibits. The students also got the chance to ride the Boston Blue bikes along the BU Esplanade for a true Boston experience! At night, the students enjoyed dinner at the Mad Monkfish to enjoy food and drinks, bonding and discussing future fun opportunities together.

DAY 5 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16

On Monday morning, several volunteers drove the JUKF members to Plymouth, MA. As we learned at the State House on Friday, Plymouth was the first city founded in Massachusetts. The students went on a tour of the Mayflower and learned about this aspect of early American history. After the Mayflower tour, we enjoyed lunch in Cambridge at Boston Burger Company. The students then visited Boston with fellow MHKH students, doing some shopping on Newbury Street and walking around neighborhoods of Boston. In the evening, the students got dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Some of the students had a dream of eating hamburgers and steaks in America, and they got to complete both dreams in one day!

DAY 6

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17

Today was the final full day for our JUKF friends in Boston. They spent the morning doing souvenir shopping and buying gifts from the stores in Assembly Square. We then had Karate practice in the Mezzanine of the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC) of Harvard University. Vazrik Sensei led the Karate practice, focusing on showing the bridge of connection between kihon and kumite training. He had drills that trained kizami zuki and gyaku zuki, starting with very basic kihon versions of the drills, which increased in complexity to the final advanced form that is used in jiyu kumite. The JUKF students demonstrated their technique with a pad to train power, speed, and precision. Then, we had the students play a unique kumite speed match, which tested their understanding of kumite distancing and timing. This was a game that even the seniors enjoyed, as it reminded them of their younger years of Karate training. We ended with training the kata Enpi (Flying Swallow), which is a common favorite kata among Shotokan Karate practitioners. The students then got a tour of Harvard Square and did some final shopping. At night, we had a farewell dinner at the Mad Monkfish. We enjoyed everyone’s company for one more dinner, and did a special gift exchange between our MHKH team and the JUKF members. During dinner, Osada Sensei provided the official Dan exam results. We are proud to have 7 new JUKF Shodan Black Belts: Emile, Julia, Munawwar, Angel, Sasiru, Renata, and Bruce! Their official JUKF black belts and certificates will be delivered during our trip in Japan in November 2024.

The dinner concluded with a special music performance by Hiro Komine (JUKF), Emile Zounon (Harvard University), and Cassiano Alves (Harvard University), singing the Italian opera song “O Sole Mio” with Takayuki Matsumoto (Osaka Institute of Technology) on piano. It has now become a tradition to sing this song each year in Boston, and an opportunity for Komine san to share his passion for Italian opera with everyone. The Japanese University students themselves sang some famous Japanese songs to share Japanese pop culture with the MHKH students. The evening wrapped up with a wonderful piano performance by our very own Sasiru Pathiranage from BU.

DAY 7

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18

Our JUKF friends flew back to Japan today. We helped them with transportation to Boston Logan Airport, and spent some final moments with the students in the airport before departing. As we are already planning to visit Japan in November 2024, this was not ‘goodbye’, but rather ‘ see you soon’! As always, the best is yet to come!