Iaido Zoom Canceled

Good Afternoon,

I will need to cancel practice tomorrow because there is a flight that I need to catch.  We should be able to resume next Sunday.

In-Person Practice Status

Hello everyone,

I hope that everyone has been able to stay healthy and sane during this extended horror movie that is 2020 and found your own ways to practice while we wait for the dojos to open up again.  It's been a minute since I've communicated with everyone about whether or not we will be able to open up the dojos again, so I think it's only fair that I send everyone an update since the last email I sent.

A few weeks ago, the dojo leaders and officers of the ECUSKF had a brief phone meeting concerning how we should handle the possibility of resuming in-person practices as the various sectors of our economy start to open up, including gyms and recreation centers.  The good news about that is we may have the spaces to practice open up again as the restrictions on close-contact sports are loosened.  However, we can't forget that COVID-19 is still an issue, and cases have been increasing across the country.  As much as we would love to resume practices as usual, we have to put the health and safety of our practitioners first, especially for those in the vulnerable groups.  At the end of the call, we made the decision that the risks were still too high to resume practices again, so we won't be having in-person Kendo and Iaido practices for at least the next few weeks while we continuously keep up to date about safety conditions.

Despite all of that, don't forget that there are a lot of ways to continue practicing on your own.  The Kendo practices over Zoom have still been going on so you can always join with those practices.  There's also a lot of Youtube videos to watch, blogs to read and cross-training to perform (so you're not starting at zero once we get back).
While I'm at it, I'd also like to announce that I've been able to hold Iaido practices over Zoom.  The last few weeks were touch-and-go making sure that those who were able to attend were able to get into the room, but it looks like that's all been worked out (fingers crossed!).  I've been doing them on Sunday mornings at 10, and the link can be accessed below.  Feel free to join us if you're able to, even if you are just able to watch!

Hope to see you all there!

Chris George

P.S.  Yesterday, I found out that the AUSKF has released some guidelines for practicing duing the pandemic.  I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, but I'll let you know when I do.

COVID-19 Updates

Hello everyone,

Before I begin with the meat of my email, I want to remind everyone that our Wednesday practices, including the one tonight, are currently on hold for the time being.  In my initial announcement, I mentioned that the closures was to allow the staff to clean and disinfect their facilities and reopen on April 6th. The update to that is the closures might last a little longer due to Mike DeWine ordering closures of most public facilities, including recreation centers, gyms and movie theaters, until further notice.

As for the Sunday practices, my original decision was to keep those practices going as usual as long as the Martial Arts Facility is able to remain open.  When I made that decision, I was taking the small sizes of our Sunday class into account, along with urging everyone to practice proper hygiene and sufficient health monitoring.  However, the last few days has only shown an increase in diagnoses around the globe, and in our backyard, which has forced the Governor to close many business and events where large amounts of people tend to gather and increased the calls for social distancing.  At this point, I don't know what that means for martial arts facilities, but regardless of whether they  can stay open or not, I have to make the difficult decision to also cancel our Sunday practices until further notice.  As great as it would be to have a sense of normalcy in the face of all that is going on, and I look forward to training with all of you every class, I just don't think that all of that is worth putting everyone at risk.

We may be down, but we're definitely not out!  We will resume practice again as soon as the situation improves and business are allowed to operate as normal!  In the meantime, continue your dedication to Kendo and Iaido through self-practice and cross-training!

Chris George

Sunday Practice Updates

Good evening everyone,

Sorry for spamming your inboxes with emails and everything, but I just wanted to give an update concerning our Sunday practices.

I had a quick call with the owner of the Martial Arts America facility about continuing practice there. She said that they will be committed to keeping the place open as long as they can, with a few measures to keep everyone safe. In addition to cleaning the place twice per week instead of once per week, she is having everyone in her classes take a quick temperature check with an infared thermometer and wash their hands with hand sanitizer upon entering the building. She has asked me if we'd be comfortable with the additional measures and report back to her about the responses.

Chris George

Promotion Exam and Wednesday Practices Now Canceled

Good morning!

A few days ago, the ECUSKF had to make the difficult decision to postpone the Kentucky Tournament due to the concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus.  Due to the smaller crowds that the promotion exams usually draw, we thought that it would be okay to hold it, but in a different location.

Over the last few days, there have been a few updates to the situation:
   - There's been an increase in the amount of confirmed diagnoses for COVID-19 all around the country, including here in the Cincinnati area.
   - Mike DeWine has issued a ban on all public gatherings where more than 100 people would be in a single room.
   - The Worthington Community Center, where the promotion exam is set to be held, has closed its doors.

Because of these late-breaking updates, we have to postpone the promotion exam.  We understand that all of you that want to take the exam worked really hard up to this point, but we have to put the safety of our members and visitors first.  However, we will still have the Kentucky Tournament at a later date once conditions improve.  In the meantime, continue your track of training and working hard for when that time comes!

If you've already sent in your application forms, the checks have not been processed.  If you need your checks back, please let me know.  Otherwise, they'll be destroyed.

IMPORTANT NEWS
While typing up this email, I found out that ALL recreation centers will be closed until Monday, April 6th so that they can be cleaned and disinfected.  This includes the College Hill Rec Center, where we practice on Wednesdays, so we will have to cancel all Wednesday practices during this time.  For the time being, Sunday practices will still go on as normal, but please pay attention to your email inboxes in case the situation changes.

Chris George

COVID-19 Situation

Good evening fellow Kenshi,

The last few days has included a lot of changes and updates going on concerning the operation of the Kentucky and Cleveland tournaments that have been planned to occur over the last few weeks.  As I'm sure all of you know, the spread of the COVID-19 virus around the world has caused event organizers to weigh the risks of hosting an event where large amounts of people plan to gather.  Some of those planned events have, unfortunately, been canceled or postponed out of consideration to public health.

Unfortunately, after weighing the risks to our own Federation and possible visitors, the ECUSKF has decided to postpone the Kentucky Tournament for the time being.  For those of you that have already sent in your money for the tournament, those checks will not be processed.  The silver lining is that the promotion will still go on as planned, but it will be moved to Columbus.  We're still trying to nail down a time, but the location will be at the following location:

Worthington Recreation Center
345 E Wilson Bridge Rd
Worthington, OH 43085

There was also a series of joint practices that were going on this month to prepare for the Junior Nationals and the AUSKF National Tournament this year.  Those have also been postponed until a later date (the Jr. Nationals have also been canceled. The AUSKF Tournament's fate hasn't been decided as of this email).

Yesterday, we were also informed that ALL events surrounding the Cleveland Tournament (tournament, promotion exam, seminar and godo-keiko) have been canceled.  At this time, I'm not sure if it will be rescheduled at a later date, but I'll let you know about the latest developments.  If anyone has already pre-paid for the tournament when they signed up, the organizers are working on a way to make sure that everyone gets a refund.

As for our regular practices, I currently don't see a need to cancel practice at this time.  The only thing I can really say at this point is to pay close attention to your health and stay home if you start to feel sick (don't try to "brave" it out for the sake of ego).  You also want to keep yourself, and others, healthy by practicing good hygiene (washing hands, showering, etc.), getting enough sleep and eating properly.

There's still a lot of activity going on behind the scenes with the situation, so I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.  If there are any questions or concerns, feel free to ask!

Chris George

Changes To Tomorrow's Practice Schedule

Good morning everyone,

Sorry for the last minute notice, but there will be a joint practice tomorrow from 10 AM - 3 PM at the College Hill Rec Center.  Iaido will still go on as normal in Dillonvale, but we will be joining everyone for the joint practice for Kendo.

Chris George