Ninja Festival 42 and An-Shu Stephen K. Hayes’s birthday celebration.

On September 10th, 2021, ninja from all over the country traveled again to Dayton Ohio, to train with the heads of To-Shin Do, An-Shus Stephen, and Rumiko Hayes. On the night of the 10th, a large group celebrated An-Shu’s birthday (the day before) at everyone’s favorite Dayton Indian restaurant, Amar India. On Saturday the 11th, the training began at the Dayton Quest Center (now under the leadership of Shane Raitoshi Stevens). The focus of the weekend was adaptations of the Togakure Ryu Santo Tonko no kata. Over the course of the weekend, sessions were led by the Hayes’s, Dennis Fuutoshi Mahoney, James Kentoshi Norris, Shane Raitoshi Stevens, Bryan Toutoshi Griffin, Johanna Meitoshi Norris, Scott Akitoshi Bragg, and myself. Saturday’s training concluded with the traditional fire ceremony complete with horagai (conch shell trumpets) and shakujo accompaniment. Sunday’s training was structured much like Saturday’s with instruction from the An-Shus broken up by guest instruction from the aforementioned individuals. After lunch though, we took a bit of time to put two of To-Shin Do’s Go-Dans (fifth degrees) through a randori in front of the An-Shus and the present Shihan Kai members. These randoris are included in the video nearer to the end. Before we wrapped up for the weekend both Rick Yuutoshi Hansen (Dojo-Cho of the Kearney Quest Center) and Dr. Richard Watoshi Sears were promoted to Roku-Dan (sixth degree) in front of the seminar participants. A huge congratulations is owed to these individuals for reaching such an esteemed rank after decades of diligent practice. Congratulations gentlemen and I look forward to training with more of my To-Shin brothers and sisters next year! Music Credit: Todd Norcross, www.ToddNorcross.net