Post by Jonathan Anderson on Dec 8, 2008 8:30:06 GMT -4
Okay everyone. It's that time again.
Actually, I probably should have posted this earlier, but given how quickly the posting about the Iaido seminar/shinsa in February has been replied to... truly, the number of replies has been staggering... I doubt it would have mattered much if I'd posted this earlier. At any rate, everyone needs to give consideration to scraping together enough money for their yearly SEUSKF/AUSKF membership fee. In addition to the warm fuzzy feeling you get by being a paid Kendo Federation member, you enjoy the following benefits:
-Included medical/legal insurance for any injuries you may receive/inflict in practice - we hope you never actually need this. ^_^
-In some cases, membership brings a lower entry fee for tournaments and seminars. In some cases, it's required to partake of the aforementioned, but not often.
-If you have ANY thoughts about attempting to test for promotion in either Kendo or Iaido in the 2009 calendar year, this is a requirement... I'm serious here, you must be a member of a regional Kendo Federation in order to test for promotion, so for all you Kendo/Iaido n00bs* that want to test... yeah, I'm talking to you over there. Stop hiding behind that bush, you're just embarrassing yourself... you need to get this paid up.
"But John," you may be asking, "how much do all these benefits cost? Yea, how can they even put a price on benefits such as these?" I'm here to tell you that it wasn't easy. Many days and nights were spent in intense meditation broken up by brutal Mortal KombatTM... sorry, THAT part I'm kidding about.
In all seriousness, unless it's been changed since last year (by the way, the yearly dues cost hasn't changed since 2002), the cost is $60... for the year. Now before anyone starts complaining, that's $5 per month, so do without HALF of a small coffee from Starschmucks per month, and there you go. You've made your money back. - no, you CAN'T pay it in monthly installments, so don't ask - and it's $60 per year, regardless of when in the year you pay it. It's not pro-rated, so you can't wait until July, pay $30, then try to attend a shinsa in August... doesn't work that way, sorry. If you decide in October of 2009 you want to be a Kendo Federation member for 2009, you'll pay $60, and that membership will expire January 1, 2010 - they're not going to keep track of each of the literally dozens of Kendo/Iaido students in the U.S. and when they paid their dues to give them 365 days of membership from the date they paid... I'm kidding about that last statment... we've got more than a few dozen Japanese Sword Art students in this country. ;D
What I need to know is how many of you are interested in becoming paid Kendo Federation members so we can set up how we're going to pool our money together to send in. If you're NOT interested at this time, I need to know so that I'm certain that everyone's been made aware of the option... and by extension, that they're actually coming to this site and checking the threads I'm posting... I don't do this for my health, ya know. I'm risking Carpal Tunnel Syndrome here... the least you guys could do is READ my words...
[glow=red,2,300]*The phrase "Kendo/Iaido n00bs" applies to everyone in our group, me most of all.[/glow]
Actually, I probably should have posted this earlier, but given how quickly the posting about the Iaido seminar/shinsa in February has been replied to... truly, the number of replies has been staggering... I doubt it would have mattered much if I'd posted this earlier. At any rate, everyone needs to give consideration to scraping together enough money for their yearly SEUSKF/AUSKF membership fee. In addition to the warm fuzzy feeling you get by being a paid Kendo Federation member, you enjoy the following benefits:
-Included medical/legal insurance for any injuries you may receive/inflict in practice - we hope you never actually need this. ^_^
-In some cases, membership brings a lower entry fee for tournaments and seminars. In some cases, it's required to partake of the aforementioned, but not often.
-If you have ANY thoughts about attempting to test for promotion in either Kendo or Iaido in the 2009 calendar year, this is a requirement... I'm serious here, you must be a member of a regional Kendo Federation in order to test for promotion, so for all you Kendo/Iaido n00bs* that want to test... yeah, I'm talking to you over there. Stop hiding behind that bush, you're just embarrassing yourself... you need to get this paid up.
"But John," you may be asking, "how much do all these benefits cost? Yea, how can they even put a price on benefits such as these?" I'm here to tell you that it wasn't easy. Many days and nights were spent in intense meditation broken up by brutal Mortal KombatTM... sorry, THAT part I'm kidding about.
In all seriousness, unless it's been changed since last year (by the way, the yearly dues cost hasn't changed since 2002), the cost is $60... for the year. Now before anyone starts complaining, that's $5 per month, so do without HALF of a small coffee from Starschmucks per month, and there you go. You've made your money back. - no, you CAN'T pay it in monthly installments, so don't ask - and it's $60 per year, regardless of when in the year you pay it. It's not pro-rated, so you can't wait until July, pay $30, then try to attend a shinsa in August... doesn't work that way, sorry. If you decide in October of 2009 you want to be a Kendo Federation member for 2009, you'll pay $60, and that membership will expire January 1, 2010 - they're not going to keep track of each of the literally dozens of Kendo/Iaido students in the U.S. and when they paid their dues to give them 365 days of membership from the date they paid... I'm kidding about that last statment... we've got more than a few dozen Japanese Sword Art students in this country. ;D
What I need to know is how many of you are interested in becoming paid Kendo Federation members so we can set up how we're going to pool our money together to send in. If you're NOT interested at this time, I need to know so that I'm certain that everyone's been made aware of the option... and by extension, that they're actually coming to this site and checking the threads I'm posting... I don't do this for my health, ya know. I'm risking Carpal Tunnel Syndrome here... the least you guys could do is READ my words...
[glow=red,2,300]*The phrase "Kendo/Iaido n00bs" applies to everyone in our group, me most of all.[/glow]