We have a lot on our minds as we approach our first anniversary of Hokubei Budogu. What kind of budogu are we going to be? Pure retail? Just rake in the money and make our pockets richer? No. This company is operated and owned by someone who loves Kendo, and the purpose of this business is to help in any way possible to contribute to the growth of our Kendo community.
We sponsored Shinai to the Dominican Republic National Kendo Team for the 19th World Kendo Championships, and we were excited to be a small part of their journey to Italy to compete among the best Kendo players in the world.
Now, we want to help the future of Kendo. It may not be big, but we wanted to start somewhere. We decided to look for two or three teenagers who were passionate about Kendo and showed potential to be great role models to their younger followers.
We found the perfect teens. Meet Taichi Matsuura from Koyokai Kendo Dojo in Michigan and Agibail Westblade from Memphis Kendo Association in Tennessee.
At only ages 16 and 14, they have been passionate about their training and are competitive, and they have goals and hopes of becoming Team USA one day. As a sponsor, it would be great to see them achieve these result-driven goals, but we are not sponsoring them to bring in results to better market our brand. We want to see these two teens grow to strongly influence the next generation of kenshis and how kendo can help them grow into better characters. To be strong in body, mind, and character. To be model citizens. To do their part in promoting Kendo for the well-being of our youth Kendo populations. That is what we want to see as a sponsor.
Hokubei Budogu will work harder to source great products to increase sales. A generous portion of our profit will be used to support our youth Kendo community and build a great story together.
To Taichi and Abigail, their parents, and their senseis, thank you for letting Hokubei Budogu become a part of their Kendo journey.