Dear fellow members of International Shintaido, Greetings. We
wish good health and peace of mind to you and your families during what
is surely a time like no other we have experienced. As the board of
directors comes to grips with the challenges and uncertainties that the
covid-19 pandemic presents, we are grateful to have our community and
the practice of Shintaido, which can help sustain, strengthen and ground
us. It can also bring us together in ways that we had not fully
realized until now, as we reach out to one another, using the Internet
and other means, to stay in touch and even practice "alone together". As
our community rallies in mutual support, we the board are inspired and
heartened as we plan for the adjustments our organization will make for a
new reality. In
light of this reality, we have decided to postpone this year's
international gasshuku, Biwako 2020. The decision may seem like an
obvious one, as the pandemic forces people globally to change their
priorities and ways of living for the foreseeable future. We did not
make the decision lightly. We did so reluctantly and in consultation
with the Biwako organizers in the Kansai region of Japan, who also
discussed this situation with Ito Sensei, the technical director. We
took into account a number of factors such as the uncertainty about how
the pandemic would evolve, including the risk that it would slow down
in the summer and reactivate in the fall, the financial hardship caused
by the loss of work and loss of savings -- which has already led some of
you to signal that attendance would be unlikely -- and the simple fact
that, overall, none of us knows what the world will be like six months
from now. We also debated on whether to wait another two or three months
before making this decision, but we concluded that most if not all of
the present uncertainties would still be with us and that most of our
members would prefer to know early if the event were indeed going to be
postponed. So we felt we should not delay this decision, despite our
unavoidable disappointment. Our
Kansai members tell us they are still willing to host and will be
working with us to determine a new date. There is general support for
delaying by one year and holding the event in November of 2021. As we
work on this question, we will likely reach out to you to ask your
opinions and preferences. We
understand the postponement of the gasshuku presents its own set of
challenges to our members, and we are sorry for that. Regional and
national groups have built this year's calendars of events around the
Biwako gasshuku. And many of us individually have already made plans for
attending the event this year, purchasing tickets, making down
payments, reservations and so forth. Be assured that anyone who has made
an early down payment to attend Biwako 2020 will be refunded in full
minus any transaction fees. The organizers will be in touch with those
members individually. It is likely they will offer the option of
transferring existing reservations to the newly scheduled event. Among
the most important plans affected by our decision are those for the
high-level exams. Holding these exams is a primary function of our
organization, and the Board and ITEC take the responsibility of
providing opportunity to take high-level exams most seriously. We are
aware that it would be a disappointment and a disruption to many of our
members if we do not hold these exams in 2020. For this reason we are
still considering whether it would be reasonably possible to somehow
hold exams this year. ITEC will be considering the matter in the coming
weeks. We ask for your patience and hope you will reach out to any one
of us on the board or ITEC if you wish to express your feelings on the
matter. Despite
the disruptions and hardships that the pandemic will cause us, we hope
to find opportunity in this crisis to become closer and further our work
of developing and sharing Shintaido. Be well and at peace! Yours, The Board of International Shintaido | 
