AUSKF 2022 Membership Registration Announcement Letter

Updates:

Contact information updated 8/1/2022

1/31/2022

Dear Federation Representatives:

Belated Happy New Year! I hope that this email finds you well and healthy.

Although the pandemic imposed significant hardships in 2021, it was a year in which we demonstrated resilience and made efforts to regain normalcy. As the COVID-19 vaccines became widely available to us, many dojos and federations started resuming kendo/iaido/jodo activities. The AUSKF also resumed a few events that were vital to its mission. These events include, the iaido committee carrying out online seminars periodically, and the promotion committee undertaking a high rank kendo examination in a highly controlled environment in Torrance, CA, in November. The exam, which had been suspended for the past two years since fall 2019, attracted over 100 applicants and gave us a hope that, if conducted properly, we can support various in-person activities under Covid. Despite the surge of Omicron variants since December, I am cautiously optimistic that we can overcome the challenges and continue to carry out our organization’s mission —promote and educate members in the art of kendo and other related arts in the USA – this year and in the future.

With the renewed commitment to carrying out our mission and regaining a certain degree of normalcy, the newly elected board of directors have decided to reinstate the membership fees to the pre-Covid rates for the 2022 year. Our decision also reflects our financial needs. During the pandemic years, we lost 25% of our memberships, resulting in significant losses in income from membership fees. Revenues from promotion tests plummeted as well. Meanwhile, our insurance costs per member and other essential expenses to maintain the organization have significantly increased. Overall, the board made a very difficult decision but please understand that it was a necessary adjustment.

We anticipate that we can continue to support various activities in kendo/iaido/jodo as long as they can be conducted in safe and secure environments. The newly elected board of directors discussed various ideas and plans to resume our federation’s future events in 2022 year. You can expect to hear announcement from each committee soon. Please note that there remains a significant degree of uncertainty regarding how the pandemic unfolds itself in the future. When our safety and health are in jeopardy and our activities must be interrupted, our board will reconsider the membership fees in our effort to provide relief to our members again, depending on our financial standing. I sincerely hope that you understand our situation and encourage your members to register with our organization.

Thank you for your assistance and cooperation. Please see below for a summary of registration information for the 2022 year.

Keiko Umemura

Treasurer, AUSKF

Useful Documents:

AUSKF 2022 Membership Registration Procedure by Keiko Umemura [PDF]

AUSKF 2022 Spreadsheet-Based Membership Registration by Keiko Umemura [PDF]

AUSKF Membership 2022 Annual Form [XLS]

AUSKF Membership 2022 Supplemental Form [XLS]

1. 2022 Membership fees:

Adult (18 years and over) $60

Children (17 years and under) $30

Full time students $30

One time Initiation Fee $10

Age will be that as of the timing of registration.

2. 2022 Membership Renewal Due Date: March 31, 2022

Per AUSKF Policies and Procedures, annual membership is due March 31st each year. The annual AUSKF insurance count is based on these numbers.

3. Online Registration Start Date (updated 8/1/2022):

The 2022 membership period is 4/1/2022 through 3/31/2023, and we will roll out the online registrations for individual members on March 15, 2022. The federation representatives need to talk with AUSKF Treasurer Committee (treasurer@auskf.org) led by Keiko Umemura or AUSKF IT committee lead by Taro Ariga (it@auskf.org) to set up their bank account and the 2022 federation fee schedules BEFORE the roll-out. Please inform all of your federation members that the 2021 registration will be closed as of 3/14/2022. If an individual wants to register for last weeks of the 2021 membership, please consult with Keiko Umemura.

For general online registration matters please contact the online membership team at appadmin@auskf.org.

4. Payment Address (for collective checks):

If your federation decides to register collectively via spreadsheet, refer to the AUSKF 2022-2023 Spreadsheet-Based Membership Registration for how to submit your file and the member data. This year, the procedure will be changed, and the instructions will be updated on the AUSKF website shortly. Please send your payment to the address below, and email xlsadmin@auskf.org for notification. Jean Kodama-sensei (jean.kodama@auskf.org) have been assisting the federations to import the membership data and continue working on the spreadsheet registration. Ms. Mary DeJong who assisted the federations for the membership for the past years will be away from the role for a while, and replaced with Ms. Doreen Mita-Juanitas (doreen.mita@auskf.org). We sincerely appreciate Ms. DeJong’s contribution to the federation in the past years.

Collective Check Mailing Address (updated 8/1/2022)

Yuji Onitsuka

PO Box 3071, Salinas, CA 93912

email: xlsadmin@auskf.org

5. One Check Policy (collective registrations only):

Please make checks payable to All United States Kendo Federation (or AUSKF). Please make sure that your federation collects all fees from individual dojos and submits one federation check. AUSKF will not accept checks from individuals or dojos.

6. Late Registration for 2022

If a person wishes to be registered after the deadline of 3/31/2022, you can use new Supplemental Registration Form (instructions are on this link at AUSKF 2022 Spreadsheet-Based Membership Registration). Alternatively, you can let the individuals register online. We strongly encourage members to register as soon as possible before the deadline. Members will not be eligible for promotion and other regional events unless they are paid and registered.