On Saturday the 22nd of May there was a dan examination in Karlstad. There were a total of five people who took their test that day, including three people for sandan (3 dan).Arnaud and Romain, from Gothenburg Shibu, and Lovisa from Stockholm Södra, tested to 3 dan. From Karlstad, we had Henrik, who tested for 2 dan and Ann-Christine for 1 dan.

Especially worth of an extra mention is that Lovisa is the first Swedish woman with 3rd dan!

This is what her shibu-cho wrote about her efforts:

Lovisa Johnson-Axelle graded in mid-May as the first Swedish woman ever to 3 dan Chukenshi! The entire Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation gives her the warmest congratulations. Lovisa is now one of the few European female performers who have reached this level. Normally we try to completely ignore the sex of our practice – our aim is to keep it as gender neutral as we possibly can. Yet we want to give some extra attention to Lovisa’s a fantastic achievement and hope that she gets many followers. The focus Louisa shown in his training over the past year is inspirational and a good benchmark for others who are training, the same focus that had previously given her both the Championship and European Championship gold in embu.

Also worthy of special mention is Ann-Christine Håkansson who is the oldest Swedish woman who received a Dan rank. Ann-Christine began training after she turned 50 and has now reached a major milestone in her training.

This shows that Shorinji Kempo is practiced by everyone, young or old, woman or man.

Examiners at the examination was Anders Pettersson, Karlstad Shibu, and Åke Olsson from Karlstad Studenters Shibu.