Chairmans Report 2007

Dear BKA Members

At the end of another calendar year and with membership fees now due, this seems a good opportunity to for an interim review ahead of next years AGM.

By and large we have made significant progress. Our financial position has strengthened. Membership is again up, we have reached the benchmark figure of 100 dojo across the UK, and our grade profile has improved across all three disciplines. We have continued to meet the demands and challenges we face as a governing body by upgrading coaching systems, providing more referee training and working to further develop our national squads. We continue to keep a weather eye on potential sword legislation.

All three bu have delivered highly successful results in international competition and between us we have facilitated some extremely well attended domestic events.

An unfortunate low point in the year was the anarchic and uncivilised AGM. Since this date the EC have been quietly working via a succession of meetings with leading members of the Iai and Jodo bu’s. To date three iterations of a proposal to give Iaido and Jodo financial and management autonomy have been produced and have been refused. We are currently awaiting another meeting to make further suggestions and amendments before putting proposals to the membership.

We still very much hope to have a solution to present to the 2008 AGM, in tandem with the general constitution overhaul requested by the membership, but as you can see it is still very much a “work in progress”.

Whilst I think we all sincerely hope that the next AGM is more civilised and constructive than the last let us all recognise that in the affiliated dojo, our shinsa and shiai the association is making genuine progress.

Geoff Salmon

Chairman