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Last Thursday we had a visit from TV4 Värmland (TV4 is a national channel, but also have regional news), which had picked up on the fact that Anders-sensei has been nominated for the Traditional Practitioner of the Year Award at the 2014 Swedish Martial Arts Gala. Today the clip was aired in the local news. (clip usually have a short advertisement first)
Here is a translation of what is said in the clip:
Anders-sensei: “I suppose it’s primarily for long and faithful service, and perhaps also because I was the first Swede to grade to 6th dan in February 2013.”
Reporter: “Anders Pettersson from Karlstad practices Shorinji Kempo.”
Anders-sensei: “Shorinji Kempo focuses on practicing body and mind. We don’t just practice techniques, we try to better ourselves as human beings too. I consider myself a Buddhist, but it is not necessary to be a Buddhist in order to practice Shorinji Kempo, but a lot of the philosofy is based on Buddhist ideas.”
Reporter: “At the Martial Arts Gala in Stockholm in about a month, Sweden’s best in 10 categories will be rewarded, Anders Pettersson is nominated in the category Traditional Practitioner of the Year together with three other martial artists. This category is primarily aimed for martial arts that do not focus on competition as much as some of the other arts in the Swedish Budo and Martial Arts Federation. But he is somewhat reluctant to be nominated.”
Anders-sensei: “Personally, I’m not really enjoying this.”
Reporter: “Why aren’t you enjoying this?”
Anders-sensei: “Well, I’m not that found of being in the center of attention in this manner, but that’s something I can live with if we get some attention to Shorinji Kempo, and perhaps it can make more people wanting to start practicing.”