Martial arts have always been an important and popular activity at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, attracting people of all ages from throughout the city. After about a year of moving to its current location on 6 Garamond Court in 1999, the dojo area or “martial arts centre” of the JCCC was completed, accommodating the growing classes of martial arts. The eight disciplines offered today include kendo, judo, aikido, iaido, naginata, karate, shorinji kenpo, and most recently kyudo, with a total of about 600 students coming out to the classes each week. Among these disciplines, two of them require the use of tatami mats, which are essential in order to protect the safety of the members/students, and to maintain the high quality of JCCC’s martial arts programmes.

It had become apparent this year that it is now time to retire the old worn down mats and to bring in new ones. And to accommodate the new size of the 100 tatami mats of about 3 feet by 5 feet each, the floor will have to be re-cut. Replacing the mats—an issue which needs to be addressed every five to ten years—are vital, but will naturally involve significant costs. Thus, this has led the Centre to begin a new project proposed to be completed by January 2009. In the meantime, short term patching measures will have to be carried out, but this is not expected to be a permanent solution.

The cost for each mat is $300. An income tax receipt will be issued for your tax-deductible donation. As well, your contribution will be reflected on a plaque to be affixed to the wall in the JCCC’s martial arts centre. Dedication and payment forms will be available at the reception desk for your convenience.

With your generous support, the JCCC will be able to start the New Year with a beautifully renewed, safer and more user-friendly dojo.

For further information concerning the “Buy a Tatami Mat” Campaign, please contact Michael Kim at 416-441-2345 ext. 232.