Dear kenshi, the time has come to order zekken: aka name tags that go on your tare. As you know, these are used to identify both yourself and your affiliation to our dojo.
While they are not necessarily required in order to take part in competitions, a well made zekken sure looks a lot nicer than your name written on a piece of duct tape ;)
Traditionally, Heeren-sensei arranges for ordering of zekken through Furuya-sensei in Japan. If you would like to buy one, please contact Heeren-sensei. The deadline for ordering is february 1st.
Heeren-sensei will need to know your surname in both western alphabet and in katakana. Many of your sempai can help you, or you can give it a shot using Wikipedia’s handydandy table of katakana.
If you’re trying it yourself, remember that kana are a phonetic alphabet and that many of our western sounds are only approximated in Japanese. For example, Sluyter becomes su-ra-ta, or スラタ. Heeren becomes he-re-n, or ヘーレン. Of course, Davin-sempai will need a lot of space for マヘスパルシング (;^_^)