IkigaiWay Shirts Now Available!
Over the past two months I've had the opportunity to do T-Shirt giveaways thanks to a few generous companies. While people enjoyed participating in the giveaways, they kept asking me "how do I get a shirt if I don't win?"
I didn't have an answer because I never focused on IkigaiWay specific products. The T-Shirt situation came about by chance. Of course I was pumped to hear that people were interested in sharing the concept of the website and would enjoy wearing something based on it.
Recently I teamed up with a company called Spreadshirt in order to make IkigaiWay apparel a reality. Spreadshirt is a professional T-Shirt creation company that prints shirts on demand. Through their technology I was able to design the shirts to my specifications and keep the cost relatively low. As a result, IkigaiWay gear is now available in multiple designs, colors, and products.
Browse the Apparel Shop
Thanks to Spreadshirt's imbedding technology, I have the storefront right here on the site. The actual store is hosted and encrypted via Spreadshirt, which means it's as easy and safe to use as Amazon. Ordering a shirt on the site comes with full capability of returns, refunds, and customer service.
To access the store, navigate to "ikigai shop" above and you'll notice it on the dropdown. Or just click here – GO TO THE SHOP.
Shirts Available May15th – June15th
This shirt shop is an experiment, so I intend to keep it open for a month. If people seem to enjoy it I will keep it open, otherwise I will close it down. If you'd like a shirt, please place your order within a month.
Get Your Picture Posted!
IkigaiWay has always been a community driven site, but now we get to see it in action! I've dedicated three pages specifically to showing off IkigaiWay members in action:
Grab a shirt, take a picture, and send it to ikigai108@gmail.com. Imagine dozens of pictures from people all over sharing the same message of Budo Spirit!
Tamagawa’s Impressive Taiko and Maigasa Performance
I recently had a chance to attend the "Sakura Sunday" festival in Fairmount Park outside of Philadelphia. I've visited the event before and have always enjoyed the festivities. Unfortunately this year there was some very early warm weather which caused the cherry blossoms to bloom and fade before the festival hit. Despite that, the performances, food, and craft booths all made it worthwhile anyway.
While there I got to sample some well made traditional Japanese snacks and watch a little bit of Aikido. I also observed a classic Odori style dance, which is very reserved and controlled.
The highlight of the event for me was the Tamagawa Drum and Dance Troupe. Every year the coordinators and players come up with exciting new routines and ideas. This year they revealed what might be my favorite prop they've ever used. You may have heard of decorative Japanese parasols known as maigasa. They are beautiful and delicate and can be used to add a unique visual element to dance. The Tamagawa Troupe developed a hardier, eye-catching version that also featured chimes along the edges. They executed the routine with a level of precision that would make any kobudo practitioner cheer.
Check out a few select cuts from the event, including a bit of the maigasa performance:
I had to stop myself from stealing one of those umbrellas to try out my bo kata. It would be awesome!
Double Wammy: New Project and T-Shirt Giveaway
Very exciting announcements today.
First of all, the last T-Shirt Giveaway seemed to go over well. Happily another quality company has offered to sponsor a giveaway – Fibers.com. Fibers is a T-Shirt specific site that allows for easy and fun shirt design. So today I get to present not one but TWO giveaways, the second being attached to my newest project.
Go on…Win Some Shiiiiirts.
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CONTEST #1: Link It Up
The rules of the first contest are very easy – link to ikigaiway from another part of the web. You can link to http://www.ikigaiway.com or any particular post you happened to like. The catch is, social media like Facebook and Twitter doesn't count. Your link has to appear on a blog, personal website, school site, etc (multiple entries for different links is allowed).
Here is a sample code snippet to help you along if you need it:
<a href="http://www.ikigaiway.com">IkigaiWay – Martial Arts Blog</a>
Once your link is live, click the following button to officially enter the contest:
Two email addresses will be drawn at random to choose a prize from the following shirt styles:
Click to Enlarge:
 IkigaiWay Logo Front |
 7 Times Falling, 8 Getting Up |
 Budo is my Ikigai (spine) |
 Budo is my Ikigai (horizon) |
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CONTEST #2: Discover Natural Karate
It's been quite some time since I've undertaken a book project, but I think you'll find this one very intriguing and useful to your studies. In fact, I'm opening up the project while it's still under development so people can provide input and gain insight into the book writing process. Check it out!
http://naturalkaratebook.com/
To be entered for this contest, simply go to naturalkaratebook.com and subscribe to the email list on that website (located right below the video in the sidebar), or use the orange RSS button at the very top of the page.
One email address from that subscription list will be selected at random to win this brand new design:
That's it! Simple and straightforward. Thanks again to Fibers Custom T-Shirts and to you for your participation! This contest will run for approximately two weeks.
