Australian Kendo Championships

Since I have some downtime in my Osaka hotel I thought I would try and share my experience from the Australian Kendo Championships.

The weekend was a great learning experience for me. I think I learnt more about my own kendo than anything else, especially what areas I need to work on and what I am working towards.

The Saturday morning was cold, especially the gymnasium floor.
I started my warm up early and I thought it was a solid warm up, however in hindsight I was having trouble with my nerves. I have always thought that a bit of nervous energy is a good thing but as I was soon to find out, the controlling of it is not always that easy.

The opening ceremony was something I`ll never forget. Walking out to represent my state for the first time - in a line with my team mates and standing proudly and singing along as the national anthem was played is stuff of schoolboy dreams. A wonderful feeling.

My pool matches were well into the draw so I had plenty of time to watch others play. I was surprised at the level of kendo - not that it was good or bad, but it seemed to be very mixed. There were obviously some really talented individuals but also others that seemed out of place.

My first match came up and I felt that I had everything ready - the body was warm and the mind seemed calm. However I just couldn't seem to get into the match. I suppose flat would be the best word to describe my performance. I was playing a very reactive style and it wasn't good. I went on to lose the match 2 zip, (2 kote). Certainly not the way I wanted my weekend to start - over as soon as it began.
Fortunately for me the guy who defeated me lost his next match which gave me some hope.
This time I was feeling different. I knew what I had to do.
I thought I played well in this match - winning it 2-1 (two men cuts) however the conceding of a kote spelt the end to my individual campaign. The other two played a tie breaker with the latter dude (sorry I forgot his name) going through to the next round.

As I said earlier I really discovered parts of my kendo that I could work on - both from a physical side but also a mental side.

The rest of the day went by with me taking photos for the organisers. the Dan Individuals was very impressive to watch and I managed to take some nice photos which I`ll share with you all later.

The next day was the Team events. Kyu were up first and I turned up to the venue in keikogi and hakama all ready to go (sans a change of clothing for later too).
During warm up with Burwood Mike I managed to cut my big toe so the last few moments of warm up I was busy strapping up a bloody toe but that was OK. It wasn't the best way to start the day but what can you do.

Our first match was against South Australia - I was playing third and by the time I was up the scores were one a piece. I scored a kote early but conceded two men to lose the match. I thought I played pretty well. My only criticism of myself was I was a bit predictable going for the winning cut. Elaine and Phil played exceptionally well to win both their matches and put us into the 2nd round against an understrength WA side.

With WA only able to field 3 players it was a strange match to be involved with. I think we lost the first match but won the remaining (including the 2 forfeits). I played Alison Craven and won the match 2-0. A men and a kote (which shouldn't have been paid but that happens). This put us into the final against ACT which incidentally was the ANU team that gave us the 5 - nil drubbing at Macquarie University last month.

Ephragm won his first match, Mike went down in his. I was up next and again I thought I played pretty well. I was certainly attacking more than my opponent however he picked off my kote on one of my men attempts (I was too close again...).

The last minute or so I felt I was really putting the pressure on him and I think I went close a couple of times but alas it was not to be. The siren sounded and it finished 1 zip.
Elaine and Phil both played well but in the end ACT finished up being victors. They were a very strong team (3 members finished in the top 4 of the individuals if memory serves me correctly) .

All in all I thought it was a great effort by NSW. Everyone brought their best kendo to each match and gave it their all.

The NSW Dan team were very dominate in their matches and went on to win the title.

So that was the weekend - from a first timers perspective. I didn't go into the details of the Dans, Women's and Veterans matches as I was just there to take it all in but the whole weekend was a wonderful experience and something that will hopefully benefit my kendo in the long run.

I will fill everyone in on my training here in Japan later this week. I had my 3rd and final training session in Hamamatsu last night and I have a training session in Osaka tonight. There is already plenty to write about but I will save it all for later

SMH Article

Two weeks ago, a journo from the Sydney Morning Herald visited the club and participated in the Wednesday night beginners class.

The article describing his Kendo experience was released in last weeks Radar section. For those of you who didn't see the article, here's the link to it!

http://blogs.smh.com.au/radar/archives/2007/05/sydney_knights.html

Enjoy!

Cheers
Andrew

10th Korean Kumdo Championship Results

The Korean Kumdo Championship has been held another year.

Congratulations to:
Jayson Chaplin, Taek Yang, Andrew Van Hamond, Toshio Nishimoto and
Takashi Itakura, - Dan Team Champions
Vivian Yung - Women's Champion
Kenji Tagawa - Under 13 Champion
Takashi Itakura and Taek Yang - 3rd in the Dan Individuals
And to everyone who competed on the day.

A great effort from everyone!

Here are some photos.

So you want to train in Japan

As many of you know, I was fortunate to spend 2 ½ weeks in the Kansai region of Japan recently.

Japan is a fascinating country, mixture of ancient and the modern, with what seems to be a never ending stream of people travelling from one location to another.

Aside from the cultural highlights, I was able to play Kendo whilst in Osaka at the Yoseikai Kendo Club. Yoseikai Kendo Club is located in Namba, which is about a 5 minute subway trip from Osaka CBD.

The club has approximately 70 members and training regularly consists of appx 40 people. Their head instructor is Furiya shihan, 8th dan hanshi.

One of the things that really struck me was been told that none of the 8 Motodachis’ where under 4th dan when I trained there!

So what was it like? In many ways it was similar to Monday night’s training at Five Dock. Students arrive and are expected to do their own warm up and be ready to commence keiko at 7.30 pm. The program is essentially the same for a given practice night, hence there was little said from the commencement to the end of training – good for regulars, something that thankfully I was advised of prior to training commencing, otherwise I shudder to think how confused I could have been!

The program was as follows -
1: Kirikaeshi – 5 sets
2: Kihon Men – 5 sets
3: Kihon Kote, Men – 5 sets
4: Kakarigecko
5: Jigeiko
6: Kirikaeshi – 1 set to finish training

All of this was completed in 90 minutes, at a very high intensity level. I was extremely lucky to practice with 3 of the sensei and was truly amazed at how they played Kendo.

Even in Kakarigecko, if they were not happy with the students’ technique or posture they would immediately counter their strike. I think this probably gets to the heart of Japanese training, that is excellent technique!

Besides above, there were a couple of other things that really stood out –

1: Seme – the pressure applied was relentless.

2: Opponents probe, probe and then – bam! No unnecessary expending of energy until they are ready to execute their attack.

3: Every cut is fully committed from the time they commence their attack until their Kiai finishes (which does seem to be infinite!)

As a footnote, I also played Kendo in Cairns on my way back to Sydney. It’s a small club, but a dedicated group of Kendoka’s. Katsumi sensei asked me to extend an invitation for any SKC members to come to Cairns and join their training.

All of the Sensei I met, freely offered advice at the end of training to help improve my kendo. Considering they didn’t know me at all, I thought it was extremely generous of them and showed what the spirit of Kendo is all about!

If anyone’s interested in practicing in either Osaka or Cairns please let me know and I’ll provide you with the appropriate contact details.

Cheers
Andrew

Thoughts from the Invisible Man!

Hi folks,
Sorry you haven't seen me in ages but it's been a combination of the dodgy shoulder (yawn, yes it's still giving me grief) and some interstate traveling. Meanwhile, my gut is expanding and i get a rush of envy every time a club email arrives talking about the coming competitions!

I'm hoping to get back to training soon - maybe even next week - and really looking forward to seeing everyone again. I hope your training is going well and that you are taking care of injuries promptly!

Good luck in the kumdo comp,

Rick