About this blog..

This is a blog that I started in April 2006, just after I first put on my bogu (kendo armour). It collects the advices given by more experienced kendo practitioners as well as those from my own experiences. Both technical and the mental aspects of kendo are written in the blog. I hope someone will find them useful or interesting at least!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Hsin-Chu Cup 2009





Last Sunday I participated in the Hsin-Chu Cup which celebrated also the 10th anniversary of the Hsin-Chu Kendokan. The competition consisted of many catagories - team and north-against-south. The team is made up of 7 people, 2 female fighting first and the rest male. I fought along with the Taipei Kendokan friends and you know what? We were the Winner!!



Although I didn't fight in the final match, since I didn't perfom well enough on the day and I thought the opponents might be too strong for me, I didn't loose the earlier matches, and had two wins and a draw.

The north-south competition featured 39 kenshis from the northertn half of Taiwan and 39 kenshis from the southern half. Much like the Tozai (East-West) Competition in Japan. Being a mere Nidan I was placed as the second person to fight, or aka the jiho. I didn't know I had to go up so early, therefore it was a little shock to me. Anyhow, I won 2-1 with two kote points.



My performance on the day was unsatisfactory because my body was too tense, and at the same time my mind wasn't calm enough. It's only when there were large gaps between our kills could I perform clean cuts.

Some thoughts from the day:
  • Learn to analyse my opponent and adjust fighting strategy accordingly.
  • When facing an aggressive and young opponent, be calm and use oji-waza.
  • Need more shiai experience!!

Here are some videos from the final match, the red side is Taipei Kendokan, and the white is Hsin-Chu Kendokan.

Senpo



Jiho



Gosho




Yonsho




Sansho




Fukusho




Taisho





2 comments:

Patrik-san said...

Congratulations Ivan...wow...first place in team competition...this very good news...keep on growing your kendo my friend...you hahve some followers here in Greece :) and they are teaching from you...
Stelios

Unknown said...

Thanks Stelios! I'm trying my best to improve my kendo. Soon there'll be another competition coming up!