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