7th Annual Detroit Open Kendo Tournament

Very early Saturday morning, the UW Kendo Team was assembling for the long trip to the 7th Annual Detroit Open Kendo Tournament, hosted by the Detroit Kendo Dojo. Anxiety and anxiousness kept me up most of the night and I didn't get much sleep. I picked up one of the UW vans and Mark got the other as we drove around to gather our half-wake members. The drive down came out to about 7 hours, losing an hour due to time zone change and then some more time for lunch. The Kendo promotional exam was scheduled to take place only hours from the time we were due to arrive.

Checking into the Westin Southfield Hotel in Detroit, those testing had to quickly drop off bags and put on our hakama gi for warm up.

The examination took place at the gym at Seaholm High School. When our club arrived, the Sensei's were still setting up the testing area as well as prepare for the next day's tournament. I made sure to bow to all the high ranking Sensei's as we entered quietly. After a quick warm-up we lined up in front of the Judges evaluating mudansha (one without rank). There were plenty of kenshi testing for shodan (1st degree black belt) and higher ranks with about three dozen people testing for kyu ranks.

In our group there were 16 testing for ikkyu and others testing for nikyu and below. Of the UW Kendo Club Fei, Farah, Edward were seeking ikkyu and Ellie tried for her shodan rank. We all passed of course. In the class of 16 testing ikkyu, 2 kenshi had failed and will have to try for it again another day.

Getting back to the Westin Hotel, we stopped to pick up some beer to celebrate but before we could get down to the partying, we had to get to the Welcome Dinner that Tagawa Sensei was hosting for the participants of the 7th Annual Detroit Open. The dinner was a chance to socialize with the other clubs and get to know our competitors.

My team gathered for beers and cheers in the room until the beer ran out so we went downstairs to the hotel bar, Tango's Lounge, to mingle with the other Kendo Clubs. At one point in the night, Tagawa Sensei had drank too much and his students carried him back to his room. Of course we continued to drink until we got hungry and ordered chicken wings, however, I wandered around the hotel at some point and passed out in the lobby. The team sent Henry to retrieve me and I got back to the bar in time for the final wing. After that I only remember stumbling back upstairs to get to bed.

The morning after was a good wake up and hurry up as we quickly gathered our things and had breakfast before the 8:00a registration. Upon arrival at the school, our club registered quickly and prepared warm-ups. We lined up for the opening ceremony, a competitive spirit pledge, and a kata demonstration by Tagawa Sensei with real katanas.

I was the first to fight in my court and competed against Mark Kaufman of the Michigan State Kendo Club. Mark had tested for shodan the day before but had failed the test. Still a bit tired from such an early morning wake up call, I fought with what energy I had. I tried striking men (head) and kote (wrist) on several attacks but he had blocked them. In one moment I gave him too much of an opening and he was able to strike my men and earn a point. In the minutes to come, I came close on several hits and even landed my attacks but the Judges had not called them because I had not shown either enough kiyai or zanshin. In another part in the match I pushed Mark out of the ring and he was warned but was not deducted a point because it takes two warnings for a penalty. As time ran out, I did not get my chance to even out of the score and he won the match. It's devastating to lose a first match because that would mean that I don't fight again until the team event.

Our club was divided into 2 teams. My team consisted of Dominique, Fei, Farah, Edward, and Ellie. Of all the members in my team the highest ranking was Ellie with a newly earned rank of shodan. We fought the Detroit Kendo Dojo team whose member with the lowest rank was a sandan (3rd degree black belt). While we fought hard and gave it our best, it was no match for the Detroit team. I fought against Noriyuki Sakuma of the Detroit Kendo Dojo and found him afterwards to thank him for the humbling experience and bow to my experienced senior.

Once our tournament chances were lost we quickly got out of there because it was going to be a long ride home. A blizzard had entered Detroit on our way out and it greatly prolonged our drive. At some point, the blizzard turned to freezing rain and later a heavy fog as we neared Lake Michigan. We stopped for dinner at the New Garden Chinese Restaurant on our way and finally made it back to Madison in the wee hours of the night.

Overall we did not compete as well as we did in the Chicago tournament last fall. I felt it a quite humbling experience and know what I need to personally improve upon in my technique.

Trip-O-Meter
Activity: 3 | Energy: 2 | Friends: 3

7th Annual Detroit Open Kendo Tournament
Gallery | Results



Kendo no Rinen

Through the rigorous practice of Kendo, inner strength and character are developed. Such is the true path of Kendo.