Midwest Kendo Federation Fall '05 Tournament

Saturday was the morning of the Midwest Kendo Tournament. As usual, our team rushed through breakfast to leave on time. We actually overestimated the distance to the gym so we get there pretty early and had plenty of time to warm up. The San-dan (third degree black belt) group fought first for a change and then followed up by Women and Youth divisions and finally, the Mudansha division. I got seeded in one of the early matches against J. Stokes of the University of Chicago Kendo Club. The match went through all of the alloted time but he was able to get a men hit (head) on me and thus won the match. I know I could've won because I noticed his weakness early on. He lifted his shinai (sword) in anticipation of every one of my attacks and so I could have hit his do (torso) on many chances but alas, I didn't take advantage. I lost.

Watching my teammate's individual fights, I cheered on and was especially proud of the new club members who won their matches. They battled hard and moved up in the rankings. After lunch came the team matches and my team consisted of myself, Mike (Omernick), Chor, Sam, and Jon (Augelli). Our first fight was against the East West Connection Kendo Club and our strategy was simple--score a point, don't lose any for the team. By strategizing in this way, we beat them to advance to the next bracket. The second team that we fought against was probably one of the best teams in the tournament, the Central Indiana Kendo Club led by Hajime Sugarwara--seven time winner of the Midwest Tournament. Needless to say they kicked our butt.

With the tournament over we head back to the hotel to get cleaned up for tonight's banquet at Grizzly's Grill N' Saloon. All the participants of the tournament came as we sat amongst our peers to eat over a good day's fight. Both Rick and I start the night by buying pitchers of beers for the team. Let's just say that it helped loosen people up and get the party started. Dinner was fun but we had to leave to get rest for tomorrow's testing.

Sunday morning was the day of the big test. I'm testing for Sho-dan along with my fellow kenshi of the UW Kendo Club. I warmed up with a light round of kata thinking I knew how this was going to work. I was wrong. When the ceremonies began, I lined up like the others and was simply stunned like a deer in headlights. All that we were tested on were two bouts of shiai (combat) and it was over just like that. I remember facing my opponent and all these thoughts rushed into my mind. My conciousness was not clear and I let the ego get the better of me. The testing committee, led by none other than Sugawara himself, was especially strict and failed most of the group--less than a fourth actually went on to get to the kata portion of the test. Rick, Eric, and myself all failed our tests. Out of our Club, Sam was the only one to get his Sho-dan.

I congratulated everyone who succeeded before taking some personal time to meditate on my failure. I know now what I need to correct for the next test and it's only a matter of how much time I put in at the dojo. The upcoming tournament will most likely be the Detroit Open. I'd like to say I'll try harder next time but I won't say or think it. There is only passing or failure and I cannot fail again.

Midwest Kendo Federation Fall '05 Tournament
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Congratulations:

Rick for taking third place in the Senior Division
Sam for getting his Sho-dan

Also, Jonathan, Mike, Tia, and Tyler--
for successfully completing your 1-Kyu tests.