ACT Open Kendo Taikai Results!

On March 2nd – 3rd, our club sent 5 teams to Canberra for the 2024 ACT Open Kendo Taikai (Championship). Congratulations to all our members who attended, as they faced some fierce competition from across Australia!

Our club members came back with some impressive results – 1st place in every division we competed in!

Results

Dan Open Individual

1st Place – Ayaka Watanabe

3rd Place – Jordan Saito Patch

Advanced Kyu Individuals

1st Place – Andrew Yang

Open Teams Results

1st Place – Team TYN (Thank you, next!)

• Fabian Tengku
• Gratia Nguyen
• Andrew Yang

Fighting Spirit Award

Gratia Nguyen

 

Big congratulations again to all members who participated in the event. Many of them will be participating at the Australian Kendo Championship at the end of the month so best of luck!

 

Highlights

Ayaka’s Dan Individual Run

 

 

There’s a reason to fear the shinai of Ayaka Watanabe – she did not drop a single point in the Dan Individual Tournament! If you ever see her be sure to praise the master!  After effortlessly beating up fellow club members, Fabian and Jordan, Ayaka found herself in the finals against another fellow 5th Dan. In a tightly contested shiai (match), Ayaka found her break in encho (overtime), scoring with a hiki-men after blocking the opponents kote (wrist strike) to win the Dan Individual Tournament!

 

 

 

 

Team TYN’s Teams Run

Alone on one side of the tournament ladder with all the other USYD club teams on the other, Team TYN consisting of Fabian, Gratia and Andrew fought there way through a swash of other teams to find themselves in the finals! At the ACT tournament, teams consisted of three members, as opposed to the usual 5, with each team having at least one kyu player.

Senpo (First Position) – Andrew

 

 

The first match of the finals saw the teams two Kyu players facing off with Andrew as Team TYN’s Senpo. In close match, with both competitors attempting different waza’s, Andrew would open the scoring with a do strike (hit to the stomach) to secure a 1-0 lead in the team match!

 

 

 

 

Chukken (Middle Position) – Gratia

In what can only be described as David vs Goliath in terms of physical size, the chukken match saw Gratia face off against a taller, and stronger make opponent. However, size is not everything in kendo (just look at Ayaka beating up Jordan above) and Gratia managed to hold the match to draw, keeping Team TYN’s lead in to the taisho match! For her excellent performance, Gratia was awarded the Fighting Spirit Award!

 

 

 

Taisho (Final Position) – Fabian

 

In the final match, we saw another David vs Goliath match, this time in terms of kendo experience. Fabian, a 1st Dan, faced off against the 5th Dan who Ayaka faced in the individual finals! However, in a shiai, rank means nothing, and Fabian took the lead with a strong men ippon! “But why stop there?” Fabian probably thought, as he then scored another men ippon to seal the victory and 1st place for Team TYN!

 

 

 

Andrew’s Advanced Kyu Individual Run

Zoomer’s often say ‘let him cook’. Well, we let Andrew cook and he delivered a Michelin starred dish! After battling his way through the group stage and brackets, Andrew arrived at the finals ready to face off against his opponent. Andrew would take the first ippon with a powerful men. However, his opponent would counter right away with a kote (wrist strike). Tied 1-1 and undeterred by his opponents kote strike, Andrew found the opportunity to seal the victory with another men strike! 

“What I did well was sticking to my basics which have worked well for me in the past. And after this experience, I’ve learnt a lot about the particular strengths of my kendo style and what areas I should work more on”  – Andrew

 

 

Jordan’s 17 Minute match

 

17 straight minutes might not sound long but for any martial art it certainly is! Even Boxing or MMA has 3 -5 minute rounds so one can only imagine the exhaustion Mr Jordan Saito-Patch felt at the end of this long Shiai!

After 3 minutes of regular time, with neither competitor scoring a point, the match went into encho (sudden death, whoever scores first wins). However, standard encho rules state no time limit so the fight must go on until there’s a winner! After a relentless 14 minutes, Jordan finally managed to pull out a men strike to win the match! The match was so exhausting and long that the competition had to change the rules after!

 

 

 

 

Some more photos!