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November 27, 2013

The first meeting between the two university clubs resulted in a very close match up that saw the Melbourne University Kendo Club team defeat Victoria University Kendo Club by one point.

Five members from MUKEN travelled to Victoria University to compete with the VUKC. Consisting of a wide range of experience, the team included three first years (Jacky Ngo, Eddie Nagul, and Yaya Bonggotgetsakul),  Meera Chandrananth (3^rd Kyu), and Jeffrey Khor (2^nd Dan). For two of the first years, this would be their first experience of a team match.

Initial stretches and warm ups were led by VUKC‘s Kate Sylvester Sensei. This was followed by a series of kihon drills in which Kate Sensei emphasized that they should all be treated as the last and best cut that can be done. Having prepared themselves physically and mentally, both teams separated to their respective sides for the commencement of the match.

The senpo match started off with high energy, as Meera Chandrananth clashed with VUKC’s Hieu Nguyen. Filling the room with their powerful kiai, it was Hieu who scored the first point with a men. Meera fought back strongly, but with neither side able to land any further convincing cuts, the match ended with VUKC in the lead.

Fresh of her recent success in the MUKEN Intra-club Taikai as First Years’ Champion, Yaya was more confident in her approach as she constantly applied pressure while looking to counter Mariah’s attacks. It was Mariah however, who took the first point with a kote as Yaya raised her hands for a men. Unfazed by the lost point, she pressed forward. The pressure eventually caused Mariah to launch a men strike, to which Yaya responded with a kaeshi dou .The match ended with a draw and one point a piece.

Carrying on the high spirits built by their juniors, dan holders Jeffrey Khor and Steven Ta started strongly in the chuken match. It was Jeffrey’s technical proficiency against Steven’s fast and aggressive kendo, as Jeffrey attempted to nullify Steven’s attack with his wazas. A couple kote gaeshi kote was attempted, with one eliciting a flag from a judge but was not enough to make a point. From touma, Jeffrey launched into a tobikomi men as Steven was moving back –first point scored. Steven took back a point shortly after however, as Jeffrey mistimed his kaeshi dou allowing Steven to land a solid men.

With one loss and two draws, Eddie Nagul had to win to bring MUKEN back into the match. VUKC’s Kate Deppler wasn’t going to make it easy as both proved to be an even match up. Towards the end however, Eddie scored a men after a slight feint. Kate fought back but Eddie held on to the point. Both teams are now even on wins and points, leaving it to the taisho Jacky Ngo and Tuan Tran to decide the match.

For their first team match, both taisho, played with a calm demeanour, demonstrating some good kendo. Jacky scored a kote early on as the MUKEN side cheered in excitement. The atmosphere tense, Tuan fought hard to try to take the point back, but Jacky held on to the final whistle. MUKEN has won by one point!

At the end of the match, the instructors of both sides gathered the competitors around to provide their observations. Kenji Sugimoto Sensei asked for more zanshin given to the cuts as many of the attempts had sufficient contact but could not score due to a lack of zanshin. Kate Sylvester Sensei wanted players to be aware of the direction of the blade during kamae. The tsuru should be facing up not angled to the side. Finally, Arpad Maksay Sensei had the teams compete again in another round of 2 minute ippon-shobu matches. He observed after the match, that players had more focus and intensity to score in that restricting situation. This is what one should have as they compete in a full match, as “there is only one ippon ahead of you”.

Towards the end everyone got together for some free jigeiko. Even the senseis were excited by the energy displayed by the competitors and couldn’t wait to join in!

Overall, it was an important learning experience for all the competitors. Having more experience in shiai can only aid in one’s development of kendo. At the end, more friends were made and bonds strengthened through facing each other in shiai. Such meetings will be continued and are in the process of being planned from next year onwards.

Thanks to Kenji Sugimoto Sensei, Kate Sylvester Sensei, and Arpad Maksay Sensei for kindly offering their guidance on this day, as well as assisting with shinpan duties; Richard T’en for volunteering to shinpan; all the friends and families who came to support; and all the competitors from MUKEN and VUKC!

Results

Meera Chandrananth                 - M              Hieu Nguyen

Yaya Bonggotgetsakul           D - K              Mariah Alorro

Jeffrey Khor                            M - M             Steven Ta

Eddie Nagul                            M  -                  Katherine Deppler

Jacky Ngo                                K  -                   Tuan Tran