The 1st Iwasaki Cup

The 1st Iwasaki Cup was held on May 15 at Campus Recreation Center of University of Illinois. The host of the tournament was Junya Iwasaki sensei (6th an).

This tournament was not a big tournament as the actual tournament name had “mini” in front of “tournament”. It was actually intentional.

According to Iwasaki sensei,

“I wanted to have this mini tournament as goodwill gathering of neighbour kendō clubs. Shiai is a part of the purpose of this tournament but I want everyone to get the most out of their trip to this  tournament and ENJOY!”

When I heard that, I thought the comment was very Iwasaki sensei, especially, the “ENJOY” part.

If you have trained with Iwasaki sensei, his kendō is very straight forwards.

What I mean by “straight forwards” is his kendō is straight and very strong.

He will face you nice and square and strike you cutting right down in your centre.

However, after kendō, he enjoys socializing with his kendō mates. I mean almost he enjoys it more than keiko!

There were more than shiai and socializing for the guys who participated.

Shinpan (referee) seminar for all the participants.

I thought that was great idea. Even though this mini tournament was designed for lower grade holders, knowing how to do shinpan (not only flag actions and commands but also knowing what valid cuts) is valuable to any levels.

Moreover, all the shiai was judged by the participants. I think this is a brilliant idea. If you’ve never done shinpan, you should. If you are an instructor, please have your students to be a shinpan for some practice shiai. I am sure that everyone will know how difficult and responsible to judge shiai of other people.

I have some articles about the tournament listed below. I hope you enjoy the articles as much as I did. If you are thinking to take up kendō, these articles might help you to start kendō right away.

• Improving the Kendo of Individuals at the Iwasaki Cup Kendo Tournament
• My first encounter with Iwasaki sensei and why you should attend Iwasaki cup
• Unforgettable Kendo; Unforgettable People

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