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Volume 23, number 12

December 2009

PNKF DATEBOOK

  1. Jan 9, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton.
  2. Jan 16, PNKF Kata Seminar, Sat, 12noon-5pm, Rain City Fencing Center, 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue, WA 98005. Location about 1/2 mile west of the Bellevue Dojo between NE 20th Street and Bel-Red Road on 136th Place NE. 136th does not go all the way through to Bel-Red, so the easiest access is turning South onto 136th Place NE from NE 20th Street, which would make the Fencing Center on your left.
  3. Feb 13, UW Kendo Prom, Sat, 7-10pm, fundraiser for UW to send a team to the April 10/11 Harvard Taikai, UW Waterfront Activities Center.
  4. Feb 27, PNKF Shinsa, Sat, Iaido 9am-12noon; Kendo 12:30-5pm, Bellevue.
  5. Mar 6, Highline Taikai, Sat, 10am, White Center Community Center.
  6. Mar 13, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton.
  7. Mar 23/24, All Japan Kendo Dojo Renmei visit of eight Junior Champions. Tuesday evening: practice at Seattle Kendo Kai; Wednesday evening: practice at Kent Kendo Club (tentative).
  8. Apr 3, UW Taikai, Sat, Sat, 10am, Hec Ed Pavilion Addition (tentative).
  9. Apr 17/18, Cherry Blossom Festival, Sat/Sun, (tentative).
  10. Apr 29 thru May 5, US Nito Ryu Musashi Kai Kendo Seminar, hosted by Idaho Kendo Club, Boise.
  11. May 1, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton.
  12. May 15, Ito Cup, Sat, Denver (tentative).
  13. May 22, Bellevue Junior Taikai, Sat, 9:30am-3pm.
  14. May 29, BC Junior Taikai, Sat (tentative).
  15. Jun 5, Rose Festival Taikai, Sat, 10am (tentative).
  16. Jun 12, PNKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, 12noon-5pm, Kent.
  17. Jun 19/25, 4th PNKF Women's Kendo Seminar, Bitter Lake Community Center (tentative).
  18. Jun 26, PNKF Women's Kendo Tournament, Sat, 9:30am, Renton Community Center.
  19. Jul 24, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton.
  20. Aug 7, PNKF Shinsa, Feb 27, PNKF Shinsa, Sat, Iaido 9am-12noon; Kendo 12:30-5pm, Kent.
  21. Aug 20-24, Spokane Summer Camp, Fri-Tue (tentative).
  22. Sep 18, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton.
  23. Oct 2, PNKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, 12noon-5pm, Kent.
  24. Oct 9/10, PNKF Iaido Seminar, Sat/Sun, Rain City Fencing , 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue, WA.
  25. Oct 20, Tacoma Taikai, Sat, 10am-4pm (tentative).
  26. Nov 6, PNKF Taikai, Sat, 9:30am, Kent.
  27. Nov 13, PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Renton.
  28. Nov 20, Kent Taikai, Sat, report time 9am, start 9:30am, Kent.

OTHER DATES

  1. Mar 27/28, FIK American Zone Shinpan Seminar 2010, Sat/Sun, Vancouver BC, exact time and venue not yet determined.
  2. Apr 10/11, 14th Harvard-Radcliffe Shoryuhai, Sat/Sun.
  3. Apr 10/11, AUSKF Board meeting, Sat/Sun.
  4. Apr 24, Vancouver Taikai, Sat (tentative).
  5. May 8, Steveston Taikai, Sat, 9:30am, McMath High School, 4251 Garry Street, Richmond BC.
  6. Jul 2/3/4, AUSKF Kendo Seminar and Shinsa, Fri/Sat/Sun (tentative).
  7. Jul 24/25, AUSKF Junior Open Championship, Sat/Sun, Buchser Middle School, 1111 Bellomy Street, Santa Clara, California (preliminary information). Individual Championships will be OPEN to all participants; Team Championships will consist of two teams per Federation.

ALL JAPAN KENDO DOJO RENMEI JUNIOR CHAMPIONS TRAINING VISIT, March 23/24, 2010

A touring group of five members of the All Japan champion team, plus one male individual champion, one female individual champion, and one other, will be visiting Seattle Tuesday and Wednesday, March 23 and 24. They will be accompanied by three adults including Kendo Hanshi 8th Dan Ota Tadanori Sensei, who has previously visited Seattle. There will be homestay opportunities for families who may wish to host these youth. More details will be coming soon.

4th PNKF WOMEN'S KENDO TOURNAMENT AND SEMINAR

The 4th PNKF Women's Kendo Tournament and Seminar will tentatively take place June 19 through 26, 2010. Tournament is June 26, 9:30am, at Renton Community Center, 1715 Maple Valley Highway. Seminar is tentatively June 19 through 25, at Bitter Lake Community Center, 13052 Greenwood Avenue N., Seattle. Kendo Renshi 6th Dan Mayumi Katsura will be the guest instructor. The Seminar is open to women kenshi from outside Federations as well as PNKF women. Full information at http://womenskendo.com/

1st AUSKF JUNIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The AUSKF Junior Open Championship will be held on July 24/25, Sat/Sun, in Santa Clara, California. Individual Championships will be open to all participants and Team Championships will consist of two teams per Federation. Further details will be distributed soon.

33rd ANNIVERSARY HIGHLINE MUDANSHA CHALLENGE CUP - March 21, 2009, White Center

1st place - Phil Lin, Bellevue               2nd place - Jeff Lamb, Spokane
3rd place - Kathy Liao, Sno-King             3rd place - Ian Morgan, Puyallup
4th place - Tyler Ernst, Bellevue            4th place - Matthew Larson, Sno-King
4th place - Matt Wolf, Spokane               4th place - Christian H. Kim, Bellevue

TEAMS
1st place - Bellevue 37 points  2nd place - Spokane 27 points  3rd place - Sno-King 15 points

2009 ONTARIO SENIOR KENDO TOURNAMENT - November 28, 2009, JCCC Kendo Club, Toronto


Mudansha                                     1-2 Dan
1st place - Willy Yang, JCCC                 1st place - Kevin Lee, York U
2nd place - Christopher Piggott, JCCC        2nd place - Dong Hun Lee, McGill U
3rd place - Wai Hei Tse, U Western Ontario   3rd place - Hugo Chavez, McGill U
3rd place - Michael Schoenhoffer, Ottawa     3rd place - Serge Antonenok, JCCC

3 Dan and Above                              Teams
1st place - Jin Whan Lee, Jungko Mississauga 1st place - JCCC "A"
2nd place - Yosuke Kunihiro, U Waterloo      2nd place - McGill University "A"
3rd place - Yoichi Kumagai, U Waterloo       3rd place - Toronto "A"
3rd place - Hideki Sumi, JCCC                3rd place - Jungko Mississauga

Fighting Spirit:  Ivana Babarab, U Waterloo

Best Match:  Junko Ariyama, Montreal vs. Shingo Morita, Detroit

SHINKYU SHINSA

AUSKF KENDO SHINSA, November 8, 2009

5TH DAN: Keun-Sung Lee (SCKO), Agustin Dionicio Martinez (NCKF), Shingo Morita (MWKF), Chul Joo Pak (SCKO), Robert Peterson (PNKF), Yasuyuki Shimada (NCKF), Youn Soo Shin (SCKO), Thomas John Tew (SCKF), Jin Echizenya Yamada (NCKF).

6TH DAN: Kevin Tadasu Abe (SCKF), Yuji Jeremy Hosokawa (SCKF), Junya Iwasaki (MWKF), Moonil P. Kang (SCKF).

7TH DAN: Arnold Matsuda (NCKF).

RENSHI: Seiji Mamiya (SCKO), Saeko Tew (SCKF), Christopher E.J. Yang (SCKF).

KYOSHI: Katsuo Chinen (SCKF), Charles Lu (PNKF), Takao Shoraku (SCKF).

CANADIAN KENDO FEDERATION KENDO SHINSA, November 28, 2009, Steveston

2ND DAN: Stephen Matsuba (Vancouver).

3RD DAN: Misato Hamanaka (UBC).

5TH DAN: Maya Taguchi (Renfrew).

CANADIAN KENDO FEDERATION KENDO SHINSA, November 29, 2009, Etobicoke

1ST DAN: Pei Hang (U Waterloo), Cammy Woo (Mississauga).

2ND DAN: Anthony Seung-Hyuk Roh (York U).

3RD DAN: Sara Joseph (U Victoria), Man-San Ma (Sei Do Kai).

5TH DAN: Yoichi Kumagai (U Waterloo), Yuko Miyamoto (Toronto), Corie Namba (Manitoba), Lawrence Tsuji (JCCC).

THE LAST WORD

The Act of Seme. Generally speaking, seme is explained with the teaching of san-sappo (killing the spirit, killing the sword, and killing the waza). Put plainly, seme is the process of searching for a way to break the deadlock of kamae, putting yourself in an advantageous situation, from where you produce an opportunity to execute a valid strike. In Kendo it is often said, "win then strike" -- it is at the stage of seme that you must win before striking.

"Producing an opportunity to strike" means creatively and dynamically hunting for openings. In other words, searching for movements or shortcomings in your opponent. This not just passively watching for an opponent's shortcomings or movements, but should be an active, progressive process of creating openings and striking opportunities.

An opening can be one that is manifest, i.e. has form, such as an external physical deterioration of kamae, or formless, such as an internal psychologlogical weakness in kamae. External form and internal psyche are opposite sides of the same coin: external form will influence the psyche and, conversely, psychological state will be manifest in outward appearance. If the opponent's kamae is steadfast and strong with no openings, then executing an attack will be futile. Firstly, the opponent's kamae must be broken or unsettled thereby creating an opening for attack. The opponent "must be beaten before being struck."

The main factors in searching for a way to break the deadlock of kamae and putting yourself in a situation to execute a valid strike, i.e. the main factors of seme, are considered to be: Taking the lead by spirit (ki), dominating the centre and adopting an advantageous distance (ma-ai). One might define "taking the lead by ki" as "a concentration of the will to win" -- not winning by striking, but winning the phase prior to striking -- "achieving ki superiority" or "winning by kizeme." "Dominating the centre" involves keeping the tip of your sword pointing at the centre of your opponent, whilst keeping his sword tip away from your own centre. Maintaining control of, or defending your own centre will, of itself, destroy your opponent's centre and open them up for attack.

--Oya Minoru, "Central Issues in the Instruction of Kendo," Budo Perspectives, pp. 205-206.

Kenyu - Monthly Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation
Kenyu Online - http://www.kendo-pnkf.org/news/kenyu.phtml
Tom Bolling, Editor - 7318 23rd Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98115


 

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