2009, The Summer of Aggression

By Charlie

Well, we've all been busy, and I'm sorry I haven't been updating the blog as frequently as I should. Gonna be a nice hot summer of good training, we hope. And we have a theme.

Coach Abbey said a couple weeks ago that he wants us all pissed off in our training, asserting aggression, going after ippon with everything we've got, with a feeling of "I'm gonna put this damn shinai through your skull." When sensei lays down a theme like that, you've got to pick it up and run with it, I feel, so I've been calling this The Summer of Aggression. By that I mean this summer, our training focus is going to be on fighting aggressively, on taking ippon.

I think the drills that will best help us train toward that goal - and I articulated this on a couple of occasions - are:

-footwork
-kihon
-uchikomigeiko and kakarigeiko

And of course spirited jigeiko. Fundamentals, basically, but with this particular emphasis and goal in mind. I'm sure Abbey-sensei's words will be interpreted by everyone individually, but I wanted to articulate this here so you could keep in mind during the summer.

As always, don't forget to hydrate properly! See you on the floor.

Family Tournament

Thank you to everyone that came to the annual Family Tournament. It was our sith one and iit was a great turn out and event. Here is just one pic from the banquet. See anyone you know? More are available online at http://picasaweb.google.com/ktwakaba/MichiganFamilyTournament2009#

Thanks to Ken and Matt for taking the pics. A full recap will follow shortly. Results are below.

Family Tournment Results

Non-bogu

1. Chen
2. Tasahiro
3. Niwa
3. Ito

Youth

1. Morita
2. Umakoshi
3. Ponchart
3. Watanabe

Womens

1. Mishina
2. Hadano
3. Kong
3. Naomi

Mudansha

1. Trusevich
2. Hoang
3. Motta
3. Kozai

Sho dan/ Ni dan

1. Holmgren
2. Hill
3. Tamura
3. Chaffin

Sandan and up

1. Murakami
2. Ryota
3. Abbey
3. Tani

Cleveland Tournament

Hello everyone. It will be a bit before I can get back to practice but I am working hard at home warming up for the Cleveland tournament. The dates are April 17, 18 and 19 and all of the forms and info are available at the link below. Please let us know if you are planning on attending.


http://www.clevelandkendo.com/2009taikai/index.htm

Jodan At Detroit 2009

What a great year for the Detroit tournament. After being out of practice (out of shape) because of Brendan coming into the world I was very concerned about my Jodan showing up this year. The individual matches saw me matched up against Matsushita sensei (7 dan) and, if I made it Tani sensei from Detroit. If you have never fought against Tani sensei, I can just say one word, damn. The man has good kendo. Anyway, My first match I intended to dominate from the start because what else can you do from Jodan. It worked and I controlled the match from the beginning. Matsushita sensei's attack was even controlled a little by my seme but I could not find a way to score. Until, I pulled my, now go to waza, men morote kote and scored ippon. It was a great feeling and Matsushita sensei just smiled and shook his hand. I continued on to win the match and was immediately, with no break, up against Tani sensei. Now the no break thing is usually no big deal for me, but I have been out of practice (shape) and it showed. I held my own against Tani sensei and I thought I had at least one men on him, but it was not called. I was told later that my hasugi was a bit off on the strike, again out of practice. He got a hiki men on me when I let my guard down and the match was over. I hate losing out to hiki waza but what can you say. As for the team matches, my stamina was drained. The first match had me up against my old student Amy Dawson. Sugawara sensei was training her how to fight up to the moment before the match and she was a great opponent. Then we were up against Battle Creek. I was up against someone new that I should have wiped the floor with but my mental stamina was down and he got my kote at a lapse. It was not one of my finer fights but the overall day was great. Another Detroit tournament down, this is now there 11th and I have been to every one of them. It is great to see how many people turn out and to really test my jodan at the 4 dan and above level. I am always honored to be at that level and fight with so may great kenshi. Ippon is always the goal and now it is on from there. More practice. Cheers!

Detroit Kendo Tournament 2009

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone at Detroit Kendo for hosting another great event. Eastern was again very successful at the tournament. Our individual matches all saw points being gained and wins, including Ichiki san who made it to the final in the nidan division and lost out to our good friend Travis Hill from Battle Creek. The team matches were agian awesome and we should have made it to the court final but lost out to Battle Creek. The first match had us up against a mixed up team consisting of Sugawara sensei and our former member Amy Dawson. The matches were very good and we squeaked through to face Battle Creek. It was another great year that saw Narumoto sensei take the championship again. Thanks to everyone that came out and to our newest member Arif for volunteering. See you all at practice soon. Cheers!

1/27 Practice and the Next Couple Weeks to Taikai

Great practice last night, you guys, with visitors from Detroit Kendo Dojo. These visitors will visit again and as often as they can so stay on your toes and be ready for them!

You'll be getting an email from me, too, with these same updates. I want to let you know that for the next couple of weeks there will be opportunities to practice specifically for shiai. We will run some shiai matches at Eastern and our friends at U of M will be running shiai practice on Saturday mornings. Please also find opportunities in jigeiko or by asking the people you train with to help you prepare for your shinsa, too.

Also, we need volunteers to help at the Detroit taikai on 2/15! If you are planning to attend the tournament but not compete, please consider being a volunteer! It's an excellent way to get close to the action, helping run the courts and get the fighters ready for their matches, etc. You may even get fed with the extra bento boxes that sometimes are available! Let me know ASAP if you can commit to being a volunteer so I can get a head count. You can carpool with me, too.

Talk to you soon!

The Annual Detroit Tournament, or, "Valentine's Day Massacre"

By Charlie

Guys, sorry it's been so long since we (I) updated the blog. I wanted to let you know that despite the awful weather and roads, practice is still happening every Tuesday from 7-9:00 at Warner Hall. Last week's Above and Beyond Award goes to Mike Hemstadter, whose 20 minute commute after practice was.... two hours. Ya gotta love 23 sometimes. Thank you, Mike.

All right, the big news is that the annual Detroit Tournament is February 14. Testing is that weekend also. If you are interested in participating in the tournament and testing, and I hope you are, you need to:

1) See me and get your dues in by end of January. We're getting the proper dues forms still but I will have all info.

2) Download or obtain from me or Eric or representative of Detroit kendo the tournament entry form. Fill it out and send it in with entry money ASAP.

3) If you want to test, you must see Eric,-sensei, get his permission and have him sign your form. You have to mail this in with entry money ASAP also.

The forms for items 2 and 3 are downloadable here.

Hope to see you all soon, hope you are well in all your endeavors. Practice is still happening at our sister club at U of M. We'll also be visiting Detroit on Thursdays and Saturdays so stay in touch with me or Eric about those opportunities.

Oh, yeah, and I haven't even mentioned that BRENDAN ERIC ABBEY came into the world last week. At this rate, EMU Kendo may have enough for TWO kids teams!!