ANU Kendo Club

Kounoike (Nara) Sensei visit 19-24 October

By Darren Boyd

On the Thursday morning Joe, Phil and I drove the ANU Kendo bus (a hired Tarago) up to Sydney to pick up Matsuda-sensei and Matsumoto-sensei who had come from the Kounoike dojo in Nara (Canberra’s sister city). We drove the sensei to Sydney Harbour Bridge to take a few photos before heading back to Canberra. Phil Baker was in his element in the back with sensei talking with them for most of the trip back.

Our first training session with the sensei attracted 37 ANU kendoka, which I think might be some new record. It was a bit cramped in the old MPR but well worth it for those that were there. Matsuda sensei noted that we shouldn’t be doing suburi as just a warm up, we should treat each cut as a cut, and then our kendo will improve. We then went to the Civic Pub for a well earned refreshment, or two.

Friday morning was hailed in by breakfast at the Purple Pickle Café and followed by our first seminar with the sensei. The seminar consisted if the first seven kata followed by sensei-keiko. It seems that you can never do too many kata sessions with a hachi-dan and a nana-dan, learning new things every time and being reminded of ‘old faults’. A big thankyou to Kassandra and Lyma for translating, in light of Phil being tied up. Lunch at The Deck (dinner venue for the 2005 Nationals) was followed by a trip to Parliament House and Mount Ainslie. A dinner was held at The Ginger Room at Old Parliament House that evening with about 25 people for the sensei. Former AKR President Ron Bennett also joined us for dinner, which made for a memorable evening. The food and wine were superb, and the company several rungs above that. However, it is not often that you get to eat the animals that adorn your coat-of-arms.

Saturday morning training was split into two with Matsumoto-sensei taking the kyu grades and Matsuda-sensei taking the dan grades for the three short sword kata, as Joe and Greg were going to be doing a kata demonstration later on in the day at the Canberra-Nara candle festival. Reika translated for Matsumoto-sensei and Phil translated for Matsuda-sensei for which the club is eternally grateful.

The candle festival started at 3pm but the Kendo demonstration wasn’t until 5.50pm on the Nara stage. It was a cold afternoon and more reminiscent of winter rather than mid-late spring. The kata demo went off without a hitch with Dave Cunningham being the MC and both the sensei approved of Joe and Greg’s kata. The sensei met people they knew from the large delegation from Nara that was out here for the festival. There were various acts on stage ranging from Aboriginal dancing with the Duncan Smith and the Wiradjuri Echoes to a demonstration of Iai by Mr Josho Hashimoto and speeches by Jon Stanhope (ACT Chief Minister), Deputy Mayor of Nara Mr Fukui and Ambassador Ueda.

Sunday started off with ANU members setting off the alarm at the SRA as the place was unlocked, so we just went right in and started setting up for the seminar and grading. The seminar was excellent with Matsuda-sensei instructing of his favourite ‘secret’ (see later) waza, which was nuki-do. Whilst we were taught how to do this, it was nothing compared to Matsuda-sensei’s clinical precision on doing this cut on us time after time in keiko. The grading went off really well with senior ANU Club members being on the panel and the sensei observing. Congratulations to all candidates; all achieved their grades. They are:

That night was a more relaxed affair with the sensei and everyone and their families sojourning to Greg and Lisa’s house for a BBQ. The atmosphere was very relaxed and everyone had a great time. Joe made a short speech and presented the sensei with gifts from the club and thanked them for taking time out of their busy lives to come to Australia to help us improve our kendo.

On Monday we had breakfast in town and took the sensei out to the Australian Institute of Sport for a guided tour. We had to cut the tour short as a good friend of Matsuda-sensei, whom he used to work with in Nara, had come up from Melbourne to have lunch with us at the National Library. We met the Nara delegation back at the hotel and Matsuda-sensei introduced us to Deputy Mayor Fukui. Shopping and relaxation took up the rest of the afternoon. That night we had our last training which attracted 23 people. It consisted of a basic training followed by sensei-keiko. Matsuda-sensei was happy with our new change to our suburi. On the final night went to our no.2 dojo, the Civic Pub, for a meal and liquid refreshments. Someone pulled out a Kendo-Jidai magazine from earlier on in the year where Matsuda-sensei explained that the article was about his favourite ‘secret’ waza technique. Much mirth and merriment was had by all. The next morning we said farewell to the sensei at the airport as they headed back to Nara . It was a big effort from all ANU kendoka, but especially Phil, Reika, Kassandra & Lyma for the translating.

For me personally it was great to see Matsuda-sensei again and meet Matsumoto-sensei for the first time. I am now currently trying to work on my posture and basic kamae. It seems in kendo that the simplest things can often be the hardest to achieve.

The club is currently trying to organise a trip to Nara in 2007…stay tuned.

Darren Boyd

Farewell to Mutsumi

University Games

Russian visit

Max Tischenko, Vitaly Pertrov and Sergey Osyka from the Primorye Dojo in Vladivostok visited Canberra from August 17th-25. ANUKC members enjoyed some spirited training trying to match the tough, resolute kendo of the visitors. Good times were had on and off the dojo, and ANUKC members hope to train with Max, Vitaly and Sergy again, either in Australia or Russia.

Founder's Cup 2006

• Darren Boyd: 2nd Dan
• Rebecca Marshall: 1st Kyu
• Reika Cunningham: 2nd Kyu
• Brendan Kee: 2nd Kyu
• John Larkins: 2nd Kyu
• Ian Flint: 4th Kyu
• Charlie Brondolino: 6th Kyu
• Franscisco Hur: 6th Kyu

Since things were running ahead of time after the grading Tanaka-sensei was able to continue his waza seminar until the free jigeiko time at the end of the day.

The dinner was held at Amir's Palace, a Lebanese restaurant complete with a complimentary belly dancer! Hilarity ensued, with some of the top names in Australian Kendo getting up and giving it a go.

Sunday morning started with a shimpan seminar. We all started as one big group with Tanaka-sensei instructing, then broke into kyu and dan grade groups for further practise.

After the seminar, the competition started with the Kyu Kata. Unfortunately, ANU was knocked out by  the University of Sydney, who went on to take second place. The Dan team came a close second to Han Rim Won.

Congratulations to the ANU women's team, who placed first in the women's competition in a nail-biting final against Wollongong. The Kyu team placed second, while the Dan team narrowly missed out on a place in the finals.

Following a successful competition, 4 ANU members received special awards. Greg Wyncoll and Malcolm Schultz were the joint winners of the Tajima-sensei Fighting Spirit Award, Nathan Hill received the Butler-sensei Fighting Spirit Award, and Rebecca Marshall, received the Ron Bennett Spirit of Kendo Award.

Thank you to the drivers for ferrying us all around, and thank you to all club members who trained hard to make the 2006 Founders Cup such a successful event!

- Rebecca Marshall

Above: Car snooze.

Above left: Senior members strut their stuff with the Turkish restaurant's belly dancer...Above right: 99 bottles of beer!

Above left: Ron Bennett and Rebecca Marshall...Above right: ANU Kyu Team.

Above: Team photo with awards and delegation Sensei.

Visit by Tanaka Sensei and Yuko

Hiroshi TANAKA Sensei (kendo 7-dan) and his daughter Yuko (kendo 3-dan) (in the centre of this photo) visited the ANU Kendo Club on Thursday 3 August.

Store Refurbishment

The store received new shelving, a cabinet, an improved layout and an overhaul of equipment on July 22nd.

The club thanks Joe, Mal, Darren, Phil, Nathan, Charlie, Brendan, Sharyn and Francis for volunteering their Saturday and power tools to renovate the store and repair the shinai in time for the beginners course.

Australian Team Selection Weekend

Three ANU Kendo Club members undertook a three-year program of training as part of the Australian Squad, culminating in selection for the Australian Team in Sydney on July 1-2.

The weekend demonstrated the increasing strength and depth of Australian Kendo, presenting a difficult task for the selection panel. Although no ANUKC members were selected for the team, we gained much from the process and made significant progression in our Kendo, which we are determined to continue.

Phil, Martino and Sharyn would like to thank the club for providing unstinting support and inspiration during this campaign, and Sensei Joe Semmler for his demanding role on the selection panel. We would also like to thank the Coach, Brett Smith, the selection panel and Shimpan, and the Squad members who inspired us to our best Kendo.
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Dae Han Moodo Kwan (Burwood) Open Invitation Tournament

The ANU Kendo Club was well represented at the Burwood Competition on June 24th, with Martino achieving 3rd in the Dan event, Mutsumi second in the women's event. The Dan team almost beat Burwood-A, with Martino in the ippon playoff as it was drawn on points. The kyu team also beat a full UNSW team with only three people, then lost their next match.

At 5:00am on 6th May, 11 members of the ANUKC set forth to Sydney to take part in the 9the Korean Kumdo Championships, hosted by the Macquarie University Kumdo Dojang.

Our club was able to field a full Dan and Kyu team for the event. Spurred on by our champion Phil Baker, the venturers were determined to carry on from recent success at the recent Australian Kendo Championships.

A strong field of competitors from seven clubs including Macquarie University, Han Rim Won, Sydney University, UNSW, Hornsby, Sydney, University of Wollongong and ANU participated in the competition.

The Kyu grade comp was well attended with 60 competitors making up the initial 20 pools. All ANUKC Kyu grades exhibited strong matches with 4 members making it out of their pools to go on to the next rounds. Stephen Ellis eventually won a hard fought match against fellow club mate Brendan Kee to make it into the finals whilst Charlie Brondolino narrowly missed out on winning his semi-final and placed equal 3rd.

Success for our club came again in the Women's event with Sharyn Wragg demonstrating the results of her hard work at the OZ squad weekends by taking first place.

The Dan Individual event proved to be a physical encounter for our members. Phil Baker and Martino Ellero played strong matches against some formidable opponents; again the hard yards of participating in the OZ Squad trainings seemed to be bearing fruit. ANU eventually came away with two equal 3rd places by Phil Baker and Joe Semmler.

The success enjoyed by our Kyu Grades during the individual's event unfortunately didn't carry through to the teams matches with ANUKC going down to UNSW by just one point on countback.

The Dan Teams matches proved to be hard and furious that tested the character of the ANU team and our opponents. Our team made it through to the finals after a tough fought encounter with UNSW. After a final score of one match all, a tense sudden death playoff between captains Phil Baker and Michael Henstock resulted in ANU going through. The final proved just as exciting with ANUKC going down 3-2 to last years defending champions, University of Sydney .

The competition proved to be our most successful to date not only in trophies won but in consolidating friendships, and coming away with a stronger resolve to improve. Sincere thanks to Macquarie University Kumdo Dojang for a great event and we look forward to next year's competition.

Summary of results for ANUKC:

1st – Kyu Individual – Stephen Ellis

3rd – Kyu Individual – Charlie Brondolino

3rd – Kyu Individual – Brendan Kee

1st Womens Individual – Sharyn Wragg

3rd Dan Individual – Phil Baker

3rd Dan Individual – Joe Semmler

2nd Dan Teams Match – ANUKC

Korean Kumdo Association of Australia Award – Joe Semmler

- Joe Semmler.

Top right: Brendan Kee (ANU, left) vs Steven Ellis (ACT, right), Kyu semi-final.

Second right: Wragg (ANU, left) vs Deng (UNSW), Women's pools.

Third right: Phil Baker (ANU, right), Dan pools.

Bottom-right: Joe Semmler (ANU, right)) vs Doug Stouffers, Dan pools.

Bottom left: Team ANU and Bling: (Back row L-R) Charlie Brondolino, Brendan Kee, Ian Flint, Stephen Ellis, Darren Boyd, Martino Ellero, Nathan Hill. (Front row L-R) Sharyn Wragg, Phil Baker, Joe Semmler, Greg Wyncoll.

Photography by Darren Boyd.

A team of 9 people represented the ACT at the National Kendo Championships and Seminar in Perth from 13 to 18 April 2006 . The Championships, hosted by the West Australian Kendo Renmei and the Australian Kendo Renmei, were held at the Leisurelife Centre in Victoria Park.

The ACT participated in the individual kyu, women's, open and veteran's competitions as well as the women's teams, open teams and kata championships on the weekend of 15-16 April. For the first time in several years, the ACT was unable to field a kyu team but took part in every other event.

Phil Baker took 3 rd place in the open individual's championships while Martino Ellero finished in the top 8 and won a fighting spirit award. Lyma Balderama finished in the top 8 of the kyu individual championships. Sharyn Wragg was a joint winner of the John Butler Memorial Trophy for Achievement in Kendo for her work on the new Women's Championship Banners. Full results will be available on the Australian Kendo Renmei website.

Following the championships, Phil Baker , Sharyn Wragg and Martino Ellero took part in the Australian national team squad training while others from the ACT participated in the national seminar. The seminar was conducted by a delegation of three 8 th dan sensei representing the All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) supported by a group of seven more high level sensei visiting from Japan. Participants in the seminar practiced basic (kihon) techniques, kendo kata and shimpan skills (refereeing) as well as enjoying intensive sessions of ji-geiko (sparring practice).

The ACT members returned to Canberra tired but happy with their participation in the national championships and appreciative of the WAKR for running the championships and associated events.

- David Cunningham

Below: Farewell dinner: Martino Ellero, David Cunningham, Reika Cunningham, Darren Boyd, Sharryn Wragg, Phil Baker, Joe Semmler, Malcolm, Lyma Balderama, Brendan Kee.

The ACT Team: Back row L-R: Phil Baker , Martino Ellero, David Cunningham, Joe Semmler, Darren Boyd. Front Row L-R: Reika Cunningham, Sharyn Wragg, Brendan Kee (not pictured, Lyma Balderama ).

Left: Open individuals: David Cunningham (ACT, left) vs A. Chen (Victoria, right).

Right: Women's teams: Akemi Drohan (Victoria, left) vs Reika Cunningham (ACT, right).

Coaching and First Aid Accreditation

The club farewelled long-standing club member, Norman Oeklers on Thursday 16th Februrary.

Norman came to us from the Heidelburg Kendo Club, Germany, and has been a valued member of the ANU Kendo Club for three years. We congratuate Norman on completing his PhD and finding a job in Brisbane, and for surviving his farewell jekeiko!

The ANU Kendo Club participated in the ANU Market Day on Wednesday, February 15th, by manning a stall (thanks to Darren Boyd, Brendan Kee, Steve Ellis and Owen Horobin), and performing a demonstration in Union Court. (Left to right: Darren Boyd, Sharyn Wragg, Norman Oeklers and Rebecca Marshall.)

Photo curtesy of Kirsten Drower, ANU Sport & Recreation Association.

Picton Seminar & Grading

Lyma Balderama for attaining 1 kyu.

Pub meals, beer and birthday cake for Beck followed at the Picton pub.

OzSquad training

The ANUKC hosted an Australian Team Squad training on January 21-22. The weekend proceeded smoothly and ACT members benefited greatly from the seminars and team ethics sessions, inspired to improve and earn some "honourable blisters". ACT attendees included Philip Baker, Martino Ellero and Sharyn Wragg, with Joe Semmler Sensei assisting during the weekend. The free jekeiko session concluding the weekend was well-attended by ACT club members keen to pit themselves against the Squad.