NUS Kendo Club

Training Updates

2012-02-22T16:50:00.000+08:00

[Announcement]

Training will be held in NUS High for the following dates:

24th Feb (Friday)

27th Feb (Monday)

2nd Mar (Friday)

5th Mar (Monday)

9th Mar (Friday)

12th Mar (Monday)

For members, please fill up the form in your emails for NUS High security purposes. Thanks!

2nd NUS Kendo Championships Series 4

2011-12-22T17:12:00.000+08:00

By Jia Hui and Nella

As we work towards another new year ahead, the 2nd NUS Kendo Championships concludes with Series 4 on 16th December! On the final lap of the internal series, here comes another round of awesome matches as our participants get to face a new group of opponents again!

The event lineup is as follows:
Opening Ceremony
Ladies Elimination
Mens Elimination
Finals
Closing and Prize Presentation

Here are some snapshots before the tournament!

The classic men shot

Opening of Series 4

Series 4 medals and trophies

Without further ado, let's hear a short reflection from Jiahui!

"When I submitted my name for this tournament, I was pretty much just jumping on the bandwagon and not having any expectations of myself, especially after my prior poor performance during LKC. Paradoxically, it was this “come what may” attitude that dissipated the jittery feelings that I usually get right before tournaments, and thus I was able to enter the matches without any pressure or tension.

Shimpans for the day

Our fellow kendokas on duty!

Start of the Shiai

Ladies Match

My matches during this tournament were against Melissa and Nella, and here I am thankful for the shiai experiences gained through fighting these matches. Both matches entered encho, the state of “sudden death”, which made these shiai experiences particularly important, as I learnt the importance of staying focused even if the matches becomes long-drawn.

Nasution vs Jingyang

Closing of Series 4 and Prize Presentation

Overall, taking part in the intra-club series, which had spanned 9 months, has been an invaluable part of my kendo journey. And I am grateful for the opportunity to learn about my weaknesses, so that I may try to correct them before the next tournament comes up! :)"

Congratulations to Jiahui and all winners of the series, and thank you to Senseis and all those who have helped to make this tournament possible! :)

Inter-Club Tournament 2012

2011-12-15T22:38:00.001+08:00

[Announcement]

SMU Kendo Club cordially invites you to the inaugural Inter-Club Tournament 2012.

It will be held over a period of two days for individual and team matches from the respective clubs nationwide. Be sure to catch this exciting event at SMU coming up next month!

For more information, please visit http://www.wix.com/kendo_smu/home.

We will be looking forward to see you there too!

23rd Lim Kwa Chwee Memorial Tournament 2011

2011-12-13T01:34:00.000+08:00

By Nella

The 23rd Lim Kwa Chwee Memorial Tournament took place on the morning of 11th December. It was an event to commemorate the late Lim Kwa Chwee Sensei, who founded the Singapore Kendo Club in 1972.

Fellow kendokas on duty

Anticipating a battle

The categories for the tournament are as follows:
Non-Bogu, Primary School, Ladies' Junior, Men's Junior, Ladies' Senior and Men's Senior

Junior categories are for all kyu grades while senior categories are for dan grades. Of course, not forgetting the Non-Bogu category, there is no shiai involved in these matches. Participants are only required to perform twenty suburis and hayasuburis each for the judges!

Men's Junior category

Jingyang getting ready for a good match XD

Shimpan's point of view

Point scored!

This year, we also had a special nana-dan guest, Holt Sensei, who knew the late Lim Kwa Chwee Sensei. It was an honour for some of us to spar with him when he stayed on for ji-geiko after the tournament!

Holt Sensei (left) at the panel

This tournament was a challenging one especially for the seniors. Most of them in the Senior category were faced by our senseis right at the very first round! After many series of matches, Jingyang did us proud by scoring his way into the finals, clinching the 1st Runner Up for the Men's Junior category! :D

Jingyang brings the silver home!

Final shot of the day with Peter Sensei!

All in all, we had a great time despite the long day of matches. It was yet another shiai experience 'banked in' as we prepare for our upcoming internal tournament (and the Inter-Club Tournament further ahead)! Well done everyone! :)

For NUSKK members, selected videos on LKC matches are already up on the video archives. Please look for our archive manager, Jiahui, if you were to experience any problems with the website.

Till next time!

Year-End Grading

2011-12-07T10:55:00.001+08:00

By Nella

Our Year-End Grading examination was held at the Changi Japanese School dojo on the 4th of December.

This examination process is conducted twice annually. As some of us had decided to challenge ourselves in the final round of grading this year, we gathered in Changi on this Sunday morning all prepared for a day of kendo. It was an anxious event for many since it may well mark yet another milestone in our journey.

Grading at Changi dojo

For our juniors, they were the first to be tested on this day. After about 3 months of training from our Sensei and captains, it is time for them to demonstrate their skills in front of the grading panel! They were required to perform basic kendo footwork known as ashi-sabaki, followed by their cuts (suburi and hayasuburi). The strong emphasis on kihon serves as a constant reminder that our fundamentals are of utmost importance as we ascend in the hierarchy of grades.

Last batch of Non-Bogu Category

Next was the Bogu Category. The grading syllabus includes essential cuts used regularly during practice (kiri kaeshi and niidanwaza). Kata and ji-geiko are also required at higher levels of kyu grades. For those who have attained a higher level of proficiency during their kyu grades, they move on to contest for shodan and above.

Bogu Category

The lineup for grading

Close-up shot on our fellow kendokas

Closing of grading examinations by our Senseis

Finally, we wrapped up the day with ji-geiko. After the decisions were made by our grading panel, we are proud to present the following:

NUSKK Year-End Grading Results 2011

Non-Bogu

Sun Qingxia - 8th Kyu

Borkar Swarnim - 7th Kyu

Li Siyu - 7th Kyu

Huang Rui Zhe - 7th Kyu

Li Zhe - 7th Kyu

Wen Xia - 7th Kyu

Zechy Wong - 7th Kyu

Ng Wei Lun - 7th Kyu

Brendan - 7th Kyu

Darren Koh - 7th Kyu

Bogu

Anthea Lee - 5th Kyu

Teo Jia Hui - 3rd Kyu

Tan Teck Seng - 3rd Kyu

Yip Hai Hsian - Shodan

Sean Nasution - Shodan

Ng Yong He - Niidan

Kitt Cheung - Niidan

Group photo! :)

Congratulations to all grading participants once again! Let's work hard for the next grading to come! :)

Training Commencement

2011-11-27T12:40:00.001+08:00

[Announcement]

After the long examination break, training will resume on 2nd and 9th December 2011 in NUS High. Attendance is compulsory on 9th unless you still have papers ongoing.

A gentle reminder to sign up via the google spreadsheets in your emails asap.

See you in training! :)

Last Training for AY11/12 Semester 1

2011-10-31T09:40:00.004+08:00

[Announcement]

NUSKK will be conducting our last training on 31st October 2011 before taking a break for the upcoming examinations!

Training will resume in early December so do keep a look out for announcements over yahoogroups and for juniors, from Kenneth or Melissa. All the best for your revision! :)

4th Godo Keiko

2011-10-23T08:42:00.000+08:00

By Nella

On the 16th of October, the Singapore Kendo Club had its 4th Godo Keiko session in NUS with the rest of the affiliate clubs. (It's been 4 months since we have last had one!) The morning started off with Beginners' Class which many of our juniors took part in along with the new batch of SKC members. It is also the first time that they got to experience the whole Kendo community in Singapore training together in the same dojo. :)

Meet the early birds in Beginners' Class

Next up was Advanced Class! The highlight of the day was Nishida Sensei's farewell keiko. All of us sat down to watch as the lineup of kendokas put up a fierce fight against Sensei. For those who are interested in the videos, Jia Hui has kindly recorded some of them so do look for her if you would like to see the matches again.

Nishida Sensei's Farewell Keiko

Prime seats. XD

Have a safe trip back Nishida Sensei! :)

End of Advanced training!

World Kendo Championship training for the WKC team proceeded after a short break. As usual, it was training brought up to yet another level in terms of mind, speed and stamina. Overall, godo keiko has always been a useful session to brush up on the basics in Beginners' Class and to revisit specific kihon/wazas in Advanced Class. Not to mention that we can train with our Senseis and friends from the other affiliate clubs as well.

We shall look forward to the next combined training once again! :D

Welcome Tea Featured Video

2011-10-09T01:30:00.001+08:00

By Nella

This video was shown during our Welcome Tea session in August. For those who have yet to see it or searched it on youtube, do take a look at this awesome documentary. It is in Japanese with English subtitles, and watching on full screen is recommended. XD

Kendo in High Speed Camera

See you guys in training!

10th Nationals 2011

2011-09-25T00:47:00.000+08:00

By Nella

The 10th Nationals 2011 took place on 18th September at the Changi Japanese School dojo. An annual event open for application by all Singaporeans and PRs, NUSKK members grabbed the opportunity to have another exciting showdown that week. Let the tournament begin!

Seniors Ladies Match: Joyce and Kitt

Changi Dojo

The tournament was divided into 4 categories: Men’s and Women’s Junior, and Men’s and Women’s Senior, for all kyu and dan grades respectively. During the matches, each participant starts off in a round robin match, in which only two out of three kendokas could advance to the eliminations stage. The competition was intense as some of us had to face much more experienced kendokas even before we moved up the tournament ladder.

Despite of the challenges, the club has done well for this tournament! We managed to clinch at least a bronze award in all the categories that we have participated in. Once again, congratulations to Nasution, Jingyang, Weber and Gervinn for their achievements!

Weber receives his trophy from Sensei!

Men's Junior category awardees

*arranges trophies on the white line*

(Nasu.. didn't smile again)

Group shot with Peter Sensei and Renata Sensei! :)

This sums up the last tournament for us during this period. In December, we will have our final internal series as well as the 23rd Lim Kwa Chwee Memorial Tournament. For our juniors, the latter will be your very first competition upon the completion of your introductory course! Stay tuned!

2nd NUS Kendo Championships Series 3

2011-09-23T20:56:00.000+08:00

By Nella

It has been about a month since the commencement of our 2011 Beginner Course! First of all, a warm welcome to all our new members. Hope your journey in kendo has been enjoyable for you as far. :)

Meanwhile, the rest of the club is back for our internal tournament again, which is currently at the 3rd series for this year!

The championships was held on the 16th of September. Despite the huge delays and short warm up time, all of us put up a great fight throughout the tournament. For the uninitiated, we will begin with registration and shinai checks outside MPSH6. After that, we will proceed on to individual warm ups before the start of the tournament. The ladies' elimination matches will take place first, followed by men's elimination and lastly, the finals.

Before the start of Series 3

Our new members gathered on the right! :D

Shimpans Meeting

Mentsuke

Presenting the match lineups for ladies' and men's elimination!

Teck Seng vs Santoso

Our internal series not only gives us additional experience in shiai, but also the opportunity to learn from one another. Although the opponents were fellow kendokas we have been training with, shiai settings differ greatly from our usual keiko. Moreover, tournaments serve as good sources of feedback as well. Every point is scored, not gained or lost with a reason; we need to understand these in order to improve for further sessions to come.

Finally, we ended off with the prize presentation ceremony. A big thank you to Peter sensei, Renata sensei, Wenhao and Zehao as our shimpans for this series. Not forgetting Carey, Benjamin and the rest of the kendokas for the tournament duties!

Congratulations Yonghe!
(And also to Gervinn and Melissa!)

Series 3 medals

Closing of the tournament by Kenneth

Do look forward to Series 4 coming this December! :D

NUS Kendo Club Beginner Course 2011

2011-08-24T22:38:00.007+08:00

By Nella

Here's a repost for our introductory class for AY2011/2012!

Beginner Course 2011

Every Monday and Friday

6.30pm - 8.30pm

Sports and Recreation Centre | MPSH 6

Commencement | 22nd August 2011

[Important]

Registration for our introductory course will close after 29th August, Monday! You are welcome to join in any of our training sessions on 26th and 29th August before signing up. No prior experience is required and the club will be providing your equipment early in the course. (:

In the event that you have not attended any of the training sessions before that and are unable to turn up on 29th, please drop us an email. We will not accept any further intakes beyond the above mentioned date without prior notice.

For other queries, you may read our FAQ section or email us at nuskendoka@gmail.com. Feel free to post on our tagboard on your left as well! :)

See you in Beginner Course! :D

NUS Kendo Club Welcome Tea 2011

2011-08-23T19:11:00.002+08:00

By Nella

Once again, a big thank you to all who have attended our Welcome Tea on Friday, 19th August!

We hope that you guys have taken something away from this experience with us, no matter whether you have a strong interest in kendo. :)

Here are some of the photos for the day!

Station 1: Bogu Introduction

By Shermaine & Teck Seng

Station 2: Shinai and Bokken Introduction

By Weber & Ricky

Station 3: Suburi Practice

By Jack & Nasution

Station 4: Kihon Demonstation

By Chee Fung, Hai Hsian & Jing Yang

Reception

By Anthea

Shiai Demonstration

By Yong He & Gervinn

For those who have missed the Welcome Tea, fret not! These are the things that you would be able to pick up along your journey in kendo. Otherwise, the seniors would be happy to update you if you would like to know the details for the session. Please refer to the next post if you are keen to join us for our introductory class. :)

Also, special thanks to our dear senseis, alumni and affiliate members for dropping by despite their busy schedules!

Till next time! :)

Welcome Tea & Beginner Course 2011

2011-08-14T13:57:00.015+08:00

By Nella

To all our prospective members of the club,

NUSKK warmly invites you to two of our best events of the year! The details are as follows:

NUS Kendo Club Welcome Tea 2011

19th August | Friday

1830 - 2030 Hours

Sports and Recreation Centre | MPSH 6

Be prepared for our training and equipment showcases, and live match demonstrations! This year, we will be having different booths during our Welcome Tea to give you a brief introduction to what kendo is all about and our training in NUS. Our senseis and seniors will be here to answer any of your queries!

Most of all, do bring your friends along and have an awesome evening with us! Light refreshments will be provided. (:

Our match demonstration will be held at 7.00pm!

Beginner Course 2011

Commencement: 22nd August | Monday

1830 - 2030 Hours

Sports and Recreation Centre | MPSH 6

Be part of our introductory class for 2011!

This 3-month course is designed for new members to learn the very fundamentals of kendo: the footwork and cuts, as well as dojo etiquette. Come along with any comfortable sports attire, other logistics will be provided by the club for your use.

[Important]

Do take note that we are only conducting our member intake during this period of the year. Please drop us an email immediately if you are unable to attend any of the trainings after the Welcome Tea. Do not miss it! ;)

We will be looking forward to see all of you there! Have a great week ahead! :D

Frequently Asked Questions

2011-08-14T13:42:00.009+08:00

Recruitment

How do I join the club?

We conduct only one intake annually, during the month of August, via our Beginner Course for most members. The Beginner Course is not to be missed as the fundamentals are extremely crucial to every aspect of the training.
For experienced kendokas, please contact us directly via our email or members. :)

What if I am no longer a freshmen?

You are definitely welcome to join the club! Please take note of our intake period and come along for our training sessions.

Would I need to have any prior experience or level of fitness?

No. That is what trainings are for. Of course it would be a bonus to have them. ;)

Where can I sign up/join the mailing list?

A link will be provided near the Matriculation Fair period for the online sign-up form. Otherwise, do not hesitate to email us with any of your queries!
To join our 2011 intake, please leave your contact details at NUSKK Sign Up Form. The form will close on 22nd August after the commencement of the Beginner Course. Please email us directly after that! (:

______________

Costs and Equipment

What are the costs involved?

Firstly, there are no course fees for kendo. There are club fees at $10 annually to maintain club resources however. For beginners, you are only required to purchase the attire (gi and hakama) and shinai. These will cost around $150 depending on the Japanese exchange rate.
For the bogu (armor), it is only used in Advanced Classes and you will only be asked to purchase it after the Beginner Course. It is estimated to cost about $500.

Where can I purchase my equipment?

For new members, your equipment will be provided by the club early into the Beginner Course. After which you will be able to place your orders via the club forum or through our QM, Shermaine. We will inform you when it is needed.

______________

Training

How long is the Beginner Course?

It will be held over 3-months from the start of the semester. You are expected to attend most, if not all, the training sessions conducted.

What is the attire for training?

Any comfortable sports attire will suffice at the start of the Beginner Course. After 1 month of training, the gi and hakama will be worn during training.
For Advanced Classes, the bogu is required along with the gi and hakama.

What if there are timetable clashes with training slots?

Unfortunately, the training timings are fixed and there are no make-up classes involved. Do try to catch up in the subsequent trainings! It has happened to some of our seniors and it is possible to keep up. :)

What if I am unable to attend the upcoming training?

Do inform us beforehand either via our email or the respective people in-charge.

______________

For other enquires, please email us at nuskendoka@gmail.com or post your question on the tagboard! :)

Matriculation Fair 2011

2011-07-21T11:54:00.015+08:00

ATTENTION TO ALL FRESHMEN!

This is Nella reporting live from the Matriculation Fair 2011! To all freshies who are interested to join us for the upcoming academic year, do drop by our booth at D21 to pick up an invitation leaflet to our Welcome Tea and Beginner Course! :D

Of course, we will be here to answer any queries you might have about our training, or simply about what kendo is all about!

For those who have missed us, you are welcome to sign up online at the following link:

NUSKK Sign Up Form

Alternatively, you may wish to contact us through our email or our tagboard on our blog. We will keep you guys in the loop with regards to the details of the events nearer to the date!

Our booth!

Freshly printed leaflets for the Welcome Tea & Beginner Course

While stocks last!

Seniors currently on duty:

Ze Hao

Weber

Yong He

Anthea

~~If you have a favourite senior, please let us know. XD~~

Hope to see you here! (:

Oke's House Warming Party!

2011-07-19T13:06:00.010+08:00

By Nella

Kendokas invaded Oke's new house on a late Saturday morning of July! :D

After Oke has settled in into his house near school, we decided to have a housewarming party in the weekend. All of us sat around in the living room and dug our fingers into his stash of games. *clicks on console intensely* XD

And there are many more of us at the unseen right corner

Nasution with screen 1!

Behold gaming screen number 2!

A portion of the stash of drinks in the fridge

Zehao vs Jingyang!

Little Big Planet 2

One full of interesting mini games :P

Of course, which gathering would be complete without food. Anthea brought the goodies from her trip to Australia as well. There was really a selection of snacks lying around for the day!

One last slice of pizza!

Assortment of Sticky sweets!

From the bottle of Sweet-As, or so it is called (:

Here is Anthea behind a bag of Ruffles! :D

Towards the night, we had quite a few matches of the card game, Saboteur. For those not in the know, feel free to google it. XD The expansion pack added a new touch to the game when there were more roles for the players!

The dark side of the dwarves

Special thanks to Oke (and his roommates) for opening up his new home for us! We can drop by again any time when you are free. Hahah. XD

Credits for the photo!

Sports Camp Demonstration

2011-07-02T22:50:00.010+08:00

By Nella

NUSKK was part of the Martial Arts Showcase during Sports Camp 2011 on the night of 28th June! This event was held annually to introduce the various martial arts clubs in NUS to the freshmen.

For Kendo, we began our demonstration with a short explanation about our trainings and the points system. After which, we had jigeiko and an interaction session, where the freshies could pick up a shinai and try out some cuts.

I shall hand over to the pictures to tell the rest of the story. XD

Leon (from Fencing) and John :D

Here we go~!

Jigeiko

Meet John (again), one of our best training buddy

A men cut on Anthea

Jingyang showing the right way to hold a shinai

One last suburi by the freshmen

Hope each of the OGs have enjoyed themselves despite the tiring activities in the day! For more fun and action, join us during our Welcome Tea on 19th August! (:

Mid-Year Grading

2011-06-29T22:49:00.014+08:00

By Nella

On the 26th of June, the Singapore Kendo Club conducted our Mid-Year Grading examinations at the Changi Japanese School Dojo.

During every session, grading will be held in front of a panel of senseis, who will judge and award the level of proficiency displayed during the examination. With that said, one is required to execute the basic and fundamental strikes learnt throughout the course of training. This will be followed by jigeiko and kata for higher kyu and dan gradings, and every aspect is vital in determining your performance for the day.

Congratulations to all participants for their efforts in this grading! :D

Changi dojo on this Sunday morning

Next in line for grading

*Spots Nasution from afar* XD

Our 1st kyu kendokas getting ready to challenge for sho-dan

Suresh sensei conducts the examination for this batch

The next grading will take place in December, and this will be the first for most, if not all, incoming juniors this academic year. Do look forward to it! :)

Summer Affiliates Training Camp

2011-06-17T12:24:00.015+08:00

By Nella

Affiliate clubs of the Singapore Kendo Club (SKC) had their inaugural Summer Affiliates Training Camp from the 10th to 12th of June! This time, we had the privilege of hosting the camp in our home dojo at NUS! (:

The camp started off with an afternoon training at MPSH6. Now with a slightly different feel as our SMU counterparts are present. After that, everyone got to check in to their rooms at Raffles Hall, which was directly opposite SRC. Our usual evening training awaits with Renata sensei's arrival! Our fellow kendokas from NYP could only join us much later due to their lessons.

The start of our camp!

Kiri kaeshi practice

Renata sensei teaching us about tenouichi

Day 2 greeted us with a morning training session conducted by Wada sensei and Suresh sensei. This was followed by Peter sensei's kihon training, another led by Daphne sensei from SMU and lastly by Suresh sensei from NYP. Of course, with breakfast and lunch breaks in between. Not to mention that we had a fantastic lunch catered by SUN Asian Bistro! The fried rice and fish fingers were completely cleaned from the trays. XD

Demonstration by sensei

More waza practice!

Saturday trainings ended off with a nice supper with senseis once again! With a good night's sleep and a short breakfast, we are all ready for godou keiko on Sunday! The line up for Sunday was similar to that of in SKC. First to come was the Japanese and Beginners' Class, proceeded by Advanced Class/Godou Keiko and finally with World Kendo Championships (WKC) training.

Godou keiko on the next morning

Japanese Class (:

Preparation for Advanced Class later

WKC Training Team

One last snapshot of the day

At the end of it all, most of us would have went through at least 7 trainings in total. We managed to cover the various aspects of kendo as well, i.e. kihon, waza and keiko, and I'm certain that everybody has gotten the best out of the camp in their own ways. (:

Personally, it was awesome to have participated and survived this camp! As you may have noticed, one of the highlights was to be able to undergo training sessions conducted by different senseis from our affiliate clubs in Singapore; each with its own experience to offer. Moreover, Affiliate Camp allowed us to have block training sessions (most evident on Day 2), which truly pushed both our physical and mental stamina to the limits. Most of all, the opportunity to get to know our affiliate members better in and out of trainings!

A big thank you to everyone who have made this camp possible! :D

17th East-West Tournament

2011-06-13T15:24:00.006+08:00

By Melissa

Following the idea of Japan’s annual All Japan East-West Tournament, where the best kendokas from Eastern Japan and Western Japan pit against each other, to decide the winning side (Eastern or Western Japan), we have our own such tournament in the month of June every year.

We were divided into East and West teams purely based on our local addresses, and with this being my first official tournament, it is needless to say that I was really anxious teaming up with 4 experienced, non-NUS kendokas.

Shimpans briefing before the start of the matches

Lining up in our various teams!

Fighting in a team match feels very different from an individual match. It is the team’s overall performance that ensures advancement, and that requires a lot of team effort and support from each and everyone in the team. Watching your teammates give their best in those precious 3-minute matches really builds up a strong sense of camaraderie.

Jigeiko after the tournament

The East-West Tournament is not so much a tournament to compete and win glory, but more of making friends and getting to know kendokas from other clubs such as SKC, SMU and NYP, which makes this tournament more lighthearted and enjoyable than I expected it to be. Overall, the tournament was a really fun experience and it is something every kendoka can look forward to.

The prize giving ceremony

(Nella: Congratulations to Melissa & team for a job well done!)

Group shot of everyone! (:

2nd NUS Kendo Championships Series 1

2011-06-11T09:08:00.013+08:00

By Nella and Anthea

In the light of the new upcoming semester, it is prime time that we look back to one of our earlier tournaments this year--the 2nd NUS Kendo Championships Series 1.

Series 1 was held on the 25th of March, the very event that the new batch of juniors would make their first appearance for our in-house tournaments. After passing the Beginner Course in 2010 and familiarizing ourselves with the bogu, Series 1 was where we could put all our skills to the test in an actual shiai. To our prospective juniors, do read on; this would be an eye-opener to all of you. :)

Let's hear it from our Welfare I/C, Anthea!

"When Chee Fung first announced after training that the juniors would be taking part in the new Inter series, I immediately thought "my god, we're going to be fed to the wolves." Merely two months earlier, the Year Ones had just joined the seniors in their training, and I for one didn't feel very confident about my kendo. However, as they say, the NUS Series is about training yourself in a shi-ai situation to aid you in external competitions, so I eventually mustered the courage to sign up. My nervousness wasn't abated by a "fortuitous" pre-competition schedule which included late faculty exams and an overseas trip - the latter meaning that I would miss the last training before the day itself.

Within 30 minutes of coming back to Singapore I found out that my first match was against Hui Zhen, making my nervousness reach a completely new level because being a senior she would have had more experience fighting in a shi-ai. I had never seen her fight before or had a chance to keiko with her, which only added to my anxiety because I didn’t know what kind of cut she preferred – though in hindsight this perceived “handicap” helped me learn a lot about fighting in a tournament because I’m unlikely to know what my opponent is good at before the match itself.

Anthea scoring a kote point on the right.

I’d heard that Xian Ping, whom I fought my second match with, was good at kote cuts, so I tried my best to employ nuki-men techniques during my fight against her. (Here I have to thank Jiahui and Yonghe a lot for telling me about the existence of such a move before the tournament, if not it would have been much harder for me to score a point.) By the time I got to the finals match, my nerves were so jangled that I forgot the proper sequence for bowing and stepping into the court, causing Peter sensei to ask Melissa and I to re-do the entire process. During the match itself, he also stopped us a couple of times to correct our taiatari methods, among other things. Frankly, up till now I'm still shocked at my progress, having been so utterly worried about the whole affair. Even though Melissa eventually won, I don't feel that I've come up short in this competition.

The nuki-men point
(Left: Xian Ping, Right: Anthea)

Ladies Finals between Anthea (Red) and Melissa (White)

Overall, I’m glad that I took part in the series 1; I'll remember the talk that Shumin gave us, along with her encouragement from the sidelines. I'll recall that it was the first time I fought my friends. Peter sensei's instructions on how to taiatari will stick in my head for good. Plus, I swear I will pay more attention to how I enter the court next time, because kendo's all about rei-ho. And of course, I will keep in mind that it was a great learning experience for all of us juniors."

Juniors girls team with our dearest seniors, Shumin and Belinda!
Polaroid courtesy from Anthea

:)

NUSKK Summer Chalet!

2011-06-09T15:24:00.010+08:00

By Nella

The NUSKK Summer Chalet took place from 31st May to 1st June at Downtown East Aloha Chalet!

At 12pm, a group of NUSKK foodies met up at Somerset MRT for a ramen feast at Santouka. We have previously been to Ippudo in Mandarin Gallery as well but this one specializes in Hokkaido ramen!

Ramen Santouka at Cuppage Terrace

The classic Shio ramen

For recommendations, please approach the respective kendokas. (:

Towards the evening, Kenneth and Anthea were waiting patiently near the entrance of Downtown East. This year we have booked the garden terrace which comes with 2 bedrooms and our own kitchen! When everyone has packed their dinner and extra snacks, we finally made our way to the chalet.

Kenneth enthusiastically proposed to initiate his favourite plasticine game upon arrival. To satisfy your curiosity, let's go through the rules of the game briefly. XD

At the start of each round, participants would be given a topic/object which they would have to recreate or incorporate into their plasticine figurines. The theme would then be released to the audience and they would be required to guess the exact topic/object after the figurines were completed. There were many variations to the game nevertheless!

The Best of the Plasticine-Game-With-No-Name
(As quoted from Anthea)

The plasticine craftsmen at work

Jack and Kenneth with their masterpieces

Angry Birds, Rhino and Tom (& Jerry)

Guess a food dish!

Making of a Cheefung! :D
Jack could really make an online tutorial for plasticine moulding 101

Along the sofas near the tv screen, kendokas were entertained by a movie screening from Weber's PS3. Later on, we had a series of card games led by Jiahui and some high level abstract strategy game played by Zehao and company.

*Stares intensely at a Quoridor match

Meanwhile, a mini East-West Tournament was held over Weber's PS3. (Go East! :D) There was also a present giftaway from Gervinn, who bought many awesome souvenirs from his recent trip overseas! Thank you Gervinn!

Oke... loves his milk pan :D

As the night drew further, some of us even headed to Cathy Cineplex for a midnight show! All in all, everyone had a great time so much so that there was barely enough time for any sleep. A round of applause for our dearest Welfare I/C for organizing this fabulous chalet!

Sleeping time? I guess not. XD

We will be back again for chalet some time in the next semester! Look out for more updates to come!

2nd NUS Kendo Championships Series 2

2011-06-04T14:35:00.009+08:00

By Nella

NUS kendokas arrived at MPSH 6 on the evening of 3rd June for yet another adrenaline-filled event! A sequel to Series 1 held in March is none other than the next quarter of our internal tournament--Series 2!

Rows of men by the courts
Our belongings lined up by the walls of MPSH as we get ready for the tournament
Kendokas gearing up for practice
The evening started at a comfortable pace as we came down rather early for tournament setups and warm up practices. Most importantly, many had to prepare their hearts and minds in anticipation of the numerous intensive matches to come. After the opening of the tournament by Peter sensei and Weber, first up was the round robin ladies match between Melissa, Anthea, Steffi and myself!

For the four of us, it was our second time in an actual shiai. Every match was a learning experience in its own unique way, especially fighting with those that we have never faced within the tournament before.

The next part was the much awaited men's elimination matches. Like the previous series, there were various exciting matches once again back to back! Not to mention one of which was Jingyang's long encho match again (this time with Nasution). XD We then proceeded on the the finals after a short break. Here are the finalists for Series 2!

:)
As usual, we will end off with free keiko after the tournament! Snippets of photos ahead~.

Everyone's pumped up again for keiko!
Gervinn vs Yonghe
Finishing with the last ippon of the day
Gathering for Kenneth to give out the our brand new zekkens
Now with the embroidery of NUSKK instead of Singapore
A final wrap up
Weber looks like he is initiating the cheer! Everybody hands in!
Special thanks to the shimpans and also to everyone who have helped out to make this a success! Now to train for Series 3 in September! Till then. :D

Affiliate Training at SKC Summer Camp

2011-06-01T23:08:00.009+08:00

By Jiahui

On the 27th of May, our kendokas participated in the affiliate training at the SKC Summer Camp. Kendokas from SKC and the various affiliate clubs gathered together to train at the Changi Beach Club Sports Complex.

For NUSKK, the training gave us the opportunity to train alongside other kendokas that we hardly get to meet, except at events such as tournaments or gradings.

The training started off with warm-up exercises, followed by kirikaeshi practice. Then the kendokas proceeded to kihon training. Subsequently, the training moved on to waza and keiko practices.

Kirikaeshi practice

Peter sensei giving pointers to kendokas

Waza practice

End of training

Stay tuned for updates on the upcoming Inter Series 2! (:

NUS-NYP Kendo Nerf War

2011-05-24T16:56:00.012+08:00

By Nella

On the 21st of May, visitors to Pasir Ris Park may have witnessed a shooting showdown in the heart of its area. Featuring an affiliates club collaboration on an epic joint exercise... the NUS-NYP Kendo Nerf War!

The two teams caught a first glimpse of each other's armory at White Sands' Burger King, where we met and stocked up some of our energy supplies. Across the border, Suresh sensei and co. made their last modifications to the guns while we were engrossed with our own weapons, assembling them and testing the range of guns available.

NUS and NYP preparing for battle!
Suresh sensei and Oliver does a final inspection on the newly modified guns
Hai Hsian with a long sniper
Nasu all ready to fire away! Jingyang has a questionable look. XD
We made our way to the first battlefield in Pasir Ris Park. After securing our belongings at the chosen spots, we proceeded on to an elimination match in which the team with the last man standing wins! The garden maze proved to be a good warm up point as we rushed in from all sides to face our opponents. Team NYP then unleashed the power of their foam sword for close ranged attacks. Sadly, the unforgiving sun blazed down on us and we had to move on to another ground shortly after.

A change of terrain when we set our sights on a small hill! This time, teams have to take over the Nerf Vulcan, which was stationed on a rock, within a certain time limit to get their taste of victory. Both are allowed to use the weapon for as long as they held the place! For beginners, Vulcan operates via an automatic belt-fed ammo system--powerful firing mechanism. After the start signal, its surroundings quickly became a death zone while the rest of us strategized our way through.

The display of guns with high speed bullets seemed to have captured the attention of many unsuspecting passer-bys. For a moment, we had a few little kids to join us during our breaks too!

The last round ended with Nasu as the sole survivor from Team NUS! Flanked by the standing NYP team, even heroic stunts were no match for the bullets and their well-known foam sword. Awesome battle!

After a long day of non-stop shooting action!
NUS-NYP Combined Army
The war is far from its end as yet.
The next Nerf War will take place on this Friday, 27th May, at Changi Beach Club after affiliates training. Be sure to catch us, and many other new members, in action!

For current kendokas, feel free to join the Facebook group by Suresh sensei for future Nerf Wars discussions!

Credits to deviantart for the image and Cheefung for the photos!

Gervinn's Surprise Birthday Celebration

2011-05-07T01:10:00.025+08:00

By Nella

A surprise birthday party was held on 6th May for one of our former QMs, Gervinn!

With NEX Shopping Mall set as our rendezvous spot, many of us met up only to be tipped off that Gervinn has made a trip there for a haircut. This called for a slight change in plans! Of course, there was no better place to hide in than Watsons. Despite the meticulous arrangement, by pure coincidence or fate, a few lucky people bumped into Gervinn and managed to cover up with impressive acting skills--one of which actually costs 70 cents!

When the coast was clear, we eagerly made our way to Melissa and Gervinn's place to launch our surprise attack!

The group from afar at NEX Shopping Mall in Serangoon.

Upon arrival, we sneaked into the dark corridor of the house as Melissa coaxed her brother to head towards the designated ambush point. With the cue from our Party Director, Kenneth, we broke the silence with a lovely birthday song while being greeted by an astonished and seemingly less dressed Gervinn!! A surprise party indeed!

Jack being very cautious with the cake!

A closer look at the cake.

The 2nd birthday song and candle blowing!

Next, we have Kenneth to present our birthday gift to Gervinn! Notice that undeniable satisfaction from Gervinn and Kenneth's expressions from a successful party plan!

A medal for the Champion of the day!

After a whole evening brimming with fun and excitement, it's time for some food! Boxes of fresh hot pizzas awaits as some of us rushed to collect them from the gate. As usual, all the pizzas disappeared shortly after they were revealed.

Gervinn and his elaborate cutting skills.

Pizzas for grabs!

Following that, everyone went on to play their favourite games! A group of us were thoroughly entertained by the all time popular choices like Guitar Hero and Wii Sports. There were so many hilarious and unforgettable moments throughout the whole night!

(And we highly suspect that the temporary blackout was due to one of our band vocals...)

The crowd is just starting to warm up for games.

And the best Voice Acting award goes to Nasu! XD

NUS Kendo Kai's very own Rock Band!

(With Weber at the drums, Teck Seng and Jack as our guitarists and Oke for the lead vocals!)

Not forgetting one of our favourite singers, Nasu, along with Jack, Shermaine and Anthea!

Meanwhile at the other corner, the rest of us were occupied with very intellectually engaging games. Unfortunately, no photos were taken as any source of distraction could influence the games' outcome. :P

Once again, we would like to thank Melissa and Gervinn's parents for allowing us to hold the party at their house and the pizza treat! Also, to Melissa and Gervinn for being excellent hosts again!

Last but not least, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GERVINN! We hope that you will have an awesome trip overseas too!

Annual General Meeting

2011-05-01T09:09:00.017+08:00

By Nella

After an eventful year, the members of NUSKK gathered once again for the Annual General Meeting held on 1st April 2011.

To start off, our outgoing President, Chee Fung, shared with us the committee's vision and achievements during their term. As we looked back and appreciate their contributions to the club, we applaud their dedication and efforts they have put in throughout the year. Surely, those events would not have been possible without them!

We then proceeded to elect our new batch of excos. Upon hearing the speeches and the exchange of views with the rest of the club, it is heartening to see that many of us, if not all, do have something in mind with regards to the various club issues. So without further ado, introducing our new executive committee...

Top from left to right:

Jingyang (Treasurer), Shermaine (QM)

Jiahui (SLOAM), Nella (Publicity/IT), Anthea (Welfare)

Bottom from left to right:

Melissa (Vice President), Kenneth (President)

Weber (Captain), Nasution (Vice Captain)

With the everlasting spirit of the club, all of us can look forward to yet another promising year ahead! The AGM ended off with none other than a birthday celebration for our March babies!

Our March babies with their (shiny) chocolate cake!!

Delighted smiles from Yanxu, Nasu and Blossom! :)

Look out for more exciting events to come! :D

1st Joint Training

2011-02-21T22:17:00.011+08:00

By Belinda

On the 20th of February 2011, NUS hosted the first joint training initiative by David Yeo sensei. Kendokas from SKC and our affiliate clubs NYP and SMU were invited to join us in MPSH 6 on a Sunday morning to train together.

For NUSKC, joint training allowed us to train under guidance of the numerous senseis from SKC. It was a also wonderful opportunity for us to train alongside and mingle with other kendokas that we often had little chance of meeting, except at kendo events such as tournaments or gradings.

Joint training started off with a Beginner's Class and Japanese training.

Training suburi (cuts)

Followed by ashi-sabaki (footwork) practice

Being taught how to wear the bogu

Ki-ai (spirit) practice, followed by suburi

Senseis guiding the children during practice.

Watching the Japanese training was enlightening. Although many of the Japanese kendoka in training were young children, some of them had solid cuts and footwork. They were well on their way to being strong kendoka. It was a reminder to us never to neglect our fundamental kendo training, because how good we are depends very well on how much we've mastered our basics.

Getting ready for kata practice

We then began training for the Advanced Class. The first half hour was on free kata practice, where we practiced with a partner while senseis walked around to correct any mistakes they noticed. Then we proceeded to kihon training, followed by godou keiko (goodwill sparring)

Snippets of godou keiko

End of training!

Inoue-sensei giving Kenneth some pointers

[Unfortunately there are no other photos of the advanced class because we were all too busy training!]

Personally, I enjoyed joint training tremendously. Although I found it to be a rather short training, it felt very special to be inside a hall filled from left to right with kendokas. There was a lot to learn, especially from godou keiko. After a long queue I finally got to keiko with Nishida-sensei and it was a very fun--but at the same time VERY CHALLENGING--experience trying to score hits off him. Other highlights for me include doing kote-men for three motodachi (receivers) and back again.

I hope there'll be another joint training soon! (:

13th Youth Kendo Tournament

2011-02-08T13:52:00.002+08:00

By Maureen & Nasution

The 13th Youth Kendo Tournament was held on the 22nd and 23rd of January 2011. This year's YKT was hosted by our club, on homeground in NUS. We get Nasution and Maureen to share their experiences.

NASUTION:

Enter NUSKC!

The recent Youth Kendo Tournament was also my very first tournament after being on hiatus for around two years. Naturally, I was nervous before the tournament day. I had not trained as much as the others during the first semester as besides adapting to the severe change in lifestyle, I decided to pick up Muay Thai as well. For me, I do not consider myself to be strong as I have a lot of flaws in my kendo and I’m not consistent.

"What was your experience like fighting for NUS -- Individuals & Team?"

-- for the uninitiated, Nasution used to be from NYPKC.

It was a rather new experience, fighting for a new club with new comrades. For the individuals, you are fighting for no one but yourself so this is the part of the tournament where people are willing to take more risks, myself included. I managed to make it all the way to the quarter finals. For the team event, this is considered to be the more important part of the tournament. This is where you will not only be fighting for your team but your club/school as well. I was the Senpo and most, if not all, of my matches ended in a draw. “That’s a good thing since you did not lost your matches!” is what a lot of people will say but that is not how I felt. First things first, winning my matches would have imposed less stress to the other 4 kendokas after me. All the points that the opponent got off me could have been prevented as well. I apologise to everyone for not doing a better job.

Best Fighting Spirit Award. I'm quite surprised there's one, seriously..

[But we're not. Nasution you did us proud (:]

NUS A vs SKC B

"How did it feel to meet people you knew from NYP and SKC at the tournament?"

As friends? It was great since I have not seen most of them ever since I entered National Service. As opponents? Terrible! That was the initial feeling I had because I have a certain ‘phobia’ about fighting against them--to me, they were considered very strong. It did not help knowing that I had taken a two year hiatus and some of them were still training regularly.

My first match was against Meng Kiat, whom I had a lot of difficulty fighting against due to his height and long reach.

Another one was Wai Kay, who was from my batch and also the captain of the club during our term in NYP. We knew each other's fighting style quite well so after a long while, the match dragged on into enchou (sudden death). On a side note, I have never really gotten into an enchou before and this particular one with Wai Kay proved to be demanding both physically and mentally.

My third opponent was Billy, who was as rough as ever. The last person whom I knew from NYP/SKC that I fought was Kian Chew. He was my junior, but he has been training regularly and has gotten a lot faster, so it was a pretty violent match up.

"Do you have any insights following this tournament?"

I have learnt a lot from this tournament. One of them is my posture. Most of the time my posture would get ugly which makes it more difficult to move around. Oliver told me it took roughly six months to correct his posture so I will do just that for this semester.

As for the club, a lot of my club members have mentioned to me that NUS' kendo style emphasizes more on kihon (fundamentals) rather than competitive shiai and that is the reason why it may be harder for us to defeat an opponent from other clubs. In my opinion, the NUS style is good as without grooming proper basics, it will be more difficult to advance at the later stage of one's kendo growt.

Perhaps instead of thinking "why can't I beat my opponent with my current style?", we could change it to "how can I beat an opponent with my style?".

With that, I will end it with one of my favourite quotes, from Nanoha.

MAUREEN:

21st Jan 2011: Preparation for YKT 2011

Preparation was done just one day before the Youth Kendo Tournament 2011.
With the help from everyone (juniors and seniors), we managed to finish the
preparation in no time! c:

22nd Jan 2011 : Day 1

Here is a rundown of the events set up for the first day of the tournament.
- Ladies Individuals
- Mens Individuals
- Ladies and Mens Final
- Prize Ceremony

Officials setting up

All of us came around noon to prepare for Day 1 of YKT 2011! *Excited~!
The moment the officials entered the hall, we moved to the table to make sure that
everything we needed was there.

All the medals on display

The intense atmosphere in the dojo was overwhelming. If you were there, you
would definitely feel that everyone was there to earn their place in the tournament.

The shimpans, officials and competitors are lined up to bow to the dojo.

This is a formality that every kendoka is familiar with.

Warming-up before matches is essential

Let the matches begin!

Everyone was focused on watching.

No one wants to miss seeing the points being scored

End of Day 1!

23rd Jan 2011

Day 2 of the tournament involved the following:
- Ladies' Team Eliminations
- Mens' Team Eliminations
- Ladies and Mens' Team Finals
- Prize Ceremony

Day 2 started early, at around 7-8am--many of us were tired BUT the atmosphere for Day 2
was much more intense than Day 1! This time round the competitors were fighting for their
respective teams, which meant that there was much more to lose.

Snippets of the matches

Our NUS Men's Team B is chilling by the side

In all, we would like to thank everyone that came for this year's Youth Kendo Tournament. Without everyone, YKT 2011 would not have been this successful.

AWESOME TOURNAMENT! C:

9th ASEAN Kendo Tournament

2011-02-05T11:25:00.008+08:00

By Belinda

The 9th Asean Kendo Tournament was held on the 23rd to 24th of October 2010. This year's AKT was hosted by Singapore and had participants from Thailand, Vietnam, Malayia, Brunei and Indonesia.

March-in of the tournament participants

Many of our shimpans also took the time to come to Singapore from overseas!

The NUS Kendo Club was proud to have our very own members representing Singapore in the men's national team! Yong He, Wenhao, Zehao, Gervinn, and Cheefung trained very hard for almost half a year leading up to the actual tournament.

Team Singapore (:

Of course, every kendo tournament requires manpower to help keep it running smoothly. Many of us volunteered to help out in running the event, together with fellow kendokas from SKC, NYP and SMU. We were tasked to help out in court official roles such as court managers, taggers, time-keepers and time-keepers.

Setting up the courts

It's early in the morning but we're all ready for the matches to begin!

For most of us, it was our first time carrying out these roles. Although we had some prior experience in running tournaments with our NUS Championship Series, it could not possibly compare to one on such a grand scale as AKT.

Prior to the actual tournament, we held two dry runs on weekends to pre-empt any possible problems and to simulate the flow of the event. During these, we learnt many details that we had to pay careful attention to. Court officiating was highly meticulous! Some of the many things we were taught by senseis and senpais included how to properly fold the shimpan flags, present scores on the scoreboard, and even the correct method to tag a kendoka.

As a tagger on the actual day, I was both nervous and excited to be a court official.

Proud to be a part of AKT!

Lunch-time is rest time

In a round-robin playoff, as was planned, the fighters on court often changeover very quickly--but that would mean that we had to tag them just as rapidly! Sometimes, we had to change tag colors in split seconds. Thankfully we managed all that with plenty of teamwork between the three taggers we had for each court :)

Many of our international friends were new to the courts in SKC, and we also had to help direct them to the right areas before their matches. Often, they too were nervous (or just really tired after their tough matches!). We had to make sure that we did not give them the wrong information. We would remind them when their next match was, and what colour they were tagged. If they had queries, they usually came to us too, such as asking who their opponent was or when the team could make changes to their line-up.

Shannon's tare--unfortunately he is fighting for Malaysia

Another difficulty that we faced was having to identify the right person to tag! Since we didn't know our international visitors by their faces, we would often run around with tags in our hand, our eyes desperately combing the many kendokas' tare in search of the number we had to tag. By the second day, we were actually able to associate some kendokas' faces with their tare numbers.

Although tagging was tiring and potentially nerve-wrecking, it was a great way to get up close and personal to the matches. Exciting matches were fought right before our eyes and when we had the chance to watch, they often blew us away. There were many new techniques and styles of fighting that we could observe, such as how to fend off a jodan-player. As I watched our Women's team triumph their way to the finals, I was also very inspired by how strong they were (:

Some videos

Thrilling match between Singapore (red) and Thailand (white).

Both teams have drawn after the team round-robin playoff. One player from each team has been chosen to battle it out, and the winner of the first point will determine which team will proceed to the semi-finals. Suresh takes the point for Singapore after an intense battle! The crowd goes wild... myself included.

Godou (goodwill) keiko at the end of each day

In all, I'm very grateful to have been a part of AKT. It has been a wonderful opportunity to watch high-level kendo, meet international kendokas and keiko with them, and of course, learn how to run a tournament. :)

Kendo Training Camp 2010

2011-01-30T17:39:00.012+08:00

By Weber and Melissa

NUS Kendo Club's annual training camp was held in NUS from the 27th to 30th of December 2010. We get Weber and Melissa to share their experiences about the gruelling four days and three nights we spent in school.

WEBER:

This year the camp was held in late December to accommodate members that were going to travel overseas during the semester break. As a result the camp had to be slotted in right between Christmas and the new year. Not a bad thing though--it probably helped us to burn all the junk that we ate during Christmas and to prepare us for the coming New Year.

As we would expect of a training camp...there were plenty of trainings.

This year the key objective of the camp was to prepare the seniors for the Youth Kendo Tournament that would be held the following month. As for juniors, the camp for them to acclimatise to their new friend, their bogu.

Almost everything in the schedule was similar to previous camp EXCEPT that Captain Yong He introduced a morning run for the second day that I think stunned everyone. [No offence though, I liked the run :)]

Being in my 2nd year for kendo, I had only been to one camp, the one that was held the previous year. During my time as our bogu had not arrived in time for the camp, we trained pretty much only suburi (cuts) and ashi-sabaki (footwork) for the whole 3 days.

It was 'MEN' and 'MEN' and 'MEN' or 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' for the whole 3 days. Urggghh, don't remind me of it!

Anyway, I shall list down what happened during the camp with the best of my memory.

Day 1

After the briefing and the opening of camp, first training was from 11am-1pm. Before this, the seniors taught the juniors how to wear the tenogui and men. Many managed to internalize the wearing of both before official training began at 11am.

For our first training as seniors, we had the usual exercises except with more focus on speed and zanshin (awareness). Probably due to a week of no kendo training, I felt like a cold engine in the morning--hard to achieve optimum functionality.

Day 2

I will skip the morning run, in case I bring up any bad memory :). Moving on we had a combined training with the juniors led by Zehao. I will leave it up to Melissa to narrate about it...

Then we had another 2 trainings.

Day 3

Too tired to think. My brain probably shut-down and survival instincts took over. We did plenty of mock keiko and we also grouped up into teams of three to get a feel of team battles.

Somehow or another, we reached the last training of the day! OMG we survived. Haha.

[To celebrate the end of killer training, we had pizza for dinner, camp debrief and a good time together in air-con (:

This was also one of the few nights we didn't all just crash in our beds for sleep after dinner. We stayed up to play Monopoly Deal and of course, our club's favourite--MURDERER.]

Day 4

We had the final kata session before break camp :)

[There were many funny moments. Some of us were so used to training kendo that when it came to kata, we started using fumi-komi (stomping footwork) and shouting out "kote" instead of "yaaaa".]

MELISSA:
As juniors, this was the first training camp we attended after about 4-5 months of non-bogu training. It was also the first time putting on our men, the first time training in full bogu, and learning kiri-kaeshi and to strike on the actual men, kote and dou.

With 8 trainings plus a fun-run spread out over 3 days, there was limited time for our bodies to rest and recover, and that resulted in most of us lying down for barely an hour’s nap on the floor of our very dojo during our lunch breaks. And by the second day, we were already Leuko-wrapping our feet and massaging our sore limbs.

The transition from non-bogu to full bogu training was not easy. Every cut and move made seemed to require more effort, and it was no doubt a lot stuffier having the men on.
Personally, apart from exhaustion, the intensifying pain on the sides of my head due to my unseasoned men was what ‘almost killed me’. But I became a little stronger each time I pushed myself to bear with the pain.

It was the encouragement and support among us that made trainings a little more bearable, knowing that each and every one of us is going through [or would have gone through, in the case of the seniors] the same thing, each striving to give all that we have got.

Needless to say, this training camp was tough. But having survived all through the 8 trainings, coming out aching and blistered but otherwise very much alive, means we have gotten that much stronger!

In short, training camp is all about training. But despite all the injuries and exhaustion we faced, one cannot deny that all the effort put in definitely improved our kendo (:

Annual Christmas Party

2010-12-28T09:19:00.002+08:00

By Kenneth

NUS Kendo Club's annual Christmas celebration was held on 26 December 2010 (Boxing Day).

It is the club's tradition to hold our Christmas party on the Boxing Day--don't ask me why though, it has been like this for generations (><)

The party was held at the Gervinn & Melissa's house. Gervinn is our newest Shodan in the club and his sister joined the club after being inspired by her brother's kendo! A big thank you to them for generously offering their place for the party!! (^^)

The main group met at Serangoon MRT control station at 6pm. After watching endless crowds of people weave past to the newly-opened NEX shopping mall, we moved out to Gervinn's house. On arrival, everyone rushed to snatch some playtime on Guitar Hero (as usual!)

Guitar Hero continued to remain to be the main source of entertainment for the rest of the night~ No one will ever get sick with singing and playing their favourite songs ;)

(Though we may question the ability of some of our members to sing. HAHAHAHA

--Belinda)

Benjamin deeply engrossed in his guitar

Everyone wants a piece of the mic~

Y.M.C.A. !!!

While most of us were too deeply engrossed in the world of Guitar Hero, the rare few clever ones stealthily started eating. Food disappeared in the blink of an eye due to the mammoth appetites of the few anonymous kendokas!
Potluck was the main idea for the day, and a plethora of food choices were up for grabs. As per usual, the more popular foods like nuggets and sausages vanished rapidly.

Finally, after all stomachs were satisfied, we proceed with the first main event of the day--Christmas cake cutting, and the joint birthday celebration of November & December babies!! What's Christmas without log cakes right? ;P

Everyone rushing in to save the candles~

AND! Following right after the cake-cutting, the most important event of the day:

GIFT EXCHANGE!

Everyone grabbed their own presents, gathered around each other and waited for their names to be called out, praying that their presents will fall into good hands ;)
After rounds of laughters and applause, all gifts were exchanged, and we were ordered to unwrap the presents on the spot! Everyone's faces beamed with anticipation~~

Who will be the lucky one *drum rolls* ??

Happy faces ^^

Condoms??!! (It is actually chocolate in disguise XP) Courtesy from Anthea

Yong He and Nasution trying to fix the Air Bazooka that Yong He bought

Air Bazooka completed!!!

After the hilarous gift exchange & unwrapping, everyone turned back to indulge themselves once again in the world of Guitar Hero and of course other games.

HTHT - President and Captain

Monoply Deal!!

Bridge - A very intelligent game

As the night drew till late, despite the immense fun everyone was having, people started to say goodbyes one-by-one.
And silently, the party ended with a tinge of unwillingness left in the air. ):

Once again, a BIG THANK YOU to Gervinn & Melissa for being such great hosts and to everyone else who made this Boxing Day party to be so fun-filled and memorable!

(Of course we also have to thank our dearest Welfare I/C for organizing our traditional celebrations and MORE! --Belinda)

Let's look forward to the next Boxing Day! ^_^

Juniors' Bogu Wearing & Officiating Lesson

2010-12-23T11:44:00.000+08:00

By Wei Lun

On the 11th of December, a bogu-wearing and tournament-officiating session was held for the juniors. The juniors finally received their long awaited brand-new (and fresh-smelling!) bogu. Their excitement, and at the same time confusion, was palpable as they collected their equipment.

Having progressed steadily in their kendo, it was time for the juniors to get their own bogu to take their training to the next stage. Though the high cost of the bogu can be a stumbling block to some, it is essential equipment. In the words of our seniors, one's personal bogu could be thought of as an investment--almost like a car. The initial outlay is high, but it will last you for your kendo journey.

Bogu, new ones, old ones.

"Juniors with their bogu on [but without gi & hakama],

looking like Roman foot soldiers." - Wenhao

On the same day, to prepare the juniors for the hosting of upcoming tournaments such as our internal NUS Championship Series and the 13th Youth Kendo Tournament , a shiai-officiating session was held to teach them about the different roles of the match officials--namely the taggers, score-keepers, and time-keepers.

Vice-Captain Weber explaining tournament rules and duties.

Demonstration of tagging on Wasabi-chan by Shermaine.

Wasabi-chan's turn to tag Shermaine.

Situation analysis of when to stop time for time keepers.

President Chee Fung explaining the meaning of the shimpan's actions.

Meanwhile, the seniors maintain their shinai - or at least some of them are...

*cough* Kenneth?? *cough*

22nd Lim Kwa Chee Memorial Tournament

2010-12-22T13:29:00.007+08:00

By Oke and Ricky

The 22nd LKC Tournament was held at the Singapore Kendo Club on the 18th of Dec, 2010.

Oke and Ricky share their experiences at the event.

OKE:

"The LKC tournament was set to start at 830 am. However, for us officials, we had to reach earlier for the briefing and to attend the registration booths where competitors will register their name. It was, I think, the most hectic moment of the day where every competitor was rushing to register within the allocated period of 30 minutes.

We were suddenly told that we were going to use 3 courts instead of 2, which was quite scary for us at such a last minute. When every competitor (or most) had finished registered and started their warm-up, we officials familiarized ourselves with the tournament's proceedings.

Honestly, I began to feel very nervous at this point of time. The last time I officiated was 3 years ago, and I had screwed up so badly then that I swore never to do it again. Yet here I was trying to monitor the whole officiating process! I managed court A and my trusty officials were:

1. Melissa & Cheefung (Score Keeper)
2. Nella & Jun Hui (Assistant Score Keeper)
3. Hai Hsian & Shermaine (Time keeper)
4. Darte and Downpour a.k.a Jing Yang (Time keeper)
5. Ze hao and Cheefung (Tagger I/C).
6. Of course the taggers which I am not sure how many of them…Many thanks if you guys helped but were not mentioned here.

I will say that we had a rough start that day. We had a court manager that was as blur as a sotong, score keepers that were often missing because they had to compete, and announcers
that sometimes read the names wrongly due to miscommunication! No offense here though, it’s just these were the screw ups that were the most memorable and funny :D

Thankfully, despite the bad start, clear guidance from Suresh-sensei and Daphne-sensei, who were the tournament master and assistant tournament master respectively, allowed us to endure all difficulties and push on!

As the day got hotter, the matches got more intense, the fights took longer and our morale as officials began to drop to rock bottom. Despite that, the fierce spirit that the many competitors showed during the fights gave us a newfound confidence! Especially from the competitors who were at their very first shiai. Despite often being wiped out by more experienced players early on, some put up very strong fights and managed to give their competitors a run for their money at times!

Our team was also in charge of officiating the final matches of all categories. Each match of the finals were highly intense, but the match that I remember most would be that between the senior women’s category champion (Daphne-sensei) and the senior men’s category champion (Takamori-sensei).

The men’s champion was initially down by one point so as to give the women's champion a handicap. However, Takamori-sensei managed to get a clean point off her. At this point in time, she was fighting with no handicap. Hence, it was a really a 50/50 chance for either one of

them to win the tournament. However, she managed to win the last point of the match...and thus became the overall champion of the LKC tournament.

After that we packed up and got ready to go for lunch after a long day. It was a good experience for the officiating team to get familiarized with the proceedings of a tournament. I have to really thank all members of my officiating team for doing a good job--without them, it would have been impossible. As for officiating....I really would not want to EVER officiate again--I would rather compete! :D"

RICKY:

"The tournament was my first ever kendo tournament and probably my most

memorable (pun not intended). Initially, I did not plan to take part because I thought that the non-bogu category would be quite boring since it only consisted of shoumen-uchi and hayasuburi and no actual sparring. But eventually I decided to go for it since it would be the one and only time I can take part in the non-bogu category. Of course, the seniors' persuasive words played an important role in my decision.

So I made my way down to the Changi Japanese School. It was my first
time seeing so many kendokas gathered under one roof, some were as young as 10 years old and I might actually be competing against them! I feel that this is what makes kendo so special, that once you are in the shiai-jo, you are expected to respect your opponent and put in your best effort, no matter what the gap in age or skill is.

The non-bogu category was the first category on that day. Two kendokas would each do twenty
shoumen-uchi cuts and twenty haya-suburi, following which the judges would decide on a winner, based on the form demonstrated and kiai (spirit) shown. It made me realize that kendo places a lot of emphasis not only on kihon (basics), but also on reiho (manners). What separated the victorious kendoka from the other was not only the spirit and precision with which they executed their strikes with, but also the way they conducted themselves during the match.

It was a good thing that before the tournament, Shumin was training us juniors with a great focus on the reiho we were expected to adhere to during the match. I
certainly would not want to lose the match and make a fool out of myself just because I did not
understand the instructions given to me.

Congratulations Ricky for his win in the Junior's Category!

All in all, I am glad that I chose to take part in this tournament. It was an eye-opener
for me, as I was able to see how a whole tournament is carried out, from start to finish. I was also able to make friends with so many kendokas from different clubs, which would be impossible if I chose to only train within NUS.

I would certainly advise my future juniors to take part in LKC, because it would be a good practice for them to familiarize themselves with the conduct they are expected to carry during a competition. The memories they can take away with them is certainly worth the grueling journey to Changi. I certainly found mine worthwhile. (:"

NUS Championship Series 4

2010-12-18T12:25:00.000+08:00

The NUS Championship Series 4 was held on 13th December 2010.

Series 4 concluded the 1st NUS Championship--a new initiative by the club to promote shiai (tournament) experience through an internal tournament.

We invite Yong He, our captain and overall Men's Category champion, to share his thoughts.

Reflections on NUS Championship 2010

By Yong He

Over the course of participating and organizing this year long event, I have learnt a lot both from the experiences in and out of the shiai-jo. After reviewing all the matches that I’ve fought throughout the whole year, I realized something important and decided that this is perhaps the most appropriate thing to share.

I have participated in all 4 tournaments in the Championship. Every single match had a personal meaning behind it. This was especially so for the last matches that I fought in each tournament.

For example, in the 1st Series, I fought Ze Hao (the captain then). It was a tough fight because he was and still is a very strong fighter. I had serious doubts about winning when I fought him but I managed to pull out the resolve needed to push myself to win.

The next series, I fought Jack, a senior member of the club and a good friend of mine. His style specifically countered my kote cut (which is perhaps my only confident attack). I remembered having to really will myself to fight on especially after he scored a demoralizing point which brought the match into enchou (overtime).

In series 4, I fought Chee Fung who is also the current President/Chairperson of the club. Both of us having known each other for so long were very familiar with each others’ fighting styles and so made scoring a decisive ippon extremely difficult. The match dragged on into enchou and I was fortunate to strike a kote point after fighting for about 7 minutes.

However, for me personally, the most memorable match would have to be the one and only match that I fought in Series 3. I was quickly knocked out by Hai Hsian in the first round. That was my first and only loss in the Championship. After much thinking and reviewing of the match, I came to learn a lot from this defeat. I had placed too much emphasis on winning that I lost my composure during the match.

From left to right: Gervinn, Chee Fung, Yong He, Hai Hsian and Teck Seng.

From the same batch of beginners that joined the club in 2008

I would like to thank all my opponents during the Championship for all the invaluable lessons that they have taught me. Peter Ong-sensei once told us that when we win, we must remain humble and maintain the respect for the opponent. In the olden days, when swordsman fought, one would die or be maimed. The one who lost died so the victor could claim his victory. Although in Kendo, no one has to die from losing a match, I strongly believe in respecting ones opponent because without their losses there can be no victor.

Of course, be it in defeat or in victory, I have thoroughly enjoyed myself during those matches. Fighting with my fellow peers made the entire experience more interesting and meaningful. It is perhaps the bonds forged through the crossing of swords that makes the relationships between my peers and me more unique than any other friendships that I have made throughout my life thus far.

Last but not least, I hope NUS Kendo Club can continue to grow and prosper and this new tradition of having an internal tournament can be carried on so that future generations of kendoka from the club can experience what all of us had. Finally, I hope that we will continue to strive hard and train not just our technical skills and mental fortitude but also to understand more about ourselves and become a better person.

Picture of the club with David Yeo sensei in the middle.

Special thanks to Jaclyn-sensei from SKC

(left of David Yeo sensei) for helping out with shimpan work.

NUS Championship Series 3

2010-10-10T22:10:00.000+08:00

By Xian Ping & Belinda

Our club's internal tournament, NUS Championship Series 3, was conducted on the 17th of September.

Getting ready for the tournament

Snippets of the Ladies Eliminations Series

Our shimpans: David Yeo sensei and Peter Ong sensei

Snippets of Men's Eliminations

All club members not only compete, but take turns to man tournament.

Some roles include Tagging, Score-keeping, and Time-keeping.

For the coverage of this event, we hereby interview several of our members on their experience during Series 3!

Firstly, our Men's Eliminations 1st-runner up winner, Hai Hsian, shares with us his experience.

HAI HSIAN
In his first match against current club captain Yong He, Hai Hsian was nervous for two reasons:
1. He had just recently returned from his SEP trip, and had no proper chance to spar with Yong He prior to the match,
2. He knew that Yong He’s kote cuts would have improved significantly following AKT training.

Hai Hsian was also determined not to lose this first match because it would be a waste of his $4 contact lenses!

When he successfully managed to hit and score a men point, he felt that his men practices were showing some result. However, within a short period of time, Yong He managed to retaliate with a strong kote cut, leaving Hai Hsian stunned.

The fierce cheers of encouragement from the club members gave him the motivation to keep fighting, and he remembered what Peter-sensei said once: “As long as you are determined to win, the possibility of you doing so remains.”

Throughout the match, Hai Hsian was aware that kote-nuki-men was quite effective against Yong He, but he didn’t want to restrict himself to using only that technique since it would be exploiting Yong He’s weakness. However, near the end of the match, when Yong He decided to target his kote again, Hai Hsian instinctively reacted swiftly with a kote-nuki-men, thus ending his first match and putting one of the favorite contenders out of the game!

Hai Hsian VS Jack

During the next match against Jack, Hai Hsian wanted to have a good match that he would not regret. He remembered that a year ago against Jack, Peter-sensei had commended them on their battle for their intent to fight each other face-on, as fiercely as they could. As Hai Hsian had heard that Jack’s new ‘skills’ were dangerous, he was eager to see how he would fare.
Since Hai Hsian had been focusing on his men cuts before the tournament and used mostly men and dou cuts, he successfully prevented Jack from using his favorite kote–nuki-men technique.

For his third match against Nickolas, Hai Hsian resolved to go all out and to perform beyond his limit, especially since it would take him to the Finals. Although Hai Hsian tried many hiki-dou cuts on Nickolas, he was not awarded any points for them. Still, he was determined to try to execute a successful hiki-dou. After his first successful point, he lost a 1-cut-1-point-kote to Nickolas, which made him stay on guard. Taking more careful consideration of his distance (ma-ai), Hai Hsian narrowly won his second point by cutting men, moving through quickly and showing strong spirit!

In the finals, Hai Hsian was up against Chee Fung. Having fought with Chee Fung quite frequently, Hai Hsian’s cuts were hesitant as he knew Chee Fung would be going for his men if his cut missed. Against Chee Fung, Hai Hsian knew his hiki-wazas would not be effective: their frequent encounters during training keikos would most likely have familiarized Chee Fung with his hiki style and the technique he would execute. Thus, Hai Hsian was restricted to using forward cuts on him.

Although the match ended with Chee Fung emerging victorious, Hai Hsian felt that he had learnt valuable lessons from the match about how he could improve; besides, managing to get so far in the tournament was already a good sign that his training is paying off.

As Peter Sensei once said:
"Kendo's not about winning or losing. It's about the amount of fighting spirit you display."

Chee Fung, Hai Hsian & Jing Yang sorting scores

--
We next interview Jing Yang. Some of you may remember what happened to Jing Yang and Shannon in the previous tournament series... by some ~~sick~~ incredible fate, the two rivals are set to duel... AGAIN!

JING YANG

When Jing Yang found out that that he would have be matched up with Shannon AGAIN for the first match, he was shocked! Never in his wildest imagination did he think that this would happen after the previous long and epic match with Shannon. He dreaded his match with Shannon as he knew Shannon was a hard opponent. Furthermore, he was hoping that he would be able to fight with someone from his own year instead as he hadn't gotten a chance to since the past 3 tournaments.

Jing Yang and Shannon hard at battle

Although Jing Yang managed to pull off a successful hiki-dou within the first minute of the match, Shannon guarded carefully any subsequent dou-cuts Jing Yang tried to do. Unfortunately, Jing Yang then made a few mistakes in distance judgement, costing him 2 hansokus (fouls committed for being out of play-area), which gave Shannon 1 point.

After entering enchou (sudden death), his hiki-dou techniques that he tried to execute once again cost him 2 hansokus, hence awarding Shannon with yet another point and putting an end to the match.

Poor Jing Yang! Be careful never to forced out of the playing area again--a costly mistake for any kendoka!

Nasution & Nickolas
We now interview Nasution & Nickolas about their first experience in our club's internal tournament.

Nasution VS Nickolas

Having recently joined us this academic year, the ex-NYP Kendo Club members only had such tournaments during camps and before major kendo events such as YKT, Nationals and AKT. As they had not the chance to keiko with us from NUS, it was like a true shiai experience: they did not know their opponents playing styles, and vice-versa.

By some ~~sick~~ incredible fate, the two friends found themselves matched up against each other!

Of course, they knew each other’s fighting style well enough, and they both rivalled each other equally, so it was once again a battle to outwit, outsmart, and outplay each other on the tournament grounds.
Overall, the pair commented that the internal tournament series was a fresh and eye-opening experience!

Here are some quick excerpts from our interviews with some of our juniors from the Beginner's Course about their experience watching their very first shiai!

"Those who were calm, kept their steady and fought with composure were very interesting to watch!" -- Steffi

"It was very fun to watch! Very exciting. I thought that the fierce competitors who really showed that they wanted to win were scary but at the same time very inspiring." -- Jayna & Qi Yun

Last but not the least, here are some pictures to end off our tournament coverage:

Men's Eliminations Finals -- Chee Fung VS Hai Hsian

Women's Eliminations Finals -- Shumin VS Xian Ping

Watching the finals with a great deal of anticipation

Our Tournament Master (Maureen) and Assistant Tournament Master (Weber) address us and our senseis give out the prizes to the winners.

The end to our tournament!

Shinai Maintenance

2010-10-09T14:58:00.023+08:00

By Wei Lun

"On the 18th September oh Alfred gave to me

Gi, hakama and brand-new shinai

Only the red carrier was free..."

On the 18th September 2010, the NUS Kendo Club had our Shinai Maintenance Day outside MPSH 6. For the juniors, it was the day they were going to get their new shinai, gi and hakama, as well as learn how to take care of them.

After the juniors collected their equipments, the seniors taught the juniors how to wear their gi and hakama, followed by the preparation of their first shinai. Many thanks to Wenhao and Zehao!

Zehao:" This is the sakigawa..."

The juniors dismantling their shinai to maintain it

Look at their happy faces

The seniors maintaining their shinai in a more relaxed manner

"World champion bibimbap Downpour Park" Jing Yang.

Kenneth showing zanshin

Weber hard at work

Seniors helping the juniors out with problematic areas

For the club, Shinai Maintenance Day isn't a one-off event for maintaining our own shinai.

You should maintain your shinai as frequently as you use them.

It is also a day for the club as a whole to take care of the equipment we use--the club shinais, which is why it is very important that we do it competently.

After all, we may need to borrow a shinai due to one reason or another, and we wouldn't like to use it only to find it has splinters, would we? Furthermore, the club shinais are traditionally used by the juniors during the Beginner's Course before they make their own purchases.

Of course, Shinai Maintenance Day is much more than just carrying out simple maintenance.

It is also a bonding session! There is nothing like a little chit chat to take one's mind off the tedium of sanding, and it is also the time for us to consult our seniors in certain aspects of shinai maintenace that we are unsure of. Amidst our busy timetables and heavy workloads, it is also a brief respite from project deadlines and other worries.

Additional tips when maintaining shinai:

Please use sandpaper fully. Most of us (seniors included) throw away sandpaper which has only been partially utilised. This is very wasteful, please make sure you have thoroughly exhausted that piece of sandpaper. It should be totally smooth with sawdust.

Do not use all your strength pushing the sandpaper into the shinai. There is no need to sand very hard: you will use up the sandpaper faster, and will not be able to achieve a smooth finish.

Keep your area clean after you have maintained your shinai, especially if you were conducting maintenance on campus! Be responsible for your own area.

If you have some problems with the shinai which you do not know how to handle, do not hesitate in approaching the QM or the seniors.

For additional information and help, visit the following website (Courtesy of Shannon).

Practice makes perfect! =)

Annual Recess Week Chalet

2010-09-25T22:46:00.011+08:00

By Kenneth

On September 21st 2010, the NUS Kendo Club had our annual recess week chalet at Costa Sands Downtown East, organized by none other than our ~~beloved~~ welfare head, Kenneth!

The advance party of 7 checked into the chalet room K2003 at 1430 hours after having a very fulfilling lunch at Popeye's. :)

We immediately plugged in the PS3 once we got into the room and proceeded to play with it for most of the rest of the time before everyone else arrived at 6pm for dinner.

(Thanks to those who went to fetch the people who met up at Pasir Ris MRT in place of me. Arigatou!)

After an enjoyable and exciting evening of mingling around over our specially-catered dinner, half of the group decided to catch a movie (or should I say, movies because we couldn't decide between watching Going the Distance or Resident Evil) while the rest continued playing with the PS3. Some people even went to Macs to catch up on their studies and chit-chat.

The night continued with another DVD movie, District 9, and more PS3: Fat Princess. Everyone stayed awake almost past 3AM, with some falling to the lull of snooze earlier.

Following an entire night of little sleep and fun, some of us left following the start of public transport the next morning--how often do you catch the first train in the morning HOME?

The rest of the stayover party checked out at 10am the next morning and had breakfast at the nearby food court, before finally heading back home to have their well-deserved sleep. And that was the end of our chalet!

Here are some pictures taken at the chalet:

(pictures are limited because we are having too much fun to remember to take photos, wahahaha)

Juniors rushing for food

Basketball people coming back for dinner

Everyone deeply engrossed in their dinner ^^

Our Vice-Capt (hogging the PS3)

Very cool pose by our treasurer xD

Naruto!!!

Totally lost in the world of PS3

While the others are chilling outside

Movie party 1: Resident Evil

Movie Party 2: Going the Distance

Lastly, although this chalet will not have happened without the ~~meticulous and painstaking~~ planning of the welfare head, it will not be a success if not for the support of the members!

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following groups of people:

- Oke, for volunteering to bring down his Playstation 3 for everyone to play! The chalet would have been very different if there was no PS3 to entertain us

- Wen Hao, for bringing his Playstaion Move! Everyone had so much fun playing around with the Move (Gladiator Fight, kendo-style!)

- Maureen and Chee Fung for joining us at midnight despite it being right after a physically taxing four-day-long Nexus camp with the Sports Club!

- And of course, all the seniors and juniors who came to the chalet!

We hope you all enjoyed yourselves and got to know more about each other.

Look forward to the next chalet! (^o*)

Welcome Tea 2010

2010-09-20T21:34:00.001+08:00

By Maureen

Our annual Welcome Tea was held on the 16th of August at MPSH6 this year. It was refreshing to see many new faces who were interested in finding out more about kendo and our club!

Visitors to the dojo are greeted by our Floor Managers of the day

We have very good business (:

Participants were spilt into groups! Introduction time ensues.

Some participants get to try out sitting in seiza position.

Our seniors don their bogu and prepare themselves for the various demonstrations

President Chee Fung addressing the large turnout of visitors.

We officially begin our Welcome Tea!

Demonstrating the kihon cuts that we practise in training

Demonstrating a shiai (tournament) scenario with a shimpan (referee)

Demonstrating kata practice

Our participants look on with great interest

Chee Fung helps to explain what each demonstration is for

Following our demonstrations, we proceed to allow our participants to try some hands-on activities, and at the same time help to explain the basis behind the previous demonstrations.

Booth 1: The Art of Cutting

Zehao & Weber

At this booth, Zehao explained the basics on how to cut and the target points which are mainly Men (head), Kote (forearm) and Do (chest plate).

Booth 2: The Art of Protection

Weilun & Gervinn & Benjamin Tan

Gervinn and Weilun gave an explanation on the parts of the Bogu (armor). The freshies were also given the option to try on some parts of the bogu!

Booth 3: The Art of Swinging

Wenhao & Hai Hsian

Wenhao demonstrated on how to hold the shinai (bamboo blade) and also the brief mechanism behind the swinging of the shinai. The freshies held the shinai and did some basic suburi exercises (cuts) to get the feel of swinging the shinai!

Booth 4: The Art of Kata
Kitt, Shannon & Jesse

Kitt, Shannon and Jesse gave an explanation on what is Kata and why we practice it. The bokkens (wooden blades) were handed out to allow the freshies to hold and feel it. They were also taught various kemai positions such as jodan.

At the end of the day we were highly satisfied with our work! The welcome tea was a great success (:

If you missed our Welcome Tea,
or signing up for our Beginner's course,
Don't forget that there's always next year (:

9th Singapore National Kendo Championship

2010-08-22T11:22:00.004+08:00

By Pheng Hui

On 18 July 2010, the NUS Kendo Club participated in the 9th Singapore National Kendo Championship.

This tournament series is organised by the Singapore Kendo Club and held annually at Changi Japanese School Dojo. Being one of the four large annual competitions between all kendo clubs in Singapore, the Nationals are open to all Singaporeans to prove their skill in a shiai (tournament) setting.

This was my first time taking part in such a large-scale competition, and it is truly an eye-opening experience to be able to see skilled kendoka giving their all to win the championship. Though I personally did not manage to win my matches, I still feel happy to have had an opportunity to improve myself through sparring with more experienced kendoka.

After hours of competition, our president, Chee Fung, clinched silver in the Men's Junior category. Congrats! To all kendoka, I hope you're inspired to train harder to achieve better results in future competitions!

Matriculation Fair

2010-08-09T15:28:00.000+08:00

By Belinda

From the 22nd to the 28th of July 2010, the NUS Kendo Club set up our booth in MPSH 2 for the incoming freshmen's Matriculation Fair.

This year, we decided to have our booth resemble that of a Japanese ramen stall!

Putting our booth together on Decoration Day

Putting up our "ramen" stall.

Its banner reads "Yokoso", which stands for Welcome

Helping to cut the many leaflets and bookmarks to be given out

All done!

With the help of members who kindly volunteered their help, we managed to put up the booth all within the 3 hours that were allocated! We were all ready to receive the crowd starting Thursday.

For the actual fair, our "ramen" stall received extremely good "business". The MPSH was often filled with people throughout the four days, regardless of the time. Given the vast number of booths set up by all the different CCAs, Faculty Clubs and more, it's no surprise that any freshman might have been confused that day as they navigated through the maze of MPSH 2.

Those of us who were on duty donned our kendo attire, consisting of our kendo gi and hakama, as well as our do and tare. Many people, both students and parents, gave us long looks when they came across our booth! Some even asked if it would hurt if they hit our do (chestplate). For the record, it wouldn't hurt us at all :)

Much of the day was spent giving out our leaflets and bookmarks. Time flew by quickly for us on duty; there was simply too much to do! In fact, when it came to the end of our shifts, many of us were unwilling to leave.

There were plenty of freshmen for us to approach, and plenty of questions to answer to interested individuals. During our breaks, we spent our time watching high-level kendo videos together, enjoying each others' company, as well as getting to know members from other neighbouring clubs better, such as the people from inline skating and judo.

The sign-up sheets were filled up extremely quickly, and our bookmarks and leaflets were disappearing fast. We were happy that more people could learn about what kendo was, and hopefully they were interested in joining!

A closer look at our booth

Our bogu (armor) display, hereby named John Doe

Our colorful FAQ board, containing photos that were all taken from our own events / trainings

Videos of kata sessions, carried out using actual katanas by sensei-level kendokas

Our booth and our pride!

In all, our work at the Matriculation Fair was a great success. We not only managed to get an extremely good sign-up response from interested freshmen, but also helped to share what our martial art is all about to the general public. There were common questions like "does it hurt?" and "do you use real swords?", to more specific ones like how points are scored during tournaments.

On my part as the Publicity/IT Head, and therefore I/C of Matriculation Fair, I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow exco members and everyone else in the club who were so enthusiastic in helping out! They willingly volunteered to come down for the fair throughout the four days, and also to help decorate the booth, even though it was the holidays.

I'm glad to be in a club like Kendo where everyone helps to give what they can, and even when they're not asked too.

Where else can doing booth duty throughout the day not seem boring or tedious, but something that is enjoyable and fun? :D

See you all at Welcome Tea, don't miss out on the fun!

[Announcement] Welcome Tea & Beginner's Course

2010-07-24T12:20:00.000+08:00

By Maureen

NUS Kendo Club

Welcome Tea 2010

Monday, 16th August

1830hrs @ MPSH 6

Hello all!

Prepare yourself! The NUS Kendo Club is having our Welcome Tea 2010 on 16 August, 1830hrs at MPSH6. This is held every year for prospective members like you to find out more about Kendo.

Kendo demonstrations such as basic kihon cuts and sets of training exercises would be showcased! There will also be time allocated for some hands-on experience of what Kendo is all about.

Nearing the end of our Welcome Tea, there will be a FAQ + Drinks session, during which you can ask the seniors present any questions that you might have! If you have any doubts, this will be a good time to clarify all your queries with us :)

Do bring your friends and come on down to MPSH6 to join us for a wonderful evening in exploring what Kendo is all about.

We recommend everyone who is interested to come down for the Welcome Tea because it will give you the best picture about how the club trains, what our trainings involve, and what is expected of us as members of the club. It will definitely help you make a good, informed decision about whether or not to join the club following that. :)

Our Beginners' Course will start on the Friday 20 Aug, at 1830hrs promptly at MPSH6.

We will be conducting lessons on kendo basics, such as footwork. All that you need to do is to turn up in comfortable sports attire! We will be providing the required club logistics for your use.

For those who are unable to make it for the Welcome Tea, kindly inform us by emailing us your name and contact details before coming down, and do not be late!

If you have any burning questions to ask about Kendo before the Welcome Tea, just email us or contact us on our tagboard.

Looking forward to seeing your happy faces on 16 Aug 2010! c:

[Announcement] Matriculation Fair & Welcome Tea

2010-07-22T23:51:00.000+08:00

By Belinda

Hello to our newly matriculated NUS students!

If you're interested in Kendo, don't forget to visit us for our Welcome Tea.

It will help you make a more informed choice about joining Kendo or not.

If you have not yet visited our booth at MPSH 2,

Do try to drop by and sign up for our welcome tea!

If not, you may contact us by email/tagboard.

We will be able to let you know the relevant details. :)

We will soon be updating the site about what the Welcome Tea is about and why you should attend. Do not worry: if you are unable to attend the Welcome Tea, let us know and we will see if we can make arrangements for you to attend our Beginner's Course anyway.

Our Beginner's Course will start after the Welcome Tea.

It comprises of three-months worth of training sessions that will teach beginners the basics to kendo, such as the footwork involved, and some simple cuts. Club logistics will be loaned out during the Beginner's Course for your use. At the end of the Beginner's course, juniors will be ready to start training in their bogu (armor), alongside with their seniors.

Meanwhile, before the Welcome Tea comes along, we will be updating the blog about the past events that we've had, and general information about kendo. For example, you can take a look at our club's Calendar of Events (AY2010/2011) here.

So don't forget to read around, check back in time, and post us any queries that you might have about our club! Look forward to more articles, pictures, and better yet, videos :)

We hope you'll come to love kendo like we do :)

Mid-Year Grading

2010-06-29T05:40:00.000+08:00

By Pheng Hui

On 27th June, we participated in the Mid-Year Grading conducted by the Singapore Kendo Club at Changi Japanese School Dojo.

Grading is conducted twice a year, in June and December. It is an opportunity for kendoka to display the fruits of their training and discover their level of proficiency in kendo.

During grading, kendoka are tested on their ability to execute basic, fundamental strikes. For higher kyu grades and dan grades, ji-geiko (sparring) and kata are also important elements of the grading syllabus.

Grading emphasizes on one's basics in kendo, which are the building blocks for more advanced techniques. Thus, I feel that grading is a great opportunity for me to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses in kendo. Although I was somewhat nervous during grading, I placed my faith in my training and was happy to achieve the grade I desired. Also, through understanding my weaknesses, I am able to set my goals for future training sessions, in order to further improve my kendo.

I am proud to say that our club has done very well for this grading, with most of our members successfully achieving their desired grades, or better. Congratulations to everybody!

NUS Championship Series 2

2010-06-15T15:41:00.000+08:00

By Benjamin Phuah & Belinda

Of the many Kendo events that occur every year, the one that excites everyone the most has to be the tournaments that are lined up for us. Many Kendo tournaments are held yearly, such as our Youth Kendo Tournament and even Nationals, but recently one more has been added just for the NUS Kendo Club--our internal NUS Kendo Tournament!

Two such tournaments have been held thus far following its commencement on the 8th of March, 2010.

NUS Championship Series 2: 14th of June, 6PM @ MPSH6.

This tournament, as its name suggests, is exclusive to members of the NUS Kendo Club. So long as you are a member, your grade does not matter and you will be free to (and are encouraged to) participate. This tournament event offers our members a chance to test their skills against each other, and for us to familiarize ourselves with actual tournament protocol. The dynamics of an internal tournament are definitely different from those against other clubs as everyone has a general idea of how the other fights, and that’s exactly why it’s exciting and fun!

Match-ups are determined by random balloting conducted by our sensei—some juniors of course dread having to fight a much more experienced senior! However, one’s grade in Kendo does not necessarily equate to one’s skill in a shiai scenario, as proven by one of our juniors, Jing Yang, in the recent tournament. He held his ground against one of our seniors, Shannon, for an extremely long-lasting match.

However, the most important takeaway from our internal tournament is not whether one wins or loses (though of course having a couple of wins is always nice), but more importantly the experience one gains from having competed. This is especially helpful for the juniors as it adds to their shiai experience, which many will tell you is very different from ji-keiko that is conducted towards the end of every training session.

Additionally, our club members get to experience what it’s like to host a tournament, which will definitely come very useful when we are hosting the Singapore Youth Kendo Tournament in 2011! J

Coverage of Match

The match-ups this time around are rather interesting. There are four brackets in an elimination style match and one of these brackets is comprised entirely out of juniors! Our juniors get a chance to duke it out amongst themselves before facing a senior in the semi-finals. Not all our juniors are that fortunate however...

As mentioned earlier, one of our heroic juniors (Jing Yang: on the right, in the middle) managed to keep up the pressure against a year 4 senior (Shannon: on the left, in the middle). What should be a 3-min-long match extended beyond 20-min before Jing Yang finally lost a point in their final exchange. Needless to say, both ended up extremely exhausted but this goes to show that it is entirely possible for the juniors to give the seniors a run for their money.

Says Jing Yang:

“Kendo can be a tiring yet exciting and thrilling experience. In tournaments, the kendoka with the best skill (sometimes with some stroke of luck) will prevail.

This tournament had been an enriching experience for me. Being a junior, I was hoping to spar with the other juniors. Unfortunately my first match placed me against one of the experienced seniors, Shannon!

The match was tiring yet exciting and also a learning lesson for me. Shannon, being much taller than me, had a distinct advantage in scoring my men, while the opposite is true for me since it is harder to reach his men. Hitting a stationary target and trying to hit a moving one are totally different altogether, and especially when the moving target is trying to score a point off you as well!

The match was dragged as we both couldn’t score the winning point over each other. There were a few chances where I failed to grasp, and there were also some pitfalls which I nearly fell into. I guess the most scary or harrowing experience in that match for me would be when he nearly pushed me out of the boundary for the second time to win the match.

Though in the end I lost, I learned some important lessons from the match. One of which, being: Footwork is an important and indispensible part of mastering kendo!”

Following the end of the tournament, Jing Yang was awarded a special tenogui by Peter Sensei for his sheer perseverance in his battle against Shannon. Good job Jing Yang!

The Men's Finals

Jack (white), is set to take on our Captain, Yong He (red).

The two share a long history together and each are well aware of the other’s favourite techniques! Right from the start, knowing that Yong He is especially adept at kote cuts, Jack makes it clear that it will not happen. He then pulls out every trick he has in an attempt to take a point off his rival. Yong He, knowing that Jack will pull all sorts of stunts, plays it safe to guard against this.

Jack, seemingly disturbed by his lack of success, opens up his kote a little. This does not go unnoticed by Yong He who manages to successfully take a point from that opening, much to the disappointment of Jack. His guard against kote cuts should definitely be stronger now but somehow, in the spur of the moment of battle, it opens again. Yong He sees it once again but as he goes in for the cut, Jack noticed him and reacted to perform a classic kote-nuki-men waza! The point count is now 1-1.

Having to guard against Jack’s many techniques and yet unable to press in for a kote cut due to fear of another kote-nuki-men, our Captain is backed into a corner. Jack, seeing this, was definitely feeling confident and was on the offensive. Yong He’s cautious play however prevented a second point from being taken from either sides and the match went into sudden death mode, “enchou”. The first to take the point of the other would win the match along with the glory of being the champion of Series 2 of the NUS Kendo Tournament.

Yong He, having fought cautiously all this while, had a sudden change of mindset. With a spirited battle cry, Yong He managed to take a point with a difficult waza, hiki-do, much to Jack’s surprise. Our captain is victorious and Jack is forced to concede defeat (for now at least).

The tournament is brought to an official close by our referees

Jack removes his bogu following his battle with Yong He

At the end of it all, we award our winners of the tournament, from both the women's eliminations and the men's eliminations.

Congratulations to all who have triumphed!

You win ENERGY DRINKS!

Post-Tournament

Peter Sensei conducts a short shimpan (refereeing) seminar

Ji-keiko: free sparring with a partner

We may have fought fiercely on the battlefield,

but we're still friends at the end of the day

----------

Will any fated rivals have to duke it out again?

Will the girls put up a fiercer fight in the Women's Eliminations to show the guys how it's done?

And will our returning ex-Captain show us the results of his training in Japan... by thrashing us all?!

Stay tuned for our coverage of the next NUS Kendo Tournament to find out :)