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Thread: Is Kendo World down?

  1. #121
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    Quote Originally Posted by ScottUK
    KW is back. Lock up your daughters...
    Thank god, it's back (and do me a favor, don't lock up your daughters )
    Tijs Dingerdis

  2. #122
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    Default How Many Ringers on the US Team?

    Just out of curiosity, how many Japanese transplants and/or Japanese trained guys on the US team? Is there a team roster posted somewhere?

    I'd be mighty surprised if a real homegrown US team beat the Japanese, unless they sent in their 2nd or 3rd stringers.

    Either that, or US kendo has taken some tremendous strides since I've been out of it, and/or Japanese kendo has deteriorated alarmingly.

    I have no particular dog in this hunt; I really don't care if the Japanese got their feelings hurt by losing to gaijin; I'm just really curious about the makeup of the US team. When I was active, there simply wasn't anybody in the US good enough to beat the top-flight Japanese guys.
    Earl Hartman

  3. #123
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    Earl --

    The names sound like a combination of 1.5s and Yonsei/Gosei, with a couple of KAs thrown in for good measure.

    http://www.eanet.com/sckf/articles/060114/060114.htm

    # Men's team
    Yang, Christopher (TOR)
    Yang, Daniel (TOR)
    Yoo, Simon (TOR)
    Itokazu, Fumihide (COV)
    Maruyama Santei (SCKO)
    Kawabata Marvin (GNEUSKF)
    Hashimoto, Kunito (CHUO) *
    Harada, Brandon (STYO) *
    Brown, Jason (TOR) *

    # Women's team
    Sakae, Mitsuyo (STYO)
    Anderson, Emi (STYO)
    Kikunaga Kaori (NCKF)
    Tew, Saeko (COV)
    Hagiwara, Mika (STYO)
    Mikuni Reika (NCKF)
    Domen, Sumi (NOR) *
    Aono Adriene (NCKF) *

    # * indicates manager/coach's choice for alternates. These kenshi will practice with the team, and there is a good chance they will participate in the 13WKC.

    # Manager: Masashi Shikai
    Men's coach: Yuji Onitsuka
    Women's coach: Naomi Nishimoto
    Trainer: Attile Nemeti

  4. #124
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    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Hartman
    Just out of curiosity, how many Japanese transplants and/or Japanese trained guys on the US team? Is there a team roster posted somewhere?
    Ask and you shall receive (I believe this is correct, unless there were substitutions after the initial selection):

    Men's team:
    Yang, Christopher
    Yang, Daniel
    Yoo, Simon
    Itokazu, Fumihide
    Maruyama, Santei
    Kawabata, Marvin
    Hashimoto, Kunito
    Harada, Brandon
    Brown, Jason

    Women's team:
    Sakae, Mitsuyo
    Anderson, Emi
    Kikunaga Kaori
    Tew, Saeko
    Hagiwara, Mika
    Mikuni Reika
    Domen, Sumi
    Aono Adriene

    Here's a shot of S. Maruyama in action:



    [Edit: Okay, Joe Googles and/or types faster than I do. But I included art.]
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  5. #125
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    The eight USA competitors in the individuals, according to my search, were:

    Men:
    Jason Brown
    Christopher Yang
    Daniel Yang
    Simon Yoo

    Women:
    Sumi Domen
    Mika Hagiwara
    Reika Mikuni
    Mitsuyo Sakae

    HTH.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  6. #126
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    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Hartman
    Just out of curiosity, how many Japanese transplants and/or Japanese trained guys on the US team? Is there a team roster posted somewhere?
    As far as I know, none. I think all those guys are 2nd or more generation, but I don't know the details.

    On the Canadian side, I know there's at least one of the women who was born in Japan but moved here very early. Come to think of it, there might be a few people born in Japan, some Japanese couples will travel to Japan for the birth even though they are living elsewhere. But everybody is raised in Canada, I don't regard any of them as transplants.

    I know that a number of the team members have lived and trained in Japan for long periods of time, and I would be surprised if that wasn't the case for at least some of the US team. Several of the guys I know in Canada trained with police dojos for a year or more, and one went to college in Japan.
    Neil Gendzwill
    Saskatoon Kendo Club

  7. #127
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    Thanks for all of the replies.

    Yeah, I figured it was something like that. When I was active, the only people who had any hope of actually competing with the Japanese on any level were either Japanese transplants who had done all of their training before they came to the US or Japanese Americans who had been doing kendo since they were kids and who travelled to Japan a lot for training. Us regular home-grown round eyes just weren't good enough. However, the guys who trained seriously in Japan could give some people a run for their money.

    What is the caliber of the Japanese competitiors at this event? Somebody upthread said that the Japanese treat this competition in a somewhat cavalier manner, sort of like the US baseball All Stars who travel to Japan on "goodwill" tours. The Japanese take these games as seriously as death, whereas the Americans just go through the motions. The result is that the Japanese sometimes beat the Americans, much to the astonishment of the Americans (and the jubilation of the Japanese). Somehow, I can't shake the feeling that this was something similar.

    I mean, the Keishicho, Kidotai, and Jieitai kendo guys are just monsters. I find it kind of hard to believe that a US team could beat them if they were serious.

    I remember the time once when the police squad I was practicing with hosted a college team for a practice. I went up against one of their guys and got beaten pretty easily. The guy strutted back to his mates loudly letting everybody know I was a pansy. The next guy came swaggering out expecting an easy victory. I was, needless to say, humiliated and mad enough to chew nails (so much for Japanese "reigi"). I was determined to win no matter what, and I just went into buzz saw mode. He wasn't ready for it at all, and I handed him his head. He just couldn't believe it and slunk back to his team with his tail between his legs. They were stunned too, like "Holy crap, Nakamura got beaten by a gaijin! WTF?"

    It was, I think, absolutely the sweetest moment in all of my time in Japan.
    Earl Hartman

  8. #128
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    There's some controversy over the team choice, and some noise that maybe they didn't take the US team seriously (looking ahead to Korea), but the guys aren't putzes. Uchimura, the current All-Japan champion is on the team. Ishida-sensei, former AJ champ and start of the NHK documentary about the 8 dan test, is coaching. Past teams have included Miyazaki and other famous guys. They don't send their second-stringers.
    Neil Gendzwill
    Saskatoon Kendo Club

  9. #129
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    Hm.

    Well, then I expect some heads are going to roll. You can't be Japanese kendo guys and get beaten by the Americans. Stuff like that just doesn't happen. As Vizzini said to Inigo Montoya, "Inconceivable!"

    But I guess the Americans have developed some madd kendo skillz.

    It would have been even more interesting if the Japanese had wound up losing to the Koreans. Now that would probably have provoked some kind of international incident.
    Earl Hartman

  10. #130
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    Yes I think it's interesting that a Korean World Championship win came without the long-anticipated showdown with Japan. I'm sure the Koreans are elated to win but disappointed they didn't get to beat their arch-rivals.

    b

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