Kendo Club place well at championships - Melbourne University Sport

Melbourne University Kendo Club 2012 Victorian Kendo Championships Report
Richard T’en (Publications Officer, MUKEN)
4 th September, 2012
The annual Victorian Kendo Championships was held in Victoria University’s Footscray Campus over the
weekend beginning Saturday 25 August 2012. The event attracted 80+ competitors of varying rank from
every Kendo club in Victoria.
The Championships were divided into Individual and Team divisions. Individual divisions comprise of a
pool system, followed by a knock-out format leading up to the quarter, semi and grand finals. Team
divisions are contested between teams of five. A team succeeds if they attain a majority of wins.
The Melbourne University Kendo Club (MUKEN) had a very strong representation this year with 21
competitors, all of whom competed in the individual divisions. MUKEN also entered 7 teams for the team
events, including 2 Kyu teams, 2 Open teams, 2 Kata pairs, and 1 Womens team.
In the individual divisions, MUKEN player Meera Chandrananth placed 1 st place in the Women’s Kyu
event, her tremendous spirit giving her the edge over the other competitors. In the Individual Kyu event,
MUKEN managed to achieve 2 nd and 3 rd places which went to Richard T’en and Richard Loi respectively.
MUKEN has traditionally dominated the Kyu teams event, and this year was no different. In a VKC first,
MUKEN Kyu teams took both 1 st and 2 nd places in the Kyu teams event. Both teams overcame strong
opponents from other clubs to battle each other in an all-MUKEN final. In the Open teams division, the
competition was particularly fierce and in a nail-bitingly close final, the MUKEN Open Team A managed to
place 2 nd , losing to long time winners Melbourne Budokai.
A staple of the Championships is the kata competition. These are comprised of competing pairs, who
perform a series of predetermined sequences derived from the traditional sword practises of the
Japanese samurai. The practice of kata confers many benefits to kendo – it develops form, concentration,
timing, distance and spirit. Son Nguyen and Kevin Chin represented MUKEN Kata Pair A in the Kata
competition this year, and managed to place 2 nd .
Of the 21 MUKEN competitors, 17 walked away with medals (and some with more than one) - a fantastic
result! All in all, it’s evident that the many hours of squad training under the watchful guidance of our
senior instructors and coaches paid off tremendously. In addition, Joshua Chan – a relatively new member
of our club – received one of the coveted Fighting Spirit awards for his exemplary skill and spirit.
Much of the credit to MUKEN successes over the weekend goes to Yakov Macak Sensei and his tireless
devotion to promoting the practice of correct, spirited kendo in everyday training.
MUKEN PLACINGS
Kyu-grade Individuals
2 nd place – Richard Loi
3 rd place – Richard T’en
Women’s Kyu-grade Individuals
1 st place – Meera Chandrananth
Kata competition
2 nd place – MUKEN Kata Pair A (Kevin Chin and Son Nguyen)
Kyu Teams
1 st place – MUKEN Kyu Team A
2 nd place – MUKEN Kyu Team B
Open Teams
2 nd place – MUKEN Team A

The 2012 MUKEN Victorian Kendo Championships squad performing the club cheer