October Taikai

The last tournament of the year was held in Shizuoka City on Sunday. I woke up in time to get picked up by my friend Taka at 7 am. We also grabbed Sakurai and Ozawa Sensei's who were officiating at the tournament as well as Shoya, Ozawa's teenaged grandson who would be competing. I of course only went along as an observer. Here are a number of pics from the day, starting why my buddy Taka as he's driving us to get Sensei Sakurai.

We arrived at the Rec Centre. They had not opened the doors yet and a crowd of parents and participants were gathered out front.

Once inside, Adachi Sensei let our Dojo through a few warm up drills including a few Kata's. I think this one was Teki Shodan? Sorry for the blur.

The kids all got lined up to start the tournament. They would be addressed by some of the tournament officials including Sakurai Sensei.

Just to give an idea of the scope of the tournaments here. This Shinpan (tournament official) looks like a Colonel addressing the troops.

Sakurai Sensei(left) is actually the chief of officiating for the whole Shizuoka Prefecture. The job keeps him pretty busy, but we'll see if he gets some time off now that the tournament season is over. Also of considerable note, Sensei won his 'Triple A' examiner status at the masters clinic earlier this month. I wasn't aloud to say anything until he got the letter. He now has 'Triple A' instructor, referee and examiner status, putting him in with a very elite crowd. Maybe only 30 people in the world have those kind of credentials. Congrats boss!

Here are a few random pics from the day. Mizuki and Minami show the peace sign.

Riintaro's Mom seemed angry at him about something and was giving him a good lecture. I have no idea what it was about. But as you can see, Riintaro seems to be taking his Mom really seriously.

These are my Sempai's, Yoshimura, Naruko-san and Uchiyama. These 3 gents I think will play a big role in the future of the Fujieda Shidokan dojo. But don't quote me on that.

Kenta waits for his turn to show his stuff.

Ayumu, son of Naruoka-san and Mari, and brother to Tekumi who recently got his Nidan. Fujieda Shidokan is build on families. It seems just about everyone there is paired up with a relative or 2. I'll write more about that in another post.

Speaking of families, Keske (above) and Chihiro (below) are quite the brother and sister act. They got their purple belts at the same time and today they both placed first for Heian Godan in their respective category.

Naruoka Sempai with his Teki Shodan.

Yoshimura Sempai does also with Teki Shodan.

This is Riintaro and Chinatsu's older brother, Ikie. I really like this kid. At 14 he already presents himself as a true leader in the Dojo. At the tournament he could be seen moving around to his Kohai's and giving them support.

Chiriro doing here Ippon Kumite. The referee in the pic is Maruyama-san. One of my Englsih students.

Minami(left) with her Kumite.

The Gentleman here on the left is Doctor Atsugi Sakurai, the younger brother of Sakurai Sensei. Atsugi was actually sure to point out that he was the younger one. Doctor Sakarai was the tournament doctor.

Doctor Sakurai had a busy day. There were a few injuries, including this poor fellow who dropped to the ground after taking a round house kick to the head. He would be carried off on a stretcher.

The fellow who provided the round house kick would eventually be one of Taka's opponents and would go on to win the Kumite part of the tournament.

If you look closely you can see a lot of loot hanging around the necks of these kids. Kenta, Minami and Chihiro would each take home 2 medals. Shiina won 1st in her divisions Kumite.

Otscali Sama Deshta!