Mumeishi 3’s
Had the mumeishi 3’s comp on Sunday. Had Kev Wu, me and Hiro on Team B, with Alex, Russel and Andrew on team A.
A bit disappointed for team A. If only Russel hadn’t stepped off the shiajo…twice! Still going into the final match, Andrew had to literally score 3 points in a row, without getting scored on. After his first point I was thinking he might be able to do it, but his opponent then equalised. He ended up winning the match 2-1, but it wasn’t enough to get them through to the next round. I remember sensing just a little bit of extra pressure on our team when they went out...
The match before us had a forfeit from the ANU team, so we had to rush to get ready for our fights. We played MBK B for the first round. Kev fought first against Sanday. Quite a close match ending in a 1 all draw. I went into the match trying not to think of anything. As soon as I stood up and gave out my best kiai, I immediately saw an opening. My opponent was Corrigan, and I noticed that he swung his shinai from left to right to maintain centre. So I applied a slight pressure with my shinai, and as soon as I felt him moving his shinai again (from my left to right), I went for the kote cut… Kote ari! Man, I think I fell in love with shiai at that moment. It was such a nice feeling, better than when I beat Viet at the club championships. After that point, the seemed to stick to me in tsubazeriai a lot. I didn’t mind because I figured I can block his cuts if he went for any hiki waza, and I had the upper hand, so I didn’t really need to score. So yeah, the game ended with me wining 1-0. Then Hiro fought and one his match 2-0 I think clinching it for us. This was my first team match and I really felt the ‘team’ spirit. Very different from individual matches.
We then fought Sydney B for the second round. Sydney kendo club decided to field 2 teams, and packed their A team with their best players, so I guess we got a bit of a reprieve. Their ! team consisted of 2 dan grades, one of which is a godan sensei, and an ikyu player, who Chiaki regards as the best kyu player in Sydney… These boys weren’t mucking around. They came down to Melbourne for the seminar with Sumi sensei and decided to play in the mumeishi as a bonus (well that’s what I got from talking to one of them).
Kev fought first and won 1-0 I think. Then my fight. Can’t remember what I was thinking at the time, but soon after the start I got scored on. Damn. I then remember I worked hard to try and make the openings, and forcing him to cut. I think I ended up equalising with a men cut. At one point in the match, I had his back to the edge of the shiaijo in tsubazeriai, so I waited for him to make a move and cut as soon as he cut. However, he ended up just moving back to issoku itto no maai, and stepped out. The match ended in 1-1. So yeah, going into the final match, we held the advantage, but Hiro put it beyond doubt by winning his match. Woot, into the semi finals! I really didn’t think we’d make it this far. In the morning, I had diarrhoea and had to take a nasty dump. By the time we got to the venue, I still wasn’t feeling 100% and felt like I was going to let the team down by not being able to even stand up. During our warm-ups I had to sit out before the other two finished because I really wasn’t feeling well. But yeah, once that first match got underway, everything seemed to just click into place and we just rolled along.
Anyway, there was a break before the semifinals. I could have spent this time keeping warm, but it was a hot day, and I really felt my energy draining. At this point I was feeling quite happy with the way the team was going. I was told by Mike that last year, the losing teams in the first round were fed into the other half of the draw, so you get at least two matches. This year, with 17 teams, they made it into a knock out comp. So yeah, I guess you can say I achieved my goal of going through 2 shiai matches, and these extra ones were bonuses.
Anyway, We fought mumeishi B for the semi’s. I think Kev drew his first match 1-1. Then my match. I can’t remember what I was thinking going into the match, but upon reflection, I felt like I was rather impatient. My opponent was at tsubazeriai a lot and pushing me, so I couldn’t set up my cuts from IINM. I think this led to my impatience, and I went into for a men cut soon after a separation from tsubazeriai, only to have my opponent score kote on me. Damn. Now the heat was on, but I felt my energy draining. I tried to kiai loudly to maintain my spirit but I this only resulted in a superficial increase in spirit. I just wasn’t mentally there as I was with my previous matches. Again, I felt like time was running out, so I rushed in for a men cut only to have kote scored on me again. I just wasn’t fighting the best I could, and I really felt like I let the team down. In hindsight, I should have played it a lot more patiently. I was always too eager to get back to IINM from tsubazeriai, rather than just waiting for my opponent to make the move. Sensei came up to me after that match and mentioned this to me, that I should be confident in blocking any hiki waza, and wait for my opponent to make the move, since he’s the one that wants to be in that position. Bah… Anyway, then Hiro fought. He needed to win by 2 points to get us to encho. Afterwards, he told me he felt like he let the team down too. I felt that during his match he rushed some of his cuts a bit too, just like I had. He ended up winning, 1-0, so it wasn’t enough to get us through. Overall, though I felt the team did well. I think on paper, we defeated teams that were better than us so I was quite happy by that. But yeah, the thought of playing so shit against mumeishi B just lingered with me.
I thought it was all over, until they announced that there will be a playoff for 3rd place. We played against the fudoshin team, Rees, Chiaki and Kristina. Kev lost his match 2-0. I had to face Chiaki, and thought well its all over now. That thought and my lingering thoughts from my previous match just killed my spirit. To start the match, I tried to do a chiki-kaeshi-dou buster men cut, where I hold the shinai high for a moment and wait for her to move her shinai away from the blocking position before I strike, but it didn’t come off, and from a few spectators’ points of views, looked quite funny. Bah! That was my secret waza designed specifically for her… damn, back to basics for me. However, after the match, Andrew said its ok to try something like that, but I should have done a couple of normal speed men cuts before I alter the rhythm for that kind of waza to be more effective, and yeah, I guess it makes sense, but I also wanted to surprise her. Oh well… She won 2-0. Men and kote. I swear, I got a hiki men cut on her at one point during the match. She even looked around to see if flags were up, but they weren’t so she just kinda shrugged and continued fighting. I think I may have gotten 1 flag for it, but well that’s shiai. Perhaps I didn’t cut with the monouchi, and it landed more on the tip of my shinai… Should have asked her about that after the match. Anyway, that was our campaign all over, no medals for us. Hiro went on to win the final match 1-0, but we’d already lost. Overall, it was a fun experience. Mike was right in saying that its somewhere inbetween otsuka and VKC. Not quite as laid back as otsuka, but yet not as serious as VKC. I look forward to trying again next year.
A bit disappointed for team A. If only Russel hadn’t stepped off the shiajo…twice! Still going into the final match, Andrew had to literally score 3 points in a row, without getting scored on. After his first point I was thinking he might be able to do it, but his opponent then equalised. He ended up winning the match 2-1, but it wasn’t enough to get them through to the next round. I remember sensing just a little bit of extra pressure on our team when they went out...
The match before us had a forfeit from the ANU team, so we had to rush to get ready for our fights. We played MBK B for the first round. Kev fought first against Sanday. Quite a close match ending in a 1 all draw. I went into the match trying not to think of anything. As soon as I stood up and gave out my best kiai, I immediately saw an opening. My opponent was Corrigan, and I noticed that he swung his shinai from left to right to maintain centre. So I applied a slight pressure with my shinai, and as soon as I felt him moving his shinai again (from my left to right), I went for the kote cut… Kote ari! Man, I think I fell in love with shiai at that moment. It was such a nice feeling, better than when I beat Viet at the club championships. After that point, the seemed to stick to me in tsubazeriai a lot. I didn’t mind because I figured I can block his cuts if he went for any hiki waza, and I had the upper hand, so I didn’t really need to score. So yeah, the game ended with me wining 1-0. Then Hiro fought and one his match 2-0 I think clinching it for us. This was my first team match and I really felt the ‘team’ spirit. Very different from individual matches.
We then fought Sydney B for the second round. Sydney kendo club decided to field 2 teams, and packed their A team with their best players, so I guess we got a bit of a reprieve. Their ! team consisted of 2 dan grades, one of which is a godan sensei, and an ikyu player, who Chiaki regards as the best kyu player in Sydney… These boys weren’t mucking around. They came down to Melbourne for the seminar with Sumi sensei and decided to play in the mumeishi as a bonus (well that’s what I got from talking to one of them).
Kev fought first and won 1-0 I think. Then my fight. Can’t remember what I was thinking at the time, but soon after the start I got scored on. Damn. I then remember I worked hard to try and make the openings, and forcing him to cut. I think I ended up equalising with a men cut. At one point in the match, I had his back to the edge of the shiaijo in tsubazeriai, so I waited for him to make a move and cut as soon as he cut. However, he ended up just moving back to issoku itto no maai, and stepped out. The match ended in 1-1. So yeah, going into the final match, we held the advantage, but Hiro put it beyond doubt by winning his match. Woot, into the semi finals! I really didn’t think we’d make it this far. In the morning, I had diarrhoea and had to take a nasty dump. By the time we got to the venue, I still wasn’t feeling 100% and felt like I was going to let the team down by not being able to even stand up. During our warm-ups I had to sit out before the other two finished because I really wasn’t feeling well. But yeah, once that first match got underway, everything seemed to just click into place and we just rolled along.
Anyway, there was a break before the semifinals. I could have spent this time keeping warm, but it was a hot day, and I really felt my energy draining. At this point I was feeling quite happy with the way the team was going. I was told by Mike that last year, the losing teams in the first round were fed into the other half of the draw, so you get at least two matches. This year, with 17 teams, they made it into a knock out comp. So yeah, I guess you can say I achieved my goal of going through 2 shiai matches, and these extra ones were bonuses.
Anyway, We fought mumeishi B for the semi’s. I think Kev drew his first match 1-1. Then my match. I can’t remember what I was thinking going into the match, but upon reflection, I felt like I was rather impatient. My opponent was at tsubazeriai a lot and pushing me, so I couldn’t set up my cuts from IINM. I think this led to my impatience, and I went into for a men cut soon after a separation from tsubazeriai, only to have my opponent score kote on me. Damn. Now the heat was on, but I felt my energy draining. I tried to kiai loudly to maintain my spirit but I this only resulted in a superficial increase in spirit. I just wasn’t mentally there as I was with my previous matches. Again, I felt like time was running out, so I rushed in for a men cut only to have kote scored on me again. I just wasn’t fighting the best I could, and I really felt like I let the team down. In hindsight, I should have played it a lot more patiently. I was always too eager to get back to IINM from tsubazeriai, rather than just waiting for my opponent to make the move. Sensei came up to me after that match and mentioned this to me, that I should be confident in blocking any hiki waza, and wait for my opponent to make the move, since he’s the one that wants to be in that position. Bah… Anyway, then Hiro fought. He needed to win by 2 points to get us to encho. Afterwards, he told me he felt like he let the team down too. I felt that during his match he rushed some of his cuts a bit too, just like I had. He ended up winning, 1-0, so it wasn’t enough to get us through. Overall, though I felt the team did well. I think on paper, we defeated teams that were better than us so I was quite happy by that. But yeah, the thought of playing so shit against mumeishi B just lingered with me.
I thought it was all over, until they announced that there will be a playoff for 3rd place. We played against the fudoshin team, Rees, Chiaki and Kristina. Kev lost his match 2-0. I had to face Chiaki, and thought well its all over now. That thought and my lingering thoughts from my previous match just killed my spirit. To start the match, I tried to do a chiki-kaeshi-dou buster men cut, where I hold the shinai high for a moment and wait for her to move her shinai away from the blocking position before I strike, but it didn’t come off, and from a few spectators’ points of views, looked quite funny. Bah! That was my secret waza designed specifically for her… damn, back to basics for me. However, after the match, Andrew said its ok to try something like that, but I should have done a couple of normal speed men cuts before I alter the rhythm for that kind of waza to be more effective, and yeah, I guess it makes sense, but I also wanted to surprise her. Oh well… She won 2-0. Men and kote. I swear, I got a hiki men cut on her at one point during the match. She even looked around to see if flags were up, but they weren’t so she just kinda shrugged and continued fighting. I think I may have gotten 1 flag for it, but well that’s shiai. Perhaps I didn’t cut with the monouchi, and it landed more on the tip of my shinai… Should have asked her about that after the match. Anyway, that was our campaign all over, no medals for us. Hiro went on to win the final match 1-0, but we’d already lost. Overall, it was a fun experience. Mike was right in saying that its somewhere inbetween otsuka and VKC. Not quite as laid back as otsuka, but yet not as serious as VKC. I look forward to trying again next year.
posted by Son at 11:22 am
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