Month: October 2012

As you all know, this past weekend was the 2012 Cornell Kendo Tournament. As such, I would like to announce the highlights from the tournament:

1) In the Mudansha Individuals, Lucien Thomas and Jessica Alexandria placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. Also, Harvard Captain Aidan Daly placed 3rd along with Jessica.

2) During the Round Robin, not only did BU B advance to the main tournament, but they won their bracket after defeating both RIT and Yale. They later went on to face SBU B in the Quarterfinals. Ray Feng hit a stunning kaishi do and Kenneth Jeng (guest player from Tufts’ Club) hit a great kote men and kotenuki men during the Round Robin!

Cornell Individuals

Cornell Teams

 

The countdown continues! With one week left until the annual Cornell Kendo Tournament, the team has been working tirelessly with captain John Yi and coaches Alex Eitoku and Eugenia Yang. BU will be sending two teams this year, and combining members with our sister club - the Harvard Radcliffe Kendo Club (HKRC) - for a third team, for a total of 12 team players from BU. All of the team players will also compete in individuals, as well as an additional BU player for individuals only, bringing our roster to 13 in total.

The practices have become more technique focused the closer to the tournament we have gotten. Coach Eitoku and Captain Yi have been pushing for the team to become more skilled in combinations while Coach Yang has been drilling the team into developing signature techniques and general kendo theory. The more we learn, the more we have come to realize how much we actually know as opposed to learning for the first time. There have been many lessons learned these last few weeks, but none can be clearer than this: no matter what happens, we need to work harder in the tournament than we do in practice. Winning is not the true end goal, but more of a result of our own self-improvement and the improvements we have made as a team and as a family. We are only as strong as our weakest link, and we only grow together. Victory can only be achieved through the effort we put into becoming better kenshi, through the "bitter work" we put into our training.

Are the practices getting harder? Yes. Does it make some doubt their abilities? Of course. But all of that is to make sure we realize our own potential as one. Our abilities - or lack thereof - tend to be from what we have truly worked to attain. I have a message for anyone in BUKA who is competing next weekend at Cornell: clear your mind of any and all doubts (or your confidence), and focus on playing your absolute best when the time arises. We learn from both our victories and our defeats, so just play your best and think of nothing else. You have trained for this more than you think. Go BUKA! FAITO!!!

After a month-long process of registering people for the club and the paperwork of FitRec, the Boston University Kendo Association (BUKA) has been fully established for the Fall 2012 semester. A lot has gone on in such a short time: we have gained new members, we have witnessed the departure of champions, and the returning members of previous years have developed a greater acumen for swordsmanship and kendo than ever before. Jackets have been made, equipment is being finalized and more members are graduating from pure technique practice to bogu practice. All of this has been great and as we welcome the new members, we also get to instill upon them the spirit of BUKA, starting with the Cornell University Kendo Tournament.

Since the beginning of the semester, the goals have been simple:

1. Train (and re-train) every bogu member to shine at Cornell
2. Train the beginners to be ready for bogu

So far, reaching those goals has not been easy, but everyone has been working hard. Since their phenomenal victory over Harvard at the BU Tournament in April,  Coach Alex Eitoku (CAS '12) and Captain John Yi (SMG '14) have been working with both groups in order to ensure that every member of the team - new and experienced - makes as much progress as humanly possible. This means that every is improving their technique, fitness and gaining confidence in their abilities. With the departure of a large number of seniors last year, BUKA's legacy continues through us, and we intend to keep it strong!

With Cornell two weeks away, the pressure is on, and the results have yet to be seen. This weekend and the next will be critical for all BUKA kenshi who wish to repeat April's victory or even BU's 2011 Cornell record. Last October, BU dominated the Mudansha (unranked) bracket in individuals with Jumpei Uchida (SMG '12), SungYeob Lee (CELOP) and Shawn Shou (SMG '14) taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Alex Eitoku also received the Spirit Award in the Yudansha bracket, with BUKA affiliates Matthew Yang (Rutgers) and Brian Joo (Harvard) placing 1st and 2nd. Boston University Team A also took 3rd place in the team tournament. How will we do this year? Only time will tell. But BUKA will be ready for whatever the tournament throws at us. FAITO!!!