Author: Lingxuan Liang

On March 23 and 24, BUKA participated in the 23rd annual Shoryuhai tournament hosted by Harvard University. With our lovely beginners joining our kendo family in fall 2018, BUKA was able to bring 5 teams to compete at the tournament! Here are the participants:

Individual (Saturday, March 23)

Matteo Ferroni

Abi Anand

Giulio Cassis

Cici Qi

Anja Grabner

Lily Gao

Dan Gruspier

Jourdan Harold

Arnold Hernandez

Kotone Kataoka

Nicole Kwon

Hallie Lazaro

Jialin Zhu

Jake Lee

Christopher Lee

Wayne Lin

Julana Borrazzo

Azlan Nik

Take Numata

Shi Hao Ruan

Ryan Shimizu

Prodpran Sukcharoen

Alen Tan

Rockwell Tang

Joyce Wang

Silvia Zhang

 

Team (Sunday, March 24)

Boston A

1. Senpon: Shi Hao Ruan
2. Jiho: Chris Lee
3. Chuken: Cici Qi
4. Fukusho: Ryan Shimizu
5. Taisho: Kotone Kataoka

Boston B

1. Senpon: Juliana Borrazzo
2. Jiho: Jake Lee
3. Chuken: Hallie Lazaro
4. Fukusho: Jialin Zhu
5. Taisho: Silvia Zhang

Boston C

1. Senpon: Take Numata
2. Jiho: Lily Gao
3. Chuken: Giulio Cassis
4. Fukusho: Arnold Hernandez
5. Taisho: Anja Grabner

Boston D

1. Senpon: Dan Gruspier
2. Jiho: Lingxuan Liang
3. Chuken: Joyce Wang
4. Fukusho: Rockwell Tang
5. Taisho: Alan Tan

Boston E

1. Senpon: Prodpran Sukcharoen
2. Jiho: Nicole Kwon
3. Chuken: Wayne Lin
4. Fukusho: Abi Anand
5. Taisho: Azlan Nik

 

BUKA competed with Cornell, NYU, SBU, U Wash, Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, UCSD, UCR as well as mixed teams. Even though we did not score any medals, Boston A made it to quarter final– BUKA was among the top 8 universities of the tournament! Good job everybody! Shoryuhai was an amazing opportunity for us to not only put everything we’ve learned into practice, but also learn from our peers, senseis, as well as friends from all dojos and schools in the states. We are looking forward to attending Shoryohai in 2020! BU faito!

On October 27th, BUKA held its fall semester joint practice. Even though we designed it as a beginner oriented event, we are so glad to see many sensei, senpai, alumni and friends of BUKA from different dojos and schools joined our practice from 10:30am to 5pm! It was an intense experience—the 1000 suburi and keiko were challenging, but we all learned and grew after the six-hour practice. Thank everyone for participating! We are looking forward to seeing you again in our Spring joint practice next year!

October 7th marked the start of 19th Goyokai tournament at Canton, MA.. With 3 full teams, BUKA members competed with contestants from dojos in Japan, the U.S. and Canada. We did our best and the results are remarkable!

Individual matches: 

Men's kyu

Jake Lee

Arnold Hernandez

Shazor Shahid

Giulio Cassis

Alan Tan

Nawaf Alyousif

Men's 1-2 Dan

Hiroki Kawai

Women's Kyu

Chen Cheng Qi

Ya Lin Leung

Lingxuan Liang

Hallie Lazaro

Anja Grabner

Juliana Borrazzo

Silvia Zhang

Wenxin Gao

Maggie Sumioka

 

Team matches:

BUKA A (WYRMRIDERS OF THE HIGHLAND KINGDOM)

1. Senpo: Silvia Zhang

2. Jiho: Hallie Lazaro
3. Chuken:Jake Lee
4. Fukusho:ChenCheng Qi
5. Taisho: Hiroki Kawai

BUKA B (BATTLE CULTISTS OF THE ANCIENT ORDER)

1. Senpo: Juliana Borrazzo

2. Jiho: Wenxin Gao
3. Chuken: Alan Tan
4. Fukusho: Maagie Sumioka
5. Taisho: Nawaf Alyousif

BUKA C (SWORN SWORDS OF THE ASHEN EMPEROR)

1. Senpo: Giulio Cassis

2. Jiho: Shazor Shahid
3. Chuken: Arnold Hernandez
4. Fukusho: Ya Lin Leung
5. Taisho: Anja Grabner

 

Results:

Cici Qi won bronze in the Women’s Kyu division. Hiroki Kawai won bronze in men’s 1-2 dan divisions. Our Coach Alex Eitoku won men’s 3 dan division and his Shufukai team won bronze in team matches. Our Eitoku sensei won silver in men’s senior division.

Congratulations to all BUKA members who participated in 2018 Goyokai tournament! We learned a lot from not only participating individual and team matches ourselves, but also observing the top kendoka’s matches and kata at opening ceremony. Like what dear Eitoku sensei said  that Kendo is a lifelong learning process, our love to kendo grew after Goyokai tournament. We will continue perfecting our skills in our weekly practices, and we look forward to Goyokai tournament in next year. BUKA faito!