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Today, BUKA participated in its first tournament of the year at the 18th Goyokai Kendo Tournament in Canton, MA. As Goyokai is a dojo hosted competition, we were able to compete with Kendoka from a wide range of age groups and experiences. We entered the tournament with 3 full teams and we brought along two beginner spectators. Every BUKA member fought their hardest today and the results showed the hard work and practice they put in!

The Individuals line up and results are as follows:

Men’s Kyu

• Alan Tan
• Geoffrey Gaskins
• Jay Seabrum
• Mike Ruan
• Nawaf Alyousif
• Nelson Hernandez

Women’s Kyu

• Cici Qi
• Evangeline Tsai
• Jenny Zhu
• Maggie Sumioka
• Sabrina Tran

Women’s 1-2 Dan

• Helen Zhou

Men’s 1-2 Dan

• Hiroki Kawai
• Ian Dickinson
• Yumeto Shigihara
• Ray Feng

Men’s 3-Dan

• Alex Eitoku
• Katsu Kawakami

Results

Cici Qi won bronze in the Women’s Kyu division. Nawaf Alyousif and Hiroki Kawai won gold in the divisions, Men’s Kyu division and Men’s 1-2 Dan respectively. Our Coach Alex Eitoku won silver in the Men’s 3-Dan division. BU alumni Nelson Hernandez and Ray Feng won bronze and silver medals in their divisions respectively.

Highlights

• Evangeline Tsai advanced to the Women’s Kyu Quarterfinals before being eliminated. Ian Dickinson also advanced to the Men’s 1-2 Dan Quarterfinals before being eliminated. Yumeto Shigihara went against BU alumn and former president, Ray Feng, in his first match of the Men’s 1-2 Dan division. The fight for gold in the Men’s 1-2 Dan division came down to Hiroki Kawai and Ray Feng in the finals.

Teams

A

1. Senpo: Yumeto Shigihara
2. Jiho: Nawaf Alyousif
3. Chuken: Ian Dickinson
4. Fukusho: Helen Zhou
5. Taisho: Hiroki Kawai

 

B

1. Senpo: Sabrina Tran
2. Jiho: Mike Ruan
3. Chuken: Cici Qi
4. Fukusho: Geoff Gaskins
5. Taisho: Jay Seabrum

C

1. Senpo: Jenny Zhu
2. Jiho: Evangeline Tsai
3. Chuken: Maggie Sumioka
4. Fukusho: Alan Tan
5. Taisho: Nelson Hernandez

Results

Unfortunately none of the BU teams placed during this tournament, although BU A team won their first match against NYC C team.

As the first tournament of the year, Goyokai marks only the beginning to a great year. This tournament showed us what we have improved upon since the last tournament and what we still need to work on improving. As a non-collegiate (dojo) tournament, we were able to see that when it comes to Kendo, age is just a number; practice, determination and gaining experience in Kendo are what are more important. Despite the fact that we will not be attending another tournament very soon, we will definitely come back stronger as a team and ready to  take on our next challenge! Great job to all of the participants today! Thank you for your support! BU Faito!

BUKA participated its fourth and last tournament of the spring semester in its very own 6^th Boston University Tournament in FitRec on April 1^st. We competed with other universities and athletes in our age group along with having some opportunities to compete against some alumnis. Schools that came to compete included Brown University, Harvard University, New York University, Northeastern University, and University of Connecticut. We had full four teams to participate. All BUKA members tried their best in this tournament. The final results were amazing!

Here are the results from BUKA.

Individuals

Beginners

• Mike Ruan
• Jake Lee
• Sung Song
• Caoyue Wang
• Jialin Zhu
• Evangeline Tsai
• Ryan Shimizu
• Cici Qi
• Don Kim
• Nawaf Alyousif
• Chuqing Tan
• Chao Liu

Advanced

• Geoffrey Gaskins
• Yumeto Shigihara
• Helen Zhou
• Reina Iwase
• Hiroki Kawai
• Billy Pratama
• Jay Seabrum
• Guanyi Ji

Results

Ryan Shimizu and Hiroki Kawai won bronze and silver in their respective divisions, beginners and advanced!

Highlights

• Don Kim and Yumeto Shigihara advanced to the semi-finals in their respective divisions before they was eliminated in beginners and advanced.

Teams

A

1. Senpo: Ryan Shimizu
2. Jiho: Chuqing Tan
3. Chuken: Cici Qi
4. Fukusho: Yumeto Shigihara
5. Taisho: Hiroki Kawai

 

B

1. Senpo: Nawaf Alyousif
2. Jiho: Caoyue Wang
3. Chuken: Chao Liu
4. Fukusho: Jay Seabrum
5. Taisho: Billy Pratama

C

1. Senpo: Jake Lee
2. Jiho: Evangeline Tsai
3. Chuken: Don Kim
4. Fukusho: Helen Zhou
5. Taisho: Reina Iwase

D

1. Senpo: Song Sung
2. Jiho: Jialin Zhu
3. Chuken: Mike Ruan
4. Fukusho: Guanyi Ji
5. Taisho: Geoffrey Gaskins

 

Results

BU A placed second and BU C placed third in teams!

Highlights

BU D made it to the quarterfinals before getting eliminated.

Good job to everyone who competed at the 6^th Annual BU Tournament! This year, we changed the format of the tournament compared to the past few years. We also increased the number of courts from two to three. We had four different divisions: Individual Beginners (those with 2 years of experience or less), Individual Advanced (those with more than 2 years of experience), Alumni Team Match, and Kachinuki Round Robin with Team Match. The Individual Beginners and Individual Advanced had round robin for the winners of each court. Alumni Team consisted of a three-people team match composed of an alumni and two students with single elimination matches. Kachinuki Round Robin with Team Match involved a two minute ipponshobu King of the Hill round robin for preliminaries and team match for quarterfinals. We invited Yoshida-sensei as Shinpan-cho and Hayashi-sensei as Fukushinpan-cho. We would like to thank both senseis along with all the shinpans who volunteered their time for this tournament. The tournament would not have ran smoothly without you all! Unfortunately, we ran out of time for godo keiko because we went overtime. Sorry for those who brought their bogu just for godo keiko. Next year, we will make it so that we can do godo keiko.

Here are the overall results from the tournament!

Individual Beginners

1. Lary Yau (New York University)
2. Shogo Senda (New York University)
3. Ryan Shimizu (Boston University)

Individual Advanced

1. Sung Hun Choi (New York University)
2. Hiroki Kawai (Boston University)
3. Chris Yoon (New York University)

Alumni Teams

1. Team Brian: Shun Aizawa, Iggy Choi, and Brian Joo

Teams

1. New York University A
2. Boston University A
3. Boston University C and New York University B

Congratulations to everyone!

The BU Tournament definitely showed how much we have achieved since earlier this semester. With great results and improvements from all the team members, we know that our efforts in training and practicing paid off. It was fun to see all of our friends from other schools and our alumni friends who came to help and support us! Shoutout to the alumnis who reached out to some of us to be in their teams for the Alumni Team Match. We really enjoyed to be on your teams!  Thank you to everyone who helped make this tournament possible! Huge thank you to all the volunteers who spent their Saturday with us from as early as 8 A.M. to late 6 P.M. We couldn’t have done it without your efforts. Thank you to the alumnis who showed up and participated in our alumni tournament! It was fun to bond and compete along with you all. Thank you to the competitors for participating and to the shinpans for giving your time to make this tournament run smoothly! A big thank you to our coach, Alex Eitoku, for all the support and everything that you do for us! We really appreciate you!

Last, but not least, thank you to our captain and co-presidents, Reina and Helen, for organizing this tournament and for leading BUKA in the 2016-2017 school year! You two have left very big shoes to fill for next year. We hope to do our best to continue your legacy for the years to come. To all the seniors who will be graduating, thank you for being part of BUKA. We hope that you have enjoyed your past few years in BUKA and that you would continue to reach out and visit us no matter where you go. We know that even if we may or may not see you in the future, you have influenced part of our lives already. Thank you again for everything! We will miss you.

As always, thank you all for your support this past school year! As next year comes, please continue supporting us! Faito, BUKA!

BUKA brought five members to its second joint practice of the school year, hosted by the University of Connecticut’s kendo team. They had a guest sensei, Kataoka-sensei, who led the practice. Kataoka-sensei went over many basic drills that strengthen our foundation in both non-bogu and bogu. Also, we had the opportunity to keiko at the end with all the UConn members, Park-sensei, and Kataoka-sensei. Huge thank you to the UConn kendo team and Park-sensei for inviting us to this amazing joint practice. We felt really welcomed and enjoyed bonding with you all! Also big thank you to Kataoka-sensei for leading and teaching us. We learned a lot and we appreciate what you have taught us! We hope to use what we learned to bring back to campus and spread to our members. We also hope that we will continue our friendship and relationship with UConn. We look forward to bonding with you again! Thank you!

BUKA participated its third tournament of the spring semester in the 21^st Shoryuhai Tournament in Harvard on March 18^th and 19^th. We competed with other universities and athletes in our age group. Schools that competed included Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, New York University, Northeastern university, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stony Brook University, SUNY Purchase College, Tufts University, University of Connecticut, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Yale University. We brought full three teams to participate.
All BUKA members tried their best in this competitive tournament. The final results were awesome!

Here are the results.

Individuals

·  Mike Ruan

·  Geoffrey Gaskins

·  Jake Lee

·  Sung Song

·  Caoyue Wang

·  Jialin Zhu

·  Evangeline Tsai

·  Ryan Shimizu

·  Yumeto Shigihara

·  Helen Zhou

·  Reina Iwase

·  Hiroki Kawai

·  Cici Qi

·  Don Kim

·  Billy Pratama

·  Nawaf Alyousif

Results

Unfortunately, no BUKA member placed in individuals.

Highlights

·       Hiroki Kawai advanced to the quarterfinals before he was eliminated by one of our good friends, Chihiro Shiromoto, who placed third in individuals.

Teams

A

1.       Senpo: Yumeto Shigihara

2.      Jiho: Ryan Shimizu

3.      Chuken: Reina Iwase

4.      Fukusho: Helen Zhou

5.       Taisho: Hiroki Kawai

 

B

1.       Senpo: Jake Lee

2.      Jiho: Cici Qi

3.      Chuken: Don Kim

4.      Fukusho: Evangeline Tsai

5.       Taisho: Geoffrey Gaskins

 

C

1.       Senpo: Caoyue Wang

2.      Jiho: Jialin Zhu

3.      Chuken: Mike Ruan

4.      Fukusho: Sung Song

5.       Taisho: Nawaf Alyousif

 

Results

BU A placed third! They won all of their matches in the preliminary round and defeated NYU C. In the semi-finals, they fought a super close match with NYU A before getting defeated. NYU A later placed second in teams.

Being the largest, if not one of the largest, intercollegiate kendo tournaments in the East Coast, Shoryuhai definitely showed us many new things: where we improved, where we needed to improve, and more. After the tournament on both days, we had time to do goodwill keiko and free sparring. Overall, the tournament went by smoothly and we got to bond with each other and other people. It was truly a huge achievement for us as our BU A placed third in teams. The last time we placed in teams was in 2014, three years ago. Good job, BU A! Although both BU B and BU C teams did not advance after the preliminary rounds, both teams learned a lot through the round robins as they versed multiple other fellow kendo players from different schools. As we go back to practice, we hope to learn from our mistakes and reflect on what we did well or not so well. Shoutout to the alumnis who came to support us: Ray, Nelson, Priank, and Katsu! Thank you to Ryan, Jay, and Helen for driving us to Harvard with the vans! Also, huge thanks to Jay and Maggie for helping us throughout the tournaments. We really appreciate you all! Thank you to those who came out to support us. You all are awesome! Last, but not least, thank you to our coach, Alex, for everything from coaching and giving us tips and advice to dealing with our weirdness. You truly are the best coach for us and we thank you so much! Next tournament will be our own BU Tournament that will be held on April 1^st at the 4 Court Gym in FitRec on the second floor. Hope to see you all there!

As always, thank you all for your support! Faito, BUKA!

BUKA sent five members to participate BUKA’s second tournament of the spring semester, the 10^th Yuhihai Tournament, at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on February 26^th. It was our first trip on an airplane! We competed with other universities and athletes in our age group. Schools that competed included University of California Los Angeles, University of California Riverside, University of California Irvine, University of California San Diego, University of California Davis, University of California Santa Cruz, University of California Santa Barbara, Associated Students of University of California (Berkeley) Stanford University, Soka University of America, and University of Southern California. We brought one team to participate. All five BUKA members tried their best in this competitive tournament. Although the results were not as well as they wanted them to be, Yuhihai was a good experience for all of them.

Here are the results.

Kyu

• Helen Zhou
• Guanyi Ji

Women’s

• Reina Iwase

Dan

• Hiroki Kawai
• Hajime Oono

Results

Unfortunately, no members placed.

Highlights

• Hajime Oono advanced to the quarterfinals before he was eliminated.

Team

A

1. Senpo: Reina Iwase
2. Jiho: Helen Zhou
3. Chuken: Hiroki Kawai
4. Fukusho: Guanyi Ji
5. Taisho: Hajime Oono

 

Results

Unfortunately, BU team did not placed during this tournament; however, BU made it out of the preliminary rounds before they were eliminated one round before quarterfinals.

Five BUKA members flew across the country to attend the 10^th Yuhihai Tournament at UCLA. BU was the only team from the East Coast. The members all had a great time meeting and competing with our West Coast friends. It was a long day as the members did not do as well as they wanted to, but they got to attend a mini-seminar by one of the guest senseis, Hojo-sensei, and had godogeiko with kenshi from other clubs. Overall, it was a great experience for everyone. All the members went and came back home safe. Huge thank you to the UCLA team for hosting and supporting us! Also, thank you to our alumni, Julie and Andrew, for helping us out during the day. Shoutout to Kimi for taking us sight-seeing and Priank for coming to see us on Saturday. Of course, big thank you to all the BUKA alumnis and members who have supported our trip to California! This trip wouldn’t have been possible without your support! Thank you to Helen for driving and organizing our very first long distance trip. We hope to have more in the future! Good job again to the five members who competed: Reina Iwase, Helen Zhou, Guanyi Ji, Hiroki Kawai, and Hajime Oono. We’re really proud of you all for going over to California to represent BU. Thank you all!

Two tournaments done this semester and more to come. The next one will be the Shoryuhai Tournament at Harvard University on March 19^th and March 20^th. Let’s do this!

As always, thank you for your support and faito, BUKA!

BUKA participated its first tournament of the spring semester in the 2017 Columbia Tournament on February 19^th. We competed with other universities and athletes in our age group. Schools that competed included Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, Stony Brook University, University of Connecticut, Yale University, and University of Pennsylvania. We brought three teams to participate. All BUKA members tried their best in this competitive tournament. The final results were pretty good!

Here are the results.

Beginners

• Mike Ruan
• Geoffrey Gaskins
• Jake Lee
• Rachel Zhu
• Sung Song
• Chao Liu
• Maggie Sumioka
• Caoyue Wang
• Chuqing Tan
• Jialin Zhu
• Evangeline Tsai

Mudansha

• Helen Zhou
• Billy Pratama

Women’s

• Rachel Zhu
• Maggie Sumioka
• Caoyue Wang
• Jialin Zhu
• Evangeline Tsai
• Helen Zhou

Yudansha

• Hajime Oono
• Ian Dickinson

Results

Hajime Oono and Chuqing Tan both placed third in the Beginner division and Yudansha division respectively.

Highlights

• Jake Lee and Mike Ruan advanced to the quarterfinals in the Beginner division before getting eliminated.

Teams

A

1. Senpo: Mike Ruan
2. Jiho: Helen Zhou
3. Chuken: Billy Pratama
4. Fukusho: Geoffrey Gaskins
5. Taisho: Hajime Oono

 

B

1. Senpo: Jake Lee
2. Jiho: Rachel Zhu
3. Chuken: Sung Song
4. Fukusho: Chao Liu
5. Taisho: Ian Dickinson

C

1. Senpo: Maggie Sumioka
2. Jiho: Caoyue Wang
3. Chuken: Chuqing Tan
4. Fukusho: Jialin Zhu
5. Taisho: Evangeline Tsai

 

Results

Unfortunately, no BU teams placed during this tournament; however, BU A made it to the quarterfinals before getting eliminated.

Being the first tournament this spring semester of 2017, Columbia definitely showed us what we need to work on, how we can improve, and where we are. Seeing the differences of skills and experiences for people in our age group, inspired and motivated us to come back to practice more and harder. We will be preparing for our upcoming tournaments. We also had an amazing opportunity of not only getting to see a naginata vs. kendo demonstration, but also being able to spar with the Columbia University’s Naginata Club. It was a wonderful and fun experience! Shoutout to our BU alumnis, Shawn and Lucien, for coming out to support us and helping around. Also, huge thank you to Helen, Guanyi, and Jay for driving us to and from Columbia. We wouldn’t have made it there and back safe without you three. Good luck in advance to those who are going to UCLA this coming weekend! Hope you have a safe and fun trip there. Definitely will be a great experience for everyone.

As always, thank you all for your support! Faito, BUKA!

BUKA had its first joint practice of the year on November 12th with BU alums and the following universities: Northeastern University, Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, and University of Connecticut. Together we made up a large and diverse group, consisting almost 50 people in the room. Our practice featured many activities, including 1000 suburi, King of the Hill matches, Keiko amongst the Bogu members, and foundational drills. Afterwards, everyone had the chance to get to know each other even more through lunch. Overall, the joint practice was successful as we all enjoyed our time together and learned from each other. A huge thanks to everybody who came and made this joint practice possible! That includes everyone from the different universities, BU alums, and BU students. We enjoyed practicing and getting to know you all. Hopefully in the future, we can do another one. Thank you!

BUKA participated its first tournament of the school year in the 2016 Goyokai Tournament on October 2nd. We competed with kendo players from various age-groups and backgrounds since Goyokai is a dojo-hosted competition, not a college-hosted tournament. We brought two teams to participate and one spectator.
All BUKA members tried their best in this very competitive tournament. The final results were great!

Here are the results.

Men’s Kyu

• Don Kim
• Junyan Ji
• Billy Pratama
• Jay Seabrum
• Ryan Shimizu

Women’s Kyu

• Long Long
• Yoomi Sim
• Evangeline Tsai

Women’s 1-2 Dan

• Reina Iwase
• Helen Zhou

Men’s 3 Dan

• Hajime Oono

Results

Evangeline Tsai and Reina Iwase both won bronze in their respectable divisions, Women’s Kyu and Women’s 1-2 Dan. Junyan Ji won gold in the Men’s Kyu and Hajime Oono won silver in the Men’s 3 Dan.

Highlights

• Both Ryan Shimizu and Helen Zhou both advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated in the Men’s Kyu and Women’s 1-2 Dan, respectively.

Teams

A

1. Senpo: Helen Zhou
2. Jiho: Long Long
3. Chuken: Reina Iwase
4. Fukusho: Billy Pratama
5. Taisho: Hajime Oono

 

B

1. Senpo: Ryan Shimizu
2. Jiho: Yoomi Sim
3. Chuken: Don Kim
4. Fukusho: Evangeline Tsai
5. Taisho: Jay Seabrum

Brown University’s Mixed Team

3. Chuken: Junyan Ji

Results

Unfortunately, no BU teams placed during this tournament.

Being the first tournament this school year, Goyokai definitely showed us where we improved and what we need to work on. As a dojo tournament, it was fascinating to see all the different age groups and levels competing in the same place. It opened our eyes to the kendo world and inspired us to continue to practice. Although we will not be having any tournaments soon, we will be ready for them. Special thanks to Brown University for allowing us to compete in team with you! Thank you all for your support! Faito, BUKA!

Interested in learning Japanese sword fighting? Seeking out a tight knit community to join? Or perhaps you're just wondering, "What exactly is kendo?" Well, if the answer to any of those questions is yes, then you should come to SPLASH, on September 10th at Nickerson field from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M., to learn about the Boston University Kendo Association (BUKA). BUKA welcomes anybody of all experience levels, from beginners to experts! We will hold our first practice on September 17th from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. in the 4 Court Gym at FitRec. Hope to see you all there!

We have successfully completed our 5th Annual BUKA Tournament. Thank you to all members, alumni, and volunteers for helping out this big day to run smoothly. We have invited Yoshida-sensei as Shinpan-cho, and Hayashi-sensei (BUKA's great senpai) as Fukushinpan-cho. We would like to thank the two senseis, as well as all the shipans  who volunteered their time for this event. We had a total of 54 competitors from four major schools: Brown, BU, Harvard, and NYU.

Individuals: No BU members were able to reach semi-finals. However, our beginners did a good job. Keep up the good work, beginners!