The Season, Part 2: Goyokai

On Sunday, November 3, BU Kendo participated in the 14th Annual Goyokai Kendo Tournament in Randolph, MA. This year marks BU’s first Goyokai since November 2010, and BU played well despite the higher level of competition. Here’s a full recap of the tournament.

Individuals

As kendo is a martial art, the individual tournament was divided by rank; it also included women’s divisions by rank (women could compete in both the men’s and women’s competitions). The results of the individuals are as follows:

• Men’s Kyu: 3rd – Lucien Thomas
• Women’s Kyu: 3rd – Julie Zhu
• Men’s 1-2 Dan: 2nd – Alex Eitoku
• Women’s 1-2 Dan: 3rd – Jessica Alexandria
• Men’s 3 Dan: 3rd – John Yi

Highlights

• President Lucien Thomas, B Team member Julie Zhu, A Team member Jessica Alexandria and Captain John Yi each placed 3rd in their divisions!
• Coach Alex Eitoku placed 2nd in his division, and 3 members of his team (including him) advanced to the quarterfinal round!

Teams

Goyokai also held a single-elimination team tournament. BU sent 3 teams – A, B and C – to compete for the gold. The teams were as follows:

A

1. Senpo: Brandon Kesselly
2. Jiho: Jessica Alexandria
3. Chuken: Shawn Shou
4. Fukusho: Lucien Thomas
5. Taisho: John Yi

B

1. Senpo: Kathie Zhang
2. Jiho: Tori Moore
3. Chuken: Yevgeniy Temchenko
4. Fukusho: Julie Zhu
5. Taisho: Joe Yi

C

1. Senpo: Christina Lupoli
2. Jiho: Vacant
3. Chuken: Kayla Gillespie
4. Fukusho: Michaella Chung
5. Taisho: Taryn Ross

Unfortunately, A team was the only team to advance past the first round, and was eventually defeated in the quarterfinals.

Goyokai was a learning experience for all of our members. It gave us a chance to fight against stronger opponents than we are used to and to re-evaluate our kendo. This was the final tournament of the semester, so the new goal is to train the beginners for their bogu exam, and for everyone to improve for the Harvard Shoryuhai Taikai in March. Until then, congratulations to all of BU’s kenshi who placed! FAITO!!!