2017 Columbia Tournament

BUKA participated its first tournament of the spring semester in the 2017 Columbia Tournament on February 19th. 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!