About

Training Schedule

Every Monday & Friday
1830 - 2030 | SRC MPSH 6

Frequently Asked Questions

Recruitment

How do I join the club?	We conduct only one intake annually, during the month of August, via our Beginners' Course for most members. The Beginners' Course is not to be missed as the fundamentals are extremely crucial to every aspect of the training. For experienced kendokas, please contact us directly via our email or members.
Any prior experience or level of fitness needed?	No. That is what trainings are for. Of course it would be a bonus to have them. ;)
Where can I sign up/join the mailing list?	A link will be provided near the Matriculation Fair period for the online sign-up form. Otherwise, do not hesitate to email us with any of your queries! To join our 2011 intake, please leave your contact details at NUSKK Sign Up Form. The form will close on 22nd August after the commencement of the Beginner Course. Please email us directly after that! (:

Costs and Equipment

What are the costs involved?

Firstly, there are no course fees for kendo. There are club fees at $20 annually to maintain club resources however. For beginners, you are only required to purchase the attire (gi and hakama) and shinai. These will cost around $150 depending on the Japanese exchange rate.

For the bogu (armor), it is only used in Advanced Classes and you will only be asked to purchase it after the Beginner Course. It is estimated to cost about $500.

Where can I purchase my equipment?

For new members, your equipment will be provided by the club early into the Beginner Course. After which you will be able to place your orders via the club forum or through our QM, Shermaine. We will inform you when it is needed.

Training

How long is the Beginners' Course?	It will be held over 3-months from the start of the semester. You are expected to attend most, if not all, the training sessions conducted.
What is the attire for training?	Any comfortable sports attire will suffice at the start of the Beginner Course. After 1 month of training, the gi and hakama will be worn during training. For Advanced Classes, the bogu is required along with the gi and hakama.
What if I am unable to attend the upcoming training?	Do inform us beforehand either via our email or the respective people in-charge.
What if there are timetable clashes with training slots?	Unfortunately, the training timings are fixed and there are no make-up classes involved. Do try to catch up in the subsequent trainings! It has happened to some of our seniors and it is possible to keep up. :)

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

NUS Championship Series 2

By Benjamin Phuah & Belinda

Of the many Kendo events that occur every year, the one that excites everyone the most has to be the tournaments that are lined up for us. Many Kendo tournaments are held yearly, such as our Youth Kendo Tournament and even Nationals, but recently one more has been added just for the NUS Kendo Club--our internal NUS Kendo Tournament!

Two such tournaments have been held thus far following its commencement on the 8th of March, 2010.

NUS Championship Series 2: 14th of June, 6PM @ MPSH6.

This tournament, as its name suggests, is exclusive to members of the NUS Kendo Club. So long as you are a member, your grade does not matter and you will be free to (and are encouraged to) participate. This tournament event offers our members a chance to test their skills against each other, and for us to familiarize ourselves with actual tournament protocol. The dynamics of an internal tournament are definitely different from those against other clubs as everyone has a general idea of how the other fights, and that’s exactly why it’s exciting and fun!

Match-ups are determined by random balloting conducted by our sensei—some juniors of course dread having to fight a much more experienced senior! However, one’s grade in Kendo does not necessarily equate to one’s skill in a shiai scenario, as proven by one of our juniors, Jing Yang, in the recent tournament. He held his ground against one of our seniors, Shannon, for an extremely long-lasting match.

However, the most important takeaway from our internal tournament is not whether one wins or loses (though of course having a couple of wins is always nice), but more importantly the experience one gains from having competed. This is especially helpful for the juniors as it adds to their shiai experience, which many will tell you is very different from ji-keiko that is conducted towards the end of every training session.

Additionally, our club members get to experience what it’s like to host a tournament, which will definitely come very useful when we are hosting the Singapore Youth Kendo Tournament in 2011! J

Coverage of Match

The match-ups this time around are rather interesting. There are four brackets in an elimination style match and one of these brackets is comprised entirely out of juniors! Our juniors get a chance to duke it out amongst themselves before facing a senior in the semi-finals. Not all our juniors are that fortunate however...

As mentioned earlier, one of our heroic juniors (Jing Yang: on the right, in the middle) managed to keep up the pressure against a year 4 senior (Shannon: on the left, in the middle). What should be a 3-min-long match extended beyond 20-min before Jing Yang finally lost a point in their final exchange. Needless to say, both ended up extremely exhausted but this goes to show that it is entirely possible for the juniors to give the seniors a run for their money.

Says Jing Yang:

“Kendo can be a tiring yet exciting and thrilling experience. In tournaments, the kendoka with the best skill (sometimes with some stroke of luck) will prevail.

This tournament had been an enriching experience for me. Being a junior, I was hoping to spar with the other juniors. Unfortunately my first match placed me against one of the experienced seniors, Shannon!

The match was tiring yet exciting and also a learning lesson for me. Shannon, being much taller than me, had a distinct advantage in scoring my men, while the opposite is true for me since it is harder to reach his men. Hitting a stationary target and trying to hit a moving one are totally different altogether, and especially when the moving target is trying to score a point off you as well!

The match was dragged as we both couldn’t score the winning point over each other. There were a few chances where I failed to grasp, and there were also some pitfalls which I nearly fell into. I guess the most scary or harrowing experience in that match for me would be when he nearly pushed me out of the boundary for the second time to win the match.

Though in the end I lost, I learned some important lessons from the match. One of which, being: Footwork is an important and indispensible part of mastering kendo!”

Following the end of the tournament, Jing Yang was awarded a special tenogui by Peter Sensei for his sheer perseverance in his battle against Shannon. Good job Jing Yang!

The Men's Finals

Jack (white), is set to take on our Captain, Yong He (red).

The two share a long history together and each are well aware of the other’s favourite techniques! Right from the start, knowing that Yong He is especially adept at kote cuts, Jack makes it clear that it will not happen. He then pulls out every trick he has in an attempt to take a point off his rival. Yong He, knowing that Jack will pull all sorts of stunts, plays it safe to guard against this.

Jack, seemingly disturbed by his lack of success, opens up his kote a little. This does not go unnoticed by Yong He who manages to successfully take a point from that opening, much to the disappointment of Jack. His guard against kote cuts should definitely be stronger now but somehow, in the spur of the moment of battle, it opens again. Yong He sees it once again but as he goes in for the cut, Jack noticed him and reacted to perform a classic kote-nuki-men waza! The point count is now 1-1.

Having to guard against Jack’s many techniques and yet unable to press in for a kote cut due to fear of another kote-nuki-men, our Captain is backed into a corner. Jack, seeing this, was definitely feeling confident and was on the offensive. Yong He’s cautious play however prevented a second point from being taken from either sides and the match went into sudden death mode, “enchou”. The first to take the point of the other would win the match along with the glory of being the champion of Series 2 of the NUS Kendo Tournament.

Yong He, having fought cautiously all this while, had a sudden change of mindset. With a spirited battle cry, Yong He managed to take a point with a difficult waza, hiki-do, much to Jack’s surprise. Our captain is victorious and Jack is forced to concede defeat (for now at least).