Each of our Spokane Kendo Club members was eager to compete, present good kendo technique and spirit on the tournament floor. Wendy Sinclair was out first in the Women’s division and started off well with a quick two points to win the match.
Her second opponent, though, was Erika DeJong from UW. She, and all of the DeJong family (father, mother, and three daughters), are always a threat. Wendy fought really well but unfortunately couldn’t overcome her opponent this time around. She still had another chance in the 1-3 Dan Seniors division later in the day (see below).
Teddy Benson was competing in his second tournament ever, in the 0-4 Kyu (below black belt) division, and was super excited to get out and put his training to the test. His first opponent, B. Garcia from Bellevue, gave him a tough fight, though, and in the end came out ahead. Teddy learned a lot and came out of the match with an increased spirit and eagerness for training. This is very important in kendo.
The 1-3 Kyu division was up next. These are the folks closer to black belt. Dillon Peterson would be representing Spokane in this division. He was really fired up and prepared well for his first match. He placed second in this tournament a few years ago and was hoping to place again this year. His opponent, though, was a previous PNKF junior team member and had plans of his own. Dillon went in swinging and showed a lot of heart out on the floor, but his opponent eventually took the win and would go on to win the whole division.
1-3 Dan Seniors (over 40 years old) were up next, and Marek Nelson, Jeff Lamb and Wendy Sinclair would all be competing in that division. Marek fought well against a tough opponent from Bellevue, but his opponent was able to take his kote (forearm strike) which took him through to the next round.
Jeff Lamb, one of our nito-ryu (a method of using two swords to fight) players from Spokane,
looked good in his first match, winning 1-0. His next match was against Janelle Frazier-Day from Kent. She fought well, keeping up with the big guy, but he fought just as hard. They made it through the regulation 3 minute match time and two 1 minute overtimes before a winner had to be decided by the judges. Unfortunately the vote swayed 2-1 for Frazier-Day. Jeff still had team matches to look forward to, though, and another chance to fight and show his skills on the floor.
Wendy once again started on a high note in this senior division, fighting well in her first match and winning 1-0. She ended up in the semi-finals against Vulfson, from Northwest dojo in the
Seattle area. Again, she fought well but Vulfson overcame Wendy’s technique and tenacity. Vulfson would actually go on to face Jenelle Frazier-Day in the finals, where Frazier-Day was able to take the match and first place in the Seniors division in her first appearance there.
The 1-3 Dan division was up next. It’s for 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree black belts. Five of our Spokane competitors were in this division. Nathan McRae, Tomoki Koshiyama, Yarrow Sandberg, Chris Ruiz and Aaron Melton all started well, winning all of their first matches.
Nathan fought well in his second match, but was taken out by Steven Day from Kent, a seasoned competitor. Aaron also fought well in his second match, but couldn’t quite get an advantage on Erika DeJong. In the second round Yarrow was taken out in a throw down of a match against T. Marsten from Kent. He fought very well, though, this being his first tournament since February, and was able to take 4th place.
Tomoki fought extremely well through the division, taking out his opponents with a combination of speed, skill and a quiet, subtle technique that let him close the distance on them almost unnoticed. He made it all the way into the semi-finals before getting taken out in a great match with T. Marsten, who had just finished fighting Yarrow in the previous match. Tomoki was out, but he took 3rd place along with him.
Chris, like the others, had many strong opponents that day, but was able to find and take openings and advantages until he found himself in the final match, against T. Marsten. Neither of them expected the marathon match that was to come. After the regulation match time of 3 minutes they found themselves in an unlimited overtime, where a winner would not be decided until one of them scored.
They both fought hard, and fought so long that the Spokane B team was able to finish their five team matchs before the final individual match was over. All in all, the final match lasted more than 20 minutes and T. Marsten was able to take the win with a kote that landed just before Chris’s men. It was a hard-fought match, and even though Chris lost both competitors walked out of it with their heads high and the knowledge that they demonstrated good quality kendo.
Adult Teams was the final division of the day, and Spokane was able to field two teams. Spokane “A” on one court and Spokane “B” on the other. Spokane “B” kicked things off, with Wendy, Teddy, Marek, Nathan and Dillon fighting extremely well. Unfortunately Bellevue was just a little
stronger that day and was able to take a come-from-behind win to move into the next round. All of the “B” team members fought hard, though, and demonstrated excellent kendo.
Spokane “A” Team started strong, winning their first match against Cascade dojo from Mercer Island and using that momentum to keep pushing forward through the round. They fought very well against both Highline dojo from Burien and University of Washington and came into the final match in high spirits. Their opponents would be, fittingly, the Kent team.
Chris started the team off, fighting against Frazier-Day, the first place finisher in the Senior division. Both fought very well but Chris took the lead and hung onto it until the end, winning the first team match 1-0. Yarrow and Tomoki came out blazing, effectively neutralizing their opponents. There were close calls for points on both sides, but in the end they came out with two ties, sometimes the best strategy, and continued Spokane’s lead into the final two matches.
Aaron was next up, fighting a young, fast, strong player from Kent named Ishii, who was very good, but Aaron used distancing skills very effectively against her, eventually taking the match 2-0. Spokane then had 2 wins out of 5 matches, and Kent had none, which sealed Spokane victory.
Jeff was able to finish strong, fighting against Steven Day. Day took the match win, but Jeff gave him a good fight and showed some strong nito in the process.
The Kent Taikai came to an end, and Spokane had a strong showing from all of our members. Everyone fought hard, did their best and learned a lot in the process, and were eager to get back to the dojo and continue training and improving as best we can.
Below are the full results of the divisions in which Spokane participated:
Women’s
1st Place – M. Suzuki, Sno-King
2nd Place – E. DeJong, UW
3rd Place – R. Wakasaki, Obukan
3rd Place – J. Frazier-Day, Kent
0-4 Kyu
1st Place – S. Kim, Northwest
2nd Place – T. Fukuda, Cascade
3rd Place – V. Vlancarte, Sno-King
3rd Place – B. Garcia, Bellevue
1-3 Kyu
1st Place – K. Toyokawa, Tacoma
2nd Place – A. Law, Sno-King
3rd Place – D. Imanishi, Seattle
3rd Place – L. Le, UW
1-3 Dan Seniors (40 years and over)
2nd Place – V. Vulfson, Northwest
3rd Place – W. Sinclair, Spokane
3rd Place – H. Iba, Bellevue
1-3 Dan
1st Place – T. Marsten, Kent
2nd Place – C. Ruiz, Spokane
3rd Place – T. Koshiyama, Spokane
3rd Place – S. Day, Kent
4th Place – E. DeJong, UW
4th Place – Y. Sandberg, Spokane
4th Place – C. Marsten, Kent
4th Place – J. DeJong, Highline
Adult Teams
1st Place – Spokane A (C. Ruiz, Y. Sandberg, T. Koshiyama, A. Melton, J. Lamb)
2nd Place – Kent (J. Frazier-Day, C. Marsten, T. Marsten, E. Ishii, S. Day)
3rd Place – Sno-King (M. Suzuki, S. DeBlieck, C. Chaney, T. Patana, A. Law)
3rd Place – UW (B. Lin, L. Le, E. DeJong, M. Omura, A. Yorita)
