Rosebank San Kawa Kendo Dojo takes top prizes
ROSEBANK – Rosebank's San Kawa Kendo Dojo has once again excelled in a local martial arts competition.
Rosebank‘s San Kawa Kendo Dojo has once again excelled in a local martial arts competition.
The Ken Yu Kai Kata and Shiai Competition, held at the Blairgowrie Recreation Centre, saw dojos from across the province competing in several different divisions.
Kendo, sometimes described as ‘Japanese fencing’, has its origin in the martial art developed by the ancient samurai. A large part of kendo training is the practise of ‘forms’, better known as kata, where martial artists can demonstrate the best techniques using wooden swords known as bokuto.
The San Kawa team of Brendan Dateling and Matthew Price showed off their impressive technique in the senior kata division, which took them not only to the finals but all the way to first place.
In the beginner kata division, the young pair of Amri and Kudjo Witbooi of the Midrand Kendo Dojo took top place, narrowly beating San Kawa’s Jonathan Crotz and Zachary Penn who came in second.
Once the wooden swords were put away, the bamboo swords came out as kendoka (kendo practitioners) put on their armour and engaged in a series of high intensity, full-combat fights during the shiai (fighting) division of the competition. During a fight, a competitor must strike the specific areas of their opponent’s armour with their bamboo swords (shinai), while demonstrating the proper degree of spirit.
Dateling fought hard to get to the final of the open competition, beating Pretoria’s Emille Odendaal for top spot.
Meanwhile, two of San Kawa’s members were also awarded prizes for the best strikes of the day – Damian Rogans won the best kote or wrist strike, while Eiji Dioda won the prize for the best men strike or head strike.
To find out more about San Kawa Kendo Dojo, click here.
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