Kendo championship a success

This year’s Autumn Champions showed the true comradery of the Ryu Ken Chi Dojo.

Hosted at Rivonia Sports and Recreation Club on May 14, the competition saw members compete across four categories with strong support of their family and friends.

Overseeing the competition was the honourable Buster Sefor sensei to provide training tips and guidance where possible.

“The iaido competition was the first of its kind in South Africa where two iaidoka would ‘battle it out’ in the competition area in front of a panel of three judges,” said the dojo’s Warren Ho.

Participants had to perform a set of five katas within six minutes.

The final saw Jayson Rothman and Warren Ho face each other, finishing in first and second place respectfully. Carina Rothman took third place after defeating James Miller in the third-place play-off.

The kendo kids competition, another first of its kind, saw the group split into two pools with the top two from each pool proceeding to the semi-finals.

“Caden Howell (10) defeated Nathan Ho (7) in the first semi-final, while Jaime Lewis (10) defeated Sebastian Weng (7) in the second semi-final. Jamie eventually took first place and Caden took second place.”

Both Nathan and Sebastian earned their third-place finish. Sebastian was also awarded the Fighting Spirt Award – an award given to competitors who show exceptional fighting spirit.

The kata team competition was a two-person team event, requiring the pair to perform a series of kendo kata against another team.

First place went to Decclan Lawrence and Matthew Michel while second place went to Lisa Chivanga and Khotso Masithela. Third place went to Carina Rothman and Jayson Rothman.

The final competition of the day was the kendo team competition, a three-person team competition – the maximum sum of dan grades in that team was limited to five in total.

“For example, in the father-daughter team of Logan and Aura Naidoo, since Logan was a third dan, and Aura was a second dan, they could only take on an additional team member who was not a dan-grade yet,” Ho explained.

Finishing in first place was Team Obs, consisting of Thio Naidoo (second dan), Decclan Lawrence and Matthew Michel. Second place went to team Blue Exorcist, consisting of Logan Naidoo (third dan), Aura Naidoo (second dan) and Tyler Nitzen.

Third place went to team Ghost Division, consisting of Quentin Barkenhuizen (first dan), Kian van der Walt and Ashton Atkinson.

The fighting spirit award went to Lisa Chivanga of Team Banka for her exceptional performance.

“All in all, the RKC 2022 Autumn Championships was a huge success with all competitors and spectators having a wonderful time,” Ho concluded.

Details: www.rkcdojo.com

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/308327/local-dojo-hits-the-ground-running-2/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/313566/rkc-dojo-continues-to-level-up/