Cleveland Tournament

The evening of April 22, 2006 ended yet another Kendo Tournament.

All in all, I could have done MUCH better. I blame it on the fact that I have had to miss practice for several weeks due to classes getting in the way. I went to one of the practices a few days before the tournament and I was about ready to pass out for some reason (I was sick a few days earlier). After the practice, I just simply put it behind me as a bad practice.

At the tournament, I was exhausted within seconds of my match starting. I tried to get hits in but the guy I was against was very aggressive and I just couldn't get strong hits in. I won my first match due to hantei and I lost my second match due to being too slow. I have a few months before the next scheduled tournament so I shall do what I can to find a way to combat aggressive people and increase my endurance so I can last longer than 10 seconds of my matches.

Ever since I have been to a tournament, I have told myself that I was going to by some random Kendo stuff. Well, I finally kept up with my word. I bought a tiny Kendo keychain and a kendo figurine in Jodan no Kamae. I wanted to buy the tiny shinai novelty item, but they ran out before I was ready to take the third plunge. Now I am officially happy. I may buy some more stuff at other tournaments, but I can't be for certain.

The tournament lasted a LOT longer than we had expected. Due to it being in a different area, there were 4 arenas instead of 6. This made the tournament longer, thus with a lot of downtime. It didn't end till about 10 or 10:30 and we had a long drive ahead of us. Google maps told us that it would take 7 hours, but it took us a little over 5 to get there.

All in all, it was an okay tournament. There was a lot of downtime in between so things got a little dull for everyone. By time the team matches were up, we were all tired. Aside from that, everyone, participant and spectator, came out with something positive (though now I am out $11.50 for the stuff I bought.