Out of the Blue

Sorry for the lack of updates, as I've been struggling with the new job, evening Nihongo classes, and the freelance projects that never seem to be finishing... I'd say I am lucky enough to still be catching once a week of kendo in the past month or so.

Yet, very much out of the blue, I won the ladies open grade individuals at the last local taikai---!!

Round 1
Ai-men at encho, 1-0 vs Lei from Macau

Round 2
De-gote, 1-0 vs Pek from my dojo

Round 3
Tobikomi men, Nuki-do, 2-0 vs Couk from Macau

Round 4 (Final)
De-gote, 1-0 vs Jay from HKKA

My half of the tree isn't as competitive, as we are all roughly at the 0-2 dan level. Squad sempai and the newly Godan, Jay and Agnes, together with Horiguchi-san (3 dan) who just picked up kendo after 10 blank years, had rather exciting fights. In total there were only 15 girls.

Adding to that, I wasn't thinking about winning or even scoring! In the morning I switched off the alarm clock and had thought of staying in bed instead... Looking back for the pass 2 weeks I've only went to kendo ONCE, and perhaps jogged twice, plus some stretching and suburi etc. light exercise at home... Which, on the other hand, made me feel very relaxed. I was there to play my own game.

I am quite suprised that just by relaxing alone is better than thinking about what I should score, how I should prepare for my fight, etc. etc. (and to a certain point, why I am able to win against those who practice a lot more regularly, and am more experienced then me...) Take the finals for example, when I took on de-gote, despite what the crowd had been cheering and clapping for, I really turned my head left and right to check the flag, and told myself, "Gee, I am getting Gold!"

It's a mystery. This is the first time I've got placed in Hong Kong, and the first time I get first for my kendo (I've only won once for Iaido mudan division in the UK). I am so under-prepared that I forgot about bringing my own camera... So I'll add a medal pic when I get hold of any one of them.

Still, if I am going to get graded Sandan this year, I'd better get to train more often!