Bronze

Just filled my piggy bank with another piece of medal. 7 years of kendo has earned me 3 golds, 1 silver, 5 bronzes and 2 kantosho... That said, I usually belong to the ladies division with only 10+ players in total.

Like today there were 12 girls in my group - but surprisingly they cut the juniors into another kyu-grade ladies division.

Not sure about anyone reading, but over here before the ladies matches we tend to be overly relaxed. Like, I did a set of kirikaeshi and some kihon cuts with my mates and that was it. Unlike during lunchtime when all the men and boys are swinging their shinai madly and trying waza stuff. Well, different people, different mindset.

Lucky pool for me, as both of my opponents are shodan, and I finished them in 10 seconds (total). Observing dojo mates told of the 4 "proper shomen" cuts I did stright out of sonkyo. Yeah they're nice I know, as easy as if anyone put their kensen NOT in the centre!

Small world we had here, as I got out of the pool I already got some metal. And on to next was my dear friend Leng from Macau. Met her all the time when we were both at some Taikai in the UK. So we chat a lot whenever we meet again here.

Leng's probably the sharpest of all 12 of us. Noyori san from my dojo is also sharp and scored some fine points from girls above her level (and younger). Surprise to see her like that despite our constant complain of lack of attending keiko last month (me=4, her=1, argh).

So my match with Leng lasted for 6 minutes according to timer-person, with Leng getting a rather typical men-kaeshi-dou when we were both looking exhausting. Say we both lost the sharpness we showed earlier. I had breathing problem, partly due to lack of cardio training recently with it pouring rain every single day, and partly because fighting Leng again is hysteric! It was all fun memories the first time I fought her, at my very first shiai.

Leng went on beating Noyori san and won the game.

My damaged left wrist was doing a good job today, because I remember to keep my grip "in" all the time. Once I tried at dojo practice without gripping the shinai properly, it really hurt so much that my tears went out of my eyes, and I was in pain for the rest of the class. So today is good. Apart from 3 missed kote from Leng on my right arm that align like mini meatballs...

And I have no idea why 6 minutes of kendo can be so tiring. Off to bed now. Hope to get a pic soon.