Tokyo area university champs
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 2:38 am
Last weekend, the Kanto area had their university karate championships at the Nippon Budokan. I went along to watch and was really very impressed. I rarely watch any competition karate as my impression is it is really not a good advert to do karate. This event was really something else though.
I arrived to see the quarter finals onward, so the wado teams which got that far were Meiji (wadokai) and Nichidai (wadoryu). Meiji made it through to the final and came up against Teikyo Univ. The final was a tough match but Teikyo were clearly much stronger, they looked like they had been training for 10 years rather than 4 years. Eventually, Teikyo swept all the medals - mens team, womens team, mens and women team kata (there were only team matches). They are a shotokan team trained by Kagawa, himself ex Japan coach and (world?) champion in kumite and kata.
In the play off matches, Tokai univ were also very good. They must have lost out earlier in the day, but I would have said they looked as strong or even stronger than Meijidai. Anyway, it wasn't to be their day. They won the two team matches I watched but to be honest, I am not any the wiser as to who actually won the 3rd place, the whole event just seemed to fizzle out!
Tokai are coached by Maeda Toshiaki and Suzuki Yujii, both ex world champs themselves but with very different styles. Their players really moved well. In one match against a shotokan team they really outclassed their opponents with their footwork and reactions. The smallest member of the team ended up against the biggest player but he held his own ground well and won his match.
Their tactics are pretty much rapid punching, occasional kicks and a surprising amount of throws. As I watched the event, it amazed me that this is not an Olympic sport. If the approach to competition was the same everywhere as I saw on Sunday then it is easily as exciting to watch as any other individual sports.
One other observation, I guess you would expect it with the event being at the Budokan, but it was like a 'who's who' of the Japanese karate world - from Wado there was Messrs Kondo, Ishizuka, Yanigida, Arakawa Takamasu, Kohata Shinji, Sano Takeshi and Maeda and Suzuki already mentioned. Kagawa was there from Shotokan and another shotokan fellow who's name escapes me as I write this.
The kata competition was as polished as you would expect. I watched this with Kohata sensei and we tried to score the event. We got better as the matches progressed! I have to say the kata competition is a bit strange. They do this in a team then after the kata they have a bunkai display. These look like those crazy shotokan demonstrations which really just show the athletic ability of the performers but the routines seemed to be inspired more by Jackie Chan than Budo. My view is the powers that be need to rethink kata competition - scrap the bunkai nonsense and perhaps have a pool of kata which competitors have to do rather than the competitors choosing their own kata each round. Then you have to be able to do all the kata which are called by the judges (maybe this would give Wado a leg up too!).
Apart from the competition itself, the other entertaining aspect is watching the team supporters. They drape the club flags over the balcony and all sit together. When their teams compete they make an almighty noise in support. Fantastic to see.
Ben
I arrived to see the quarter finals onward, so the wado teams which got that far were Meiji (wadokai) and Nichidai (wadoryu). Meiji made it through to the final and came up against Teikyo Univ. The final was a tough match but Teikyo were clearly much stronger, they looked like they had been training for 10 years rather than 4 years. Eventually, Teikyo swept all the medals - mens team, womens team, mens and women team kata (there were only team matches). They are a shotokan team trained by Kagawa, himself ex Japan coach and (world?) champion in kumite and kata.
In the play off matches, Tokai univ were also very good. They must have lost out earlier in the day, but I would have said they looked as strong or even stronger than Meijidai. Anyway, it wasn't to be their day. They won the two team matches I watched but to be honest, I am not any the wiser as to who actually won the 3rd place, the whole event just seemed to fizzle out!
Tokai are coached by Maeda Toshiaki and Suzuki Yujii, both ex world champs themselves but with very different styles. Their players really moved well. In one match against a shotokan team they really outclassed their opponents with their footwork and reactions. The smallest member of the team ended up against the biggest player but he held his own ground well and won his match.
Their tactics are pretty much rapid punching, occasional kicks and a surprising amount of throws. As I watched the event, it amazed me that this is not an Olympic sport. If the approach to competition was the same everywhere as I saw on Sunday then it is easily as exciting to watch as any other individual sports.
One other observation, I guess you would expect it with the event being at the Budokan, but it was like a 'who's who' of the Japanese karate world - from Wado there was Messrs Kondo, Ishizuka, Yanigida, Arakawa Takamasu, Kohata Shinji, Sano Takeshi and Maeda and Suzuki already mentioned. Kagawa was there from Shotokan and another shotokan fellow who's name escapes me as I write this.
The kata competition was as polished as you would expect. I watched this with Kohata sensei and we tried to score the event. We got better as the matches progressed! I have to say the kata competition is a bit strange. They do this in a team then after the kata they have a bunkai display. These look like those crazy shotokan demonstrations which really just show the athletic ability of the performers but the routines seemed to be inspired more by Jackie Chan than Budo. My view is the powers that be need to rethink kata competition - scrap the bunkai nonsense and perhaps have a pool of kata which competitors have to do rather than the competitors choosing their own kata each round. Then you have to be able to do all the kata which are called by the judges (maybe this would give Wado a leg up too!).
Apart from the competition itself, the other entertaining aspect is watching the team supporters. They drape the club flags over the balcony and all sit together. When their teams compete they make an almighty noise in support. Fantastic to see.
Ben