Standing (l-r) Lance Wall, Mohit Gupta (RKC), Sung-Yong Shim (CKC), Jason Park (CKC), Takako Matisz, Shane Olafson, Adam Beck, Mike Patterson, Mika Asai-Coakwell (EKC), Sherry Fulton (EKC), Chris Jensen (EKC), Tom Yamashita (MKC), Mark Gringas (Montreal), Dustin Blanchard, Shingo Miyaoka, Jared Fedorchuk, Sasuke Miyaoka, Joseph Kim (EKC), Kaiser Ali, Jeff Long, Juhachi Asai, Kyle Zeabin, Stephanie Bozzer (EKC), Pascal Van Pul, Gerald Audette (EKC), Koichi Tada (RKC)
Seated (l-r) Neil Gendzwill, Tsumura-sensei, Miyaoka-sensei
We held our 25th Anniversary Tournament and party on September 1-2, 2006. Our special guest was Tsumura-sensei. Other visiting instructors were Stephanie Bozzer from Edmonton, Tom Yamashita from Winnipeg and Sung-yong Shim from Calgary. On Friday night, we held a godo-keiko where Tsumura-sensei practised with nearly everyone, and we all learned a great deal. The next morning, a little worse the wear from second keiko, we all showed up at the YMCA for the tournament. We began with Tsumura-sensei offering his congratulations, and reading a very nice statement from CKF. CKF donated some T-shirts and tenugui for prizes, in addition to partly subsidising Tsumura-sensei’s travel costs. Next, each visiting sensei offered their own congratulations. Miyaoka-sensei then gave a short history of the club, including how it was founded and highlights over the years. Finally, he presented some very nice gifts to Lance Wall and myself.
We then began the individual divisions of the tournament. We had chosen to divide the tournament by age, rather than rank or sex. Some people felt a little overwhelmed by having to fight people with higher dan, but there turned out to be many upsets and overall it was a highly entertaining morning. Highlights included kyu-ranked Chris Jensen and Mike Patterson making the top 4, a very hard-fought and fast paced final between Lance Wall and Sung-Yong Shim, and Takako Matisz beating first me and then Koichi Tada to take the win in the masters division.
After a fine lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant, we returned for the team divisions. The teams fell out such that there was one overwhelming favourite, but again everyone surprised themselves. Although the favourite won in the end, it wasn’t until after some hard-fought matches and upsets and the final was very close. A highlight was Montreal’s Mark Gringas, playing very well to win the key match to get his team into the final.
We closed out the day with a red and white ippon-shobu tournament, 14 players to each side. The sides were carefully picked to make some even matches and some entertaining matches. Highlights included Stephanie Bozzer’s beautiful degote against previously unstoppable Sung-Yong Shim, Mika Asai-Coakwell scoring a lovely men against her father Juhachi, and the last match between Miyaoka-sensei and myself. Actually, just having Miyaoka-sensei join the tournament was a highlight by itself.
After the tournament, we headed out to Miyaoka-sensei’s house for a barbeque party. There may have been an overcooked burger or three (sorry!) but overall it was a very nice party. We presented a thank-you gift to Tsumura-sensei for coming. We also presented a gift to Miyaoka-sensei, and finally a gift to Machiko Miyaoka in recognition of 25 years of putting up with us all.
Thanks to all who came, especially those who came from out of town. See you in March for our seminar!
– Neil Gendzwill
Junior Division (16-25)
1. Jason Park (Calgary)
2. Chris Jensen (Edmonton)
3. Mike Patterson (Saskatoon)
3. Sasuke Miyaoka (Saskatoon)
Senior Division (26-39)
1. Sung-Yong Shim (Calgary)
2. Lance Wall (Saskatoon)
3. Mika Asai-Coakwell (Edmonton)
3. Gerald Audette (Edmonton/Toronto)
Masters Division (40+)
1. Takako Matisz (Saskatoon)
2. Koichi Tada (Regina)
3. Ken Miyaoka (Saskatoon)
3. Neil Gendzwill (Saskatoon)
Team
1. Calgary/Regina/Winnipeg
Jason Park
Mohit Gupta
Sung-Yong Shim
Tom Yamashita
Koichi Tada
2. Edmonton/Saskatoon/Montreal
Jeff Long
Mark Gringas
Shingo Miyaoka
Sasuke Miyaoka
Stephanie Bozzer