Kata competition and seminar with Saito and Kobayashi sensei

Kata competition and seminar with Saito and Kobayashi sensei

On the past weekend, june 16th and 17th, we enjoyed the visit in Barcelona  of japanese masters Saito and Kobayashi sensei. Barcelona kendo clubs have reunited to participate in the seminar, with a special mention to te kata competition, which took place on Saturday.

Not only for the novelty, but also because of its appeal, the kata competition turned out as a great success. Around 20 competitors performed various sets of kata, being evaluated individually in form and execution of the movements. The best performance from Club de Kendo UPC came from Laura Mallol, who achieved 3rd overall and received a bokken as a prize.

The championship was mainly dominated by women, achieving 3 out of the 4 top results, with a special mention for Silvia Romeral from Ren Shin Kan, overall champion, who received a iaito from the hands of Saito sensei. The day ended with detailed kata explanations from the masters, before a nice and fun sayonara party.

On Sunday we performed a morning training session where Saito sensei offered in-depth teachings on the philosophical aspect of kendo and the importance of treating it as a martian art (budo) in opposition to a merely sport activity. He shared his vision of the purpose and concept of kendo and updated us on the latest indications from AJKF. The training session was mainly focused on kihon from  Bokuto ni yoru kendo kihon waza Keiko ho applied with bogu, and finally, geiko with the masters.