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| At The 14th World Kendo Championships12:00am on 25/08/2009Michael Komoto, Kendo World staff writer. For the latest 14th WKC news, check out our forums thread here: http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21657
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This article will be updated with results as they come to hand.
Sao Paulo, Brazil - True to its native name “garoa” or ‘the land of mist’ a light rain was falling on Sao Paulo on Sunday morning as I arrived. By today, Tuesday, the 25th of August, the sun has broken through, and with it the lead-up to the 14th World Kendo Championships (WKC) gets under way. Teams have been arriving by the hour, with many teams already landed and engaging training. In total 38 countries and regions will be represented, including 149 men and 104 women.
  The venue waits...
For further photos, check out Michael Komoto's photo album here:
The championships are conducted under the auspices of the International Kendo Federation (FIK), and are hosted by the Brazilian Kendo Federation (CBK). Although the event is not eligible for support from the federal government due to its stringent criteria, the CBK has received generous financial and logistical support from the Mayor of Sao Bernardo do Campo City, Luiz Marinho, through the city’s Department of Sports and Leisure, the Secretary Jose Luis Ferrarezi. Many commercial sponsors have also contributed to the program, making this championship possible.
The next two days, the 26th and 27th, are the official training period for preparation for the competition. Teams will be conducting their training according to a rotating schedule in two assigned facilities. Simultaneously, the meetings of the European Kendo Federation (EKF), the Board of Directors of the FIK, and the General Assembly of the FIK will be conducted. The WKCs serves not only as a competitive event, but as a convocation in which the many organizational and management issues may be brought forward and conferred upon by all.
From Friday the 28th, the tournament will begin in earnest. The entire day will be dedicated to the Men’s Individual Championships. 149 competitors will battle through an initial 3-man league to decide who will enter the formal tournament rounds. A random drawing was conducted to decide the 3-man “pools” resulting in many tough head-to-head matches of some of the most highly appraised competitors. Talk about “luck” of the draw: one 3-man league consists of Teramoto of Japan, former All-Japan champion, W. Kim of Korea, also a national champion, and Chris Yang, American national champion and captain of the US team (the team that beat the Japanese in the previous WKCs for the first time in the history of the tournament). When that 3-man qualifier round is completed two of the men who might have otherwise took top honors in the tournament will remove their helmets only to watch the remainder of the championships from the spectator seats. Not isolated to this one group, tough draws and head-to-head battles between great competitors abound in this year’s tournament.
Saturday the 29th is women’s day, with both the individual championship conducted in the morning and the Women’s Team Championship in the afternoon. 104 women will be pitting their best against each other. This year, as in the past, the Japanese women are favored for top places; however, the combination of the number in the field and the depth of experience and skill in this year’s tournament does not allow for simple predictions. As Japan’s domination of the Men’s Team event ended with the 13th WKC, many eyes are on the Women’s events to ascertain if the Japanese women will be able to maintain their primacy, or, if that position will finally be threatened as well.
The tournament culminates on Sunday the 30th. Perhaps the most highly anticipated WKCs ever, the entire kendo community looks on to this year’s Men’s Team Championships to see the spectacle of Japan fighting for the first time as a challenger, against a Korean team which is no doubt ready to defend their title, and the United States team, working harder than ever, with the intention of not losing another match. Not limited to these teams, the increase in experience and skill in many of the power-house teams, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Chinese Taipei and so forth, will make this tournament the toughest ever, with yet further upsets and emergence of new leaders a very real possibility.
The WKCs has finally become a true international event in which no country can claim total domination. One may hear some poorly conceived talk about faltering leadership of Japanese kendo, or the emergence of other leadership as a result of winning this or that tournament, but we should consider that in the end, kendo wins, we all do. The efforts of all the individual competitors, their combined struggle as teams, the combination of both men and women striving to improve themselves, all based on the precepts of traditional Japanese kendo: to respect each other, to seek self-improvement, to become a positive force in the society, these things will surely contribute to a better world.
Let’s watch the spectacle unfold, and wish each competitor and team the best of good fortune. Let the best man, and best woman prevail.
The Men's individual results:
1st Teramoto
2nd Park
3rd Kim / Choi
Teams Results:
Womens-
1st Japan
2nd Korea
3rd Brazil and USA
Mens-
Semi-Finals:
Japan beats Korea 2-1-2
USA beats Brazil 4-1-0
Finals:
Japan beats USA 4-1.
We are working on video now, which we hope to have up in the next few hours.
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