Tips for first competition.

[Exia00]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering what are your thoughts for entering into your first competition. I'm going to be participating in NSW State champs.

And as far as I know, Shiai is a lot different to jigeiko.
And is there anything that I should know etiquette wise before going into the competition? haha. Just to make sure that I don't embarass my dojo.

[Raindrop]

Well, I'm not very experienced, so far I've only done 2 shiai and I'm still an utter noob (7 months in bogu - of which 3 out with an injury). ^_^; but maybe it might give you some idea if I tell you how I experienced it...

Ettiquette, well it's not unlike in the dojo. Don't chat during other people's matches, don't walk in front of people unless you hold out your hand. Make sure you know where (what are the fields called anyways?) your match is and when so they don't have to wait for you (I'm sure your dojo mates will help with that). Other than that, I dunno. You step in, bow, then go 3 steps, do sankyo and hajime! ^_^; (at least that's how I remember it, lol my tournaments were over rather fast ;) )

I don't think you will embaress your dojo. It's your first shiai, so noone will hold anything against you. Just do your best, that's all you need to do. :) It doesn't matter if you win or lose, or like me, receive two ippons on your men in the first 20 seconds of a match (lol), all that matters is that you go out there and do your own kendo. (that's sort of the peptalk I got from sempais before my first shiai ;) )

Other than that I have not much advice to give because I have lost all my matches so far and during shiai my form isn't good enough yet to score proper ippons - I'm working on that ^_^. All I can say is go out there and enjoy yourself! Doing shiai is such a great opportunity to learn! :)

[Exia00]

Thanks for the reply. haha

I forgot about holding out your hand when walking in front of people. The club mentioned that the previous competition that I missed so yeah.
I'm not expecting to win. haha, I'm just competing for the experience. And there's jigeiko afterwards when everyone is finished, so I'll be looking forward to that. =D

My kendo is still pretty sloppy after going into bogu. Just gotta do my best ^_^ (avoided using "try" after seeing your sig. haha)

[atgm]

Sonkyo properly. Practice a lot beforehand if you can't do it well.

Remember to sonkyo, take five small steps back, and bow again when the match ends. One of the kids got chided for forgetting that at the end of his match at the tournament I went to last weekend; he was really upset over losing.

Don't get upset. Have fun.

Edit: It's not just holding out your hand, but I doubt anyone will really care if you're doing it "right" if you're not in Japan.

[Massimo]

I did not so many competitions... but I can tell you that, for my little experience, the worst thing to do in your first shiai is to get too excited about your performance. You have to stay calm...

[Raindrop]

Edit: It's not just holding out your hand, but I doubt anyone will really care if you're doing it "right" if you're not in Japan.

You mean sort of with a flat hand like a robot (which you can't see if you wear kote) pointing forward? Or is there even more stuff to consider? Just wanna know in case I ever get the chance to do kendo in Japan ^_^

Oh and I dunno if you have shiai helpers who tie the red or white ribbons to your back or if you have to do it yourself like it is over here. Just make sure you have the colour you are assigned tied on before going to sonkyo. We had some people at the national champs who forgot that.

[atgm]

You mean sort of with a flat hand like a robot (which you can't see if you wear kote) pointing forward? Or is there even more stuff to consider? Just wanna know in case I ever get the chance to do kendo in Japan ^_^

It's supposed to be at about a 45 degree angle, then chop down to a 0, repeating the chopping motion briskly as you pass in front of people. It's a part of the culture; people do it when they pass in front of or between other people, usually bowing as they do it. Sometimes you see people doing it as they rush through train stations.

I don't know about kendo in particular, but in general, it's definitely a guy thing as opposed to an everybody thing.


Just make sure you have the colour you are assigned tied on before going to sonkyo.

The tournament had two girls in white keikogi and hakama wearing white flags. Nobody noticed until the first point; that was a real confusing moment.

[Fuzzy]

Hi,

Im certainly not talking as someone with alot of experience, but I fought for the first time at Mumeishi 3's in the UK last weekend.
The biggest shocker for me was the style of kendo, full on, insane ammounts of Kiai and the fact that there are so many people watching.
Thoughts of "hows my posture?, Hows my kamae?, how loud do need to get?, how badly am i about to get creamed? does my bum look big in this? should i have worn the red tenugui? all happened in the first .34 milliseconds after sonkyo, then I just got stuck in.

I gotta say, was one of the best weekends of my life.

enjoy yourself and im sure youll feel the same afterwards

Fuzzy

[kensenbatusaii]

arrive early if you can

and warm up with the rest

and treat it like another jigeiko

only a lot more formal

and always listen to what your taisho says!!

[Manuka]

Maintain good chudan, do not let your kissaki get out of center, until you attack.
In other words, if your opponent scores ippon it is because they earned it, not you gave it to them.

[Gideon]

Have fun, big spirit, stay in bounds.

Good luck!

[Martino]

1) Have Fun
2) Cut, Kiai, follow through
3) Have Fun
4) Try and implement what you have been taught.
5) Have Fun

Its a totally different environment. (Just remember its the same for the other guy)

[Tsunemori]

and treat it like another jigeiko
I try to live by the words: Treat jigeiko like shiai, treat shiai like jigeiko. As in, you should be really serious and have that mentality of "get that last ippon" during jigeiko, and be relaxed during shiai like you've done it a million times before.

[ace]

i think jigeiko and shia are a bit differnt in jigeiko your trying to use the waza you have learned and trying to perfect it,also your not worrying about geting scored on.
but in shia i only use waza i know i can score and you are trying not to get scored on,so a bit differnt.
just remember to kiai nothing worse then when both people come out of sonkyo and just stand there dead quite.

[JaL]

Exia00
O! It's a really good topic.

In kendo I've had only one competition. It was a month ago.
So, I found out that if you had another big starts in your life (does not matter in what kined of sports) it whould help a lot.

My advice is do your work and get experience. For us (beginers) it's important.
And as the tennis player I know that it is important to practice "instinct of killer". Maybe sounds too hard but it helped me for many years.

!!OH!!! I forget
After your competition it's very usefull make some notes, analise yourself

[Raindrop]

Oh and another thing that I thought of, it might not be Kendo-related per se, but bring some food, be it a bag of cookies or some dried prunes or whatever, cause after shiai everyone has the hunger of a grizzly bear and handing out some munchables is a great way to make new friends :D (I dunno how old you are so I'm not gonna suggest a trip to the local pub which also works wonders in Kendo I've heard ;) )

[JaL]

Raindrop

))) You're genius!

A competition is a good place for making friends)
Especially it is really cool when your friends from other cities or even countries)

[hugo]

Don't do anything different than what you normally do. (Other than perhaps up the energy level.) If you start seeing other people doing fancy trick waza, or you see someone trying to strike RIGHT out of sonkyo (a classic mudansha tournament example) don't do any of it. A tournament isn't the time to try new things. A tournament is a chance to see which things that you are already doing actually work for you and where you can improve.
That being said, give them everything you've got.

[foundinsea]

Just learn the rules for shiai. There are handbooks around (sorry, no links cause I can't remember off hand).

If it's your first competition just have fun with it. The more relaxed you are the better you'll do. Your club and sensei aren't expecting you to be the AJKF champion here. Learn from your mistakes and don't be disheartened by them.

Be gracious in defeat and humble in victory. Basically just treat the shiai as if doing keiko with a friend that you really, really, really want to beat. hehe. Afterall, we're all just one big kendo extended family :)

OH...and make sure all your himo are tied nice and tight and that the men himo are strung nicely (not bends along the men) across the men. Keep your gi tucked in and your hakama off the floor. Appearance means just as much as doing well in shiai. Check your shinai in between matches and never ever touch your shinai "blade" while in the court. Whatever problems you may have raise your hand to get the attention of the judge and ask him/her to check. Wait for them to motion you to repair or adjust whatever needs it.

And kiai even louder when you hit hiki-anything - claim the point...hehe...well that's what one sensei told me to do.

[Maku-san]

Wow... good advice all around! ***APPLAUSE*** :smiley:

It's best to remember that Kendo is NOT about winning or losing. It's about LEARNING. Everybody learns from everybody, from the most senior sensei to the rankest beginner.

--So sez my "most senior sensei". :D

Make the most of your learning experience, EVERYDAY! :D

[Fass]

If you get the chance, try filming yourself in shiai. It's a great way to then go back, analyze the tape, see your mistakes and see how your technique looks from the outside. I can tell you it's been a real help for me, as I've been able to see why, for example, I didn't get an ippon which I was sure I should have gotten or to see how my kamae is looking and how my kiai sounds. So, all in all, it's a great way to learn and to improve :D

edit: well, you can't actually film YOURSELF xD but get someone to film you... you get the idea xD

[rfoxmich]

The nice thing about shiai is that the strategy is simple...Just win.

[Gideon]

Just learn the rules for shiai. There are handbooks around (sorry, no links cause I can't remember off hand).

If it's your first competition just have fun with it. The more relaxed you are the better you'll do. Your club and sensei aren't expecting you to be the AJKF champion here. Learn from your mistakes and don't be disheartened by them.

Be gracious in defeat and humble in victory. Basically just treat the shiai as if doing keiko with a friend that you really, really, really want to beat. hehe. Afterall, we're all just one big kendo extended family :)

OH...and make sure all your himo are tied nice and tight and that the men himo are strung nicely (not bends along the men) across the men. Keep your gi tucked in and your hakama off the floor. Appearance means just as much as doing well in shiai. Check your shinai in between matches and never ever touch your shinai "blade" while in the court. Whatever problems you may have raise your hand to get the attention of the judge and ask him/her to check. Wait for them to motion you to repair or adjust whatever needs it.

And kiai even louder when you hit hiki-anything - claim the point...hehe...well that's what one sensei told me to do.


Seriously though, regardless of everything that's been said, whatever you do, DON'T, under ANY circumstance...

[Jung_Yul]

Seriously though, regardless of everything that's been said, whatever you do, DON'T, under ANY circumstance...

I see we have an "Ocean's Eleven" fan here. ^_^

[Thunder]

I think the thing to remember is to calm down.
You remain really calm throughout most of the day but when the court proctor says "your next..get ready"....Your heart starts to beat quickly and the nerves strike. Its ok, it happens to everyone.

Some of the advice my sensei gave me.
KIAI!!! Raise your spirit, overcome their spirit.
Strong Kamae!
Take a nudge step towards them after "Hajimae!" - see how they react.

Remember that your "mindset" should be that its a fight to the death, so don't let down your guard-- they will "kill you". Too often people think about the geiko they do with their dojomates - they relax after a men strike or don't turn around with conviction and readiness.

There were a lot of points made in the nationals from people hitting men...running through turning around and BLAM!!! they were chased down and not ready for their opponent to be right behind them. I scored a few points chasing down a hikimen across the court. Don't let up your focus--chase them down-- its a fight to the death!

If only one thing. Keep your KI raised-- KIAI -- Don't let it down, its only 4 minutes of your life...you can rest later.

[Atomu]

Never get out of the shiaijo before the finish of the combat. If you or the other kenshi must fix the bogu, or the shimpan must deliberate, retreat and wait in sonkyo, but without crossing the line out.

[Cutie_honey]

It looks like the OP had her or his first competition already
http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19802

[Exia00]

It looks like the OP had her or his first competition already
http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19802
Yeah I have, Thanks for all the generous tips everybody. Lets just keep this thread flowing for people new to shiai shall we? =D

One thing that I did after my matches, was go up to the person I shiai'd with and shake hands with them as a token of good sportsmanship (or punch each other's kote, which ever floats your boat).

[Mihoshi]

Get ready to lose. :D

First time at a shiai, there will be someone stronger than you, no matter how good your kiai, no matter how awesome your timing, no matter how much Musashi you channel during practice, you will loose. It's not a big deal, really. I remeber how I felt at first: disappointed in myself, because I thought I would perform better and because I felt like I'd let the other members of my team (the C team for my dojo at the time, mind you) down, but also genuinely exhilarated at the possibilities. I went over my fights in my mind, started making a list of things I wanted to back to practice and work on, and watching some of the high ranking finals? Was incredibly amazing.

I know I'm not the only person who can get unwillingly and almost unconsciously competitive while fighting, and it can be a great asset, but it can work against you at first. All anyone should expect of your first tournament (including yourself) is that you gain experience. Like the partially trained swimmer than gets tossed into the deep end of the pool by the masochistic swimming instructor, nobody expects you to starting doing laps around the pool. :tongue: