My First Shiai

[CauseImSmaller]

Well, last Saturday, I had my first shiai at the UofT annual tournament. I was a little unsure if I should have joined being in Bogu for just under half a year and my Kendo isn't exactly 'good'. Started at 10 o'clock, got our shinai's weighed and everything, Then there was a bunch of confusion for me as I lost my club members amongst the crowd of Kendoka. I missed warm ups cause I couldn't find my team (lost sheep mode).

I had no idea where I was suppose to be going but eventually found my way to the court with my number and one on my senpai there. I won my first match and lost my second match by a point (I got a point off a men, and she got 2 kote's on me). There wasn't a video for it though since my senpai went to his match after recording my first one.

My opponent was late and the lead shimpan was new I think so he had to keep referring to the other guy.

My First Match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdCxnBImQrE

Being a mundansha from a small club I was also part of the team matches. That didn't last long :P I was nervous and forgot to step in before bowing :S

My team match (hehe, not pretty):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX5mFPyNgpA

I had a great time though I was lost for a large portion of it. Forgot to thank the second person I faced for a match too. I couldn't find them again after wards.

All and all I had a great time, it was a great experience and I recommend any beginner to join even if they are unsure, it's a good learning experience.

Just wondering how other people felt during their first shiai. Share your experience

[krys]

What are these white things on tare flaps?

[dillon]

Stickers with player's number maybe?

[Dervish]

What are these white things on tare flaps?

They're most likely a "code" assigned to each player. A 2 letter abbreviation for the dojo, followed by a dash, followed by a 2 digit number. Head Sensei or highest ranking member of the dojo to complete would get #1, and so on.

I remember getting KS-25 during my first taikai.

[CauseImSmaller]

They are identification tags to tell you where your next match was. Usually its a letter and a number and you would look at the charts at each court which had a tournament style bracket with these ID's on it.

For us we had:
A - Mudansha
B - Shodan and Nidan
C - Sandan and up
W - Women's Division

And the numbers just represented how many people were at the tournie for this particular tournie anyways.