{"id":2420,"date":"2014-05-18T19:56:51","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T10:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-05-18\/2420"},"modified":"2014-05-18T19:56:51","modified_gmt":"2014-05-18T10:56:51","slug":"my-first-look-at-kendo-masters-tournament-in-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-05-18\/2420","title":{"rendered":"My First Look at Kendo: Masters Tournament in Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 116mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nVanquished or Victor?<\/span>\nWith kendo<\/i>, you can't really tell\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The other day I attended some very high level kendo<\/i> (Japanese fencing) bouts, my first real exposure to it other than\nhaving seen a bit<\/span> six years ago during a visit<\/span> to a Japanese<\/span> high school<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Last week I posted a couple of lone photos here<\/a> and here<\/a>, but finally I'll\nactually write a bit<\/span> about the event.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2500 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRegistration Table<\/span>\nat the Kyubutokuden (\u65e7\u6b66\u5fb3\u6bbf), the oldest martial-arts arena in Japan\nKyoto, Japan\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The sign says something along the line that it's the 110th<\/sup> All Japan Kendo Martial-Arts Exhibition<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n

I live a short stroll from this place, so it's a shame<\/span> that it's taken me 10 years to make a visit.<\/span> I had no<\/span> idea what to expect, so I went<\/span> in gingerly\nand observed how others acted to determine what I could<\/span> do.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

There seemed to be two bouts going simultaneously, each with two practitioners facing off against each other and three judges in suits.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 1800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSingle Bout<\/span>\ntwo fighters, three judges\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Court-side are tatami areas for upcoming participants to get ready... kendo has quite the impressive uniform.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 102mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>25 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGetting Ready<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFace Off<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The armor flap in front shows their city and name.<\/p>\n\n

The bougu<\/i> protective uniform is quite impressive, with 100+ years\nof martial-arts tradition built on top of thousands of years of\nsamurai-warrior tradition. There's meaning in every little bit, as\nillustrated by the length of this introductory\ndescription<\/a>. Later I noticed<\/span> some stalls outside the venue selling sets of the “<\/span>armor”<\/span> part of\nthe uniform at prices ranging from $700 for a set,<\/span> to $10,000. I'm sure that<\/span>'s just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n\n

As for the sport itself, apparently they get points for making a strike<\/span>\nto certain areas of the other's armor, but only if done with sufficient\ncontrol so as to never let themselves be open to counterattack.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAttack<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Bouts last just a few minutes, and have a slow<\/span> highly-choreographed look\nfor the most part, except that it's punctuated at moments by short\nferociously-quick bursts of energy of movement.<\/p>\n\n

Everyone I saw was at a\nsufficiently high rank to be considered a master<\/span> of masters, yet some were\nstill so surprised and caught off guard by the sudden burst of energy from\ntheir opponent that their feet couldn't keep up with their body's retreat,\nleaving them sprawled on the ground.<\/p>\n\n

Even to someone like me who knew nothing,\nthis was amazing to see.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/1.8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNext Up<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Not only couldn't I tell who won each bout, I truly<\/span> couldn't tell\nwhether there was a winner<\/span> at all. According to the Wikipedia page on Kendo<\/a>\nthe referees have colored flags to match colored ribbons on the back of the\nfencers, but this was not the case here.<\/p>\n\n

I checked out the nameboard to find a hint,<\/span> but after a match<\/span> both names\ngot an unceremoniously final red “<\/span>X”<\/span>, and then they were slid off the end\nand removed from the display....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUpcoming Bouts<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

An interesting tidbit from the photo above is that the bout just completed is numbered 429. It was a<\/span> busy tournament.<\/p>\n\n

Also of note is that the referees are listed, each name given with the\nhonorific reserved for the highest kendo rank. If one devoted<\/span> oneself to\nkendo from childhood and advanced at the fastest rate possible, this\nhighest rank could be achieved no earlier than 54 years old. So we know<\/span>\nthat all the referees are older than 54, and are the highest masters of\nkendo.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBouts in Progress<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChanging of the Guard<\/span>\nso to speak\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Reasonable color balance was a challenge due to the wildly-different\nnature of the gymnasium artificial lighting from the shade flooding in from\nthe huge entrances in each wall. The color<\/span> in the shot two above is probably more realistic\nthan that of the shot immediately above, which is balanced more for the guy in the foreground.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>40 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 140mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWielding Two Swords<\/span>\napparently is okay\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChair and Vice Chair<\/span>\nof this year's exhibition\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

They had quite the good seats, but lucky for me they didn't occupy them most of the time I was<\/span> in a position<\/span> to get nice shots.<\/p>\n\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day I attended some very high level kendo (Japanese fencing) bouts, my first real exposure to it other than having seen a bit six years ago during a visit to a Japanese high school.<\/p>

Last week I posted a couple of lone photos here and here, but finally I'll actually write a bit about the event.<\/p>

The sign says something along the line that it's the 110th All Japan Kendo Martial-Arts Exhibition.<\/p>

I live a short stroll from this place, so it's a shame that it's taken me 10 years to make a visit. I had no idea [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,2,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}