It was a slightly chilly Oct 12st morning when dojos from Sugito and its surrounding cities of Miyashiro and Satte all met at the Sugito Takanodai Elementary School for the Sugito Taikai. The gym wasn't very big, but it still held four rings and seating for families and friends. The holding ring, though, had to be put in the hall and that's where most people stayed to warm up.
But with around 400 competitors, 4 rings were quite enough. The morning started off with kata, and in my division my Chinto faced off with Zenshinkan Dojo's Sawai-san's Kankudai. I was beaten and I sort of regret not watching his kata while I waited since the kata he did in his matches afterward were all rather good.
Owing to the smoothness of the matches, lunch time hit well before 12 and it was decided that we would reconvene anyway at 1, giving us nearly an hour and a half to eat, practice, and generally make friends.
The afternoon was all kumite where my adult division's original 5 entrants was down to 4 because one hadn't shown up. I felt a bit more nervousness this time around compared to the Tobu taikai and though I was aware of how I was moving, I really couldn't help myself. I didn't win that match either so more practice is it then.
But results aside, it really was a great tournament because of the fact that it's people from near where Shiramizu is. More families (as well as more Shiramizu competitors) meant more time to meet people. And this closeness means there are people I'm likely to run into during my time here. Indeed, I ran into Sawai-san again just two days ago in a bookstore. So fun all around, but it's back to the grind stone as I only have one week left until the Tokyo Kita-ku (North Area) Taikai on November 3rd.
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