2023 RKC Spring Championships

The RKC Dojo will hold its annual RKC Spring Championships on Saturday, 30 September 2023 at the Rivonia Sports Club (47 Achter Road, Paulhoff, Johannesburg, South Africa).

The Championship will consist of the following events:

1. Kendo Kids Non-Bogu Individual Competition

2. Kendo Kids Bogu Individual Competition

3. Non-Bogu Individual Competition

4. Open Women's Individual Competition

5. Mixed-3-person Team Competition

6. Limited Men's Individual Competition

The team events will be a MIXED-DOJO event so as to promote the spirit of friendship and co-operation amongst the members of the dojos! Once all competitors details have been received, the teams will be randomly selected.

• Open to children doing Kendo from aged 6- 12 year old.

• Kendo Kids not yet on bogu, or have oly been in bogu less than 3 months.

The competitors will perform the following exercises:

1. Hiya Suburi (20x for Pools; 30x (or more) in KO rounds)

2. Kirikieshi against motodachi.

3. Yakusoku Keiko (predetermined and continuous attacks) against Motodachi (1x in Pool Rounds, 2x in KO Rounds)

• men --> kote --> do --> kote-men --> men

Scoring:

• 3x Shimpan will score each match;

Score criteria (but adjusted to accommodate for the age of the competitors):

• Skill

• Stamina

• Fighting Spirit

NB: Speed is NOT a criteria and the competitors should be encouraged to focus on the above three criteria rather.

Staff Requirements:

• 3x Shimpan

• 1x Competition Referee (to control the matches)

• 2x Floor-managers to co-ordinate the fight schedule and necessary competitors around.

• 2x Mochidachi per match in full bogu

• The matches will be done in accordance with the FIK Shiai rules, AS WELL AS the temporary FIK rules that are in place due to the pandemic.

• Fights will be done as sanbon-shobu.

• ALL fights will be max. 2-mins long. Finals will be 3 mins.

• Shimpan will be from available and eligible members from all the dojos.

Additional Staff Requirements:

• 2x Scorekeeper

• 1x Time Keeper

• 1x Announcer

• 2x Floor-managers to co-ordinate the fight schedule and necessary competitors around.

• Age 12 and up;

• Has not been in bogu; or has only been in bogu for less than 3 months

• Motodachi’s in full bogu will be required. Each dojo will be required to supply at least 1 motodachi.

• 2 competitors will compete at the same time.

• Shimpan will be from the pool of participants who are ikkyu (1st Kyu) and up .

• The event will consist of a selection of tasks that must be undertaken by the individual .

1. Task 1 : Haya Suburi

• 20x for Pool Rounds, 30x (or more) for KO rounds.

• Task performance recommendation:

• Proper swinging of the shinai;

• Correct footwork;

• Co-ordination of sword work and and footwork.

2. Task 2: Kirikaeshi

• Must show correct KIRIKAESHI to the shimpan:

• 1 set will consist of 21x Cuts consisting of sho-men and sayu-men;

• Good kamae (stance & posture), correct striking technique (hasuji & tenouchi), footwork, distance & breathing;

• NO need to do tai-atari.

• The number of Kirikaeshi sets will be 1x during pool round, 2x during KO rounds, and 3x for Finals

3. Task 3: Renzuku Wazza

• Competitors must show their ability to perform continues cutting to the shimpan.

• Pool rounds will consist of 10x renzucho men against a motodachi;

• KO rounds will consist of 10x renzucho kote-men against a motodachi;

• FINAL rounds will consist of 10x kote-men-do against a motodachi;

4. Task 4: Uchikomi-Keiko (final round only)

• Competitors to perform a series of CORRECT attacks against motodachi, to which the motodachi will determine at random. Therefor the motodachi must know HOW to present the target areas properly and safely to the competitors.

• Only in the FINAL rounds will consist of 30 sec UCHI-KOMI KEIKO against a motodachi.

Scoring criteria:

• PRIMARY CRITERIA: Skill, Stamina & Spirit

• SECONDARY CRITERIA : Speed

• Competitors must have stamina to complete the task with correct skill and good spirit! Speed is a secondary criteria, PROVIDED it does not distort the techniques.

Staff Requirements:

• 3x Shimpan per match (to be rotated with available shimpan on the day)

• 2x Scorekeeper

• 1 x Time keeper

• 1x Competition Referee (to control the matches)

• 2x Floor-managers to co-ordinate the fight schedule and necessary competitors around.

• 4x Mochidachi (2 per team competing).

• The matches will be done in accordance with the FIK Shiai rules, AS WELL AS the temporary FIK rules that are in place due to the pandemic.

• Fights will be done as sanbon-shobu.

• ALL fights will be max. 3-mins long. Finals will be 5 mins.

• Shimpan will be from available and eligible members from all the dojos.

Additional Staff Requirements:

• 2x Scorekeeper

• 1x Time Keeper

• 1x Announcer

• 2x Floor-managers to co-ordinate the fight schedule and necessary competitors around.

• Team of 3 members (Dantai-shiai). Teams will be “randomised” prior to the event and could comprise of a mixture of members from each dojo.

• Each team will could only consist only of 1x  4th or 5th dan member.  The rest of the team will be randomly selected.

• Maximum of a 5-dan-total by all members; Minimum of 2 members; No age limit; lowest grade of team will fight CHUKEN position.

• The matches will be done in accordance with the FIK Shiai rules, AS WELL AS the temporary FIK rules that are in place due to the pandemic.

• Fights will be done as sanbon-shobu.

• ALL fights will be max. 3-mins long. Finals will be 5 mins.

• Matches are decided number of fights won then number of ippons scored If there is still a tie, matches will then be determined by ippon-shobu by the Daihyosha (team representative).

• Shimpan will be from available and eligible members from all the dojos.

Additional Staff Requirements:

• 2x Scorekeeper

• 1x Time Keeper

• 1x Announcer

• 2x Floor-managers to co-ordinate the fight schedule and necessary competitors around.

• The matches will be done in accordance with the FIK Shiai rules, AS WELL AS the temporary FIK rules that are in place due to the pandemic.

• Fights will be done as sanbon-shobu.

• ALL fights will be max. 3-mins long. Finals will be 5 mins.

• Shimpan will be from available and eligible members from all the dojos.

• A maximum of 3 Men per dojo may be registered for this competition. However, only the 1st two fighters will be guaranteed to fight. The 3rd person MAY fight (depending on number of entries)

• DOJO's are to select their fighters by the FINAL REGISTRATION date of 22 September 2023!

Additional Staff Requirements:

• 2x Scorekeeper

• 1x Time Keeper

• 1x Announcer

• 2x Floor-managers to co-ordinate the fight schedule and necessary competitors around.

7h00 - Hall Preparation

7h30 - Registration Opens

8h15 - Opening Ceremony + Group Warm up

8h30 – Non-Bogu Individual Competition STARTS (50 mins)

9h20 - Open WOMENS's Individuals Competition STARTS (45 mins)

10h05 - Limited MEN's Individuals Competition STARTS (85 mins)

11h30 - Kendo Kids Non-Bogu Individual Competitions START (30 mins)

12h00 - Kendo Kids Bogu Individual Competitions START (20 mins)

12h20 - SA JODO TEAM DEMOSTRATION (10 mins)

12h30 - Kendo Kids + Other Awards Ceremony

13h00 – Mixed-3-person Team Competition STARTS (177 mins)

15h50 - Awards & Closing Ceremony

16h00 – Drinks and social

• DOJO’s TO BRING THEIR CLUB BANNERS, SHIMPAN FLAGS & RIBBONS;

• FOOD & DRINKS Available at the RSC Bar & Kitchen! Please support them!

• Cool Kendo Stuff for sale on the day! (Credit Card facilities available!)

• COVID-19 seems to be gone, but let’s still practise good hygiene habits!

• Submit PROVISIONAL competitors details by no later than Friday, 15 SEP 2023.

• Submit FINAL competitors details by Friday, 22 SEP 2023.

• TEAM DRAWS to take place on Monday, 25 SEP 2023!

• HAVE LOTSA FUN!

Many thanks to our sponsors this year who have donated products, services and prizes for the championships! Our sponsors:

--> Defence Unlimited: https://www.defence-unlimited.com/

Well done to all 55 participants from the various dojo's who took part in the 2023 RKC Spring Championships! Congratulations to all the medal winners! Here is a summary of the medal winners on the day:

1. Kendo Kids Non-Bogu Individual Competition

• Gold Medal (1st Place) = Timaya Abiola (San Kawa Dojo, Age 9, 6th Kyu)

• Silver Medal (2nd Place) = Yunting Chen (RKC Dojo, Age 10, No Kyu)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Sebastian Weng (RKC Dojo, Age 8, 7th Kyu)

• Fighting Spirit = Francois Engelbrecht (San Kawa Dojo, Age 11, No Kyu)

2. Kendo Kids Bogu Individual Competition

• Gold Medal (1st Place) = Caden Howell (RKC Dojo, Age 11, 2nd Kyu)

• Silver Medal (2nd Place) = Lisy Rasoamahenina (RKC Dojo, Age 10, 4th Kyu)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Jamie Lewis (RKC Dojo, Age 11, 3rd Kyu)

3. Non-Bogu Individual Competition

• Gold Medal (1st Place) = Gabriel Munks (RKC Dojo)

• Silver Medal (2nd Place) = Lear Pather (RKC Dojo)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Justin Chiang (Mushin Dojo) & Joseph Pandaram (RKC Dojo)

• Fighting Spirit = Lizena Ellerback (Mushin Dojo)

4. Open Women's Individual Competition

• Gold Medal (1st Place) = Divana Aura Naidoo (RKC Dojo)

• Silver Medal (2nd Place) = Wendy Vermeulen (Shihoko Dojo)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Shakti Daly (RKC Dojo) & Erika Wolfaardt (Mushin Dojo)

• Fighting Spirit = Yolandi Miller (Shihoko Dojo)

5. Limited Men's Individual Competition

• Gold Medal (1st Place) = Sanehika Mamada (Japanese Embassy)

• Silver Medal (2nd Place) = Brandon-Lee Coskey (San Kawa Dojo)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Phillip Steyn (San Kawa Dojo) & Anesu Shamu (Mushin Dojo)

• Fighting Spirit = Xander Warricker (San Kawa Dojo)

6. Mixed-Dojo-3-Person Team Competition

• Gold Medal (1st Place) = Terry Chau (RKC Dojo), Thabiso Mabokela (IBY Dojo), Matthew Michel (RKC Dojo)

• Silver Medal (2nd Place) = Mitchell Kyle (Shihoko Dojo), Ashton Atkinson (RKC Dojo), Denique Schreiber (Shihoko Dojo)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Warren Ho (RKC Dojo), Xander Warricker (San Kawa Dojo), Callum Kennedy (IBY)

• Bronze Medal (3rd Place) = Divana Aura Naidoo (RKC Dojo), Kudjo Witbooi (MIDRAND), Mike Kazadi (Shihoko)

• Fighting Spirit = Sayuri Ramjattan (RKC Dojo), Somaria Ramjattan (RKC Dojo), Xander Warricker (San Kawa Dojo)

THANK YOU & SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

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The Ryū Ken Chi (RKC) Dojo train the traditional Japanese martial arts of Kendo and Iaido (sword-based martial arts), as well as Jodo (the art of the short staff), that encourages the cultivation of the human character.

Kendo Kid is also available for children aged 6-11 years old.

RKC DOJO has 2 training venues within Johannesburg - RIVONIA and OBSERVATORY. Online training is also available.

Please follow us on our various social media platforms:

Website: www.rkcdojo.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RKCDojo

Instagram: @rkc_dojo

TikTok: @rkcdojo

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/RivoniaKendoClub

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/rkcdojo

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