This weekend Naoki and Jon visited Sweden for the Stockholm Kendo Open 2009. Jon came second place in his pool drawing with Henrik Johansson of the Swedish National Team and beating a Player from Finland 2 - 0. In the knockout competition Jon finally lost in Encho (extra time) by 1 point after a close match and draw to a Player from Upsalla Sweden. Congratulations to Naoki who came first place winning Gold for Tora Dojo! Naoki beat Swedish National Team Captain Henrik Johansson in the Final 1 - 0! Video of Naoki's Final can be seen below.

Posted @ 14:47:07 on 18 October 2009  back to top

This weekend Jon visited Milan Italy to join the 2009 Coppa Italia (Italian Kendo Cup). Jon along with Young Park of Nenriki Dojo formed the Tora Team and also enlisted the help of a local Italian Kyu grade. The competition included 55 teams, and had over 100 players in the Dan individual tournament. Teams came from all over Europe, from France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Britain, Hungary, Greece, and Holland. Most of the Teams included players from European National Teams.

After a great tournament Jon and Young reached the Quarter Final (best 8 of 55 teams) finally losing 2-1 to the Dutch National Team who ranked 3rd overall.

The team event was won by Italian National Team members from Kodokan Alessandria, after a thrilling final against St Ettienne of France which consisted of players from both the French National Team and Junior Team. 

Results:

Teams:

1st Place - Kodokan Alessandria (Francesco Mandia, Drago, Fabrizio Mandia) 

2nd Place - St Ettienne (Pons, Ranchon, Blanchard)

3rd Place - Verona

3rd Place - Amsterdam Holland (Wouters, Smout, Maennert)

This weekend Tora Dojo is 1 year old! To celebrate the start of Tora dojo a friendly tournament was held during sunday practice, and members enjoyed a meal afterwards in a local Korean restaurant. We look forward next year to an even bigger celebration, and for many more years to come! 

This weekend members of Tora Dojo held a weekend training camp in Royal Holloway University sports centre. The camp included camping as a team, group cooking, as well as excercise sessions and various kendo training drills in the Dojo. It was a great weekend that let everyone share a nice weekend of kendo training and team building. The camp also allowed members to socialise outside of training, in a fun and friendly enviroment, an aspect of the club that is very important both to the coaching team and the members.

Congratulations to Cho Sensei, Jon, and all the British Team at a great performance at the 14th World Kendo Championships Sao Paulo Brazil.

Team GB came first place in their pool beating both Malaysia (5-0) and Holland (3-2). They then progressed to the knock out championship (last 16 in the world) where they faced World Silver medalists USA. Team GB fought exceptionally well showing good kendo and giving brilliant spirit, losing 3-1 to the Americans. The match saw Jon draw nil nil with American player Kevin Huh, and Stuart Gibson winning 2-1 against Marvin Kawabata. Stuart also recieved a fighting spirit trophy for his excellent performance.

In the Individual event Alan Thompson of Mumeishi Dojo reached the third round beating players from the Czech Republic and New Zealand, before losing to American player Danny Yang.

Team USA went on to rank second place in the Team event once again, repeating their strong record from the last WKC in Taipei in 2006. This championship also saw a thrilling semi final between Japan and Korea, Korea losing 2-1 to Japan.

Team results:

1st Place - Japan

2nd Place - USA

3rd Place - Korea

3rd Place - Brazil

Congratulations to Jon and Alan Thomspon for winning the Silver medal at the Northern Open Team Championship in Newcastle this weekend.

Jon, Alan, and Sarfraz Aziz from Mumeishi Dojo formed Great Britain Team B, losing the final to Great Britian Team A (Andy Fisher, Max Davies, Mark Halls).

Congratualtions also to Tora who reached the Quarter Final narrowly losing to Great Britain A after three draws and a very tense fight off match between Will Wright and Andy Fisher.

Tora Team was:

Dipak Choudhury

Adrian Jones

Will Wright

Congratulations to Will and Jon winning medals in the 4th Dan and above division of the British Open Kendo Championship.

Will Sensei win's the Senior Plate coming 1st place and Jon came 3rd Place losing to Will in the Semi Final.

Results as follows:

1st Place: Will Wright (Tora)

2nd Place: Alan Thompson (Mumeishi)

3rd Place: Jon Fitzgerald (Tora)

Fighting Spirit: Derek Jones (Mumeishi)

From June 18th - June 29th Jon visited Seoul South Korea for Kendo training in preperation for August's World Kendo Championships in Sao Paulo Brazil.

Jon practiced at Seoul National University, and Sungkyunkwan University Kumdo clubs. Sungkyunkwan is the Dojang of the current Korean National Coach Kim In Bum Sabumnim 7th Dan, and has many professional Kumdo student members as well as a current Korean National Team member Cho Jin Yong.

During his time in Korea Jon was also able to visit the Korean University Championships in Sunchang, to watch the tournament.

Many thanks to all our friends in Korea and to Cho Sensei's family for helping Jon during his time in Seoul.

This Weekend Tora Dojo competed in the British National Team Championships. Congratulations to Tora A Team who reached the quarter final and lost narrowly to Hizen Dojo.

Tora A Team members were:

Dipak Choudhury

Kane Shan

Abraham Christie

Stephane Helstroffer

Jon Fitzgerald - Captain

Yasuyuki Hiyama of Mumeishi Dojo London (Red) against Christian Fillipi of the Italian National Team (White) - Photo courtesy of Preveen Singh.

Following the success of last year the 2nd Annual London Cup Kendo Tournament was a tremendous event. Maintaining it's role as an open tournament to all grades and countries including male and female individual divisions as well as a 5 person Team event. Spread over three days the event attracted huge support and interest from all over Europe and the World. There were 32 Teams registered and over 200 participants from 19 different countries including: Korea, Japan, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, France, Montenegro, Greece, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, and New Zealand.

Many Teams also included National Team members who used the tournament for valuable experience leading up to 2009's World Championship in Brazil. The Italian, Swedish, French, Montenegro, Dutch, and British National Teams put in a particularly strong presence, and with such a diverse range of International opponents , its easy to see why National Teams and club level practioners alike were all thrilled to compete.

This year was also the first time that the tournament used a pool system in the Team event, which allowed for even more matches and opportunities for experience. We are pleased to report that the pools ran extremely smoothly, and brought a new dimension to the tournament that everyone enjoyed. They really helped to build on the friendly and goodwill elements of the tournament and developed a positive and exciting atmosphere.  

This years Cup yet again brought some fanastic Kendo to the Capital, and some of the highest quality Kenshi were on display for all to enjoy. We were also lucky enough to be joined yet again by Yanai Sensei, Holt Sensei, Davis Sensei, Howell Sensei, and Salmon Sensei who contributed greatly with the running of the courts.

We hope to build further upon this years success, and with the support of our friends, our wonderful Shinpan Cho, and our Sponsor Sankei International, to continue to make the London Cup one of the biggest events on the European Kendo Calendar.

This weekend Tora Dojo hosted a British National Ladies Team Squad practice. The number of ladies attending was high and along with the regular session everyone was able to enjoy a shared practice together during the ji-geiko.

Many thanks to the British Ladies Squad members for their hardwork and dedication, we look forward to welcoming them again.

This weekend 17 Kenshi from Hizen Dojo visited Tora for friendly competition practice. We hope that this is the first of many inter London club practices and the start of a new Shiai League. Not only do such visits give us a great chance to practice our competition skills, they also allow us to develop our links and friendship with other clubs in London.

Both Individual matches and a Team match was held. The individual matches were a draw with 7 wins to Hizen and 7 wins to Tora, and the Team match was a close victory to Hizen Dojo winning 4 points to 3 after a draw.

Many thanks to Satoshi Miyamura Sensei of Hizen Dojo for suggesting the visit and for bringing his members to our practice, we look forward to welcoming Hizen again soon.

Jon, Andy, and Matsumoto Sensei GB Team Coach

Congratulations to Jon and Andy for winning medals for Team GB in the French Open Paris! Jon won the Bronze medal in the 4th Dan and above division, losing to former European Champion Mr Sicart of the French National Team in the Semi final. Andrew Fisher also won the 3rd Dan Division! Andy, Jon, and Alan Thompson from Mumeishi also fought in the Team event the  following day where they reached the last 16 of the tournament. There were many National Teams present including the Swedish, Swiss, Dutch, and French National Team members and the level of the tournament was very high. We look forward to seeign our French friends in London this Summer at the London Cup.

Congratulations also to Henrik Johansson of the Swedish Team for ranking third in the 3rd Dan Division, and Jun Yamazaki of Sweden for winning Silver in the 4th Dan above Division.

Congratulations to Jon for winning the Bronze Medal in the A Class of the Sugo Cup Sweden this weekend! Jon defeated Swedish National Champion Bjorn Gustavsson 6th Dan in the Quarter Final and faced Norweigan National Captain Mr Andersson in the Semi Final, losing by one point in extra time (encho). Congratulations also to our friend Henrik Johansson for winning the Gold Medal, and Juan Sato for winning the Fighting Spirit Award!

Jon and Alex with their medals

This weekend Tora Dojo members Jon and Naoki joined Alex Heyworth from Mumeishi Dojo and formed "Team London" in the 22nd International Olten Cup Switzerland. The Team won Gold in the Team event and Alex and Jon won Gold and Silver in the Individual tournament. This is the second year in a row that London have won medals in the Olten Cup. Last year in 2007 Alan Thompson from Mumeishi, Jon, and Michio Wise from Oxford won the Silver medal in the Team event, with Alan winning Gold in the individual.

Full results:

Team -

1st Place - London (GB)

2nd Place - Stratsburg (France)

3rd Place - Doshinkan Allessandria (Italy)

3rd Place - Aarau (Switzerland)

Individual -

1st Place - Alex Heyworth (London - GB)

2nd Place - Jon Fitzgerald (London - GB)

3rd Place - Jean Paul Fournier (Strastburg - France)

3rd Place - Giovannitti Sabatino (Doshinkan Allessandria - Italy)

Tora Dojo at the Mumeishi 3 International Kendo Championship - London

This weekend Teams from Tora,UAK, and SOAS entered the Mumeishi 3 International Championship. Everyone fought very hard and had a great weekend, congratulations to Tora A who reached the Quarter Final (losing narrowly by one point in extra time to second place team UCL) and to Will who won a Fighting Spirit Medal.

Practice at Seoul National University Kumdo Dojang

In October Jon spent one month in Korea practing Kendo at various Korean Dojo in the Capital Seoul. Jon visited Yonsei University, Korea University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Shim Won High School, Seoul Metropolitan Police Dojang, and Bucheon Shi Chong Professional Kumdo Team. At the end of his trip Jon also joined the International Kendo Federations Asia Zone Shimpan (Referee) Seminar.

For more information on Jon's Kendo trip please visit his blog www.kendokorea.wordpress.com, or see his article on Online kendo magazine and Forum Kenshi247.net www.kenshi247.net.