Thursday, September 22, 2022
On Tuesday, September 20th, from 6pm, the Hokuryu Kendama Club (Representative: Naoki Kishi) held the "Hokuryu Kendama Club 1st Anniversary Tournament" in the large hall on the second floor of the Hokuryu Town Community Center.
Sixteen children (and two adults) from Hokuryu Town enthusiastically participated in the event, engaging in a heated tournament-style trick battle.
- 1 Hokuryu Kendama Club 1st Anniversary Tournament Poster
- 2 Greetings from Mr. Naoki Kishi, Representative (Hokuryu Town Board of Education)
- 3 Tournament-style trick battle
- 4 Congratulations!
- 5 Greetings from John and Kishi, the CEO
- 6 A gift from Representative Kishi
- 7 Everyone smiles for a snap!
- 8 YouTube videos
- 9 Other photos
- 10 Related articles
Hokuryu Kendama Club 1st Anniversary Tournament Poster
Greetings from Mr. Naoki Kishi, Representative (Hokuryu Town Board of Education)
To help you, we have internationally qualifiedAkamatsu John Masateru(Asahidama Kendama Team Representative, Asahikawa City), Instructor of the Japan Kendama AssociationDaisaku Hotta(Tomakomai City), Seisa International High School Asahikawa Campus Kendama Clubsoan(Asahikawa City) will be coming. I hope they will be able to ask me a variety of questions.
"First, we will draw lots for the tournament. Your opponents will be listed on the table at the back, so please check the names of your opponents," said representative Naoki Kishi.
Tournament-style trick battle
"Wow!" "Yeah!" Cheers erupt every time an opponent is announced!
Everyone is excited and thrilled!!!
The game has two team settings: "Dragon Level" and "Sunflower Level." Choose the team level that suits you best and enter to compete in a one-on-one tournament format.
Each team is assigned a set of 10 tricks. They draw a face-down card and perform the trick written on it once, continuing until one team succeeds and the other fails. The first team to win six tricks wins.
The lottery to select your opponent is exciting!!!
The tournament bracket is filling up
2 levels of tricks
Dragon Level
- Mokame 10 times
- baseball
- Tomeken
- airplane
- Small plates, large plates, and medium plates
- trapeze
- Travelling around Japan
- Large Plate ~ Lifting ~ Ken
- Large hand-held plate - Ken
- Hand-rested lighthouse squat
Sunflower Level
- Hand-held medium plate hop 3 times
- Medium plate
- candle
- Mokame 10 times
- baseball
- Tomeken
- Hanging ~ Applause ~ One-handed catch
- Small to large plates
- airplane
- Hand-rested lighthouse squat
Draw a trick card and play the event written on it
Divided into two groups and competed one-on-one
Players take on tricks with serious play!
With every play, John and Kissy's cheers echoed throughout the hall!
"Yessssss!" "Nice!"
"Slow down! Look carefully at the hole!"
"You'll definitely get in!" "Okay, keep it up!"
"Relax" "Enough already!"
The children cheered, "Go for it!"
"Yay!" the children shouted, clapping their friends' success as if it were their own!
A player seriously trying to perform tricks
Led by John's shouts...
Be careful and focus!
A trick battle between parents and children!
A serious battle with no winner!
As cheers rang out in the hall...
The results of the matches are displayed on the tournament table.
The children have improved far beyond imagination since a year ago, and are now performing a variety of tricks with flying colors!
I was impressed by their concentration, ability to learn techniques, and incredible sense of balance!!!
A serious and heated trick battle that continued for over two hours!
Congratulations!
The medals given to the top three players from each team shone brilliantly!!!
A shining prize medal!!!
Congratulations to the medalists in the Himawari Level Group!!!
Congratulations to the Dragon Level Group medalists!!!
Greetings from John and Kishi, the CEO
Akamatsu John Masateru
"Thank you everyone for your hard work! It's been a year already. Everyone has gotten so good. It's getting to the point where it's hard to beat.
After watching for a year, I have come to understand the techniques to land the moves in "Around Japan" with confidence. I hope that both the winning and losing children will continue to improve their level and put on an even more exciting match next time.
"Make good use of the little time you have by watching YouTube, listening to Kissy, and having fun practicing. Thank you for your hard work today," said JOHN.
Greetings from Naoki Kishi
"This club has been around for a year now, but we hope you will continue to hone your skills and work hard.We are also planning an event in December, so we would be happy if you could participate," said Representative Kishi.
"Yay!" the children cheered with joy.
A gift from Representative Kishi
At the end, Kishi-san handed out the participants' prizes of sweets, which had been carefully and cutely packaged, and everyone was smiling!
Free sweets with a "Thank you" message!
Everyone smiles for a snap!
Hokuryu Kendama Club is a place where adults and children come together to play seriously and have fun!
With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers, I would like to extend to the Hokuryu Kendama Club, where members train their core muscles, develop their sense of balance, concentration, and perseverance, and act energetically.
YouTube videos
Other photos
Related articles
◇ Photography and editing: Noboru Terauchi Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi
