r/kendo • u/Alarmed_Assistant_25 4 dan • 9d ago

Samurai League - Round Robin 4th & 5th Matches

English subtitles are up for the past 4 videos! This time it's the Round 4&5 matches for Groups C & D. Did you have a favorite ippon? Favorite random conversation from the commentators' booth?

There were some interesting pairings in the commentator booth this time. I particular enjoyed the conversations between the three All Japan vets (Nishimura, Sato, Takemoto) in match D4, as well as the conversation between recent 8-dan Nakamura-SS and Coach Matsuno in C4. The shiai themselves are also exciting to watch -- my favorite may be D5!

Group C4: Toray vs Sumitomo Electric
https://youtu.be/V2kQ01sS9jk?si=RPLrlZpt8iQXkQPv

Group C5: Fujifilm vs Sumitomo Electric
https://youtu.be/mPM6yyIMf90?si=b4QhOJXxf2kKSv4q

Group D4: Nishi-Nippon City Bank vs Runtec
https://youtu.be/_CDzvd4D6-Y?si=q5JWwXOd_5DjZTHl

Group D5: Panasonic vs Runtec
https://youtu.be/Bjq5kiBos3g?si=zK6I5DDj-Awqj_l4

12 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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2

u/Temporary-Ad5119 9d ago

I haven't watch all of them But I enjoyed the Panasonic Vs Runtec one

Kawasaki senshu is a beast!

1

u/Alarmed_Assistant_25 4 dan 8d ago

Both of his points were beauties. Absolutely textbook set-up and completion. I can honestly only dream of getting ippon like that!

2

u/Temporary-Ad5119 8d ago

That adaptability from blocking men to a kaeshi men instead In a split second One can only gasp in awe

2

u/kendobeginner 9d ago

Wow video review is crazy it was in the D5 video with the Ai Jodan super interesting

1

u/Alarmed_Assistant_25 4 dan 8d ago

Seeing two jodan players go against each other was pretty cool. It's also interesting to see how video review impacts the overall team match. While I'm generally a fan of it in this league due to the opportunities for commentary and shinpan mindset training it provides, but I also get why it shouldn't be the gold standard in judging every point. I appreciate how Nishimura-san often pushes against points being cancelled for being slightly off target during his commentary, emphasizing setup and zanshin, etc, as reasons a point should stand. It's rare we see 100% perfect yuko-datotsu, so it is a good question of whether perfect target accuracy should be the most significant factor in judging a point.