Golden Week and Shorinji Kempo

Budoukan (?) at Kudanshita Eki (九段下駅) near the Yasukuni Shrine, where many martial arts tournaments are held. The banner says (roughly) the 45th Shorinji Kempo Kantou College Student Tournament/Convention. We (Jeannette and I) came to watch our team members!



First impression coming in. It was huge!



Closer look. Each box was separate and groups would come in and sit down on the side lines. These are choreographed performances/movements (rather than straight out sparring) therefore they are graded on form and accuracy and such. It went from pairs to groups of three and four and six, either all girls or all boys or mixed pairs.



Some cool flipping going on.



More groups.



After everyone in the group performs, they line up and do a rei or a gesture of respect/thank you facing the judges first and then once again facing the opposite side. Then they leave the floor in their lines. They did this after coming in as well.



Rei.



These are our actual team members!! Jeannette and I didn't realize that two groups from our school were going at the same time but luckily the other pair was right next to the one we focused on so you can see both a guy pair and a girl pair going at it!



After everyone went, they all gathered on the floor to hear who won.



The Judges.

There was actual sparring too but I think only the main representatives from each college fought. Our captain won against his opponents and went to the final match! I'm still not sure if he won or not but it was cool anyhow.



So for the rest of Golden Week (which is a series of 4 national holidays that fall consecutively) (and it was just our luck that the year we're here, two of them fell on Saturday and Sunday so we really only got Monday and Tuesday off from school...) (the Taikai (大会) / Tournament was on Sunday) the Shorinji Kempo club went "camping!"



Taking the subway to the western outskirts of Tokyo ... prefecture? city? some other term that is a subset of prefecture yet larger than a city? Some new friends from the club!



The other side. Poor guy was just trying to catch some Z's in the midst of our game of cards and got woken up several times just because I wanted a picture...



It was cloudy and a bit cold that day. The view from the train on the way there.



Camp! River! Very cold water!



Lovely bridge from afar on the other side



Very.. scary.. wobbly.. string for rails.. bridge close by....



The sign to the side is a warning saying that more than two people on the bridge at once is dangerous... -_- it was quite scary.



Slowly getting in... getting wet... persuading others to come in...



Got everyone in and then having a right of passage to the brotherhood by dunking all the 1st year boys... poor them... the water was freezing!



Me and Jeannette! (Happily not wet :)



Making rice the real way! Food was yummmmy- we divided into groups who were in charge of different aspects of dinner. Jeannette and I were in the curry group so it wasn't much work other than watching someone cut meat, cook the meat in water, add vegetables, add curry blocks and... done. There was also yakiniku (grilled slices of beef with like a teriyaki like sauce), yakisoba (grilled noodles with vegetables and such... I guess the closest I can think of is lo mein), salad, dessert... it was quite a feast.



The weather the next day was so much nicer, it was sad going home and not being able to enjoy it. (The night was filled with drinking-but not as much as I feared/was warned of what all night drinking usually entails-, stressful ichigei -the showcasing of a special talent or skill which the 1st years and new exchange students were forced to do in front of everyone- and Mafia? I think I finally understood the game only after having played it for 2 or so hours (and it wasn't even my first time playing.... -_-) Lately Jeannette seems to have made it her personal goal to see just how slow Mia really is. It's quite sad.



Beautiful sunlight. There's something about trees and greenery here. It's just ... sooo green... and peaceful and soothing and beautiful and.. yea.



Me and Karin (?)



Waiting for the train to go back home. I thought it was interesting that after the platform it turns into one track! So then how do trains go both ways? O.O ..... Though I guess it makes sense since you always only see one track in all those documentaries and movies of the American West or Europe or what not...
-_- = Mia = slow.


And with that, I end here for today!