Shorinji Kempo Tournament

How cute is the little photo-ham on the left???

I think I'm addicted to Japanese martial arts. Why else would I spend twelve hours of a warm, sunny, lovely summer day inside an unairconditioned, smelly budokan?

Yes, I watched yet another all-day Shorinji tournament. This one took place last Sunday in Nomura-cho. I cheered the Ikata children's team as they went on to victory (they made it to the final rounds). Although we were out-sized and under-manned (you should've seen how big the kids on that other team were!) the children showed tremendous fighting spirit. In the final sparring match the 6th grader injured his foot while executing a rear-leg kick and had to limp off the floor after which he was promptly bandaged and splinted. The 4th grader got a bloody lip and nose. Just when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse a 1st grader was paired up to fight a 4th grader (I couldn't believe it). The little girl got wholloped in the face before our sensei finally ceded the match to the other team. It was the right thing to do, for sure. I'm proud to report that almost every member of our team went on to win a medal during the awards ceremny.

Hurray for team Ikata!!!

Can you see how much bigger the other kids are?