Ippon

Following the 15WKC referee’s seminar in Japan and the Paris Taikai and in preparation for the WKC, I am in the process of crystallising my thoughts on what is and what isn’t ippon. As with any other element of high level kendo, be it scoring the point yourself or validating the successful strike made by [...]

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The responsibilities of shinpan

I have reached an age where I am starting to get “kicked upstairs” to the role of shinpancho. Having just fulfilled that position at last weekend’s Bowden and Premier Cup competitions, it was interesting to take a “bird’s eye view of the refereeing on several courts and to realise what a difficult and thankless job [...]

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Three things that I didn’t know about kendo shiai

I spent last weekend in Brussels for the European Referees Seminar. This event is always a good opportunity to catch-up with old kendo friends from across the European Zone and to practise refereeing in a more analytical way than is possible at “live” events. This year the seminar was led by Matsunaga sensei supported by Nishide and Nakata sensei. [...]

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British Universities Taikai

I was lucky enough to be invited as shinpan-cho for the British Universities Kendo Championship in Edinburgh at the weekend. In the past, the British Kendo Association has shipped in senior kendoka to act as referees for major takai. Now in these more austere times, they are rationing the number of people that they will [...]

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