Photo Courtesy of T. Patana, Kendo Photography Last weekend a couple of us headed over to Seattle for the 43rd Annual University of Washington Invitational Taikai (UW Taikai). We followed the normal routine of leaving Friday afternoon and training with our friends at Bellevue the night before. The dojo was packed for that practice, even though a handful of members were gone for the Jr. Nationals going on in Georgia that same weekend. I was able to do some practice, shiai practice and jigeiko with many, many people and ended the night tired and satisfied. Saturday morning we headed out to the tournament. Since there were only a couple of us we decided to forego the morning warm-ups, instead opting to warm up after lunch when our divisions were ready to go. After opening ceremonies we both reported to our respective courts. I was able to judge a LOT of matches that day, spanning the women's and 1-2 Dan division before being let go for lunch....
One man's Kendo journey