Kendo club breeds 'can-do' attitude

Two masked warriors stand facing each other, 20 yards apart. They bow, step 15 feet closer and bow again. Then, on the judge's command, the two warriors raise their wooden swords to do battle. While the casual observer might think Star Wars has gone old-fashioned, the martial art of Kendo was developed from warriors possibly a little older than Skywalker, the samurai. \nGraduate student Melissa Kocias is the president of IU's Kendo Club, and on Saturday, the club hosted their fourth Semi-Annual In-House Tournament at the the HPER. The tournament divided the club's 25 members into two divisions: advanced and beginner. And men and women fought each other Saturday afternoon for their respective division's crown in the spirit of the samurai.\n"Kendo is a Japanese martial art developed from the practices, philosophies and techniques of the Samurai," Kocias said. "Obviously, it's greatly modified today from what it was back in the day."\nPart of this modification comes from the equipment that the club members use. Instead of a bladed sword, club members use a sword called a "shinai," which is made out of bamboo and held together by leather. Members also wear traditional robes, helmets called "men," gloves called "kote" and body armor named "do." \nAlthough most participants in martial arts wear robes, kendo separates itself from other martial arts through it's fighting.\n"I don't think you can compare (Kendo) to any of them because it is so unique," Kocias said. "We don't hit with our hands, and we don't kick. There's really not a lot of grappling involved. It's all hitting with the sword."\nKocias defines Kendo as "the way of the sword." And participants have three ways to strike their opponent: on the head, torso or the wrist. While the two opponents are sparring, three judges observe the action. If two out of the three think the hit was successful in the respected area, a point is awarded, and earning two points wins during the five minute regulation period. If the regulation period ends in a tie, a sudden-death overtime decides the match.\nBut Kendo requires more than just the physical aspect of fighting. In addition to a successful strike, a fighter must also display "zanshin," which Kocias defines as multiple character traits combined into one.\n"(It's) ferocity, pride, confidence, spirituality and energy all rolled up into one," Kocias said. "So if all of those are in alignment a point is awarded."\nTwo of these judges are Hajime Sugawara and Tomoji Kubo. Sugawara, 33, has been participating in Kendo since he was six-years-old, and the six-time Midwest Kendo Champ founded IU's Kendo Club in 1998. Since then, Sugawara has seen membership reach an all time high in 2002, doubling since last year.\nSugawara said the university setting is difficult because many of the people who start in September end up dropping by the end of the semester because of various reasons. But Sugawara credits Kubo, one of the club's instructors, for the club's increased and maintained membership. And Kubo said adjusting the logistics was the key.\n"I've made the practices more enjoyable, and increased the number of practice times," Kubo said. "We use to practice two times a week, and now we practice three times a week so people have more chances to come to practice."\nAll of their practice came together Saturday for the tournament. Junior Koki Hagiwara defeated Paul Marko for the championship of the Advanced Division. And in the beginners division, in which no one has been doing Kendo longer than September, second-year grad student Laura Kaspar won the division over senior Evan Crawford.\nKaspar said Crawford introduced her to Kendo, and she "fell in love with it." It brings out a whole new side of her, she said.\n"It's really exciting for me because it's really nice to see the assertive side of myself come out," Kaspar said, "and the warrior spirit also coming out of me. It's very nice, and I really, really like it"