2021-2022 Season Highlights

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Hey everyone!

We’ve come to the end of the 2021-2022 season! We’d like to say a big thanks to the exec team for leading the club this season and to all our new and returning members for their effort and dedication that continues to make McGill Naginata Club great! Let’s take a moment to look back on the highlights of this season.

First of all, we’d like to give a shout-out to all our new members. Welcome to McGill Naginata Club! Many of you transitioned from learning how to hold a naginata in September to competing in the Quebec Regional Taikai and the Canadian Winter Classic a few months later! Keep up the great work!

We’ve been training hard at weekly practices:    

Group photos after practice in the Activities Room – October 2021
McGill Naginata Alumni dropped by for a visit – November 2021
New members who joined in September take part in teaching the new cohort of beginners at the Winter Activities Night – December 2021
McGill Naginata Club gets festive for the holidays! – December 2021
Group photos after practice – March 2022
Final practice of the season – April 2022

In addition to practice, we had a few competitions and seminars throughout the year!

McGill Naginata Club made an excellent showing at the annual Canadian Naginata Federation seminar hosted in Montreal in October! Kudos to everyone who attended! In addition to advancing their naginata skills, they had the chance to network with sensei and fellow naginata athletes from across Canada!

Group photos at the Canada Naginata Federation seminar – October 2021

In November, McGill Naginata Club participated in the 2021 Quebec Regional Taikai. We were joined by members from the Rosemont Naginata Club as well as the Saint-Eustache Naginata Club. Congratulations to Akiko for winning the Fighting Spirit Award!

Quebec Regional Taikai Group photos – November 2021
Quebec Regional Taikai – Shiai photos

In March, McGill participated in the 2022 Canadian Winter Classic and was joined by the Rosemont dojo from Montreal and the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre dojo from Toronto.

Canadian Winter Classic Engi-Kyogi competition
Canadian Winter Classic Shiai competition

McGill had a great showing at the tournament. Grace and Akiko won the Best Match Award for their Engi performance! Grace won first place in team shiai! Audrey and Grace both won the Fighting Spirit award! Congratulations on their achievements!

Canadian Winter Classic – Grace and Akiko in their award winning engi-kyogi match!
Canadian Winter Classic – Grace (white tasuki) in team shiai competition
Canadian Winter Classic – Audrey and Khoa in Engi-Kyogi

In addition to tournaments and practices, we had many fun socials throughout the year including Karaoke night, Jackbox parties, Bubble tea, and watching movies.

Having a social at the cinema!

Moreover, McGill Naginata Club got awesome new jackets with the logo designed by one of our club alumna, Sage!

Group photo with the new McGill Naginata Jackets!

We would also like to make a farewell announcement to our senpai who are graduating this year and to Simon sensei who is moving to Vancouver (and perhaps starting up a club there too)! Congratulations to Mei, Grace, Akiko and Marco for finishing undergrad at McGill and congratulations to Simon on his new job! We thank them for being our friends and mentors and for their leadership in McGill Naginata Club! We wish them the best in their future endeavours and we hope to see them at future seminars and taikais!

Thanks to everyone for making this season a success and we hope to see you next season!

Welcome back! Outdoor practices Fall 2021

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Welcome back to our returning members and a warm welcome to all our new members! Thank you to everyone who made it to our first practice of the year! The school year is ramping up and so is McGill Naginata. While the weather is still suitable, we will be holding practice outdoors at Jeanne-Mance park on the field across the street from the statue on:

Wednesdays: 5-7pm

Saturdays: 3-5pm

Please note that Covid-19 precautions are in effect; masks and vaccine passports are required at practice. Stay tuned for more information on the announcement of indoor practices and upcoming events!

2021 Winter Classic (Virtual) Taikai

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Last March, COVID-19 profoundly impacted the ways in which we interact and practice together. Through the enduring commitment of our club members, the club has made strides towards adapting and scaling down our social events, practices, and even tournaments to a virtual setting. As the saying goes… the show must go on! With that being said, I present to you the 2021 Winter Classic Taikai!

This one year anniversary marks a particularly meaningful time to get together again as we couldn’t let a pandemic get in the way of the third annual Winter Classic. Reflecting back, this year has no doubt presented its challenges, but also gives us the time to reimagine how we want our naginata to look and feel once we return to regular practice. What’s a better way to let that manifest than through creative kata and rhythm naginata?

Donning their uniforms. Oh the commitment!

Results:

Division I Creative Kata
1st Place: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama
2nd Place: Joanna Nguyen & Akiko Nakagawa
3rd Place: Jordan Macklem & Richard Yang

Division II Rhythm Naginata
1st Place: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama
2nd Place: Lutan Liu & Tomas Almonte

Division III Teach Naginata
1st Place: Lutan Liu
2nd Place: Tomas Almonte
3rd Place: Simon Bruins

The Last Stand

People’s Choice Awards:

Division I Creative Kata
• Spin to Win Award – Best Use of Circular Motion: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama
“You spin me right ’round baby, right ’round.”
• That Aggro Spirit – Most Deadly: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama tied with Tomas Almonte & Lutan Liu
 • Most Realistic – Actually Useful in Shiai: Tomas Almonte & Lutan Liu
• The Kendo Award – y’all came on so strong I thought it was Kendo: (three-way tie)
Jeremy Frandon & Jaime Little
Lutan Liu & Jason Lujan
Simon Bruins & Michael Luo

Division II Rhythm Naginata
• Showmanship ‘Shomen-ship’ Award (Individual award): Daiki Siegert-Iriyama
“No better showman.”
• Best Overall Group Appearance: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama
• The Oscar Award – Most Cinematic: Lutan Liu & Tomas Almonte
“Artistic fades and masks on trees… wonderful stuff.”
• The Banger Award – Best Musical Selection: Machigai Sagashi (Masuki Suda) – Lutan Liu & Tomas Almonte
“The kinda song where you’re crying, but also slow head banging.”

The Greatest Showman, The coldest breath.

Division III Teach Naginata
• Future Sensei Award – Most Knowledgeable: Simon Bruins (current?) Sensei
“A knowledgeable man.”
• Super Sunday Sunshine Award – Most Inspiring: Lutan Liu
“Rainbows and sparkles and tenouchi – oh my!”
• Most Creative: Tomas Almonte
“I didn’t know I needed this kind of laundry tutorial in my life.”

Doing McGill proud

Congratulations to all those who participated! It was truly inspiring to witness the innovation and creativity behind each and every single entry. I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to all organizers and shinpans for their assistance in seamlessly running the event and also to the attendees, without which none of this would have been possible. Seeing everybody, even through a screen after such a long while, was incredibly nostalgic. After all, it’s being able to meet our friends from the CNF across Canada, both new and old, that’s the highlight of all tournaments!

The great news is that the temperate temperatures are beginning to creep its way back in. With the optimism of a warm spring ahead of us, let’s keep our fingers crossed for the time when we can come out of hibernation and safely practice once again.

Until then!

Disclaimer: All entries were entered via video submission format this year in compliance with social distancing regulations.

Fall 2020 – McGill Naginata Online Sessions

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Most unfortunately, we will not be holding open practices, official practices, and fun events like Shinjin Taikai and the much anticipated CNF seminar and taikai this Fall 2020 semester.

Fear not though, for we are all still here! For advanced naginata enthusiasts, for beginners who are hoping to join the club, and even for those who are still unsure of what this all is still, we are running online sessions every Wednesday evening from 6-8pm EST.

These are virtual events we organized for you to see what practicing naginata is like and to learn about the culture behind this wonderful martial art. Not only that, it’s a great opportunity to meet and chat with the wonderful people that make up our club.

September 23 Session – ft. Frank & Julia

Come on out, take a break from your video lectures (or jobs), and hang out with us. We look forward to seeing you all!

A Year in Review 2019-2020

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What an eventful year it has been! As we prepare to open up a new semester, let’s do a quick recap on what McGill Naginata has been up to this past year.

Smiles bright with anticipation for new beginnings

Winding down from World’s, we continued to train hard, welcomed new beginners, and held our Fall 2019 Shinjin Taikai. It’s as always, a lovely way for our kouhais (junior members) to demonstrate the fruits of their training.

Shinjin Taikai Scoresheet

In October, our members helped organize the second Martial Arts Day at McGill. It was amazing to see so many students come out to give everything a try. Additionally, we were joined by McGill Aikido, McGill Kendo Club, and the McGill Jukendo and Tankendo club. Each club was able to showcase their art at the end and what an amazing demo it was. Overall, it was a very successful day and we hope that this event further bolstered their interest and awareness of the martial arts.

Martial Arts Day

Coming up was the annual CNF seminar and taikai. It was held in Toronto so we had the pleasure of taking a road trip there. What’s a better way for everyone to bond than a four hour car ride with good snacks, good music, and most importantly, great company?

  • 100% photo ready?
  • A viewing of some Yudansha players from across Canada
  • McGill Blue places 3rd!
  • McGill takes CNF 2019
CNF 2019

It’s so exciting to see the development of the Canadian Naginata community. From all the memorable fights we witnessed, CNF’s high caliber is clear for all to see. We observed over 60 competitors this year, each and every one displaying amazing talent and potential. CNF will always be something to look forward to every year.

Denny’s – another end to CNF

We opened up 2020 with yet another Shinjin Taikai. As it’s stipulated that kouhai can only compete if they have been in bogu for three semesters or less, we’ll need to start prepping our new kouhai for bogu otherwise we won’t have enough competitors for the next Shinjin Taikai!

  • Winter Shinjin Taikai Results
  • Behold. Your Shinpan

In February, Rachel Hahn-Morris, President of the British Naginata Association and chief instructor of the London Naginata Dojo came to visit us. Although it was only one practice, our members surely learned a lot from her in bogu practice and jigeiko.

Please come visit again, Rachel (front, center)!

Soon after came the notorious gasshuku (training camp). What’s notable is that it was our first ever gasshuku away from Montreal and the McGill gym. This has been a long term goal of our’s to make this happen and we have the efforts of our dedicated exec team to thank for making an away gasshuku come to fruition. Eating, sleeping, and training hard together was truly an experience that we’ll never forget. To top that off, the Red Barn had no showers, truly an unprecedented ordeal for McGill Naginata. That being said, the smell of our sweat (and tears) is essential to a true gasshuku experience.

  • Hello Red Barn, we have arrived.
  • Our Dojo for the weekend
  • First meal
  • Engi with Frank (left) and Jay (right)
  • Practice in Pajamas
  • Take notes! A how-to manual when there’s no laundry machine
  • McGill’s finest
Souvenirs de Gasshuku
A group photo before it begins, when we’re all still as fresh as daisies
She said, “show your personalities guys!” – Mei (far left) foreshadows our near futures

Thankfully, there’s exactly one week between gasshuku and the 2nd annual Winter Classic Taikai – the optimal recovery time for the optimal level of success, n’est ce pas? The thing that makes these taikais something to anticipate is seeing our friends from Toronto and Edmonton. It was a full day of shiai which was incredibly rewarding to see and be a part of.

Winter Classic participants. We missed you Edmonton!

Lastly, we would like to bid farewell to William Choi, our beloved first captain of the McGill Naginata Club. He was also one of the first ever members to join the club and has since, dedicated his utmost efforts in making invaluable contributions to not only the McGill club, but to Team Canada as well at World’s. We wish him the best of luck on his future endeavours and hope to see him again!

As everyone knows, the year was abruptly cut short when the pandemic hit Canada and all facilities closed down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, we remain optimistic that we can continue our practice in a safe way as we prepare for the opening of a new semester. McGill Naginata will be back in action soon, so until then!

McGill at the 2019 World Naginata Championship

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The tournament

On the 5th & 6th of July, in Wiesbaden, Germany, members of the McGill Naginata Club had the opportunity to represent Canada and compete in the World Naginata Championship and the World Goodwill tournament.

Team Canada after the World’s tournament

Team Canada got the following results:

Zen Nihon KataMarija Landekic & Antoine fromentinTop 10
Men EngiAndrew Boyd & Jordan Macklem4th Place
Women Team ShiaiMarija Landekic, Lutan Liu, Mary Phan2nd Place
Women Individual ShiaiMarija LandekicTop 8
Men Individual Shiai (Goodwill)William ChoiTop 8
Men Individual Shiai (Goodwill)Kevin HalléTop 8
Women Individual Shiai
(Goodwill)		Julia Luo4th place

Simon Bruins also competed in the goodwill tournament for the Dutch team

The Seminar

After the tournaments was a 3-days Naginata seminar followed by a grading where all the attendants could practice with people from various countries.

Congratulation to Marija Landekic who successfully graded for yondan.

The Germany trip

Beyond the tournament and the seminar this was a fun and exciting trip for everyone who attended.

Jeremy and Simon having fun at the Sayonara Party

2019 JSS Seminar & Taikai

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A belated results update – McGill had an amazing showing at the JSS Yamauchi Memorial Taikai this past March!!!!

Thanks to the ECNF for hosting a great tournament, to Frank’s family for making our stay so comfortable. Congratulations to all and keep up the hard work!

Results

Dangai Engi
Second: Karina Aksakal/Célia Slama

Dangai Shiai Women’s Division
First: Joanna Nguyen
Second: Akiko Nakagawa
Third: Henintsoa Rakatomalala

Dangai Shiai Men’s Division
First: Keisuke Nakajima
Second: Sam Zhou

Yudansha Shiai Men’s Division
Second: Simon Bruins

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CNF Seminar 2018

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Where can you get beat up by people from across Canada and learn from real Japanese renshi? — That’s right, at the 2018 CNF Seminar and Tournament here in Montreal.

On the Saturday we split into groups and worked closely with sensei from Canada, the U.S., and Japan. Everyone who came learned something new!

On Sunday, we showed off our skills in Shiai and Engi matches. Special thanks to new members who showed up on Sunday to run the tournament (we couldn’t have made it work without you).

Tournament Photos

No better time for a drink
Mary is tilted
WOOOO 2ND PLACE!!!
Do not try this at home
The calm before the storm
Keeping records is a serious business
A day in the life of Helen
It’s a Blair(!)

Results

Congratulations to the following members of McGill Naginata:

Marija Landekic

  • 1st place yudansha shiai
  • 3rd place yudansha engi
  • 2nd place team shiai

Simon Bruins

  • Kanto-sho award (fighting spirit)

William Choi

  • 1st place dangai shiai
  • 1st place engi dangai
  • 2nd place team shiai

Helen Liu

  • 2nd place team shiai

Julia Luo 

  • 3rd place dangai shiai

Sam Zhou

  • 2nd place team shiai

Henintsoa Rakotomalala

  • 3rd place engi dangai

Mei Yang

  • 3rd place engai dangai

… and all the members of McGill naginata who graded. Everyone passed!

McGill and Edmonton
Ah the wonders of K-BBQ

Toronto Taikai and Summer Fun

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Hey everyone,

A lot has happened since our last update: execs have changed, spring practice has ended… oh and we went to drove to Toronto to participate in the annual Toronto Taikai.

Our team was represented in Toronto by the following members of McGill Naginata:

Will, Kevin, Julia, Sam, Chris, Karina, Simon and Marija

Happy Simon
Happy(?) Kevin
Getting ready for battle
Taking notes

Engi Matches:
1st Place – Kevin and Will
2nd place – Sam and Julia

Individual Shiai Matches:
3rd Place – Marija

Team Shiai Matches:
1st Place – (Julia, Marija)
2nd Place – (Chris, Simon)

Post-fight hair
Nothing more important than keeping score

Huge thanks to the U of T Naginata Club for organizing the taikai, and to the Luo family for hosting the team over the weekend!!

Summer Practices

Note that we will be practicing at slightly different hours over the summer:

  • Wednesdays: 6:30-8:00pm
  • Saturdays: 1:00-3:00pm

You can find us in the Aerobics Room of the McGill Sports Complex.

See the Schedule page for more details.

Have an exciting summer, and we look forward to seeing you all next September!

2018 JSS Seminar & Taikai

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A full day’s worth of seminar info overload, an amazing tournament, and who could forget the dogs at Frank’s place 😆

We had the amazing opportunity to practice with people from all over the US and Canada. McGill Naginata played in all Dangai divisions of the tournament (some of us for the first time!!), and played in the Yudansha tournament as well.

Many thanks to the JSS for hosting the NY Seminar and Taikai, to the sensei for all the feedback and learning.

Results:

McGill Naginata was represented by –
Henintsoa, Joanna, Mei, Sage, Chris, Frank, Julia, Sam, Chloe, Helen, Will, Kevin, Simon

Dangai Engi
2nd Place – Kevin and Will

Dangai Men’s Individual Matches
2nd Place – Kevin
3rd Place – Will

Dangai Women’s Individual Matches
2nd Place – Helen
3rd Place – Julia

Special shoutout to Frank’s parents for accommodating us and providing food. The trip was that much more comfortable and enjoyable thanks to them.

We look forward to attending the seminar & tournament again next year!