Author: marijamcgill

2016 Fall Events

marijamcgillLeave a comment

Autumn has come and with it the last of this year’s Naginata events!

Oct 8-9, ECNF Seminar – East-Coast Naginata Federation (US Naginata Federation) is hosting a seminar in Alexandria, Virginia on Oct 8-9th, 2016. If you wish to attend, speak to Simon or Marija soon. This seminar is always on Thanksgiving weekend so the CNF often participates. Car pooling is an option.

Oct 15-16, CNF Seminar and Taikai – Canadian Naginata Federation seminar and tournament. The most important event of the year for the Naginata community in Canada! Our annual seminar with sensei from around the world, national championship tournament, and grading up to 2dan (tentative) this year. Talk to Simon or Marija for more details.

Oct 28- Nov 1 ENF Championships and Seminar– European Naginata Federation Championships. Hosted in Brussels this year. Keep an eye out for videos and results!
Event Trailer: https://youtu.be/QuWQ88gU8rY

Nov 19-20th, RMNF Seminar, Indiana – Rocky Mountain Naginata Federation (US Naginata Federation) is hosting a seminar in Batesville, Indiana on Nov 19-20th with Takami Tanner-sensei! If you wish to attend, speak to Simon or Marija. The CNF often participates, so car pooling is an option.

Dec 3-4th, AJNF Taikai – All Japan Naginata Federation Tournament. The #1 viewing event of the Naginata calendar, if you watch no other tournament, this is the one to pay attention to! Whether streamed live or posted on youtube, videos are usually available thanks to the hard work of the foreign Naginata community living in Japan. A guide to the event may be published by the Canadian community, owning to the success of last year’s guide.

 

Advertisement

March Updates

marijamcgillLeave a comment

The MNC is now well into it’s first semester, so plans for the end-of-semester practice are well under way. The 3rd week in April will be our final practice of the Winter semester (officially). However, that doesn’t mean practice stops! We have now secured our bookings for the summer semester so please check the times and dates listed.

Note that we’ll have two practices in the Studio instead of the Aerobics room (May 14th, and June 22nd), but that all other practices will now be in the Aerobics room itself. And thank goodness we’re not going to be in the fiery hell of Gym 2 during the summer…

Practice days have changed from Tuesdays to Wednesdays, and as the gym closes at 9pm, practice will finish at 8:30pm during the summer, which means (!!!) more time for beers! 😉

Saturdays will continue as usual.

Stay tuned for news of outdoor practices at times/days in addition to normal practice too 😀

Happy 2016!

marijamcgillLeave a comment

Happy 2016 to everyone!

After a semester of intensive negotiation with SSMU and the McGill Athletic Centre, I am happy to announce that practices will be held in the gym this semester!

The beginner’s course will start on January 9th (Saturday). All students interested in trying Naginata are welcome! All you need to start are clothes that you can move in comfortably. Equipment will be provided where necessary.

Introductory Classes:
January 9th, 1pm-3pm
January 12th, 8:30-10:30pm
(If you can not attend one of the intro classes, but would still like to join us this semester, please contact mcgillnaginata@gmail.com)

Winter Semester Practice Schedule:
Saturdays, 1pm-3pm Aerobics Room
Tuesdays, 8:30 – 10:30 Gym #2

Club Fee: $50/semester. This covers all practices for the whole semester. (All students can attend one intro class without needing to register)

Please note that you need a McGill ID to enter the athletic centre.

Welcome to Naginata in Montreal!

marijamcgill2 Comments

Team Canada Shiai
This club is dedicated to the martial art “Naginata.” A naginata is a Japanese pole-arm similar to a glaive (see a video here). Use of the naginata dates back to the 7th Century, but in the 15th Century, it was phased out of the Japanese battlefield in favour of the yari, or spear. Naginata were then used as a form of character building in times of peace, and associated with women of samurai families. Knowledge of the naginata became a part of girls’ education in the 20th century. In the years since World War II, the art of Atarashii Naginata (“modern” Naginata) has spread beyond Japan to fifteen other countries. It is now a completely co-ed martial art, with regular national and international competition for both women and men.

naginataThe Naginata club at McGill welcomes all students, of every level, and especially those who have never tried (or seen) Naginata before! There is practice for both the competitively minded and non-competitve student. All equipment for beginners can be borrowed for the first few months.

The club instructor is Marija Landekic, 3dan, the current captain of the Canadian National Naginata Women’s Team. With more than 10 years of training, including 4 years spent training in Japan, she has permission to teach within Canada from the Canadian Naginata Federation and an referee license for tournaments from the All Japan Naginata Federation.

In June 2015, the 6th World Naginata Championship (WNC) and International Naginata Federation seminar was held right here at McGill University! The WNC is held only once every four years and this was Canada’s first time hosting the event. The men’s team finished 3rd in the Team Shiai (combat) division, while Marija finished 4th in Individual Shiai. We hope that Naginata at McGill will grow from this auspicious beginning.

IMG_2075

Our students also have the opportunity to study the classical (koryu) art of Tendo-ryu naginatajustsu, including seminars organized by the Shin Getsu Kai. Tendo-ryu dates back to the late 1500s, and was taught to high school girls across Japan before World War II. Students interested in Tendo-ryu will need to attend one or more of the monthly out-of-town practices to begin their training, and attendance at an annual week-long seminar, held at the end of June, will be necessary to progress.