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 got the following results:
| Zen Nihon Kata | Marija Landekic & Antoine fromentin | Top 10 |
| Men Engi | Andrew Boyd & Jordan Macklem | 4th Place |
| Women Team Shiai | Marija Landekic, Lutan Liu, Mary Phan | 2nd Place |
| Women Individual Shiai | Marija Landekic | Top 8 |
| Men Individual Shiai (Goodwill) | William Choi | Top 8 |
| Men Individual Shiai (Goodwill) | Kevin Hallé | Top 8 |
| Women Individual Shiai (Goodwill) | Julia Luo | 4th 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.
2019 JSS Seminar & Taikai
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
CNF Seminar 2018
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
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!
Toronto Taikai and Summer Fun
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
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)
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
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!
Gasshuku from The Kohai’s POV
Sage joined the Naginata Club in Fall 2017 and has since started spending more and more time with the club. This is Gasshuku from her perspective:
The McGill Naginata club’s Spring Gasshuku is not just a training camp. While we had three practices a day, between two to three hours each, for the duration of the event, the focus wasn’t solely on improving technique or endurance or strength, as a training camp would imply.
Rather, Gasshuku focused on both Naginata as a martial art, and Naginata as a social activity.
Each day of Gasshuku, you would eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with everyone else, helping to cook and clean. You would walk to the gym with everyone, and head back together afterwards. It was a great experience; the people critiquing your attacks in the dojo would also be the person you saw fall asleep at 7.10 AM on the sofa, or someone who helped you wash a million dishes, or the person you ran across an intersection with as the traffic light changed to green.
Gasshuku didn’t just aim to be an extended practice session; it emphasized also cooperation and club bonding. How else could about 16 people in one air bnb work?
Gasshuku also touched upon the philosophy of Naginata. One of the exercises was to come up with a kata which demonstrated the core components of Naginata. The movements didn’t need to be real Naginata moves, as long as they captured the unique aspects of Naginata as a martial art. This required me to think about the movements I was making, rather than simply trying to actually do them without tripping. More broadly, Gasshuku also focused on perseverance, especially in its morning “warmup” sets; pushing yourself as far as you could go and then continuing to do so through the repeated sets.
Gasshuku improved my technique and helped me feel more comfortable around my fellow club members. It wasn’t a training camp that allowed people to distance themselves and sink themselves in their own work and emotions; it forced you to interact and cooperate and coordinate, and in doing so, become closer with those around you. It was an amazing experience, and one that I look forwards to next year.
Written by Sage Minard
Pictures from Marija Landekic
2018 Spring Gasshuku
We’ll be holding our spring gasshuku again this weekend on March 2-4! An extensive training menu, great food, fun social event, and accommodation if you need have been prepared. Training will be held in the Aerobics Room at the McGill Athletics Centre.
On March 2 training will run from 19:00 – 21:00; on March 3 and 4 it will run from 9:00 – 20:30.
Please check the event page or Facebook group for more information!
Hello, Winter 2018
Thank you to everyone who came out to our open practice! Congrats to everyone who graded, you all levelled up! 🙂
For this Winter semester, our practices will be in the Aerobics room on the basement level of the McGill Athletics Centre:
- Wednesdays: 9 – 10:30 PM
- Saturdays: 1 – 3 PM
Check the Events tab to see this season’s events!
Fall 2017 Semester Wrap-Up
It’s that time of year again: holidays are coming up, meaning finals seasons for students, and more importantly, we’re approaching the last couple of practices before we break for the New Year. This semester saw many new members join the club and a growing group of us representing McGill at the CNF tournament. Here’s to more people learning about Naginata and growing the club!
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the end of semester party at Simon’s place this Saturday Dec 2 after practice!
CNF 2017
The CNF Seminar and Tournament this past weekend was a great success and an amazing opportunity to practice with people from all over Canada! Congrats to those who competed & graded and thanks to everyone who came to represent our club!!
McGill Naginata Club was represented by:
Marija Landekic
– 1st place Yudansha Engi
Simon Bruins
– 1st place Yudansha Engi
William Choi
– 1st-kyu
– 2nd place Dangai Engi
– 3rd place Team Shiai
Kevin Hallé
– 1st-kyu
– 2nd place Dangai Engi
– 2nd place Team Shiai
Helen Liu
– 2nd-kyu
Julia Luo
– 2nd kyu
– 1st place Team Shiai
Sam Zhou
– 3rd-kyu
– 2nd place Team Shiai
Frank Stabile
– 3rd-kyu
Chloe Wang, Virna Xi, Paul Wei, Sage Minard, Kevin Lee, Chris Axon
McGill Naginata 