The weekend of March 25-26th was the annual JSS Spring Seminar and Taikai. Thank you to Tyl Dermine-sensei, Ellery Engalla-sensei, and Gabriel Djinn-sensei for your instruction and guidance at the seminar. We hope everyone took back some key lessons to their home dojos.
Congratulations to everyone who competed for a fantastic showing at the taikai!
March 4th was the 5th Annual Canadian Winter Classic tournament. CWC is our yearly community taikai focused on fostering connection between dojos and ranks, and on providing the opportunity for everyone to have shinpan, shiai-kyogi, and engi-kyogi experience. This year we were excited to have participation from 7 Canadian dojos: Québec, Montréal, Rosemont, Concordia, McGill, UofT, and JCCC Naginata clubs! We were glad to welcome new faces and say hello again to our regulars.
It was a great tournament to kick off our last year of training leading up to 2024 World’s! Thank you to Marija Landekic for organizing this tournament. And now, the results:
Engi-kyogi 4kyu & below:
1st: Emma Cheung & Ali Mohammed Javed
2nd: Taiga Jay & Chloe Hugla
3rd: Fabio Sasseron & Héloïse Joffreau
Engi-kyogi:
1st: Kevin Hallé & William Choi
2nd: Tomas Almonte & Jordan Macklem
3rd: Sam Zhou & Audrey Sassi
Shiai-kyogi (individuals):
1st: Jordan Macklem
2nd: Tomas Almonte
3rd: Kevin Hallé
Shiai-kyogi (teams):
1st: Lutan Liu, Kevin Hallé, François Couture-Hebert, Jason Lujan
2nd: Grace Yoo, Julia Luo, Banrong Hu, Martin Dauphinais
3rd: Tomas Almonte, Joy Meng, Philippe Mercier, Jonathan Lee
Best Match: Audrey Sassi vs Banrong Hu (Shiai-kyogi) Fighting Spirit: Grace Yoo and Banrong Hu Best Student Shinpan: Joy Meng
The CNF fiscal year will be changed as of 2023 to line up with the calendar year. This means that going forward, dojo and membership fees willbe due on January 1st of the given year. A couple notes on some caveats:
People who have already paid their 2022-2023 membership will have that membership extended to the end of 2023. Therefore, if you renewed your CNF membership in September of 2022, your next renewal will be January 1st 2024 (this also applies to dojo membership fees).
It is common for new members to first register for the CNF along with their first attendance of the annual CNF Seminar in October, or at the beginning of the school year in September. To accommodate this: First-time members who register in September or October of a given year will be considered to be paid in full for the following year (ie. if a brand new member registers in September 2023, they will not renew until January 1st 2025).
A reminder that the CNF’s Community Grant is available to all those looking for financial assistance with things related to Naginata training. This can include grading fees, tournament fees, travel expenses, etc. Applications should be submitted to the CNF email no later than 14 days prior to the event in question. Members can ask their dojo leaders for access to the request form.
December 10-11 was the Quebec Regional Tournament, with individual shiai, team shiai, and engi tournaments! We were especially excited to welcome Concordia Naginata beginners to one of their first big tournaments.
Special thanks to Marija Landekic for organizing the event. And now, for the results:
Congratulations to all those who graded at the Wild Rose Naginata Club and Concordia Naginata Club grading on Dec. 11th. One 5kyu and five 4kyu ranks were earned! We’re excited to see the community growing and look forward to practicing with our newest members in the near future.
Congratulations to the University of Toronto Naginata Club on the 15th Anniversary of their club! It’s been an incredible decade and a half for our oldest university club, and here’s to many more years!
Check out their Instagram @uoftnaginata for the latest happenings.
The first Montreal Intercollegiate Tournament was held on Nov. 5th. Organized by McGill Naginata Club, this shinjin taikai allowed beginners from McGill and Concordia Universities to experience their first external competition.
Beginners were introduced to the etiquette and procedures of competing in engi-kyogi; intermediates carried through the organization; and advanced students practiced shinpan duties.
The collegiate naginata community is growing well in Quebec, with the new Concordia Naginata Club making its competition debut and McGill becoming an organizational powerhouse. We can hope to see both clubs in more events, such as the rumored Quebec Regional Taikai, and collaborating on projects such as the Intercollegiate Tournaments.
Oct. 15-16 was the annual CNF Seminar! Thank you very much to the sensei and organizers for a wonderful seminar.
We’re especially grateful to Schmucker-sensei (Renshi), D’hose-sensei (Renshi), and Kubo-sensei (5dan) who were in attendance. We had the opportunity to practice kata, learn new drills, review basics, and strengthen our fundamentals. We all learned much from sensei to take back into our regular practice.
Congratulations also to the new yudansha and kyu ranks earned this seminar! Three new 2-dan, one new shodan, and several kyu ranks were graded.
We’re excited to see the community grow and we look forward to seeing everyone again!
