This year's (2013) edition of the London Cup Kendo Tournament coincided with Easter and St. George's Day weekend. It was a good idea to honour the two-day warrior saint in which kendoka from Britain, Germany, Switzerland and France competed in kendo matches. In kendo, competition is considered the best way to train and the best way to learn new things. I was not in good shape this spring for a number of reasons. It was almost impossible to prepare well for the London Cup in two weeks. Anyway, the race was now and now I had to make an effort at least my spirit to be at a high level. Now I realize that no matter how well prepared you are for a race, you just have to go and play without worrying about how bad you are. From the several matches I played in the team competition and one in the individual competition, I realized that the distance I maintain is too far and when I attack or I do not reach the opponent or he feels me in time. Besides, when I played against Jodan, although I kept a close distance, which confused the opponent, I could not make a technique that would be successful in this situation.
The match in which my opponent played harder than usual was also interesting. This managed to shake my spirit and concentration and I could not find a gap in his defence. In the last match, I may have felt the best but there I missed a very good chance which was purely and simply due to insufficient training.
Now that the race is over and all my weaknesses are still clear in my mind, it's time to make a plan for my further training. First and foremost, I need to improve the physical condition of my body by becoming more mobile, lighter and react faster. For this, I have prepared exercises both during training and at home. My next goal is to learn how to do a few techniques well and try to apply them successfully in jigeiko. Finally, I need to increase the intensity with which I train - so I can take the initiative in a competition in random situations, just what I failed in the London Cup.
It is a pity that we did not manage to continue with the team in the next round, but on the other hand, it is an incentive to continue training with even greater enthusiasm until the next competition, where we will be able to do better kendo with a purer spirit and greater success.
