This year, as normal, I headed to Kyoto to attend/watch the Kyoto Taikai. I have written about it numerous times on kenshi 24/7, so I won’t bore you with a full recap – check out the kyototaikai category to read past posts and get the full rundown.
This year was a little bit of a different taikai for me for a couple of reasons. The first that was I demonstrated twice: once in the koryu section and again for kendo. The 2nd of May is normally not part of the “Golden Week” holiday period, and often falls on a regular weekday, thus it is very hard for me to take part (= work). I think the last time I did a koryu demonstration here was in 2009 or 10 actually (UPDATE: I demonstrated both years, I just forgot about it!). So, I had two tachai on two different days. The second difference this year is that I think I watched the least amount of kendo that I ever had before. Somehow I spent the time chatting to friends rather than sitting down and watching (or taking pictures). I suspect the second difference is related to the first.
On the evening of the third I organised – as I do every year – a few beers by the river. This year we had tons of participants, well over 20 I think. I jotted down all the different nationalities in attendance: Scottish, English, Dutch, Italian, Indian, Slovakian, Estonian, Canadian, Kiwi, Aussie, Chinese, Surinamese, Guadeloupean, American, and Japanese. Kendo is awesome!
For me it was a shorter Kyoto Taikai than most years, and I don’t think I was as prepared as I normally am (physically or mentally), so I will reset my kendo calendar and start working towards next years tachiai asap.
As noted above, this was probably the year I took the least pictures out of all the times I have attended. Anyway, I will share a couple of small galleries of pics.
Pics from day one, the non-kendo day:
Pics from day two, the first kendo day:
