September 2023

On November 25^th, 2023, the Naginata dojos of Quebec competed in the 3rd Quebec Regional Tournament. Held at the McGill Athletics Centre and organized by Sam Zhou, this event allowed the Quebec Naginata community to see how far they’ve come since the last national tournament.
We were saddened to learn that the Quebec Naginata Kai were unable to join this edition of the tournament, but glad to see that all four Montreal-based clubs, the McGill Naginata Club, the Rosemont Naginata Dojo, Naginata Montréal, and the Concordia Naginata Club, attended.
This tournament in five parts: Corner-Kihon, Dangai-Engi-Kyogi (shikake-oji 1, 2, and 4), Open Engi-Kyogi  (shikake-oji 4, 6, and 8), Individual Shiai, and Team Shiai, offered a full experience to the participants. After the Concordia University Naginata Tournament, some students viewed this regional tournament as a chance for a rematch.
The day’s matches were definitely worth watching. Multiple intermediates took on their Sempai and got closer to victory than ever before. This “Kohai Uprising” signals a clear progression of the intermediates’ level in the Quebec region. We hope to see the continuation of this trend, and we enthusiastically await the tournament in which the “Kohai Uprising” turns into a “Kohai Victory”!
Written by: Jeremy Frandon – Collegiate Naginata Reporter for the Quebec Region xD

Corner Kihon “Simon Says”
1st: Itay [MGNC]
2nd: Ava [MGNC]
3rd: Alexandra [MGNC]

Dangai Engi-kyogi
1st: Ryan & Mei [MNC/CNC]
2nd: Julia C & Jaspreet [CNC]
3rd: Emma & Clementina [MGNC]

Open Engi-kyogi
1st: Marija & Julia L [RNC]
2nd: Jérémy & Kevin [CNC]
3rd: Ryan & Mei [MNC/CNC]

Open Shiai-kyogi
1st: Marija [RNC]
2nd: Kevin [CNC]
3rd: Daiki [MNC]

Team Shiai-kyogi
1st: Jaspreet, Jérémy, Kevin [CNC]
2nd: Audrey, Ryan, Marija [MGNC / MNC / RNC]
3rd: Julia C, Yumeng, Julia L [CNC / MGNC / RNC]

Fighting Spirit
Emma & Clementina [MGNC]

The Second Montreal Intercollegiate was held on November 4th, 2023 at the Concordia downtown gym. Almost exactly one year after the first Montreal Intercollegiate Tournament, students from both McGill and Concordia gathered at “Le Gym” in the basement of Concordia’s EV building for this new Shinjin Taikai.
In this edition, intermediate members of each club stepped up to introduce the beginners to the fundamentals of Naginata tournaments, from the etiquette of competing to the logistics of running tournaments; some members even got to experience shinpaning for the first time. 
All the events of this tournament were a sight to behold. The newly introduced Migi-Engi-kyogi (shikake-oji 1, 2, and 4) levelled the playing field by making all participants feel like beginners again; the beginner Engi-kyogi (shikake-oji 1, and 2) allowed practitioners of less than a semester to demonstrate their aptitude and understanding of Naginata; and the McGill intermediates got a front-row seat to discover Concordia’s newly developed Shiai proficiency.
This tournament was the first inter-university event organized by the Concordia Naginata Club. The club’s executive team ran an extremely smooth tournament, demonstrating that, despite their small size, they can pull more than their own weight. The guest of honour, Marija Landekic Sensei, congratulated Concordia for running a very successful tournament, calling the event “Impressive”.
After successfully and  jointly organizing two beginner tournaments, both clubs created the Quebec Intercollegiate Naginata Committee to continue creating more successful joint events. We now wait in excitement to see what will come out of this effort of Concordia uniting with McGill.
Written by: Jeremy Frandon – Collegiate Naginata Reporter for the Quebec Region

SHINJIN ENGI-KYOGI
1st place : Axelle and Danilo [CNC]
2nd place : Sarah and Halia [MGNC]
3rd place : Rami and Mathis [CNC]

MIGI ENGI-KYOGI
1st place : Jeremy and Kevin [CNC]
2nd place : YuMeng and Mei [MGNC/CNC]
3rd place : Clementina and Emma [MGNC]

SHINJIN SHIAI-KYOGI
1st place : Jaspreet [CNC]
2nd place: Julia [CNC]
3rd place : YuMeng [MGNC]

Fighting spirit award:
Jaspreet [CNC]

The CNF Seminar was a great success! It is always incredible to see everyone come out from across Canada. Thanks to all who attended, and thank you to those who served as instructors at the seminar. A special thank you to Marija Landekic-sensei for organizing and instructing and Kaori Kubo-sensei for instructing. We hope that everyone learned something to take back to their home dojo and to their own practices.