Events

The CNF National Championships were a great show of the effort everyone’s put into training in the past year. We’re excited to see where everyone will go from here as we head into the last year of training before 2024 Worlds! Thank you to everyone who came to participate and help run the tournament! And thank you to Marija Landekic for organizing the tournament.

Without further ado, here are the results:

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Dangai engi-kyogi:

• 1st: Grace Yoo (Rosemont) & Audrey Sassi (McGill)
• 2nd: Mei Yang (Rosemont) & Trivinh Truong (McGill)
• 3rd: Ryan Shim (Montreal) & Héloïse Joffreau (Montreal)

Yudansha engi-kyogi:

• 1st: Alan McDougall & Dan Bouchard (Wild Rose)
• 2nd: Birgit Siegert-Iriyama & Daiki Siegert-Iriyama (Montreal)
• 3rd: Sam Zhou & Julia Luo (Rosemont)

Dangai shiai-kyogi:

• 1st: Banrong Hu (UofT)
• 2nd: Grace Yoo (Rosemont)
• 3rd: Audrey Sassi (McGill)

Open shiai-kyogi:

• 1st: Dan Bouchard (Wild Rose)
• 2nd: Sam Zhou (Rosemont)
• 3rd: Kevin Hallé (Concordia)

Teams shiai-kyogi:

• 1st: Rosemont – Sam Zhou, Julia Luo, Grace Yoo
• 2nd: Wild Rose – Dan Bouchard, Alan McDougall, Daiki Siegert-Iriyama
• 3rd: Concordia – Kevin Hallé, Jérémy Frandon, Mei Yang

Fighting Spirit: Taiga Jay (UofT) and Trivinh Truong (McGill)

The date and location for the 8th World Naginata Championship has been confirmed! It will be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder on July 13, 2024. The Goodwill Tournament will be held the next day on July 14, 2024. More details to come!

This year’s Toronto Naginata Taikai was a resounding success! Thank you to everyone who came and participated, and an extra special thank you to our corps of volunteers who ran the whole day. Thank you also to Ellery Engalla-sensei and Rebecca Pomeroy who visited from the States! And finally, thank you to Jordan Macklem for organizing this tournament! 

Shiai-kyogi (teams):

• 1st: Rebecca Pomeroy, Daiki Siegert-Iriyama, Jason Lujan
• 2nd: Julia Luo, Sam Zhou, Jonathan Lee
• 3rd: Marija Landekic, Birgit Siegert-Iriyama, Natsuko Haw

Shiai-kyogi (individuals):

• 1st: Marija Landekic
• 2nd: Dan Bouchard
• 3rd: Andrew Boyd

Fighting Spirit: Natsuko Haw

The CNF National Championships is coming soon on June 10th in Montreal. There will be 5 divisions for competition: Dangai engi-kyogi (#1, 2, 4), yudansha engi-kyogi (#6, 7, 8), dangai shiai-kyogi, open shiai-kyogi, and team shiai-kyogi. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

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!

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Yudansha Engi:

• 3rd: Daiki & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama

Yudansha Men Shiai:

• 1st: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama
• 2nd: Kevin Hallé

Dangai Engi:

• 1st: YuMeng Liu & Khoa Doan
• 3rd: Audrey Sassi & Grace Yoo

Dangai Men Shiai:

• 2nd: Banrong Hu

Dangai Women Shiai:

• 3rd: Audrey Sassi

Fighting Spirit: Grace Yoo and Kevin Hallé

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:

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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

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Congratulations to everyone!

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:

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Individual Shiai:

• 1st Place: Marija Landekic
• 2nd Place: Julia Luo
• 3rd Place: Kevin Hallé

Team Shiai:

• 1st Place: Concordia (Kevin, Jérémy, Daiki)

Engi:

• 1st Place: Marija Landekic & Kevin Hallé
• 2nd Place: Jérémy Frandon & Birgit Siegert-Iriyama
• 3rd Place: Julia Luo & Daikai Siegert-Iriyama

Fighting Spirit: Birgit Siegert-Iriyama

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.

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.

 

Written by: Jeremy Frandon

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!