First of all, this tournament was named after Takeshi Yamaguchi Sensei who is one of the most respected Sensei I have ever known. In addition to his own influence to my life and my kendo, many Sensei who learned from him also influenced me greatly.
Secondly, I saw all the kenshi doing their best to win while striving to maintain proper kendo. Since it was ippon shobu (1 point match) w/out any rank division, any kenshi had a chance to win, so each kenshi tried their best. Certainly, I was one of them when I faced Spencer Sensei. I knew his kendo was great and I would have very little, if not at all, chance to win. So, I gave everything I had in playing against him. However, since our dojo (under Yamaguchi Sensei's teaching) stresses proper kendo, I tried to maintain the proper kendo even under the pressure to win. I saw this occurring in other kenshi as well, thus resulting in some great kendo matches and performances.
Finally and personally, this tournament was the only tournament I could attend throughout the year. Since I goto church on Sundays, I could not attend kendo tournaments on Sundays. (I've tried a few times in the past, but I never felt comfortable attending kendo tournament over church) I take it as God's gift to me? :)
I'm thankful for the Yamaguchi Cup, and I should try my best to win next year.
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