18th European Kendo Championships
Nantes (France), April 2002
The teams, this year, were, for the ladies: Birgit Rathbone (Shinbukan), Emiko Yoshikawa-Gubbins (Mumeishi/Imperial), Gillian Riddoch (Taiseidokai) and Alex Burch (Hizen). And for the men: Anthony Scott (Hizen), Stuart Gibson (Oxford), David Bell (Nagamitsu), Michio Wise (Oxford), George McCall (Edinburgh), John McGill (Taiseidokai) and Simon Bradley (Hizen).
The three days seemed awfully long, with starts that gradually got earlier, and nights that gradually got later, culminating in the ever entertaining sayonara party on the last night.
The accommodation and food were an improvement on Bologna with a buffet system that was crowded but sufficient and not the sit down wait of last year, when everyone always seemed to be hungry, especially Gibbo for the size of his appetite and George for his consumption choice, I worried for them both! The Championship venue itself was a good size allowing for three shiai-jo and a separate large training hall with a good floor the only downside was the distance between the venue and accommodation and the number of buses to get us there.
It was individuals who went to the Bologna Championships last year and it was a team that went to the Nantes Championships this year. The women’s team result was the same, a bronze medal. The men’s team result was also the same, out of our pool and then knocked out of the competition.
At last year’s competition I was very nervous and put it down to pre-tournament butterflies. This year I was not nervous at all. The difference can be found in the feeling between everyone in the team and the squad from which it comes. I was not nervous because I could see, and more importantly, feel that we were coming together as a team, and in both the team and individual tournament, starting to fight that way too.
Birgit and Scotty are two of the people who led by example for us this year and who stood out not only to me but also to the fighters and coaches of other countries. By coincidence they both fight as senpo (first out) in their respective teams and they also got the furthest out of all of us in their individual competitions too, in particular Birgit reaching the quarter-finals of the women’s tournament.
The squad, team and individuals that make us up has continued to develop in the right direction and already everyone’s attention and focus is turning to next year’s Glasgow World Championship’s and what we can do to be prepared for the event. I am proud of the squad and that should be enough for anyone wondering what it is we do. We represent our country, our dojo’s and ourselves when we fight.
For the men at least it is only a question of when and not can we be in the medals again. If we get focused as a team, get hungry as a team and train as a team it will happen.
- Simon Bradley, U.K. Team Captain, Hizen Dojo
