.............................................................................By T.J. Young.............................................................................
The USA Karate Federation's Pacific Regional Karate Championship was held in Tucson, Arizona. It was unbelievable, bravo, magnificent! In the center ring was Arizona's very first Chanbara division. Full-contact weapon fighting at it's best. Short swords, long swords and staves flailed and slashed at blinding speed. What I witnessed as competitor and spectator alike was like a dream come true. We were able to fight at 100 percent of our strength, speed and power without injury or pain. Chanbara was a raging success.
Chanbara was off to a slow start that morning. No one really knew what to expect, simply because it was after all, the first time. Few competitors were involved in the initial sign up and the crowd came to watch friends and family in the close competition. By mid morning though, it was a totally different story. Drawn by the sounds of battling weapons and combatants barking out kiai, one by one, spectators and competitors directed their attention to the center ring.
Sign-ups increased, everyone was smiling and the crowd's cheers grew well above those roaring kiai. To everybody's amazement, Chanbara proved that martial art tournaments could be fun too!
The first matches held, were the youth events. These little future Karate Masters, with their limitless energy and abundance of enthusiasm, created the perfect atmosphere for fun.
One after another these little warriors squared off with a Chanbara sword in hand and a twinkle in their eye; they circled and parried as knights in shining armor, or a Jedi knight protecting the realm. It was amazing and fun to watch them.
The fun really began when it came time for the adults to fight. As we all well know, people involved in the martial arts come from all styles and disciplines. Yet when they put a kodachi in their hand, they stopped being all that.
They transformed. They suddenly changed into "the way of chanbara!” The ladies fought first, second came the men. Then something new happened, a mixed event, men against women, yes, I said men against women! Most all martial art tournaments separate those divisions, yet when it comes to the Chanbara events, there is no distinction between the sexes.
When these women squared off against each other-their prim and proper ways were thrown out the window. They became samurai warriors! Whap, thwack, smack, bang, they tore into each other like they were kids again! There were no simple fights either, these ladies went to town on each other, with swords flailing, one by one they began to kill each other off.
There was one match that had both the spectators and the judges rolling with laughter. Two ladies went crazy on each other. The center judge tried to stop them after a point was scored but they were so caught up in what they were doing, having so much fun, that they never heard him. The crowd however, saw it all. The judge, with a huge smile on his face, threw up his hands in resignation. The two corner judges dropped their flags and everyone began to laugh.
As all of this was going on through out the day, I mingled with the crowd and talked with countless people. The one prevailing thought was it was the most fun that they had had in years. Among the adults, the most common comment was how, "they felt like kids again." From my observations this was true. I watched as adults from all walks of life, began to cast off their inhibitions. The twinkle that you see in a child's eyes could be seen in theirs.
After the tournament, combatants and spectators came to the center ring to graduate and praise Japan's fastest growing martial sport/art. Saying, they want more! So it begins here in America too. The newest rage in the martial arts, chanbara!
I want to thank all of those that were involved in helping to make our first Arizona tournament a success. I want to thank Sensei Johnny Linebarger for allowing us into his tournament in the first place. If it hadn't been for his foresight, into what he feels is a welcomed and refreshing event in the martial arts, we would still be waiting in the wings.
Most of all though, I want to deeply and graciously thank Master Dana Abbott, because without him, none of this would have been possible! Master Abbott is responsible for bringing this sport from Japan to the U.S., and is also the man who developed the line of ActionFlex™ weapons.
Once again, thank you one and all for a great day, and a fantastic time. I look forward to seeing you all again. Until then, may your lives be filled with happiness and joy, and oh yes, with chanbara!
