Kendo 2008

By accident I had a chance to see the 27th Polish Championship in Kendo (剣道 – japanese swordsmanship). Because it was “by accident” and also because I didn’t have too much time anyway, I saw only the finals (1/4, 1/2 and 1/1 ;) ). I don’t remember who won ;), but you can check it elsewhere…. Anyway, here are some photos. All of them are made from distance using my Nokia N95 – they aren’t totally messed, but you have no idea how I wished I had my SLR – the reaction/reload/shutter times, focus, optical zoom… That’s the kind of camera for fast action, and kendo is no doubt fast… If you only used compacts (as I used to, until this year), you won’t understand the difference… Enough babbling:)
Enjoy!
BTW >> Individual duels were intermixed with demonstrations of other japanese martial arts like yaido for example…