Shinpan flags – photo by e-bogu.com.
Kendo is considered a martial art, not a sport. So why are there Kendo tournaments? I’m not going to get into that discussion here, save to say that from my perspective, Kendo tournaments are a good opportunity to get the Kendo community together and to test your skills against new opponents. They are also a place where the Kendo community sets and reinforces its standards of proper Kendo.
In light of that last point, the role of the shinpan (referee, or judge) at Kendo tournaments is exceptionally important. Through their decisions, shinpan determine what constitutes a valid strike. Whether you are an individual player are just watching, your interpretation of the shinpan’s decisions will shape your Kendo as you strive to emulate what the shinpan determine are valid strikes. If shinpan make bad decisions and allow mediocre strikes to be counted as valid, the quality of Kendo will decrease over time. To maintain and improve the quality of Kendo, the quality of shinpan must also be maintained and improved.
In our dojo, students of all levels get to referee matches. This means that even an ippon-shobu (one-point-decision) match can drag on as a student with little Kendo experience has a hard time trying to figure out what constitutes ippon. We usually have a few good laughs after class when we talk about the most obvious ippon that were missed by the newbie shinpan. I think it’s valuable training for everyone. New students start getting an idea what valid strikes look like. The shiai-sha (players) get more practice. Everyone learns something.
The upcoming shinpan seminar for the SWORD dojos will be a good opportunity for everyone to develop their skills as shinpan. Moreover, those participating as shiai-sha get guidance as to what constitutes ippon, so they can improve their own Kendo skills. I strongly encourage you to attend if possible.