Commentary by Simon Larsen
Quarter Finals Time!
ALSOK are a security company and they are usually one of the stronger teams.
Matsuura starts to go for men, as soon as he has drawn Kojima into blocking the men Matsuura reverses and strikes do. As Kojima comes back down from the blocking position he loses centre which gave the opening. Kojima tends to have his kissaki out to the right most of the time and I suspect Matsuura saw this and knew he would get an opening.
Hisatsune sensei always tells us not to block men. Just stab them as they lift their hands; their do is way closer than your men so unless you miss you ought to score a point. If you block you’re just wasting energy. This is easier to say than do…
The second point is a great example of judging. I still don’t know how they do so well on points like this. In slow motion you can see that Kojima drops his tanken very low and Matsuura strikes over the top. Given basic geometry Matsuura should land first.
I have a feeling that the Judges have simply played so much tankendo they see the weakness and their flags are on the way before the strike even lands. If so the lesson therefore is not to drop your tanken when making a strike as it will encourage the judges to expect you to lose.
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