The most anticipated Southeast Asia regional event has finally resumed after two years of hiatus on 17th July 2022. Prior to covid-19, Southeast Asia Kyudo Gatherings were held annually in various countries to build diplomatic ties, facilitate cultural exchange, and to raise awareness of Kyudo. It can be considered an unspoken tradition of the region. This year's gathering was organised by Kyudo Association (Singapore), and that the success of the event could only have been possible with the collaboration of other participating areas/countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Notably, it was the first online Shakai for countries such as Indonesia.

As illustrated by this year's banner, the theme for the gathering is "SEA", which not only represents the Southeast Asian countries, but also the ocean that connects us, representing the ever-present unity amongst various dojos across Asia. Over 70 practitioners managed to participate in the team and individual categories. Distinguished network partners, Taiwan and Hong Kong, were also invited to join the individual competitions, which are open to all Dan-holders and Shogo-holders. It was safe to say that there was a lot of hype and anticipation for this gathering.

Dojo & Livestream Setups

Most of the participating dojos have prior experience with performing livestreams, which helped in the deployment of camera setups as per the recommendation of the event rules, with one camera facing the archers and another camera facing the Azuchi area. Scores were also updated in real-time on (a shared) Google Sheet by appointed scorekeepers.

Team Competition Highlights

The event started off with the team competition, where each country is allowed to send up to 2 tachi(s) consisting of 3 practitioners each. Each participant was required to shoot 2 arrows in Zassha in the first round, and then proceeded to shoot 4 arrows in Rissha in the second round, accumulating in 6 arrows being shot in total. As this was a friendly competition, there were no elimination rounds. The team with the highest number of hits was considered the winner.

Being the powerhouse of the Southeast Asia region, Thailand quickly established a score advantage over other countries for the first set of two arrows (Zassha format). They continued to maintain their lead for the next 4 arrows (Rissha). Both Thailand's team 1 and 2 achieved first and second place.

The Vietnam team managed to narrow the gap during the 4 arrows (Rissha) and secured third place with a commendable amount of hits.

Congratulations to Thailand and Vietnam for winning the team competition for 5th SEA Kyudo Gathering Shakai!

Individual Competition Highlights

In order to better facilitate the remaining time, a decision was made so that every participant would shoot 4 arrows in Rissha format instead of the usual 6 arrows. Participants were also grouped according to Category A (3-4 hits), B (1-2 hits) and C (0 hits) depending on the hits for each individual. Each group category (A,B & C) then proceeded to shoot in their own respective groups’ time. Each participant was only allowed 1 shot, with whoever hitting closest to Mato securing their win for that category. Closeup photos of the Mato at the end of each category group’s shooting were then shared to the organising committee (Singapore) for verification.

The competition heated up in the individual open category as practitioners from Taiwan and Hong Kong joined in. Five out of the seventy participants managed to secure a position in Category A: Shum Siu Fung (Hong Kong), Ayaka Komyo (Malaysia), Leong Cheng Fan (Malaysia), Liu Bin-Cheng (Taiwan) and Chiu Pei-Chi (Taiwan). The winner of Category A was Shum Siu Fung (Hong Kong) who managed to attain a hit very near to the centre of the Mato (centre picture), thereby winning first place on behalf of Hong Kong for Category A. Notably, Liu Bin Cheng (Taiwan) was the only practitioner in the Shakai to attain Kaichuu, hitting all 5 times.

The most exciting Category happened to be Category B whereby the difference between the hits were within millimetres of each other relative to the centre of the mato. With just a hairline’s edge (first picture from left), Numair from Indonesia managed to secure his first win in his debut Shakai.

For Category C, a clear shot nearing to the center of the mato led Adrian Sollestre (Philippines) to becoming the clear winner.

Congratulations to the following participants:
‍Category A: Shum Siu Fung (Hong Kong, First Place), Liu Bin Cheng (Taiwan, First Runner-Up), Leong Cheng Fan (Malaysia, Second Runner-Up)
‍Category B: Adams Numair Nusantara (Indonesia)
‍Category C: Adrian Sollestre (Philippines)

Final Thoughts

The organising committee would like to thank the Hong Kong and Taiwan teams for accepting our invitations and supporting us as they always have. We certainly look forward to having more future exchanges with them!

Despite this gathering being our first post-covid gathering, the turnout rate was considerably better than expected. The success of this online event proves that Southeast Asia is capable of adapting to the challenges that we face, and is poised to become the next largest region for Kyudo post-pandemic. Moving forward, Southeast Asia countries will increase the level of collaboration to hold events, gatherings and exchanges so that we may generate more interest and awareness for Kyudo within the region.

With that being said, all future news and events would be posted on the sea-kyudo.com website, so do check back once in a while. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again in the next gathering!

Group Photos & Showcases:

‍

‍