Tangoubukan member Saiyou Ohshima and sensei Martin Nobida participated in the International Naginata Federation's 6th World Championships, Friendship Tournament, and Seminars held in Montreal from June 20 to June 24. The event brought together naginata sensei, competitors and practitioners from 14 countries from around the world, including Japan, Belgium, Brazil, the Netherlands, and for the first tie Taiwan, among others.

In the world championships men's individual shiai, Ohshima advanced to the second round after winning his first match with a competitor from Sweden, but lost to a competitor from Japan.

In the friendship matches the following day, Nobida took third place in men's individual shiai, after defeating competitors from Germany and Czech, but losing to the eventual champion of the division, Jakob Ryngen from Sweden.

Three days of seminars and testing followed the tournaments, where high level sensei from Japan and around the world, including Midori Yasui, offered their expertise and experience to further the development and improve the quality of naginata internationally.

Results of the world championships follow:

WNC Women's Team : 1. Japan 2. USA 3. France

WNC Men's Team : 1. Japan 2. Belgium 3. Canada

WNC Individuals Woman : 1. Hayashida 2. Ajiki 3. Nukii

WNC Individuals Men : 1. Tanaka 2. F.Dermine 3. Kato

WNC Engi Teams : 1. Japan (Ajiki & Nuki) 2. Japan (Inoue & Sakaki) 3. The Netherlands (A.Noorman & F.Noorman (siblings ...))

The slideshow above contains only a small fraction of the photos Nobida took at the event. To see more, visit his Flickr album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskeHZXLV