In an unconventional graduation ceremony at a primary school in Changhua County on Monday, six students had to defeat three kendo masters, including the school principal, as a graduation requirement at the commencement of a new journey.
Minquan Elementary School principal Lin Chao-ching (林昭青) said she has practiced kendo for 30 years and is a fifth dan, or rank, kendo expert — eighth dan being the highest attainable rank in the sport — and she trains all the school’s students, 35 in total, in kendo twice a week as an extracurricular activity in a bid to promote the sport and improve students’ health.
The six graduates had participated in the county’s annual kendo tournament this year, winning the championship and an award for fighting spirit, she said.
Photo: Chen Kuang-pei, Taipei Times
In Monday’s ceremony in Fangyuan Township (芳苑), the graduates faced three matches against their kendo coach, Chiu Wei-te (邱威得); Republic of China Kendo Association president Lai Kun-huang (賴坤煌) and Lin herself, she said.
Knowing that they had to take on the principal and win all three matches in front of a cheering crowd to be granted their diplomas, the students said that they were quite nervous at first, but the emotion turned to excitement when they cleared the first two matches.
In full armor, the six students, one after another, swung their bamboo swords against their opponents in the matches, expressing their fighting spirit in full and obtaining their diplomas.
Photo: Chen Kuang-pei, Taipei Times
Student Hung Cheng-yu (洪誠佑) said Lin, also known as “Lady Knight” to students, was going all out and entered the arena with an overbearing manner to dominate the contests.
He said that the crowd was shouting cheers for him while trying to thwart Lin’s momentum, so he regained confidence, kept concentrating his strikes on Lin’s head and abdomen, and finally passed the test.
Student Lin Hsin-yu (林信宇) said: “I am very satisfied. I will not forget the process for the rest of my life.”
Winning the three matches was a symbolic rite of passage and did not mean that the students are better than their opponents, Lin Hsin-yu said, adding that the matches were held to pass on the fearless fighting spirit of kendo to students.
Lin Chao-ching said that the six graduates were very talented, and the matches were not held to test the students’ competence, but to cultivate their spirit and prompt them to courageously accept challenges.
Students can improve their stability, concentration and self-confidence by learning kendo and meditating, she said.
Asked whether she threw the matches, the principal said she did relax a bit, adding however that the students had never skipped kendo training, which was key to their success.
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