WHCtournament - Match 3

WHCtournament - Match 3 (Finals) - Report

June, Match 3:
Report by Debra Woolard Bender

The WHC Global Haiku Tournament, the first of its kind, ended its three-month marathon sessions on 29 June 2002 with The Pointed Radishes Team emerging as Champion for this year. In a very close contest, they beat The Seven Samurai Team, betted by many as the favourite, in the Final round of this unusual haiku event, which took place in a specially created Internet mailing list, WHCtournament. All in all, 28 haiku poets from different parts of the world “jousted” in four teams (the other two being The Tapping Woodpeckers and The Shichifukujin) but with a pen as their weapon that produced many good haiku, comments on each other’s works and 12-stanza renku in front of the seven international judges and hundreds of spectators. For the participants and spectators alike, the Tournament provided an interesting learning opportunity and a lot of fun -- a new way of appreciating haiku literature.

Poets in different time zones teamed up to challenge each other in rounds of kigo, and free form haiku, topped off with the coup de resistance, twelve-stanza renku. On the day of the Final, Saturday, 29 June 2002, quick-paced wit and serious commentary alternated with volleys of team-honed poetry, as players vied for top votes from judges and cheers from spectators. The finalists had defeated The Shichifukujin and The Tapping Woodpeckers in the first and second matches which took place in April and May, respectively. Connected in time and space, online and in spirit, a small bit of haiku history was in the making.

As poets positioned for the playoff at their computers, WHC Chairman, Susumu Takiguchi, encouraged the teams by sending a pre-Match message of felicitations. Linda Robeck, Captain of The Seven Samurai entered the tournament with greetings and bows, mentioning that their team has found "a joyful camaraderie, helpfulness and sharing" through the preparations, forming "new friendships, insights and bonds" and hoped that it would extend to the same between the teams. Her sentiments were echoed from Gary Steinberg, Captain of The Pointed Radishes. Thus the battle was enjoined and an intense fight ensued for four hours, which fell into different time zones of the participants, some sitting up into small hours.

For this innovative international haiku event of the computer age, the presentation, selection, discussion and polishing of verses for competition were all done via e-mail. Three rounds of haiku on kigo, slug(s), mosquito(es) and tadpole(s), and one round of free-form haiku, followed by the final renku round, were volleyed into the playing field. Spectators and judges from different parts of the world watched play-by-play action online or via incoming e-mail as fifty-six haiku poems and two sets of twelve-stanza renku were introduced, followed by team members' competitive commentaries. WHC Tournament Director, Paul Conneally allotted a fast and furious thirty minutes per haiku-round, during which both teams were required to make their presentation of haiku and submit team commentary.

Nearly an hour was devoted to the renku commentary and discussion. Both teams' renku began with an unusual and dynamic hokku supplied by internationally acclaimed poet and one of the Tournament judges, George Swede:

Angry at myself
I walk the shoreline--too small
the hermit crab's shell

Since it had been decided that the "rule of engagement" would not be laid down for the renku competition, the matter of how the renku would be composed was left to each team's discretion. The Seven Samurai would go with the relatively free-style renku approach, while The Pointed Radishes would opt for more traditional lines. Kris Kondo, of The Pointed Radishes, summed up the sentiment of both teams by saying,

In spite of many limitations, my deep love for renku and wanting to share the joy of writing renku prompted me to become a radish. As always when one extends oneself there is so much to learn.

The aim of the renku section was to implement WHC's policy of promoting this genre world-wide for it to be learnt and enjoyed by haiku poets as well as by renku poets.

Both teams fought well and overcame technical difficulties of computers and mailing-list, as well as differences in International time-zones to engage in the rousing match. Friendly, competitive banter, questions and discussion followed the presentations of haiku. The ensuing discussion on renku was insightful and went deep.

At the end of the tournament, Carmen Sterba of The Pointed Radishes, reflected the mood of both teams by stating that the interest inspired in renku was a "most positive outcome of the tournament," and that she had grown closer to members of her own and the competing team. A member of The Seven Samurai, Alan J. Summers found that the event was of benefit in a far-reaching way:

…personally, this time has been a boon to me for composing new haiku, and tightening up one or two that i had struggled with for nearly a year.

During the after-Match "tea party", team members commented on favorite poems from their own and opponent's verses. Spectators were also invited to comment. And so the tournament ended with cyber-bows and expressions of gratitude to all, after some 300 e-mails and utter exhaustion.

Mitsugu Abe (of Saitamaken, Japan), WHC Policy Advisor with special interest in Japan, designed and developed the WHC Global Haiku Tournament as an educational and fun way of deepening international interest and understanding of haiku and renku. In 2001, the concept was tested in the successful "WHC Mock Global Haiku Tournament" on WHC's haikuforum mailing list. Now, having the First WHC Global Haiku Tournament under its belt, the World Haiku Club looks forward to making this annual event even more enjoyable and exciting in coming years for ever-increasing haiku enthusiasts around the world.

Asked about the reaction of the Tournament participants, Takiguchi reiterated his remarks of his closing address,

...the overall feelings of the participating teams, their captains and players alike, spectators and the Tournament officials are that we have had an unprecedented learning experience. Before it started, we did not know quite what to expect from the GHT. In the event, we came away from it with a strong feeling that we had done something extraordinary

The Tournament judges were: Ferris Gilli, Chief Judge (United States), George Swede (Canada), Janice Bostok (Australia), Michael McClintock (United States), Yasuomi Koganei (Japan), Paul MacNeil (United States) and Susumu Takiguchi (England, Japanese).

Team members of the Final Match:

The Pointed Radishes: Gary Steinberg (Captain), Ito (Juanito Escareal), Kris Kondo, Chris Patchel, An'ya (Andja Petrovic'), Carmen Sterba and John Wisdom.

http://www.netpro.ne.jp/~aminet/pages/whcght_radishes/pointed_radishes.htm

The Seven Samurai: Linda Robeck (Captain), Fay Aoyagi, Mark Brooks, DeVar Dahl, Paul Miller, Alan J. Summers and Billie Wilson.

http://www.haikai.org/7samurai/index.html

WHCtournament Mailing-List at YahooGroups (Messages Archives):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCtournament/

Websites:

The schedule of events, tournament news, announcements and updates can be read at the Interactive Photo-haiku Website:

http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wa/inter-arts/
http://www2.neweb.ne.jp/wd/photohaiku/index.htm

Team websites with their poetry for each match may be accessed from the World Haiku Club's Official Website; the winning poetry is also published with the Judges' commentaries on WHC's Internet magazine, World Haiku Review:

http://www.netpro.ne.jp/~aminet/pages/whctournament2002.html
http://www.worldhaikureview.org

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