After taking up karuta with the local community, I was soon introduced to the international Karuta Discord group (Discord invite link here). The international karuta community is great, and you get to meet people from places like Brazil, Russia, Germany, etc. If you are even casually interested in karuta, or the hyakunin isshu, it’s a nice community and worth joining.

Further, the community has been organizing periodic tournaments using the online Karuta app. I started learning karuta 2-3 months ago, and finally got to the point where I know (more or less), the 100 kimari-ji. So, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and register for the October competition.

Right away, I realized that I might be in over my head.

I lost a couple matches, both very decisively, and felt pretty of embarrassed. At the end of that day, I played poorly. In addition to slow reaction time to take cards, I tilted (in Magic: the Gathering speak) and fell apart under pressure.

I was pretty disheartened by this and I wondered if maybe I am just hopeless. Since I am starting karuta pretty late in life, I feared that maybe I am just getting too old for the game.

But, then I got to thinking. In my spare time, I’ve been playing a game called Fire Emblem: Three Houses (mentioned in my other blog here, among other places). The game, at its core, is about taking a team of amateur students and gradually turning them into an elite force through training, trial, etc. The instructor and main character, Byleth (catchphrase: “stay focused”), develops their individual talents, addressing weaknesses, taking them on training missions, etc.

I kind of felt inspired by this (and frankly, it’s an awesome game), so I got to thinking: I really do want to improve. However, if I want to improve at karuta, I need to get back to basics, stay focused, and work towards small improvements at a time:

• Get back to basics – practice memorizing kimariji. I sometimes recalled the cards too slowly, or incorrectly. Also, card placement at the beginning of the match (tei’ichi 定位置) is important.
• Stay focused – learning to stay calm, no matter what situation, and just pay attention to where each card is on the board. When I do get flustered, take a moment to calm myself and re-focus.
• Work towards small improvements – I can’t expect to win tournaments overnight. But if I focus on making small, incremental improvements, inevitably my game play will improve. Things such as:
  • Better card placement on the board for easier recall / taking.
  • Cutting down on penalties
  • Small improvements to taking cards faster.
  • Getting better acquainted with rules and etiquette. The online app handles most of that, but it’s still essential to learn.

So, if you’re playing karuta, or any competitive game, and you’ve been crushed in defeat, take heart. Given enough time and dedication you will definitely improve. Don’t worry how well other people play, focus on how well you’re playing now.

Edit: if you are a fellow Three Houses fan, I challenge you to boldly declare “I am Ferdinand von Aegir” during your next Karuta match and swipe half the cards from the board Chihayafuru style.

Either you’ll make a new friend (since they are a fan), or they’ll think you’re nutty.

P.S. Featured image source is from Nintendo, and depicts both genders of Byleth (you can play either one, which is neat).