Grading 2007-09-04

On behalf of Waikato Kendo Club, I would like to congratulate:
- Tian Li
- Wen Luo
- Annie Ko
- Gray Chapman
who have achieved 8th Kyu in Kendo;

- George Liu
- Kevin Peng
- Sang Won Kim
- James Nam
who have achieved 6th Kyu in Kendo;

- William Kim
- Clment Guo
- Robin Kim
- Omar Soemadipradja
who have achieved 5th Kyu in Kendo;

- Nicolus Stuyck
- Angus Gray
who have achieved 4th Kyu in Kendo;

and

- Joshua Mo
- Christopher Mo
- Andrew Fraser
- Fumiko Akiyama
- James Lee
- Min Gi Kim
- Ari Nuttale-Parton
who have achieved 3rd Kyu in Kendo.

Well done, all of you! That was a great grading and I am pleased to be part of your achievement.

Getting higher grade also means more responsibility (such as taking care of other beginners and be a better moto-dachi) and more harder training.

Anyway, please enjoy the photos (Thanks to DoHuan) and see you on Saturday.

100 Photos are available HERE!

Comments

How do you practice seme?

Kobayashi Hideo Sensei – How to Seme (w/English CC) 小林英雄先生 - 攻め方 How do you practice S eme ? Very early on, I have heard of the “Three Opportunities to Strike”: strike when your opponent’s technique is about to start, strike when your opponent’s technique ends, and when the opponent is mentally and physically depleted. Since then, this line of thinking has given me a direction in how to train. In 2017, Utsunomiya sensei, 7-dan kyoshi, came to visit us and taught me the concept of “okori”. That reminds me of the conversation that happened 8 years before that in 2009 with Morioka sensei, also 7-dan kyoshi, who asked me: “What is the timing or reason of your strike?” I think most people are familiar with the idea that you should “ seme then strike ”. However, when do you strike after seme has been a source of struggle for most kenyu. That’s why when I saw the video from Kobayashi Hanshi where you seme for the purposes of creating “okori” , I felt this added a whol...

Kendo Journey: A "Travel Guide" from Shodan to Godan-and-a-Half

Waikato Kendo Association Grading (2009) Kendo Journey: A Travel Guide from Shodan to Godan-and-a-Half （中文） by Sam Tsai December 27, 2017 Those that know me should know that back in 1998, Marleen and I moved to Hamilton, New Zealand and ended up being the only two people that practiced kendo within the 100 kilometers radius. In the following year, the stars were aligned as we formed the Waikato Kendo Association and I found myself shouldering the responsibility of being a kendo instructor. Practicing kendo myself and teaching others how to do kendo are totally different things! About half a year after we established the dojo, Hsu Heng-Hsiung sensei , coach of Team Taiwan, led a delegation of more than 20 kenshi to come visit us in New Zealand. About a year after their visit, I was in Taiwan visiting sensei. The first thing he said to me was, “Tell me, what are you having trouble teaching?” I could not help myself but laugh out loud as I replied, “Coach you are ...

From Fear to Learning: A Kendo Reflection - Nico

Photo Credit: Heathen Light Over the last year or so of practising Kendo, I have found it to be a truly wonderful experience that has had a positive effect on almost all areas of my life. One of the things Kendo has helped me with the most is anxiety, something I have dealt with throughout my adult life. I almost didn’t attend my first lesson because I felt so anxious about starting something new. Now, at my most recent grading, I didn’t feel anxious at all. I knew that, at the very worst, even if I didn’t pass, I would learn where I was on my Kendo journey and what I needed to improve and work on. Over the past year, I have really enjoyed taking my first steps on what I hope will be a lifelong Kendo journey. “In Kendo, discovering where you are is already part of becoming who you will be.”

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