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Showing posts from 2008

Re: Humuity - WOody

Photo taken on 2008-11-20 WKC Beginners Grading Date: Fri, Dec 19, 2008 RE: Humility Yes indeed, Mark, my new friend. I too arrived home and opened what was for me one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received...My wife was so delighted to read the words that others had generously shared with and about me. I imagined the thrill that my team mates were experiencing as they too opened their precious packets of friendship. Thank you one and all in the Waikato Kendo club - best club in NZ without doubt! It is an honour to belong. It was also really cool to see all the young people put on their Hakama for the first time. Adam and I squirmed with frustration as we missed out on learning the new moves amongst our comrades. But we also enjoyed getting to know each other better and discussing the details of what we were seeing in the training. In kendo we learn from each other wit hour minds as well as our bodies in training. Sensei Marleen's wisdom was shared regardin

Humility - Mark V

Photo taken on 2008-11-20 WKC Beginners Grading Date: Thu, Dec 18, 2008 New Subject - Humility. I came home this evening from our last 2008 beginners practice (which seemed to go so quickly!!) and I opened my gift from Sensei Marlene. Upon reading the comments held within from my fellow Kendoka and Sensei Marlene, I can truly say that this was the most humbling gift I have ever received. Much like yourself, 4 months ago, I turned up to a "Hall" at the University of Waikato with a group of nervous strangers, wishing to find out more about something called "Kendo". Since then, no matter what has been transpiring in our personal lives, we have all continued to meet every Thursday evening in that "hall" for an hour and a half, being taught things which I would not have even imagined doing, let alone achieving in my every day life. Today, that "Hall" is our Dojo - It is our kendo home were we now all come together as one, to learn and practice the ma

Breakfast, Teamwork and the art of Kendo by Mark V.

This morning along with Sensei Marlene and Sempai’s Robin, Leo, Clem & Joyce, I had the privilege of attending and enjoying the Sport Waikato Volunteers Breakfast which was hosted by the venerable Dave Curry who is the New Zealand Olympic Team Chef de Mission. What’s a Chef de Mission I hear you ask? (No, he’s not the team cook….) Basically, when you bring over 200 elite athletes together you need leadership from someone they trust and respect. Dave Curry has earned that position. Each time the New Zealand team competes Dave and his team ensures that every athlete is in the best environment to achieve their personal best. One of the core messages Dave Curry imparted upon us, was just how important team work is. Everybody’s contribution of 150% towards their common goal, plays a huge part in not only attaining your team’s goals but surpassing your personal goals. It does not matter how big a part or how small a part you play, as long as you DO play a part and you give your 150%. Tha

2008 B Beginners Hakama grading

It was a successful grading for our 2008B Beginners on 20th November 2008. Michell T. Joseph C. Patrick T. Daniel M. Adam W. David W. Grant P. Mark V. Reina H. Rachel H. Dabbie P. Alba C. Robin C. Congradulations to all of you who challenged and passed your first grading in your kendo journey. A very BIG thank you to our panel senpai: Amigo Huang Leo Lin Clement Guo and demonstration from Dabao Fightoooooo...... everyone ^^

2008年度第1回特別講演会

2008年度第1回特別講演会:報告 2008年 11月 12日作成 今回は、鈴木希彦氏を講師にお招きし、下記のテーマでお話しいただきました。 テーマ :「剣道が伝える日本文化」 講 師 :鈴木希彦氏(千葉県教育庁南房総教育事務所,指導主事/教士七段) 助講師 :林怡秀氏(台北市内湖區剣道委員会・執行長/剣道四段)      蔡坤憲氏(逢甲大学光電学部・講師/剣道四段) 日 時 : 2008年10月19日(日)  14:00~17:00 参加者 :台湾の日本語教育関係者・大学院生41名配付資料:講演レジュ  今回の講演では、「剣道が伝える日本文化」と題して、剣道の基本知識、歴史、武士道、そして、現代の教育との関わりなどのお話とともに、剣道の基本技と日本剣道形の模範演武が行われました。  まず、剣道とはどんなものかを知るために、剣道で用いられる防具類や基本の構え方、基本技と一本を取るための要件や好機などがDVD映像などもまじえて紹介されました。特に基本技については、実際に助講師の方々との実演とともに説明されたので、その気合いと迫力に圧倒されつつ、基本技だけでなく、基本的な立ち居振る舞いや礼儀作法なども見せていただくことができました。  次に、剣道の歴史が、剣術の誕生から日本剣道形の確立に至るまでの歩み、剣道の隆盛時代、戦後の中断期、そして、復活後から現在までについての4パートに分けて紹介されました。また、武士道についても、その出現や出現理由、必要性と時代背景などが簡単に解説されました。  更に、戦後60年の社会変化と現代の学校を取り巻く不安な状況が、種々のデータや資料とともに解説され、不良学生になりがちな環境に育った生徒たちが剣道に打ち込んで大会で好成績を収めた事例の紹介を含め、剣道と教育との関わりへと話が展開されました。そして、新学習指導要領によって2012年から中学校で武道が必修化される等、武徳教育の強化が打ち出された教育現場において、武道に求められるものは、世界中に広がって愛好者を増やし続ける剣道の魅力と同じもの、即ち、「剣の理法の修練による人間形成の道」という剣道の理念にもある、「人間形成」に他ならないであろうとの見解でまとめられました。  最後に、鈴木先生と蔡先生による日本剣道形の模範演武が披露され、緊張感の漂うなか講演が締め括られました。  以上のように、迫

Photo albums of the 1st NZ Kendo Novice Championship

The 1st New Zealand Kendo Novice Championship Waikato Kendo Club, 01 Nov 2008 * * * Due to Picasa's photo service has transferred to Google Photos. We are updating our web album, too. Please come back later! 5 Jan 2017   * * * Dear participants of the 1st NZ Novice, Please find your own pics from the links below ^^ http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/leolinnz/1stNewZealandKendoNoviceChampionships   (263 photos) http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/marleen.charng/2008NewZealandNoviceKendoChampionships (500 photos) http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/marleen.charng/2008NewZealandKendoNoviceChampionships2 (105 photos) Best wishes Marleen and All Waikato members ^^ Ps. Some information about the event posted on 19 Oct 2008 .

The meaning of dojo - Inoue Yoshihiko hanshi

Inoue Hanshi's speech on 'the meaning of dojo' for the new Auckland Kendo Dojo Opening Ceremony (12 July 2008): "In relation to the speech given by President Sayer about the dojo, I would just like to comment about the meaning of what a dojo is: a dojo is a place for people to conduct the study of their life. When we speak about this study, it is really the study about one's own heart. In the process of this study, we acquire the elements that make us human beings. From the very beginning, from the time that we were born, we come to this “road” of life with a very pure heart, but in the process of growing up and coming of age, there are a lot of effects on our lives, things that we learn and the understanding that we come to have, and in this way, that pure heart of ours, we can say, becomes soiled or takes on some mistaken understanding about the meaning of life. With time and the impact of the events that have occurred in our lives, some troubles accumulate in

2008 NZ Novice Kendoka Champs

Forwarded email: 2008 New Zealand Novice Kendoka Champs Official Information Dear Kendo Friends The New Zealand Novice Kendoka Open Championship 2008 will held in the Waikato Kendo Club, Hamilton at 1st November, please find attachment of the registration form for the championship, please complete and send the form back no later than 10 of October 2008 (Dead Line). Purposes of the tournament: i. To provide more opportunities for new kendoka to get together and enhance their shiai experiences. ii. To provide opportunities for veteran kendoka to grooming shinpan for kiwis. Name: The 1st New Zealand Novice Kendoka Open Chamioonship. Entry fee: $30 per head. Free lunch will be provided by the hosting organization. Venue: SOE Gym, Gate 4, University of Waikato. Hillcrest Rd. Hamilton. Date: 1st November, 2008. Time draft: 8~9am shinpan seminar, The shiai will start right after the seminar. Participants: the competition only eligible for people who currently train/lear

Ari's band - The Dusk

Grading in 2008 January We (The Dusk) are playing tonight (9 Oct)! Possible slightly late notice... At around ten thirty at the Flow Bar on Victoria St. It's part of the mammoth band experiments, you can learn more about it at: http://www.mammothguide.net/bandexperiments/ or visit our myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/yeahthedusk if you can't make it but are still keen to listen some of our songs :-) Anyway that's it lol. thanks heaps, Ari. + + + + + Follow Up + + + + + Howdy folks, My Band (The Dusk) have come runners up in the mammoth band experiments competition. which was pretty good fun by the way! :-) However if we are going to play in the finals of this competition we need all your votes. Stenn, Liam and I would really apreciate it if all you guys could help us out by voting for our band at this link: www.mammothguide.co.nz/conversewildcarddraw Don't forget we're The Dusk! Thanks heaps,Ari.

Kendo - book sharing by Mark_V

Last week, Sensei Marleen kindly lent me two books on Kendo to read….. & then asked, if I would share with you all, my thoughts on them. I said no problem; I’m a fast reader …. Sensei Marleen just smiled…. The first book is simply called Kendo (The Shambhala Guide) and is written by Minoru Kiyota . Let me tell you, there is nothing simple about this book. Little did I know that I would find myself reading and re reading its pages over again and again, drawing upon just how much the information within those pages directly related to what we are practicing now even at this early stage of our Kendo journey. For example, when we faced each other in practice last week, focusing on our Kamai, focusing on our Ki Ai, focusing on each others eyes…. I started thinking to myself – “man that Daniel’s a big guy for a young fella, He’s got a big reach and he looks really determined!” For a split second I found myself doubting how I would deal with him as an opponent – In my mind the answer was

Kendo and acupuncture - Andrew

Kendo and acupuncture - Andrew I have a family of two children 8 and 5, and my partner who is a midwife, we moved to New Zealand from Australia so she could study midwifery. I am a practitioner of Oriental Medicine, I practice Japanese style acupuncture and Kampo (Japanese herbal medicine). Having a partner who is a midwife and no other family here means that I need to be flexible and working from home in my own practice allows this. Part of my decision to study Kendo was to increase my understanding of Japanese culture to help my work, which it has. Kendo and acupuncture have the same philosophical root and I will attempt to draw your attention to some of the parallels between the two. I believe that most people reading this know less about acupuncture than Kendo, so I will focus on the former. Acupuncture has been practiced for over 1600 years in Japan, the needle and sword being both made of metal would have developed at similar times. Acupuncture and Kendo are two aspects of Orien

Yasu senpai's wedding photos

Congratulations to Yasu and Utako's wedding on 10 May 2008. Hello Yasu san, It's so nice to see your wedding photos! For those who don't know Yasunori san, he was our club senpai during 2003 to 2005 and has helped many Waikato members and beginners. He also made a Japanese website for us and makes us famous in Japan! Below is the mail from Yasu senpai on 30 August. ※ Hello Sam&Marleen. It is great to hear from you! How have you been? I attached my wedding photos, so please have a look. I have been thinking of sending you the photos much earlier, but I was too lazy.... My wife's name is Utako, same age as me. It is great to know that John and Emily, and Lance and Ayako had married. Congratulations! Next wedding might be Jefferry and Yayi? My new address is: ***** Hiroshima-city, Japan BTW, I will be a father in April next year. Hope to have a cute child like Joyce! Thank you very much for a wedding gift for me and my wife. I really appriciate your kindness. Lastly,

First Naginata Experience

Thanks to Mr. Roy Poon brought us the wonderful Naginata evening on 12 August 2008. Basic introduction about Naginata. Naginata in Action .... And congratulations to Roy for his success in Ni-Kyu during the 2nd International Naginata Seminar . There are 130 more photos about the evening at our Picasa Web Albulum: 2008-08-12 WKC Naginata Experience If you read Chinese, you are also welcome to visit Roy's blog about his NZ Kendo trip. NZ Kendo Trip 1 - Waikato Kendo Club NZ Kendo Trip 2 - Auckland Kendo Club

A review for the past and a reminder for the future - Clement

Thanks to Clement's contribution for noting the training on 2008 August 26. Review of what we have done this kendo year: Jumping Suburi Waza - Kaishi Do, Hiki Men, Hiki Do, Harai Left, Harai Right, Suriagi Men, Debana Kote, Kote-Do, Kote-Men and Tsuki-Men Kirikaeshi - Working on Ki Ken Tai Ichi, Sayo-Men, Taiatari Footwork Ki hon - Men, Kote, Do, Kote-Men, Kote-Do, Fumikomi After all that training, we have improved a lot of many areas, yet we still have a lot more to improve on. There are a few points that Sam Sensei wants to remind us: Tan-den - Especially with Kiai, the Ki should resonate from the Tan-den (around the lower Abdomen) and this produces a stronger and deeper sound. Marleen Sensei explained that it makes your kamae stronger with the tightening of the thighs. A saying "Qi Chen Dan Ten" literally translates to Ki from the Tan-den. Footwook - An exercise that we did today showed that some of us had trouble with our left ankle as we step forward. Sam Sensei e

The Importance and Purpose of Etiquette in Kendo

Thanks to Robin P sharing his knowledge in the 2008 Beginner Class. * * * The Importance and Purpose of Etiquette in Kendo - by Robin Parrington - One of the first things newcomers notice when they watch a kendo practice is that there seems to be a lot of bowing. We bow when entering the dojo, we bow to Shomen, we bow to Sensei and we bow to each other at the beginning and end of every rotation of partners. To understand why we do this we have to consider the origins of Kendo. That origin is from the samurai of Japan. The samurai were the military nobility and lived by their code of conduct known as Bushido or the way of the warrior. For the samurai good etiquette and proper behaviour were often a matter of life and death, for if he was to offend a superior or not show proper respect the consequences could be dire! Also, the conduct of samurai served as role model behaviour for the other social classes. Over the years samurai developed Kendo as a safe way to practice their sword skil

Post for 2008 Term 2 Beginners Class

Thanks to Clement's design for the nice post.

Grading on 02 August 2008

Grading results on Saturday 02 August 2008: Ichi (1st) Kyu  Robin P.  Awatea W.  Clement G. Ni (2nd) Kyu  Omar S.  James L.  Christopher M.  Joshua M. San (3rd) Kyu  Scott B.  Kevin P.  Douglas F.  Wen L.  Annie K.  Ann C. 5th Kyu  Tian L.  William C. Ps. The photos and video clips will be available soon.

2008 NZKF Seminar Reflection - Clark

Hi there, Here are some points from this year’s camp: Firstly, in the Kata session, before Uchidachi and Shidachi physically cross Bokudos, both of them should rise up Ki and try to feel the tension and fight between Ki. After that, Inoue Sensi pinpointed several detail points in Kata one and two: 1. In Kata one, when Shidachi moving backward (Nuki),we should use okuri-ashi (sliding footwork) instead jumping backward. 2. In Kata two, both of Uchidachi and Shidachi should not just finish the sequence. From the beginning, Uchidachi should fight for the central line, (either push opponent’s shinai asides, or try to do Tsuki), at the moment, Shidachi should push back to keep own shinai at the central line. Then the timing for Kote will emerge. In the kihon training, between the Seme (with Kiai-yaaa) and actual attack (men, kote, or do), we should not have any pause or hesitation. Besides that, we should be ready at all time. Once the opportunity comes, we should show our Seme and initiate

2008 NZKF Seminar Reflection - Andrew

Hi all, here are a few thoughts/pointers from the camp. As Sam said Inoue sensei stressed the importance of not only listening carefully to your instructors, but to also take notes and then to implement these into your Kendo. I didn’t make any notes until I returned from the camp so I may have lost many gems of wisdom, maybe forever- I feel great shame for this!! Yesterday, (Saturday) Sam gave at least three pointers from the camp- I hope we can all make note of these, and the other gems that Sam gave us- before we forget. Please excuse me for anything I missed, perhaps Sam, Marleen, Clark and Terry can fill in the blanks or correct my mistakes. The 1st day of the seminar I attended was Saturday we assembled & the event was officially opened and the visiting sensei were introduced. Inoue sensei started the instruction with kendo kata, the 1st three. All of the basics of the kata are contained in these 1st three The ki-aii of YA for the 1st need to be long in this kata, as it is

Suburi Swing Speed Study - Link

From Benji's blog I found this article and hope to share with you: ++++++++ In your daily practice, to what angle do you swing up the shinai, and to what position do you swing it down to? In Heisei 10, at the 31st Japanese Budo Forum, two pieces of research were presented: 'Changes in suburi - in particular changes caused by kensen position at the apex of the upswing - due to variations in kendo teaching methods' and 'Suburi teaching methods in kendo - variations in arm action at the terminal position during empty striking' . The researchers were a group centered around Professor Ueda Fumio (kyoshi 7 dan) and Assistant Professor Yoshida Yasumasa (7 dan), both of Keio Gijuku University. Both researchers have since further advanced their research into suburi, and continue to scientifically search for the most effective suburi. Here, they explain suburi that is effective in actual use. ++++++++ Please visit the original page HRER is the ULR .

Jordan Brand - "MAYBE IT'S MY FAULT."

Jordan Brand "Become Legendary" 系列的新廣告 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlyOgVFYLXE 原文(聽譯) by airworm Maybe it's my fault. 這也許都是我的錯。 Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn't. 錯在我讓你們相信這一切都來的很簡單。 Maybe I made you think my highlights started at the free-throw line, and not in the gym. 錯在我讓你們誤認為我所有的成就都是從那罰球線灌籃開始的, 而不是體育館內的不斷練習。 Maybe I made you think that every shot that I took was a game-winner. 錯在我讓你們以為我投的每一球都是致勝球 that my game was built on flash, and not fire. 還有我的成就是一瞬間造成的而非累積下來的。 Maybe it's my fault that you didn't see that failure gave me strength, that my pain was my motivation. 錯在我沒讓你們發覺失敗給了我力量,我所承受過的苦痛是我成功的原動力。 Maybe I led you to believe that basketball was a God-given gift and not something I worked for. 錯在我讓你們認為籃球是上帝賦予我的禮物而非我努力得來的。 Every single day of my life. 我生命中的每一天我都這麼覺得, Maybe I destroyed the game. 或許我毀了這個運動。 Or maybe, you're just making excuses. 又或許,你們只是在找失敗的藉口。"

Benji from JP -- competition & the meaning of 1st Dan

Hello. Today we went to a competition/meeting for all the kendo dojos around Nodashi. It was really impressive. First to fight were young children, I'm not sure how old they were but some of them looked like 5 or so. Then there were highschool students, and last were older people from university and so on. Everyone fought really well, especially when they were in the finals haha, they really went at it. I also saw a lot of people do jodan, which was interesting to watch. It was also quite funny because I knew a lot of people who were there, and people came to talk to me (I suspect because I am somewhat of a novelty, being the only foreigner there, or at the dojos). I've uploaded a short video of the warm-up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuUYg5hcOCQ My camera is really bad :( I myself have been feeling great. The sensei who runs the old dojo is generally really grumpy and criticises me a lot: I hold my shinai wrong, I fold my hakama wrong, I bow wrong and so on. He is 7

SIGNIFICANT national camp change

Dear all, the NZKF executive, in consultation with the Rembuden leaders, has decided to make a significant change to this year's calendar. The National Camp will be moved to 12/13 JULY and will be held in AUCKLAND . This will also mean that the AGM will be on the same weekend. Please see the message below from Graham for an explanation: I have been speaking to Inouye Sensei on and off for the last 5 months , including two face to face meetings with him . I was , along with many other NZKF members, sad to think that 2007 might have been the Sensei's last trip to NZ. In the last few weeks the Sensei has agreed to making another trip , part of the deal is Auckland-based, as we would like him (as our Patron/ shihan) to officially open the new super duper whizz bang dojo for us. The Sensei has asked that the event be in Mid July so that he can bring with him a "good" group of other Sensei . The costs of airfares out of Japan are about half in July compared with August . In

Benjamin in JP Dojo follow up

A little more, I'll keep it short this time: I feel that perhaps this opportunity is a little wasted on me. When I goto practice I end up constantly hitting teachers until I almost fallover from exhaustion, take a short breathing break and do it again. Theytell me to change little things here and there, but I could do thispractice with someone else without wasting the time of these very goodkendo teachers. That's why I feel someone who is far better than meshould be here in my place. I would love to see Jeffrey practice with them. I went to the second dojo I mentioned. There were fewer people there,and there was also a lot more room for practice. The head teacher is farmore practical, and gauged my skill by having me practice with anotherperson going through all the cuts for what seemed like half an hour.Then he started to practice with me and we did kakari-geiko for 1 min, ashort rest, and again, every time saying "faster faster". One guy showed up who was also at th

A brief reply to Benji's dojo experience

A brief reply to Benji's dojo experience in Japan.   ++++++++  Hi Benji,  I don't think those teachers are "just being polite" to you as they don't need to do so. My thinking is that they do feel you have good kihon (basics) and good attitude s in Kendo. Of course, there are still many things you need to learn! But this does not mean you are "not good".  If you are still in Waikato, Marleen and I will still keep teaching you those "many things". Remember, there is no graduation in Kendo. You might be graduated from Waikato University but not Waikato "Kendo" school yet. In terms of Kendo journey, you are just "transferring" to another school. :)  I am very proud of you and your performance in Japan. The best thing I feel is that there is another group of Kendo teachers would like to teach and guide you for your future Kendo journey. And, I also think this is the value of what Marleen and I are doing in Waikato Kendo Club :  

Japan 2-practice from Benjamin

Hello, Last night I went to the dojo I wrote about to you in the last email,the one which impressed me so much. But before I write what happened there I'll let you know about a third dojo. Kotomi, my girlfriend, had been trying, unsuccessfully, to contact a certain dojo which was a few minutes by bike from our house. There was only an address and phone number listed in the phone book, and this was never answered. She decided to look up the address on google earth to find out exactly where it is (Japanese addresses are notoriously hard tofigure out). She found it and we went there by bike to see if anyone could tell us more. After asking some people we located it, and looking inside we saw rows of desks on a wooden floor. An old man was sitting outside and we talked to him. He told us that this was something like a community hall, and that he used to teach at the primary school in this area, and now teaches in this hall. We asked him about kendo and he told us that they move the des

Japan 2 -- from Benjamin

Hello again, Today we went to visit another dojo. It's quite funny how we found it:my girlfriend was looking for a spare part for her mum's sewing machinein a little shop down the road from our house. While the owner, an oldman, was out the back of the shop looking for the part she happened tosee the kanji for 'ken' on a letter partially hidden in a stack of paper. When the owner came back she politely asked him if he practised kendo, and he said he used to, and that the letter was from the kendofederation. She asked him if there was a dojo around here (noda city)and he said there was one just a few minutes from here. This was strange because we had been looking for a close dojo (in this area) for the last few weeks in phone books and internet listings without finding any. He gave us directions and said they would be training tonight and that we should go and look. It's actually quite an amazing dojo, very old, and quite small, withvery thin wooden walls (it's s

training on 25th March 08

Waikato Kendo Club Tuesday 25th Mar. 2008 6.10 – 9.00pm A. Management 1. Instructors’ Seminar short oral Report and shiai streitage sharing. 2. NZKF Champs follow up. B. Training I. Warm up time Jumping suburi 60 origional + 10 x 3 II. Kihon training focus – 1. Meaning of being a Mototachi – responsibilities 2. Individual -- feeling about your Kensen 3. Individual -- Manage distance from extend your arms + small foot step. 4. Individual -- For KM strike, please DO strike along with your central line, not worry whether you got the point or not. CENTRE and DISTANCE CONTROL is more important at this stage. a. Kirikaishi x 5 b. Big seme M 3 x 5 c. Small seme M 3 x 5 d. Small seme M 3 x 5 (mototachi follow up) e. BIG Kote-M 3 x 5 f. Small Kote-M 3 x 5 g. Small M 3 x 5 (mototachi strike M after receiving seme) @ 5 minutes break III. Stage two -- Kakari-geiko (15 x 9) 3 people in a group, each group with a senior. IV. Cool down – Clement takes charge

Training programme for 22nd March 08

Waikato Kendo Club Saturday 22nd Mar. 2008 3.10 – 6.00pm A. Management 1. Do not hand in any payment today because office box is not here. B. Training I. Warm up time Jumping suburi 60 origional + 10 x 3 II. Kihon training focus – Feeling about your Kensen Manage distance from extend your arms + small foot step . For KM, please DO strike along with your central line; not worry whether you got the point or not . CENTRE and DISTANCE CONTROL is more important at this stage . a. Kirikaishi x 5 b. Big semei (Kensen push to opponent’s tsuba) M 5 x 5 c. Small semei (Kensen push to opponent’s tsuba) M 5 x 5 d. BIG Kote-M 3 x 5 e. Small Kote-M 3 x 5 @ 10 minutes break III. Stage two -- Kakari-geiko (one side each 15 x 6) Reference -- Big M – KM – KM+ Hiki D – KM – M Hiki M – KM Hiki D – M – Big M IV. Cool down – Awatea takes charge V. Afterward – Any feed back to Darrin?

Few Thoughts after the shiai keiko on March 15 - Dabao in Chinese

18.03.2008 老师们, 我继续用中文表达我打剑的感受,因为中文能更好的表达我的想法。 通过上周六的小比赛,我感觉自己有少许进步了。特别是在KIAI方面,能冷静的发出"怒吼"了。能做出点RANXIN的感觉了。 比赛的对手是老骆,他的气势很强,我一直很"郁闷"和他对决,但是偏偏每次都遇到他(所以我还是很郁闷,哈哈。。。)。 所以在比赛前,我让自己COOL DOWN,把老骆想象成我自己,那么我就不会惧怕他那强有力的气势。我就想像对手就是我自己,我要打倒的就是我自己,所以这次表现比前两次比赛好很多。 真正的对手是自己本身,不是其他人。这是我这次比赛的心得 。 Marleen's translation: The real opponent is ourself rather than others. This is what I thought about after 15th Shiai. 至于动作,技巧方面,那是需要通过艰苦的大强度的训练才能提高的。老人说 水到渠成 ,所以我会继续努力训练。 我给比我训练刻苦的同学们一句谏言:" 不要太着急练成 '绝世武功',云在天空,水在瓶;一切顺其自然,我们练的就是云水剑 , Marleen's translation: Do not hurry to achieve the invencible waza. Through daily training regularly training/ practice, we will achieve the higher level naturally. 不是吗?" 哈哈。。。。欢迎大家指正。 大宝

Training on 18th March 08

Waikato Kendo Club Tuesday 18th Mar. 2008 6.20 – 9.00pm A. Management 1. Distributing shinai order to Robin P. and Douglas F. 2. The importance of Not be late for any training session. 3. Publishing NZKF Open information. 4. Hand Saturday’s training to senior – Darrin M. and Andrew F. 5. Hand 15th 03 Team Shiai training DVD 5 copies to Awatea. 6. Display Entertain Book order from. 7. Vote 'training treasurer' -- Ann Chuang B. Training I. Warm up time. Jumping suburi 50 origional + 10 x 3 II. Kihon training focus – Feeling about your Kensen Manage distance from extend your arms + small foot step. 1. Kirikaishi x 3 2. Big semei (Kensen push to opponent’s tsuba) M 3 x 10 3. Small semei (Kensen push to opponent’s tsuba) M 3 x 5 4. I-M few times

Few Thoughts after the shiai keiko on March 15 - Darrin

Hi Marleen I'm emailing you from work with my homework that you gave us on Saturday. It was very good to get back to training although I started to feel quite sick again with all the running around, so I guess my cold is still lingering. However, I feel that it is time to just get on with things and it will pass. When I read about the shiai on the training notice I thought "oh no, I haven't been training for a few weeks so I won't have improved". The shiai for me is a real mental process where I am building up a feeling of intending to defeat my opponent and I tell myself that I am the champion, before we even start. During the shiai I was not aware really about my technique and really didn't bother worrying about it - this is what the kihon if for to me and my technique and skill level will be a reflection of my training level. Rather, my focus was on finding opportunities to 'cut' my opponent . Actually, it seemed to me that my opponent was very op

RE: Benjamin's experience with first dojo in Japan

Marleen's reply to Benjamin's dojo experience in Japan: Dear Benjamin, It's an enjoyment to read your experiences in JP Dojo . Don't worry about the length of your email. I like your observation and thoughts. No wonder you won the first prize in your department. Lizel told me. Her daughter used to be Joyce's classmate. They are still playing together. If you don't mind, I would like to ask Sam post your "JP Kendo experiences" in our training blog in a serious to share your old mates. You actually are more like a journalist to us now. Please be our eyes to see JP Dojo. Also, please give a BIG kiss and THANKS to your girl friend. Thanks her to take care of you in JP for us. Wish you all the best ======================================= Benjamin's 2nd mail Yes, please go ahead if you want to post it somewhere. I will try to upload some videos too, so that you can see what I meant in the text. Also, I wish to emphasise again that I feel really good abou