Waikato Kendo Club

Hi SamOver the last few months I have been focussing on trying to improve my stamping and my swing for big cuts.Jeffrey has told me that I tend to lift my right leg up rather that driving forward when I stamp; also that my stamping is not strong enough.As well as this, I have been trying to focus on not moving my left foot forward when I am about to stamp.So I'm trying to co-ordinate my left leg, my waist and my right knee to improve my stamping.The other day you gave me a really good technique to help ensure that I raise my shinai high enough before executing the cut: this is where you advised that we should swing our shinai forward when we see our left fist reach eye level. Generally, I think the problem is that I rush the cut so am not raising my shinai high enough.Whenever I train with Jeffrey he says "more stamping"; whenever I train with Leo he says "swing bigger", so one of my goals for the end of this year is for Jeffrey to say "nice stamping"…

Hi Sam,

the last few months at Kendo has been a challenging time both physically and mentally for me. The circle jumping suburi has been hard work as we go around it seems like the longest 5 minutes of exercise but when we finish it feels good!! I will defnitely be trying the method that you told us to use less power.

Yesterday however I realised after doing Keiko how unfit I still am and sometimes wonder how I am going to keep up with these younger sempai who are progressing so very fast and are so nimble on their feet. I have realised how important the kihon basics are to kendo and am looking forward to trying to better these this year.

In Kendo somedays I feel like I really am getting somewhere and other days I feel like I don't know anything and i have gone backwards.

So Sam, I will keep trying to move forward! and to relax. I feel we are so lucky to have Jeffery, Marleen and Sam as teachers at different times as we get feedback from different perspectives.

I think we have an …

Dear Teachers and Club mates:

To be honest, the Kendo training in this period deeply impact me in two ways: psychologically and physically.

Before I start my kendo training, I had an introverted personality and always refused to communicate and exchange ideas with others. Furthermore, I often considered things in a negative way. However, I have changed since the first Teacher Sam’s lecture. Sam said: “In Kendo, we should be open. The open is not only for training our “气” and “技”，it is also a training for our mental power. Just like the brand of our club shown: ‘ 习技修心.’ .” From that time, I began to understand the spirit power is the indictor for all other things in our life. After that, I studied to think things in positive way and I also become more self-confident than before. Now I am sure I will be success because I believe in it and I never give up.

In physical part, I have enhanced my coordination, balance and flexibility than before. When I was young, I always wanted to be a real h…

Hello Sam sensei

Here are my thoughts abouth Kendo:

I think Kendo is a patience training. I look at sen sei(s) and some sen pais and I just feel I am so far far away from thier level. Yet, i know i've been improving, just that it is so slow that it's very anooying but there's nothing i can do about it.

Enough with my complains. I have not got a lot of theories or understandings of Kendo at my level. I treat kendo as a sport, and I just want to do it well. Yeah, that's pretty much my goal for kendo now.

I am happy that I've "upgraded" in the grading this time. Despite I think I am probably not up to 4th kyu but hey, since I am one now, all I have to do is to work and live up to it. I realise it will probably take me a long time to reach a non-beginer level but like the chinese proverb has said" drops of water over time can gradually penetrate the boulder." I will just have to be patient and keep coming to the trairing then.

So~~thank you Sam and Marle…

Greetings Sensei's Sam and Marleen. After Saturdays Kendo grading I was very disappoined with my efforts, to the extent that I felt I didn't deserve to be advanced to 4th.kyu. When I recieved my first grading some months ago (6th kyu) I was excited, happy and proud that I had achieved something.
Saturdays grading for me was atrocious !!! After all the times I /we have as a dojo executed proper maai, seme men, isoku i to no maai, waza, kirikaeshi, kote, men & do cuts as well as kata my mind just went blank. for example: Normal proceedures like kote cuts then moving to motodachi's left, or men cuts then moving to moodachi's right were totally lost on me. I ran into awatea nearly every time, Kendo kata I didn't know who was uchidachi and who was shidachi, I just waited for awatea to move then I did the opposite kata to him.
Sensei Sam I needn't say more I know it you know it, I did a lousey job!!! So Iam very disappointed in myself just now. BBBUUUTTT to be po…

Well, I'm back in training. Carefully, of course. The bad news is that I wasn't able to completely note down what was taught today. So it'll be mostly from memory...and please tell me if I missed anything important. Haha.

Training Schedule on Tuesday, 29 January 2008 Briefing
Benji visited! With his girlfriend too.Certificates and DVDs from Saturday's grading are readyIf you attended the grading and haven't sent the required reflection email, please do so to get your certificate.

Warm upNormal
-Break- DiscussionReceived certificatesAnyone who graded and sent in the email but hasn't gotten their DVD can contact Omar to get theirs. Note: He doesn't actually have them...but you can ask anyway :D- Beginner's Cup5th of February...that's next week, folks! (and right between my essay and assignment due-dates! Gah!)Anyone from any of the three 2007 beginner classes is eligibleRegister to Clement, and don't forget the $20 registration fee.Goodwill Cup12th of …

Dear Sam, These past few trainings have been most humbling, Irealised the depth that Kendo has to offer.Thanks to Jeffrey Senpais guidance, I was able toslowly improve my cuts. We mostly practised thebasics, footwork, stamping and Kiri-Kaeshi. Yet heshowed me how much further I needed to go.I would like to use a quote that reflects my journeyin Kendo; "The more I learn, the more I realise, howmuch I don't know". Thanks to Jeffrey Senpai, Iunderstand how much I still need to work on mystrikes.Every time I practise my Men, Kote, Do cuts, I feel unsatisfied and compelled to further improve them.Ki-Ken-Tai-no-Ichi, Te-no-uchi, Following up of theleft leg, using big cuts, 30% back, 70% forward,40-80, 50-100 etc. This made me appreciate thechallenge of Kendo, to be committed to one self andcontinue to strive for perfection.In yesterdays grading, I was taught yet another lesson: teamwork.I realised I was too occupied on my strikes, stampsand kiai that I have forgotten to practi…

Firstly,I've learned how to do the footwork while I am playing kendo. The right foot should be in front of the left foot, and it has become horizontal way when we move our foot. When we're doing Kamae, Suburi, footwork is the most important and the basic items, that we must notify and practice more correctly and smoothly .
Next I have learned doing Men. We have to adjust the height of our shinai when we're facing people who is taller or shorter than us. Maintain the appropriate distance and hold our shinai properly. Besides, doing kote just hold your shinai lower than doing Men. We have to stretch our arms and strike parallel of our shinai. I seldom do the “Do” in the training. I think it's quite hard for me to do this skill. Because I have being brought the shinai down and draw like a circle and I run through on each side of Zanshin, then continue to do the same action.

Finally is doing kirikaeshi.we have to do Men in a big action, do tai-atari with our partner and jump…

I have learned two things during thing turn. At first, i should keep the back straight and tie the belly well. Secondly i should always keep right hand straight and horizontal to the ground while i am doing ''men''.
The teachers taught many basic things.(for example how to tie or snap the shinai,the rules of the kendo,tell us many advantages about kendo and how to adjust the distance between the opponent.)
Now, i still have bad habits. (like sometimes my posture is humpback or my left foot always to slow to follow up ....etc)So,i need to improve it in the future.
After all, i will practice hard and do my best. And i hoped i will get better day by day.

Ann

My Refection for kendo

For me kendo is not just a sport but also something on a spiritual and mental level That requires patients, spirit, mind and will power. Trying to make mind, body and spirit into one bond and being. Which is very very hard as I am quite uncoordinated sometimes with my body I tell it to do something but it doesn’t do it well or it doesn’t do it at all. Or my mind is too full of thoughts or too empty. I believe in time this will be something a will get better at but it will take time as do all thing’s in life.

What I have discovered while doing kendo is I have learnt a little about patients due to my injuries there fore I can apply this to my every day life. Also seeing everyone improve week by week as I watched it was awesome keep it going guys.

I’ve become More in depth with my body’s movementMore understanding of timing of footwork and strike (together) with snap of the wrist But still have very long way to go (only at the bottom of the mountain now and getting t…

Since coming back to kendo this year I've found myself to be more lazy, i haven't been doing my best. However when it came to grading i worked very hard and put my all into passing... i think this is probably a bad attitude. I didn't notice my lazyness until i trained with terry, he made me work very hard and i realised i hadn't been getting that same feeling of working hard in a while. My resolve therefore is to put my all into training, stop hesitating in bouts and to be generally less wussy.

I feel like I've gotten better at kata and kendo strikes but as far as fighting is concerned i can feel only a very minor improvement since beginning kendo, only on very rare occasions have i been able to use waza and as a rule i just have to throw myself at my opponent until i get a valid point. is that normal for my level?

This is all for now,

Cheers, Ari.

Dear All,

It's so good to be "home" again. I am so pleased to see many of you and know that many of you are coming back from the world soon.

I believe that we had a good training on Saturday 19 Januar. Thanks to Omar's detailed documentation for the day. I made a small "copy-and-paste" and a minor change here:

For jumping suburi (haya suburi):

when raising shinai and jumping back, use 30% power - can relax, but don't stop at the top.
when striking and jumping forwards, use 70% power - move faster, do proper ten-no-uchi to ensure kensen will automatically lift after the strike, and immediately relax shoulders to raise.
once accustomed to this method, increase power - e.g. [raise : strike] 30%:70% => 40%:80% => 50%:100% etc
try not to use too little power nor make the muscles too tense - relax on upswing and (more) tense on downswing.
For further details, please refer to Omar's WaiKendo Blog - Training Session on Saturday 19 January 2008.
I hope to add a…