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 7th dan koshi, which is the level under hanshi (most of the teachers at both dojos are 7th dan.... the 6th dan people are still students haha).

He told me that I wasn't good enough to do kata, and that I needed to improve first. Well, the last training session he came up to me and told that he was impressed with how fast I have improved, and that he will start kata with me now. So I'm really happy about that.

I've been told a few times now that I could pass shodan, but I feel that here in Japan it is a little different than in New Zealand: here shodan is the starting point of kendo, to prove that you can do the basics, but in New Zealand shodan is a great achievement, or at least that's what it seemed like to me.

I hope all is well at Waikato Dojo,
Benjamin

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 whole other d

Happy Rabbit Year 2023

We wish everyone have a Happy Rabbit Year Saturday 21 January 2023 Keiko Reflection - Janet As lunar new year of the rabbit arrives so is our Dojo welcoming new beginners to get a taste of what kendo is like. While the beginners learned brand new ideas, the senpais were reminded of the basic purpose of Kendo, which is self discipline, development & improvement of our body, mind, & spirit. Constantly striving for a more perfect & beautiful cut rather than being just a form of self defence or stick fighting. Ashi-sabaki or footwork ( Kouda sensei demonstration ) is very important in Kendo particularly Suriashi or sliding steps as it not only look more graceful & elegant, but also would reduce noise when moving on wooden floors & reduce likely injury from stepping onto hidden weapons or obstacles on the floor in medieval Japan. We were also reminded of the basic sequence of engagement during a kendo duel: 1. Holding good Kamae (on guard position, Kouda sensei demonst

Ji-ri-ichi - practice & theory combined into one 事理一致

Wednesday 19th April 2023 Keiko Reflection by Janet Tonight’s Keiko is a timely reminder of the importance of training in Ji-ri-ichi (事理一致, practice & theory combined into one). While we are constantly receiving knowledge & theory passively from Senseis, one must also be actively applying the theories learnt into action to make it their own through repeated practice. We must also be proactive in our own learning by actively seeking more knowledge such as observing other kendokas keiko ( mitori-geiko ), reading books, asking questions when in doubt, & constantly reflect & ask ourselves why do we do this? what are we doing wrongly or correctly? This way we can better understand our bodies, the mechanics of each movements & the purpose behind each individual action, therefore maximise our learning outcome by improving productivity & quality of our practice or Keiko. Remember Kendo is a martial art that descended from Japanese swordsmanship or Kenjutsu, so it’s no

Waikato Kendo Club

Search This Blog