Waikato Kendo Club

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

小澤博 先生 ：我以外，皆我師。 Wareigai Minagawashi  Is the kendo sensei from Japan “strong”? Sam Tsai, December 2009 Every time we get a visiting sensei from Japan, we inevitably get the question, “Is the sensei strong?” Naturally, it was no different when Ozawa Sensei came to visit us this time. There’s a simple perspective I would like to share regarding this matter: “sensei” and “senshu (active competitor)” are not the same thing. When you practice with a “senshu” (someone who is actively training to compete), perhaps it makes sense to treat the practice like a shiai where you win or lose. But when you practice with a sensei, the focus should really be on what you can learn from the experience be it during or after the practice. Of course, for some of the more senior practitioners, during their practice with the kodansha sensei, there can be elements of “gokaku geiko”. That would naturally be based on the difference in skill and experience. * In kendo, the two major elements are  shinsa  and  sh