Waikato Kendo Club

Kendo is a true companion to my life-long journey  I have been thinking about what Kendo means to me since sensei asked us this question a few weeks ago. Everyday I’d wake up and think about this - when I drive, when I do the laundry, when I do my suburi… The answer always seemed right in front of me but it was hard to pin point it into exact words. The power of language appears weak in front of this answer as kendo has infiltrated my life in so many aspects and depths.  For me, kendo makes me calm and re-collected. It straighten up my spirit and reinforce the positive self-believe. The positivity (佛教言“正”) is not simply an “optimistic” attitude. Rather, it is a deeply rooted steadiness to allow my spirit to look through the random thoughts and emotions in my head and to understand that behind these deceptive moments of our life, there is “the way”.  I think everyone has their own interpretation of what “the way” is. In my eyes, it manifest in various forms. It could be God in different

Kendo is fascinating to me--new words and ideas. I appreciate so much how it teaches me to see things from a completely different perspective; there is a kind of Eastern poetry of movement in Kendo that is a wonder. I am fitter now than when I first started and my muscles ache less and I recover faster.  For now the best thing about Kendo, is that it is an adventure in learning and unconsciously it makes me healthier. In the past, I have tried to get fitter the other way round....focusing on physical fitness goals and becoming bored easily. Kendo feeds my joy of learning and I am blessed with an amazing teacher with a warm bunch of fellow Kendo learners. 2021 Beginner Classes - info You might be interested: A brief introduction of "what is Kendo" to Waikato Beginners  Kendo Journey: A "Travel Guide" from Shodan to Godan-and-a-Half How other Beginners feel about Kendo?

Jennifer - Kendo and Me * During this year,  I learnt about the importance of kata, while I thought Kata was just something not important but annoying. In my mind, Kata is something very hard to memorize, but quite useless at the same time, because you can’t really use kata at any time, since it’s not a technique that you can learn from. But throughout this year, I noticed the importance of kata, that you can put it into practice and shiai . As well as kata is very important in mindset and grading. Other than kata, I improved my kendo skill. I focus on more and more detail when I am practicing, like when I am hitting people now, I hit them slow but correctly.  Kendo wasn’t really my thing before, but after shiai and fighting ( keiko ) with other people, I started to feel the fun in kendo. I want to improve myself to become better and better, I want to win battles, I want to get higher grades. Every time I fight with someone, I am afraid that they might beat me, but when I am actually

 On Kendo and Philosophy  by 小澤博 剣道教士八段 View of life equals view of kendo When I was in my 50s, I had the following conversation with one of my colleagues, professor S., who is a philosopher. I asked him, “Can you explain philosophy to me in a way that I can understand?” Professor S. replied: “What are you talking about? You practice philosophy every day when you think about kendō.” I replied: “ I only think about how I can do kendō better today than yesterday, tomorrow better than today, in a month, in a year… ” “That itself is philosophy”, said professor S. “Which means that I am a philosopher?” I asked. On Kendō and Philosophy Hiroshi Ozawa “Yes, you are a philosopher. A philosopher is not just someone who writes and lectures about Kant and Heidegger to introduce their teachings into daily life. Some people around me call me a philosopher, but to my embarrassment, I have to admit, I would not call myself that. What you are doing in Kendō is philosophy in practice. A dedicated practi

2019 Little Samurai Class Beginners' reflection on "how Kendo has influenced my everyday life?" * Kendo makes me stronger and healthier. ~ David  Kendo makes me happy. It is fun to learn and hit with my shinai. I love to make friends at the dojo and learn from everyone. ~ Ava Kendo gives me better balance and focus. ~ Seb  I have new friend. I am happy. I like play Kendo. ~ Monica  Kendo has influenced me in my life by making me more focused in my learning at school and out of school by having goals and life lessons. Kendo has given me confidence in myself to do tasks, and ask for help in needed. ~ Frankie. I started Kendo because I would normally have a arched back. Now, I have learned discipline. Kendo also teaches me to work hard. ~ Elliot  Kendo has influenced me by making me into a better person. I can  be more focused on thing I need to focus on, be ready to learn and improve on who I am, and be able to think about more stuff. ~ Randika   Kendo has influenced my eve

Autumn Grading - 17 April 2021 Waikato Kendo Association would like to congratulate the following members for their achievement in the Autumn Grading 2021 held in Hamilton. “Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile goal.” Earl Nightingale Little Samurai Class 10th Kyu Oliver Ke Soichiro Yamaguchi  9th Kyu  Dominic Liu Xialun Yang Xenia Liu 8th Kyu Eunice Liu Adult Class 10th Kyu Li Lian Min Ki Hong ( SJC ) Yeonjoon Kim Hayden Cook ( SJC ) Fiona Dunton Laine Baldwin Tristan Stowell ( RHS ) 9th Kyu Yeonsoo Kim 8th Kyu Celene Cai Jang Ho Kim Kyle Baxter Ben Albany 6th Kyu Wilkie Larke 3rd Kyu Elliot Payne ( RHS ) 2nd Kyu Jennifer Kan ( RHS ) Shodan Valintine Thompson Panel Joyce T, Kevin P, Awa W, Leo L, Kai Y, Clark L, Sam T. Assistants Nicole R, Yana T, Jason N . Photo Credit Lance McCaughan Photography Relevant reading: Kendo Journey: A "Travel Guide" from Shodan to Godan-and-a-Half