Saturday keiko reflection by Janet
Kendo’s purpose in a nutshell is to train your body & mind, & to keep improving oneself to become a better person. So always come to keiko (training) with a purpose in mind by setting a goal or a specific area you would like to work & improve on. This will make each keiko more effective and you will find it more fulfilling.
For Kyu grades, we need to focus on kihon (basics) particularly set practices like Kirikaeshi & Go-hon waza (men, kote, do, kote-men, kote-do) by doing it correctly to achieve Ki-Ken-Tai-Itchi.
During Shido- (teaching) or Uchikomi-geiko with sensei or senpai, try focus on delivering each strike with Ki-Ken-Tai-Itchi. Even if you missed or didn’t successfully land a valid strike, continue your momentum by keep going forward & keep your Zanshin to show your determination & quickly get back into kamae to try again.
We need to learn to feel the correct distance, Issoku Itto no maai for ourselves to ensure we can land a strike properly within the Datotsubu (area between kensen & monouchi). Also when taking turns to be motodachi for others we need to learn to judge the correct distance so we know how far & when to step back & give an opening for the Kakarite to land a valid strike & be able to run past properly maintaining Zanshin to better help each other train.
During Kakari-geiko, we need to do our best to keep striking motodachi with small cuts without a break. This will make us get tired very quickly but the purpose is to help train our mental & physical energy to the max & hopefully will help us learn to let go of our minds to achieve Mushin & just go for it without worrying about the result.
Special thanks to senseis and senpais for being patient motodachi for us beginners and Kyu grades. Really appreciate your teachings & lead by example for us to learn from. 🙏🙏🙏
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