Farewell to Sotaro

Wednesday 2nd November Keiko Reflection - Janet

Tonight’s keiko menu following warm-up, Suburi & Footwork drills consisted of:

Kihon- & Uchikomi-geiko:

1. Kirikaeshi

2. Big & Small Men

3. Big & Small Kote-Men

4. Do

5. Kote then Taiatari

Ji-geiko with Senpais & Sensei.

Then we finished off with one-on-one Ji-geiko (Uchikomi-geiko for Kyu grades) with Sotaro Senpai. It was a real privilege to hear feedbacks from Senpai’s point of view, sharing with us his thought process in order to achieve an Ippon. It was truely inspiring & we all learnt a lot. Hontoni arigatou gozaimashita/ 本当にありがとうございました🙏🙏🙏

Tonight we farewelled Sotaro Senpai who is a lovely young man hailed from Chiba prefecture, Japan, & just finished his high school studies in NZ, ready to start University back in Japan.

We have been very privileged to have Sotaro Senpai joining us at Waikato Kendo Club during his 1.5 years in NZ. “Friendship through Kendo” is the clubs motto, he will forever be a valued friend & a part of the WKC family.

Through his Kendo, we all have been inspired & improved in some ways.

By doing Keiko with him, we’ve gained invaluable insight & brief glimpse of what true Japanese kendo is.

Not only did we admire the amazing kendo flair, sense, techniques & speed that he possessed, but also his commendable character, attitude, humility & hard work, which truly embodies the vigorous spirit of a kendoka who constantly strive for self improvement.

We wish him all the best for his future endeavours & look forward to our kendo journey to cross paths again in the future🙏🙏🙏

P.S. Think many of us are keen to visit Japan one day so those who are keen better brush up on our Japanese vocabulary & travel phrases while looking forward to a Japan reunion in the future😊

Many thanks to all the Senpais for sharing their insights into the correct timing of attacks & their thought processes during Seme & setting up opportunities to either initiate the attack (Sen-no-Sen) or to anticipate & counter (Go-no-Sen).

We need to try not attack blindly without thinking (try to feel & test opponents intention by feeling their Shinai) but also not to be overcomed by the 4 poisons/ Shi-Kai/ 四戒: Surprise (Kyō/ 驚), Fear (Ku/ 懼), Doubt (Gi/ 疑), Confusion (Waku/ 惑)。

Thank you to Sam sensei for leading the Keiko tonight & Marleen sensei for teaching the Kohais who just joined from beginners class🙏🙏🙏

Comments

2025 Beginners Information

You are warmly invited to join us and start your New Year resolutions as a Modern Samurai . --- Information for Year 2025 Beginners --- Little Samurai Class (age under 14): 1.30 - 2.30pm, Saturdays Beginners Class (age 14 and above): 2.30 - 3.30pm, Saturdays Intermediate and Advanced Class : 3.30 - 6.00pm, Saturdays Starting Dates: Term 1: Saturday 25 January Term 2: Saturday 10 May We will be accepting new students all Saturdays of May, but the earlier you can start, the better. Term 3: Saturday 19 July Term 4: Saturday 11 October Join our 2025 Beginners Facebook Group now to get updates. Or, email us for more information. Course Information: No previous experience required. Regardless of gender, ages from 6 to 60 are all welcome. First lesson is your Free trial. Membership Fees: Kids and School students: 50.00 per month Tertiary students and adults: 80.00 per month Family discounts : the 2nd family member is 50...

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 whol...

Experiencing Jōdan-no-Kamae & Gyaku-Dō

Wednesday 31st May 2023 Keiko Reflection - Janet Tonight’s Keiko was planned by Marleen sensei & led by Senpais Leo & Joyce. We had a rare opportunity to watch & learn some wazas/ techniques first hand from both senpais particularly on their specialties: Jōdan-no-Kamae & Gyaku-Dō. The upper-level posture or stance ( Jōdan-no-Kamae ) which Leo Senpai uses, is the Hidari (left) Jōdan , where the left foot is in front of the right foot, so essentially the foot positions are reversed from normal Chudan position. Using the posterior right foot to push off when going forwards & the anterior left foot to push off when going backwards. Otherwise all other elements of footwork remains the same, like heels off the ground using Suriashi sliding steps, maintain inner parallel & the distance between both feet, right foot not overtaking left foot, using the left foot for fumikomi & right foot quickly follow up after strike to run through with Zanshin…etc....

Waikato Kendo Club

Search This Blog