Waikato Kendo Club

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

Welcome Andy York back to home 💕 Fear, one of the Four Poisons, needs to be overcame to do Kendo correctly. 💪 Wednesday 18th January 2023 Keiko Reflection - Janet Tonight we had another productive Keiko during this hot & humid summer night. Thank you to both Senseis for leading the warm up & Keiko & for all the Senpai & Kyu grades that turned up to keiko tonight🙏🙏🙏 We especially welcome back Andy Senpai who started his kendo journey right here at WKC many years ago & continued his training while overseas with various Senseis at different dojos bringing a wealth of experience back with him to share. Tonight’s focus was on Kihon training, particularly Gohon waza & Kirikaeshi. The emphasis was on proper full shoulder rotation & for Kyu grades to focus on doing Big cuts. We then take turns to have Ji-geiko with each other followed by Kakari-geiko with Sam sensei. To finish off, Kyu grades watched the Dan grades doing mock Shinsa/ grading . We learnt a lot t

So proud of you for the milestones: Milestone 1: whole dojo kirikaeshi 👍 Milestone 2: full Go-hon waza 💪 Saturday 14th January 2023 Keiko reflection - Janet Todays Keiko emphasis was on developing a strong body, mind & spirit. Learning to feel every inch of our bodies to better perform the correct movements through repeated Kihon & Kata training to enable us to perform minimalistic & elegant movements by engaging our core, straighten body posture with stable smooth footwork, full rotation of our shoulders to generate power & produce good Kiai & strikes. Todays Kata training, we went through Bokuto ni yoru Kendo Kihon Waza Keikohou : 1. Kihon Ichi : Ippon uchi/ Single cuts (Men, Kote, Dō, Tsuki) 2. Kihon Ni : Nidan Waza/ Two continuous cuts (Kote-Men) 3. Kihon San : Harai Waza/ Using Omote or left side of Shinai to sweep opponents Shinai away from centre (Harai-Men) 4. Kihon Yon : Hiki Waza/ Techniques performed going backwards usually from Tsuba-Zeriai position (M

Saturday 7th January 2023 Keiko Reflection - Janet As the new year begins, it signals a new beginning for us to have new resolutions or goals to aspire to. Don’t be scared from pressures of grading or just life in general & try turning these challenges into healthy motivations & positive drivers for change & opportunities for bettering ourselves by having better awareness of oneself to actively reflect upon to improve constantly. This way it will certainly make our otherwise dull repetitive everyday lives more interesting & meaningful. The first half of the Keiko today consisted of Bokuto Keikohou   (AJKF) & Nihon Kendo Kata   (AJKF)   number 1 & 2. We also had the privilege to observe Leo & Joyce senpais demonstrating all Katas. In total there are 10 Katas & 9 Bokuto Keikohou techniques we will eventually learn throughout the course of our kendo journey. So make sure we come to Keiko regularly & make the most of the opportunities to learn from Sens