Shikai of Kendo: Surprise, Fear, Doubt & Confusion

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 through Mitori-geiko, even though a lot of the techniques such as seme & tame, timing & opportunities are all still quite new & difficult for us to spot & understand, but one thing for certain was the strong spirit & determination they all demonstrated to us as well as the preparation with good Kamae & Zanshin for maintaining constant readiness to react instantaneously with fast, explosive movements & strikes with commitment.

四戒：驚懼疑惑

We were also reminded of the 4 poisons or Shikai of Kendo: Surprise, Fear, Doubt & Confusion. As we further progress on the kendo journey, we will need to gradually find our own methods of overcoming these in order to improve in Kendo, & the only way to do this is through repeated training. Not only will experience & muscle memory come with more training, but also by treating & preparing ourselves for each Keiko as if we are in a Shiai or Shinsa will help us develop better mentality & confidence & reduce the nervousness by making it into a habit or routine that we are used to doing rather than dealing with something that’s unexpected.

Thank you to all the senpais who unreservedly shared with us their experiences & self-reflection of areas to improve on which remind us that we are never alone on this kendo journey of self improvement🙏🙏🙏

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