Waikato Kendo Club

The days leading up to our Kendo grading had started becoming a little stressful I have to admit. Despite our sensei telling us not to worry it was very difficult to push the doubts out of my mind. Even the minutes leading up to our grading were spent clarifying certain techniques or movements. I was confident in my ability to correctly perform the required Kihon-dosa but I lacked confidence in understanding a new language and was afraid I would incorrectly interpret an instruction. It was a great start to the afternoon as I got to watch my 2 children perform their grading. I was very happy to see that our efforts at practicing everyday (despite their objections) had paid off. As our group (group 2) was called up my anxieties were at their highest yet the moment sensei instructed Tai-to (placing your shinai at our left waist) all that anxiety simply melted away. All of a sudden I was in a very familiar space. Everything that was asked of me in the grading I had done many many times b