“none of us ever really outgrow being a beginner” Stay the Course: “Neisha san, you not do Judo, you do Kendo! Kendo is sport of Kings, Judo, street fight!” These are the words I remember from a conversation when I was around 10 or 11 years old. I had just started Judo after seeing my cousins Judogi and yellow belt hanging on his bedroom door. Judo was very much a niche sport in New Zealand back then. Kendo, even more so. Kendo looked cool, but it simply wasn’t accessible to a family with no connection to Japanese Budo or martial arts. Our only real source of information was the Encyclopedia Britannica at my aunt’s house - which wasn’t exactly the same as walking into a dojo. That was about 43 years ago. A lady never her true age, so you can do the maths. My Mum never really liked the idea of Judo, but the choice at the time was Judo or ice hockey. Ice hockey didn’t take “girls” back then, so off to Judo we went. Sadly, my first encounter with Judo was short-lived. A ...
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