Waikato Kendo Club

We are honored to announce that Eiga Hideyuki Sensei (Hanshi 8th Dan) and Morioka Hiromitsu Sensei (Kyoshi 7th Dan) will be visiting New Zealand this August to lead a Kendo seminar. Everyone is warmly invited to join the event—or follow along for updates, photos, and highlight videos. We look forward to sharing this special occasion with the wider Kendo community! Introducing Eiga and Morioka Sensei Eiga Hideyuki Sensei - Hanshi 8 Dan (栄花英幸 - 範士八段) Renowned worldwide for his exceptional skill and deep understanding of Kendo. Eiga Sensei’s notable achievements include placing 3rd at the 21st All Japan Invitational 8th Dan Tournament in 2023, first at the 19th All Japan Invitational 8th Dan Tournament in 2021, and placing 2nd and two 3rd positions at the All Japan Kendo Championships. He graduated from Tokai University and currently serves as a teacher at Hokkaido Eniwa-Minami High School. Morioka Hiromitsu Sensei - Kyoshi 7 Dan (森岡宏光 - 教士七段)  A respected teacher with vast experience...

剣道修行の心構え /  重岡 昇 The mindset for kendo training / Noboru Shigeoka 現代剣道百家箴 ，昭和四十七年 A Hundred Aphorisms of Modern Kendo Masters （1972) "Never allow the first strike to land." No matter how skilled or unskilled your opponent may be, both sides start on equal footing, fully committed to the first strike. This requires putting your entire being into that initial attack. "Strike at the opponent’s initial movement." Always train with the mindset of targeting your opponent’s opening move. Be proactive, fully prepared, and maintain readiness. Cultivate an unwavering mind and approach each engagement with a steady, unshaken heart, free from the Four Fears (fear, doubt, surprise, and hesitation). "Kendo is about striking at openings. If two combatants are evenly matched in strength, the one who strikes first will lose." A stance that embodies both technical skill and mental preparedness has no openings. However, any disruption in this balance creates an opening. Suc...

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 va...

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐭𝐨 - 𝐌𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢: 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 Loved this short documentary. This documentary had helped me gain more insights on the reason behind Zanshin - how it comes from the ancient swordsman period. But when Alex mentioned how today we don’t carry swords around like them, it has suddenly given me the idea of “𝙯𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙”. To us, kendo practitioners nowadays, we must also remain vigilant in our daily life following each training, 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙚𝙨/ 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣 (𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚) 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤. Winning or losing, self or others, 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤...

 On Kendo and Philosophy  by 小澤博 剣道教士八段 View of life equals view of kendo When I was in my 50s, I had the following conversation with one of my colleagues, professor S., who is a philosopher. I asked him, “Can you explain philosophy to me in a way that I can understand?” Professor S. replied: “What are you talking about? You practice philosophy every day when you think about kendō.” I replied: “ I only think about how I can do kendō better today than yesterday, tomorrow better than today, in a month, in a year… ” “That itself is philosophy”, said professor S. “Which means that I am a philosopher?” I asked. On Kendō and Philosophy Hiroshi Ozawa “Yes, you are a philosopher. A philosopher is not just someone who writes and lectures about Kant and Heidegger to introduce their teachings into daily life. Some people around me call me a philosopher, but to my embarrassment, I have to admit, I would not call myself that. What you are doing in Kendō is philosophy in practice. A dedicat...

Koboitchi 2019 Yamagami Sensei Seminar in New Zealand  Photo Credit: Auckland Kendo Club Original text in Chinese by Sam Tsai English Translation by David Pan  This is the fourth time I have had the pleasure of attending Yamagami Sensei’s Kendo seminar. In 2016, the seminar topic was about the fundamentals of kendo: The five sections of the shinai – Jin-Gi-Rei-Chi-Shin In 2017, the seminar topic was regarding the “heart(mind) of self-control”, namely:  克己心 / こっきしん / kokkishin : the mindset of overcoming the self 平常心 / へいじょうしん / heijoshin : everyday mind  不動心 / ふどうしん / fudoshin : immovable mind  In 2018, the seminar topic is 三殺法 / さんさっぽう / San-satsu-no-ho or San-sappo 「竹刀・太刀を殺す」: Kill the sword 「技を殺す」: Kill the waza 「気を殺す」: Kill the spirit The topic this year is 攻防一致 / Koboitchi . Most kenyu probably heard of it by the more classical term 懸待一致 / けんたいいっち / kentaiitchi , a realm or level of understanding which we hope to...

Our appreciation goes to David Pan from   Bellevue, Highline, and Sno-King Kendo Club for the efforts of translating the original post in Chinese . * * * “Is Kendo a lonely journey (to you)?” This was my Facebook Status update on July 5th. The reason I ask isn’t so much because “I am lonely”. Instead, because I have some experience in translation myself   (text in Chinese) , when I saw a narrative on Facebook by a professional translator about how lonely she felt in her journey, it resonated with me. As kendo is another important aspect of my life, it is only natural by association that I would pose this question. I really like blogs, Facebook, and other social media because it is a means for me to “throw a sprat to catch a mackerel”. Even if I was just casually sharing my thoughts or feelings, I can often get surprisingly insightful, humorous, or reflective responses, such as: Being lonely is great! Ko-ken-chi-ai ( To know love through crossing swords...