Waikato Kendo Club

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...

Yana - My Kendo Journey 24 December 2018 Beginning (general) Up until 2015 I was playing volleyball and lived through that sport. In January 2015 I got a really painful muscle spasm in my lower back. Then we found out I had scoliosis. I was 14 at that time, which is the latest age for fixing things like scoliosis, leaving me with little hope for playing sport in the future. This news meant I couldn't continue volleyball, as my spine simply couldn't support the pressure of jumping, landing and colliding. My mum forbade me from playing volleyball or doing any other type of sport from then on. This really made me despair, as a big chunk of my life was gone, and so is its social/physical benefits and the feeling of being alive. Sometime later I also got asthma (living in an old house), which made my physical exercise experiences even harder for me. Around the same time 2014-2016 I was reading a book series called " Young Samurai " which described a range of Jap...

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...

2017 Yamagami Sensei Seminar Auckland Kendo Club * Reflection on the seminar with Yamagami Sensei and the students. Jason Nguyen, 1st kyu, male. Synchronise At first I only found it interesting to see the three female students of Yamagami Sensei walking into the dojo in order, at the same pace and then sitting down at the same time. It was like a marching. Then I had a chance to practice the basic waza in a synchonised group of two pairs. This is a great experience because not only I tried to focus on myself and my motodachi but I also observed what was going on with the other pair. It was not easy for me though but I understood the importance to improve my awareness of the surroundings and to synchronise. Strategies in fighting I learned the strategies: strike at the same time or just before the opponent makes their move; induce the opponent to make their move and then strike; block and strike. At my level I could not follow what is going on in ...