Waikato Kendo Club

A note after Chou sensei's visit on 17 January 2006 Sunday 29 January 2006 Dear All, I feel sorry to inform you that Chou sensei did not feel well after the six days intensive tour in the South Island and has changed the flight to today (30 January). He said the view in South Island is very beautiful but it was too long for him to stay in the car. And, don't worry, he still has good health. There are 4 Japanese sensei (one 8th Dan and three 7th Dan) are waiting for his return to visit Taiwan. He apologies that he need to go back to Taiwan ealier than his original plan. I just visited him saying Good-Bye and presented the Birthday card ( 84 years old ) and a small gift to him. He is pleased by the card you signed for him. He hopes that I can pass his appreciation to you. The sensei emphasised few things to me and I would like to share them with you. 1. As an instructor, I should always pay attention on the safety and healthy issues . For example, I should ask...

Text in Chinese is here - 中文. Tuesday 17 January 2006 To share with those who could not come tonight or need to leave earlier, what Sensei Chou's lesson after the training were: 1. Kendo starts from Rei (manner) and finishes with Rei. If there is no Rei in your Kendo, no matter how strong your Kendo technique is, it still means nothing. 2. In terms of physical techniques, footwork should take 70% of importance while hand/arm only take another 30%. So, paying enough attention to footwork is essential to improve our Kendo. Particularly, after strike, we should follow up our left foot quicker. 3. When you feel " proud " about your Kendo, then it is the time your Kendo starts to decline. Keep humble and keep studying and training in Kendo is very important. -- Sam's note here: what sensei does not want us to have is "over-proud" or to think our Kendo is "good enough" and then stop learning. Please don't get it confused with ...

Welcome to our 2016 Kendo Beginner Class Today's orientation programme includes: Introducing Kendo - PPT Introducing Waikato Kendo Club Kendo - The Way of the Sword Dojo Kun and Etiquette Za-rei Beginners' first lining up Dojo Senpai Beginners' first lining up Ice Braking & Testimony from Senior Members First Kendo Experience led by Dojo Senpai Group activity End of Lesson Competition - Relay Prize Giving Group Photo on Saturday 5 March 2016 Welcome to all our 2016 beginners picking up shinai and  start your Kendo journey with us. We wish you enjoy it and  become more handsome and more beautiful through the Kendo training.  :-) * Thanks to Eric for keeping these great moments for us! 

13/03/2016 Yesterday's training was really hard! I thought everyone there make effort to do kendo without sensei (going to Auckland for the  Yamagami sensei's seminar ) . There were quite a few problems I met from the training, for example I was scared when Claire senpai and Kevin senpai was about to hit me, and let kensen move away from centre. It may take time for me to modify my psychology. And I should improve my posture in the following training. Thanks to Nicole senpai for telling me a lot about how to maintain boku. I felt her passion in Kendo is exactly the same when we were training together and chatting after class.

Farewell to  Gavin , have a good trip back to home.  We will miss you and see you next time!  smile emoticon 珍重再見，後會有期！ ＊ Kendo Journal 09/03/2016: Appreciation Today we were emphasising our training on Zanshin (殘心）. Zanshin is a concept unique to Kendo. There's no other martial art that will do Zanshin or have something similar to this. In most other martial art, practitioner is training on how execute the technique efficiently with their physical strength and agility and may the best man prevail in the competition. Ippon is the Kendo term used to describe when we score a point in Shiai. Ippon can also be view like a "ritual" where I declare my intention with Kiai before executing my attack using techniques and physical agility. Then finishing the ritual with going pass your opponent, reflecting on my own action and appreciating your opponent's sacrifice to make you a stronger Kendoka. To my understanding, the last part is known as Zanshin. To ...

Here are the PPT prepared for the Beginner Class last weekend  with Isida Sensei's documentary about Kendo  by the National Geography. Use sword (Katana) as an approach to explore and understand the Way of Life. * HQ - Kendo's Gruelling Challenge (original English narration) This documentary is about what it takes to grade for 8th dan in the Japanese martial art of Kendo. It follows two candidates of very different ages and personal histories as they try to pass one of the most difficult exams in the world. Along the way we are shown why they are so passionate about Kendo and why they are focused on pursuing their own improvement regardless of the outcome of the test. Made by the Japanese national broadcaster NHK, this doco will be 20 years old next year. For the first time it's on the net with English narration and semi-decent picture quality (transferred from VHS). Still one of th...

Kendo experience for Beginners in groups 5/3/2016 - by Lily It's the first time for me to write something on Facebook, cause today's Kendo training is so special! In the beginners class , I tried to explain Kendo to who never know Kendo before. It was really hard to explain everything comprehensively, but I have learnt to teach is one of the best ways to get better understanding and improving oneself . To be truth, I felt very proud of myself to get through difficulties once faced by ourselves. I also felt the patience we should have in treating with tough moment. Moreover, in the second class, I put on Men for training. It was quite different to ordinary training. When I put on Men, the training was more serious and more close to 'real kendo'. In short, to be relax and focused is always important throughout Kendo.