Waikato Kendo Club

Things I learned from the National Seminar. From Morioka Sensei: One of the most important thing I learned from Morioka Sensei is the idea of “holding the pressure”. Kendo beginners are often encouraged to “attack first” and “be more active/aggressive”, which is not wrong. However once they gained experience and knowledge, they often became too active and aggressive, striking mindlessly. Morioka Sensei's said that we need to try to “hold down” our feeling of attack, this does not mean we should “wait” or “don't attack”, this means we still need to have the intension of attack, but do not “release” it until the timing we want comes. This reminded me what Yamaji Sensei was talking about few years ago; tame . Yamaji Sensei's original description was “the feeling of like you have pulled the arrow back on the bow and are about to shoot at anytime”. Sometimes we attack first because we are scared, it is hard to take the tension/pressure so often tries to avoid it by striking firs...

Andrew accepts Shoden certificate from Morioka sensei This year's camp was a constant learning experience and the atmosphere created in our dojo was something really special. There were many great moments, including some BFO 's (blinding flash of the obvious) and also some BFI's (blinding flash of inspiration). Some highlights for me were : -- Doing practice with so many great kendoka. -- Watching so many great kendoka practicing. -- Doing ji- keiko practice with Morioka sensei as part of a group of five fighting him at the same time, each time someone scored ippon (rare) or was ipponed by sensei (not rare) they sat down and the group reduced by one. During one of these rounds he led the group into a corner then picked them off, one by one. -- Morioka sensei demonstrating a kata with only one breath. -- When we went for grading Morioka sensei sent each one of us out the door with a "fight-to" and a "hara adjustment". I was very nervous before the grading...

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...

2009 NZKF Seminar I would like to share the mail from Morioka sensei here and many thanks to Hiroko san's translation. Sam ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: morioka Date: 2009/7/31 Subject: 大阪体育大学、森岡です。 To: marleen 拝啓 日本ではとても暑い日が続いていますが、いかがお過ごしでしょうか？ NZから無事日本につき日々感思流汗之行、元気に過ごしています。 NZ滞在中は身に余るお心遣いを賜りありがとうございました。 ワイカトクラブのHPでの感想をうれしく拝見させていただいております。 みなさんの心にふれ、また、剣を交えることにより素晴らしい思い出ができました。 来年も是非みなさんにお会いしたいと思います。 この素晴らしい邂逅を大切に大切にあたためていきたいと思います。 日本に来られる事がありましたら、是非、ご連絡下さい。心よりお待ちしております。 とり急ぎお礼申し上げます。合掌 追伸、 ① この踏み込み をされているのは 大阪体育大学、作道先生範士８段は私の恩師です 。 ② 本学のHPです。ご覧下さい。 http://ouhskendo.exblog.jp/ BY　hiromitu morioka 森岡宏光 ┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏ 大阪体育大学 ・'. **☆**・. 森岡　宏光 ┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏┏ 2009 NZKF Seminar Dear Everyone How is everything going about you, as it has still continued the hot days in Japan? I arrived at Japan from New Zealand in safety, and everyday have practiced Kendo again with thinking in hot and sweat days. I appreciated your thoughtfulness to be more than I deserve ...

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...

Dear Teams, Hope you had a good rest after the 3 days NZKF annual seminar . If you do remember, I grabed the most gifts from Morioka sensei's offer in the Closing ceremony. I would like to use sensei's kindness to run a Morioka Tournament tomorrow evening. We will have 4 divisions-- juniors' (2009a mainly), kyu and dan, women's. NO ENTRY FEE needed ^^ The main criteria of judgement is how good you apply Morioka sensei's teaching in your shiai. GOOD luck ^^ Marleen & Sam

Here are my thoughts and experiences. I shall put them up on the new forum as well. Pity we don't have many members there =( Thoughts about the Kendo seminar In my opinion, the decision to host the 2009 NZKF Kendo Seminar here at the Waikato Kendo Club (WKC) dojo was undoubtedly the best decision ever made by our sensei. I’ll like to begin by sending my sincere thanks to both Sam and Marleen Sensei for their commitment and passion to furthering the kendo of each and every member of WKC. Let’s not forget that had our sensei not opt for the seminar to be hosted in Waikato that many of us would probably have missed out on this wonderful experience. After reading and hearing our fellow member’s thoughts (including Debbie’s fantastic self reflection), I’m certain that all of us, in one way or another, walked away from this seminar with a renewed appreciation for kendo and ourselves. Personally, I found this seminar to be an eye opening experience. I had a great time getting to know all...

2025 Eiga and Morioka Sensei Seminar Dear Kenshi and Friends, On behalf of Waikato Kendo Club, I want to sincerely thank you for joining us at the August seminar and for celebrating our dojo’s 26th Anniversary together. Your participation—whether travelling from near or far, adjusting your schedules, or simply bringing your spirit and energy—made this gathering truly meaningful.  It was wonderful to see old friends reconnect, new friendships formed, and everyone learning together under the guidance of Eiga sensei and Morioka sensei. Organising this seminar was not an easy journey, but your enthusiasm and dedication made every effort worthwhile.  We hope that the teachings and memories from this weekend will continue to inspire your kendo journey. Acknowledging Our Unsung Heroes While everyone’s presence made this seminar special, I would like to especially acknowledge the “unsung heroes” whose efforts behind the scenes made it all possible: Ben Kennedy , Head of Sport Departme...

Original post on Thu Jul 23, 2009 Um, thought I'll like to share my experience with everyone: Thoughts about the Kendo seminar In my opinion, the decision to host the 2009 NZKF Kendo Seminar here at the Waikato Kendo Club (WKC) dojo was undoubtedly the best decision ever made by our sensei. I’ll like to begin by sending my sincere thanks to both Sam and Marleen Sensei for their commitment and passion to furthering the kendo of each and every member of WKC. Let’s not forget that had our sensei not opt for the seminar to be hosted in Waikato that many of us would probably have missed out on this wonderful experience. After reading and hearing our fellow member’s thoughts (including Debbie’s fantastic self reflection), I’m certain that all of us, in one way or another, walked away from this seminar with a renewed appreciation for kendo and ourselves. Personally, I found this seminar to be an eye opening experience. I had a great time getting to know all the other kendo practitioners a...

Annie accepts her Nikyu certificate from Alex Bennett sensei Last week was the first kendo camp since i start doing kendo~(haha~ plez forgive my bad english ~hopfully its not too bad to understand....) that was really lots fun, i met and train with lots of kendo people around the whole New Zealand, and of course there were really some cool people inside. well...actually that was my third times to join the kendo events, but the first time i havent even wore hakama yet, and the second time is the National Champ in AKL last year, due to it was a comptition, so i didnt train and play with people much. But this time i really learn lots of things and realise more about kendo. we r very lucky to invite a 7th dan Sensai, Morioka Sensai, to flight from janpan to teach us this time. Although he cant speak english to us, but i can still feel the enthusiasm that he has to kendo is really higher than any of us in the dojo. For me, before the camp, kendo is kind of exercise for me, maybe because i ...

Kobayashi Hideo Sensei – How to Seme (w/English CC)  小林英雄 先生 - 攻め方 How do you practice S eme ?   Very early on, I have heard of the “Three Opportunities to Strike”: strike when your opponent’s technique is about to start, strike when your opponent’s technique ends, and when the opponent is mentally and physically depleted. Since then, this line of thinking has given me a direction in how to train. In 2017, Utsunomiya sensei, 7-dan kyoshi, came to visit us and taught me the concept of “okori”. That reminds me of the conversation that happened 8 years before that in 2009 with Morioka sensei, also 7-dan kyoshi, who asked me: “What is the timing or reason of your strike?” I think most people are familiar with the idea that you should “ seme then strike ”. However, when do you strike after seme has been a source of struggle for most kenyu. That’s why when I saw the video from Kobayashi Hanshi where you seme for the purposes of creating “okori” , I felt this added a whol...

2016 New Zealand Kendo Federation Winter Camp Host by Waikato Kendo Club at St. John's College 13-14 August 2016 Many thanks to the contributions of  H Morioka Sensei, G Sayer Sensei, A Bennett Sensei A Kuroki Sensei, A Stephenson, B Bennett Sensei   and ALL the NZ Kendokas to make this greta event! Congratulations to our new Dan Grades who has succeeded  in the 2016 NZKF Shodan-shinsa (Examination for Dan Promotion)     Yon-dan (4-Dan) Kai Yoshitani Awatea Yi-Williams San-dan (3-Dan) Kevin Peng Ni-dan (2-Dan) Joyce Tsai Sho-dan (1-Dan) Leon Lu Claire Wei Also congratulations to  Walter McCahon  Achieved his Go-dan (5-Dan) in London, UK on 29 August 2016