In this months kendo nippon I read a short article by a 8 dan I occasionally have the pleasure to fence. In the article he mentions a phrase “師弟同行” (shitei doko), and its this that I wish to examine briefly here. There are two separate words here, so lets look at their definition: 師弟 (shitei) …
Read more »Introduction I am terrible at making things, but the following came out pretty good… so I will quickly share this simple DIY tsuki-pad solution with you. It should take no more than 5 mins to put together, and will provide hours of at-home-entertainment. Enjoy. What you need foam for a sander/polisher (as thick as you …
Read more »On May 1st, 2007, I walked into the No. 2 Arena of the Tempaku Sports Center, in Nagoya, Japan. An elder gentlemen in a kendo-gi and hakama noticed me, politely smiled, bowed, and indicated the spectator seating with his hand. I sat down and observed Mr. Yagyu Koichi and another gentleman practice Sangaku En-no-Tachi, the …
Read more »In 2006, Fujii Minoru sensei, Shihan of 北大剣道部, delivered an interesting lecture during a seminar and visit to the Kenshikan, Melbourne. Here is his lecture, in English, complete with diagrams!
Read more »残心はお寺の鐘のように。。。 残心は打った気持ちをそのままに。。。 残心はひとつの終わりではなくて、次の始まりである。 などと言われており、剣道に残心は欠かせない。 要は、気持ちを切らないことである。 仕事も勉強も、全部やっても気持ちまで終わらないことです。 気持ちが残っていれば、 次に始めたとき、うまくペースにのれる。 車で言えば、止まってもエンジンを切らない。 アクセルを踏んだら、いつでも飛び出せる状態にしでおく事である。 それには、打ったとき声を長く引っ張って出すことである。 声が出ている間の気が抜けていないのである。 求めれば無限大,磯貝 光禮 Zanshin is like a temple bell… “Zanshin is leaving the feeling/sensation (気持ち) of striking just as it is…” “Zanshin is not the end of something, but the start of the next thing.” In kendo, we musn’t be deficient with our zanshin. …
Read more »Being a father of two kids, I don’t get to the dojo as much as I used to. So a lot of my training is at home using the uchikomidai and a lot of good ol’ suburi. One of the interesting things I’ve found is that after hundreds and hundreds of suburi, the ability to …
Read more »So, tasuki. Those red and white things we tie to our do-himo during shiai to identify which player is which. If you actually do some shinpaning you soon realise that having the identifying marks on the players backs can cause confusion, especially at the speed at which top level kendo is done. So, for the …
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