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This is something I have wanted to post about for a while and George’s article on learning Japanese prompted me to write. About 15 years ago when I was living in Japan and training with the local university kendo team, we were round at one of the members’ apartments, watching footage of a recent uni …

I speak pretty decent Japanese. I am not fluent, but I would say confidently that I am bilingual. Reading (and writing) it, of-course, is another matter. I struggle in these departments, but hopefully after a few more years of living here I can really get my Japanese skills up to par. I live here so …

Last week during class, I was practicing with Mizutani-sensei and he offered me the following advice regarding Kote-uchi (小手内). Sensei explained that kote-uchi can be understood through by three key principles: fumi-komi (踏み込み), te-no-uchi (手の内) and zanshin (残心).

Following Scotts great article on the 1st Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu UK Seminar, i’d like to start the first in a series of short articles entitled “Kendo Places” by writing about a place that all kendo enthusiasts should visit at least once in their life and that is connected strongly with the art that Scott practises: …

Jissen Volume 3 is an instructional video produced by Hertz Ltd. featuring Hachidan Hanshi Chiba Masashi and Nanadan Kyoshi Hayashi. There are several reasons why I skipped to volume 3; 1) It is entirely dedicated to jodan-no-kamae and like all good low-dans I just want to skip ahead to jodan 2) The first two volumes …

Whilst nowhere near as popular or widespread as kendo, dedicated iaido clubs can be found at many Japanese universities. University students often have a strong showing in shiai, and student taikai are highly competitive with some great iai on show. University club members often have extremely strong form, visually impressive iai, and ability far beyond …

After three years in Japan, I went back to the States and back to school, doing a BA in Psychology, particularly focusing on social and cultural psychology. I was quite fascinated at the idea of Japanese and other East Asian cultures thinking and even perceiving the world differently. Returning to Japan in 2005, I had …

Chiba Masashi sensei, 2 times winner of the All Japan Championships, and kendo instructor for Keishicho, will be leading a Senior Grading Seminar later this year in the U.K. For more information including, an application form and links to videos, please visit: http://chiba.kenshi247.net/

“Mata ao!” This is what we hear from Iwami-soke at the end of every seminar. Last year in Finland was no exception. We’d pack our bokuto away, fold our kit up and ready ourselves for a final night of festivities at the hands of the Finns who must be amongst the maddest party animals in …