Archives

kenshi247.net went live in the middle of August 2008 (with some articles backdated). In the little time since then we’ve had many people come forward as contributors, commentators, and i’ve been contacted directly via email, facebook, etc, with encouraging words of support. Since then we have published over 60 articles and received over a couple …

(有賀武子、８１歳。剣道かわら版　２００８年１１月) I found this poem while looking at the monthly distributed Kendo Kawaraban. Its a very interesting and fun poem about doing kendo as a youth. I feel it captures a certain spirit that many of us sometimes miss when studying kendo. The best thing about it is, of course, that it wasn’t written by …

Introduction A couple of years ago I made my first ever home made tsuki-pad for my house (instructions are on posted on this blog). Its still holding up well despite beatings from myself and various kendo visitors. However, its not designed to be used heavily nor repeatedly (although I was doing 50 katatezukis a day …

Recently I’ve had a few people telling me the same thing: I take it easy in ippon shoubu, and need to attack more. For most people who know me and how much I thoroughly hate losing, this might raise a chuckle. After all, how can I have produced the results I have to date by …

It’s almost the end of my fourth year of teaching high school kendo and time to reflect on the year that’s past. A bit of background: I teach kendo in an Australian high school, in two classroom settings: years 7 and 8 (12-14 years old), and after school to a wider range of students. I …

With the impending World Kendo Championships, I know that in Britain, and I ‘m sure in many other countries around the world, that there are many people who are hoping to make selection for their National Team. It is indeed a great honour to participate in such an event, and be a representative of one’s …

After many encouraging comments on a previous article published on kote, I have gained the confidence to revisit the topic and look a little more closely on some of the fundamentals of kote, from a less cryptic, hazy perspective.  I have gone through several translations I made a couple of years ago and I offer …