Having just recently spent some time in Seoul at the end of last year (one month in October), I had a chance to join a wide range of different practices at various Dojo across the Capital. While I was in Korea I kept a regular blog of my trip, and decided to summarise my journey …
Read more »In 1603, Yagyu Hyogonosuke, grandson of Yagyu Sekishusai and future soke of Shinkage-ryu, joined the service of famed general Kato Kiyomasa. Sekishusai doted on his grandson, whom many said was very much like Sekishusai in personality and ability. When Hyogonosuke prepared to leave for Higo Domain (present day Kumamoto, in Kyushu), Sekishusai gave him two …
Read more »When I hear the word “musha shugyo” it conjures up images of warriors of old traipsing around the Japanese countryside in search of rivals to test their martial prowess. This is of-course the normal definition of the word and a mostly accurate one. The usual suspects used to illustrate this type of activity are Tsukahara …
Read more »Like many, my first step into the world of iai and traditional Japanese sword arts was through the Zen Ken seitei-gata and for several years my experiences there strongly colored how I viewed iai, koryu arts and budo in general. Now anyone who has spent any amount of time on online forums or interacting with …
Read more »The following is a very brief synopsis of questionnaire results that were featured in an article by Kendo Nippon (Dec 2008) entitled “女性剣士の現状と「これから」” (The present condition of womens kendo and its future). I will list the questions and there results but will leave you to draw your own conclusions from there or to discuss in …
Read more »My friend rolled up to keiko the other day and donned the brand new BAK (Boost Ability for Kendo) speciality underwear. The adverts have been appearing in the Japanese kendo mags for a couple of months now, as have an article or two, but its the first time i’ve gotten to see one and had …
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