Categories
kendo

Shoshin ni kaeru (初心に返る)

Even though I don’t post on kenshi247.net on a daily basis, I usually find myself linking cool videos, pics, and kendo what-nots to the facebook page every day, so I’m sure that some people were wondering whats been up with the lack of updates over the last 2 weeks. Basically, after a silly fall, I […]

Categories
eikenkai kendo

Eikenkai September 2013

The second last Eikenkai session of the year was a quiet one, with 14 kenshi gathering at Sumiyoshi Budokan on the morning of September 29th. The session was a slightly different format than usual – but still kihon based – starting with a couple of hundred kirikaeshi. Next years schedule is 90% set – if […]

Categories
kendo kenshi

Remembering Suzunosuke

The following is an English translation of a Japanese article that I wrote and was published in the October edition of Kendo Jidai (on sale August 25th 2013). Its the story of my kendo student Kubota Suzunosuke who passed away in January of this year and that I introduced on this site back in March. […]

Categories
kendo

Confidence

About two weeks ago I had the rare chance to have a long private chat during lunch with my sensei after keiko (he’s in his mid-60s hanshi). We talked about lots of different things including our private lives, but its something kendo related (of course) that he said that inspired this current post. Since around […]

Categories
kendo

A note to all those concerned…

The following is a translation of a note that was sent to every prefectural kendo association in Japan recently and published on the ZNKR website today. It makes for interesting reading, so I thought I’d share it with kenshi 24/7 readers. It starts of harmless enough, then meanders into the …. well, I’ll let you […]

Categories
kendo media

Osaka Tokuren mohan embu

Today was the Osaka Shudokan’s 50th anniversary, which they celebrated with an embu-taikai. On display was kyudo, naginata, judo, karate, aikido, jodo, iaido, and kendo. I had keiko in the morning in a different prefecture so rolled up 1/2 way through, at around the karate mark. No worries, as I was there to see the […]

Categories
kendo

Value

The following is a rough translation of a very small part of a much larger essay about REIGI (etiquette) that was published in the July 2013 edition of Kendo Nippon. The author is Iwatate Saburo sensei. The translated section in particular caught my eye so I thought i’d share it here and use it as […]

Categories
equipment kendo

DIY#6: Heel supporter

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted any DIY articles, so I thought it was high time I made the effort. This quick post is to help you to easily and quickly save some money (at least those of us that use heel supporters). For most of my kendo career I never used a […]

Categories
history kendo

Budo in schools in the early Meiji period – pros and cons

About two weeks back I was looking through a friends small book collection and noticed a budo book in English that I hadn’t heard nor see of before: “Jigoro Kano and the Kodokan – An innovative response to modernisation” (produced by the Kodokan and translated by Alex Bennet). Not being a judo/jujutsu person, I must […]

Categories
eikenkai kendo

Eikenkai July 2013

Yesterday morning it was absolutely boiling in central Osaka. As people that have been to Japan in summer know, its not just the heat thats a problem, but the exceptionally humidity. Steeling myself for a sweaty keiko, I ate a large breakfast, drank buckets of water, and headed to the dojo. In the judojo next […]