February keikokai
February’s Eikenkai (the first one of the year) was a quiet affair compared to the last one but we still had a good keiko session.
We did a little longer kihon session than usual, about an hour (with lots of kirikaeshi and uchikomi!), followed by 30 minutes of waza practise, and finally 45 minutes of jigeiko.
After keiko and showering a few of us went into central Osaka and had some pizza/pasta/beer.
Our next keikokai will be held in Osaka around the 2nd Sunday in May… thats AFTER the Kyoto-taikai for those of you coming to see it. If you are still in the area at the time please feel free to come and join us in Osaka for a bash.
Remember and bookmark this site, and also to check out kenshi247.net while you are at it!!
Many thanks,
- George.
November keikokai
Eikenkai had its final practise of the year on November 22nd.
We had people join keiko from the U.K. (most importantly Scotland, which all members accepted as the cradle of modern civilisation), America, Canada, Korea, Australia, and of-course Japan. “Local” members came from as far north as Aomori and as south as Nagasaki. Grades of the people involved went from shodan to nanadan.
In other words, it was a keiko with loads of different types of people, with different experiences, and different kendo stories to tell.
Keiko included warmup, suburi, introductions, 50 minutes of kihon, a 7dan taught basics session of 1 hour, and about 50 minutes of jigeiko. After that, there was a 5 hour drinking and eating session in one of the members restaurants (5 mins from the dojo). A lot of fun was had, stuff was learned, new friendships were made and old ones were renewed, and beer and mysterious Japanese “sake” (in unmarked) bottles was consumed in moderate quantities….
Eikenkai is an open keikokai for people coming to Osaka, and especially for non-Japanese kenshi who come to the area. Even if there is no chance to practise with the group itself due to scheduling issues, we can certainly help plug you into the kendo scene in the Kansai area.
June keikokai
Due to various commitments it was hard to schedule in a bash sooner than today… and even then quite a few people couldn’t make it (shiai, concert, work, family etc). Still, with only 10 people we managed a pretty intense keiko session. The format was the usual 40 mins kihon – 40 mins waza – 40 mins of jigeiko format.
Our furthest away member came from Nagaya today. After keiko we had lunch, beer, takoyaki (Osaka’s favourite food!), more beer, even more beer…. a good time was had!
March keikokai
We were minus a few of the usual suspects due to shiai / work commitments, but we still had a good bash.
40 mins of kihon, 40 mins of waza practise, then 40 minutes of jigeiko. Even my legs started to get a bit tired by the end!
We capped it off by lunch in a restaurant near Osaka Dome.
February keikokai
Our first EIKENKAI practise of the year was jam packed: 45 mins of kihon, 45 mins of jigeiko, kendo no kata embu, two iaido embus (Hoki and Mugai ryu), and a hands-on how-to-use-a-katana lesson aimed at iaido inexperienced kendoka. Following all this we ate and drank into the evening at our sempai’s restaurant.
People participating came from 6 countries spanning 5 prefectures, from mudansha to kodansha, and representing 4 different ryu-ha’s as well as kendo.
Please click the images to see them fully.
Pictures from 2008
Here are some pictures from 2008. Please click on them to view them larger.
