Though a little bit chilly, yesterday was a beautiful day here in central Osaka. Arriving a little bit earlier than usual for keiko I decided to take a wander through the oldest shrine in the prefecture – Sumiyoshi Taisha. The budokan we are based at is right next to it… it’s so close in fact, that we usually walk through the shrine to get to the dojo.
After asking the gods for kendo-power, I headed next door to the budokan. Numbers were a little bit lower than usual (17 participants), but keiko was no less quiet or subdued. In recent keiko’s the numbers have been too large to effectively pratise dou-uchi during kihon!!
Today we were visited by old and new friends, and even had to say goodbye to one of our main members who is getting married and moving to Kanto. Personally, for me, the highlight of the day was being able to do kendo with some of my ex-students – after teaching them kendo for 3 years at high school they graduated and continued practising at university. Now – after turning 20 (the legal drinking age in Japan) – I was allowed to have a beer with them = great!
Keiko was the usual 45-30-45 format (45 mins kihon, 30 waza practise, 45 jigeiko) followed by the Osaka speciality Okonomiyaki and beer.
Check out this link for more information about Eikenkai, what you need to know before joining us, and to see this years schedule. Cheers!!
