Happy new year! Phew, just when you think you are done, it all starts again!
I started kenshi 24/7 in 2008 but my first online kendo presence was actually in 1994 or 95, when I published a website for the club I started in: Edinburgh Kendo Club (almost certainly the first or second kendo related website online). Between that time and the birth of kenshi 24/7 I was the admin for the British Kendo Associations website for a while, after which I wrote my own private kendo-in-Japan blog for a number of years (kenshi 24/7 evolved out of that). Which means, I have been constantly online and writing kendo websites for … about a quarter of a century now! It’s hard to believe, I know.
Luckily I have continued to do kendo non-stop over this time and I still have quite a few article ideas brewing in my head. Although I am severely lacking in time at this present point in my life, this year I am hoping to bash out at least one, maybe two, articles a month, attempt to complete the already-researched book I have in the wings (this might be wishful thinking though…), and perhaps unleash another online project I have been tinkering with over the past while. At the same time I am also contemplating a complete renovation of this site plus seriously considering abandoning social media altogether. Hmmm, let’s see.
Oh, and please remember I will be running a kendo seminar in Edinburgh again this summer (with a police hachidan) so, if you are interested, please check out the website and come along!
Anyway, for the meantime, today I will quickly share some snaps of the small handful of events I have been attending over since the start of the year. Enjoy!
Start-of-year keiko (4th Jan)
For the third year in a row I’ve held a start-of-the-year keiko at my workplace. This was mainly started as a chance for kendo club graduates to come back and do keiko with me and their kohai, but it also serves as an excuse for me to call all my kendo friends together for a friendly bash. Like the last couple of years the attendance was around about 50 kenshi.
Osaka kendo association’s kangeiko (5th Jan)
I have been attended my local association’s three-day kangeiko sessions for quite a while now… exactly how many years for I am not sure. Some years I do all three, others I only make a single day (like this year). I was too busy doing keiko this year to really take any pics or vids, so please have a look at prior years more media-heavy articles on the event. About 1000 people take part each day, and you often have 30 or more hachidan attending. Good fun!
Osaka university’s kangeiko (Jan 12)
This was an event I have been eyeing for a while now, but this year was the first time I actually made it. It is a three-day event held at one of Japan’s top public education institutes.
Over the years I have sent quite a few students to this university kendo club from my high school one, so I feel like I have a connection with the club. This year I will actually move a bike ride away from the dojo, so I intend to make the effort to visit and do keiko in the actual dojo (todays keiko was in the gym above).
The format of this kangeiko was similar to the one above except that the amount of kirikaeshi I did (in the Osaka kangeiko I receive only) was not funny! Receiving kakarigeiko and doing jigeiko afterwards was a breeze compared to the kirikaeshi section. Of course, I intend to participate next year as well…
Many many many thanks for everyone’s continued support of kenshi 24/7 over the years, and I hope you all have a great 2020.
Cheers!
