Happy holidays! Usually at the end of the year I review what has been happening on kenshi 24/7 but this year has been rather thin pickings again, with only 14 articles published (this being the 15th). This has partly been due to the ongoing pandemic (at least, it seems to be still ongoing here in Japan…), but also because I think that my (kendo) life has changed. I am no less motivated that I was in the past, I guess, but I am far more settled in life than I have been since … well, ever really. I don’t feel I need to rush kendo anymore.
In 2023 the Edinburgh Kendo Seminar will finally restart, and I am super excited to go. If you are free around about that time, why don’t you come along?
Over the years people have often asked me to come and do seminars (actually, I was asked seriously about doing one in South America just this week) and I’ve put them off because I was not ready life-wise. With my settled life, however, I can feel the time coming… so hopefully I will be able to expand beyond the U.K. in the not too distant future. I say “expand beyond the U.K.” but what I really mean is “expand beyond Japan.”
2022 REVIEW
Most popular post
The most popular post this year was one that described (or at least attempted to) the change in my kendo situation from student to teacher. Although this has been a process that has naturally being occurring over many years, it comes into sharper focus when your teachers pass away. In a way, it is natural and unavoidable:
Above I mentioned a “settled” feeling. I guess I have come to the realisation that, in the end, I am in charge of my own kendo, nobody else is. This is something I knew before of course, but it is reality now.
Personal favourite
Getting my hands on the only book written about Ueda Heitaro was a big thing for me (only kendo nerds will understand why!). I spent years looking for it with no luck before realising I could used a contact to request and then get photocopies of some of the chapters from a book located in a university library (the book wasn’t available in public libraries). With the photocopies in hand I wrote the following article:
By chance, about 6 months later, I managed to acquire my own copy of the book on auction (for a silly price).
Milestone
In October my Kendo Coaching manual turned 10 years old. A whole decade! It seems like only yesterday that I published it. When it was published I didn’t foresee that it would be the only book of its type in English 10 years later:
I have a mostly-finished book written on a different topic but I am tempted to either update the Kendo Coaching manual or write a sequel to it first. What do you think?
Gear
I have been practicing kendo for almost 30 years now. Incredibly, I have only bought two full sets of bogu: one in about 1997 and another in 2003 or 4. Since then I’ve been buying bits here and pieces there. Tare last a loooong time (I still have the tare I bought in 1997), and dou basically never really require any fixing, so I guess that’s why.
This year I reviewed some items I got from Tozando, plus a custom shinai bag I ordered:
I am contemplating splashing out and buying a really good set. This would, for all intents and purposes, almost certainly be the last bogu set I buy in my life.
Visitors
Before the pandemic kendo people from around the world on Musha-Shugyo would often drop by my dojo here in Osaka. Some would come just one time, others came for a week or two. With the opening up of Japan recently, I finally had a trickling of visitors: the first from Germany, the second from Poland, and the final one from the U.K. If you are going through Osaka in 2023 and want to keiko, please feel free to get in touch (how much, if any keiko can be done depends on the particular timing of your visit).
Media
Fave pics from this year:
Check out kenshi 24/7’s instagram for more media.
So, that’s almost it for 2022. I managed 357 keiko sessions, which isn’t bad, and I still have about 3 ahead of me before the end of the year. Despite things not quite being back to normal, I think it is a respectable number.
As always, a big thanks for your continued support and I look forward to writing more, and possible MEETING more readers in 2023. Cheers!
