Last Saturday, like this time last year, my students and I spent most of the day working at one of the highest level shiai in Osaka prefecture: the preliminaries for the National Athletic Meet. What we did during the shiai was exactly the same as the year before, so please check out the article linked […]
[ While you are here: please note that registration for the 2024 Edinburgh Kendo Seminar is open. Please check here for more information. ] Aaaaaand, that’s another Kyoto Taikai done. This year I took part in two embu and spent three days in or around the Butokuden. During the train journey home I realised that […]
Equanimity. From the Latin aequus (level, equal, even) + animus (soul, mind). “For every challenge, remember the resources you have within you to cope with it. Provoked by the sight of a handsome man or a beautiful woman, you will discover within you the contrary power of self-restraint. Faced with pain, you will discover the […]
I am going to start today’s article with an anecdote and some self-reflection before getting into the main topic. In a roundabout way (as is my style) the intro anecdote is relevant to the theme, but feel free to skip it if you wish. [ While you are here: please note that registration for the […]
Have you ever been in a discussion with someone about something and at some point realised that the person or people you are conversing with somehow doesn’t seem to get what you are attempting to communicate, no matter how simply or clearly you (think you) you are being? I am sure you have. Of course, […]
The first Eikenkai of 2024 was held last Saturday, the 17th of February, and was attended by something like 25 kenshi (a few folks arrived late from a different keikokai, and a couple had to leave slightly earlier, so I’m not sure of the precise number). I think about ten nationalities were represented (Scotland, France, […]
Recently, a lot of kenshi from abroad have been coming through Osaka and getting in touch. When possible, I invite them to keiko at my workplace and sometimes to my small asageiko sessions as well as some other places depending. Work and life can be quite busy, so it’s not always possible to fit people […]
A bit late I suppose, but happy new year! Kendo-wise things have started in earnest over here, and every day I find myself doing something kendo related, whether it be keiko itself, event related stuff, dealing with/organising visitors, renshujiai and/or godogeiko requests… and so on and so on. I promised myself a few years ago […]
Just over twenty of my kendo friends gathered together on the 23rd of November (a national holiday) to take part in this year’s third Eikenkai session. Nationalities represented Scotland, Japan, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Ireland, England, New Zealand, China, and America, two of whom will almost certainly take part in next years WKC. A lot of […]
After many years of consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that some people may find me hard to work with. This is (mostly!) due to the fact that I am a bit of a sceptic: for things that I am invested in – or that I find important – I tend NOT to take what […]