In 2017 I (very happily) shared the news that I was given a ukiyo-e (nishiki-e) of a famous (and extremely historical) kendo scene from 1873. Almost exactly a year after, I detailed my totally random find of another ukiyo-e from the same period and the trials and tribulation I went through to get my hands […]
When I arrived in Japan permanently in late July 2003 (of course, that wasn’t the plan at that time…) it was to a small island in Hiroshima prefecture. Before arriving I knew that there was a shonen kendo club based in the local junior high school, but I didn’t really know what to expect. I […]
In November 2015, a year after he passed away, I wrote about a particular sensei who had inspired me (“T-sensei” I called him). Although eight years have elapsed since he passed away, I know that his teachings are still alive within me. Just recently, for example, I instructed my students to – when doing a […]
I’ve been practicing kendo for, what, about 30 years now. Or nearly that, I’m not exactly sure. In that space of time I have collected so many kendo-related bits and bobs that I have lost count. Well, after moving to Japan that is – before that (20 years+ ago) there wasn’t really anything kendo-related to […]
The rules changes had been in essentially an experimental stage since Autumn 2020 and now – after using them at various shiai over the past year – there has been a slight massaging of them. The information about the change started to disseminate to local federations about six weeks ago or so but the ZNKR […]
Finally, it’s back! The Kyoto Taikai has been held every year since 1895 except in cases of Tenran-jiai, war, occupation, or – as in our current situation – pandemic. The first three taikai were held in a makeshift tent in the grounds of Heian-Jingu* before being moved to the Butokuden after its completion in 1899. […]
I think it was about seven years ago but it might have easily been eight or six, a graduate from my kendo club came to my school with a gift. It was an older gentleman, someone who had graduated decades before I arrived, so not one of my direct students. I wasn’t around when he […]
I have large stack of unread, or partly-read, kendo books in my closet. I pick them up from time to time and flick through them. Also in the stack is, I must admit, books I read (some only sort-of) but decided they didn’t contain much useful information. All my really good kendo books don’t live […]
Intro: part one Spring, 1894 (10th-11th of April). To celebrate the building of a new dojo at Saka-no-ue police station in Takamatsu city, Kagawa prefecture, a two day Budo embu-taikai was held. Just a couple of days earlier, on the 8th, another large taikai had been held at the central police station in Takamatsu. Kenshi […]
Today, for the first time in two years, I held an Eikenkai session at my workplace. Up until mid-2017 I had been hosting an open kihon-based session about four-six times per year (since 2008), with attendance getting so crazy at times (over 40 people, hachidans joining, etc.) that I ended up having to limit it. […]