Many many moons ago, straight after graduating university, I uprooted and moved to America. I had started kendo only a couple of years earlier and, after taking some time to settle down, I eventually joined Ken-Zen dojo in NYC. There I found myself in great environment with awesome teachers and – for the first time […]
Finally, this years Edinburgh Kendo Seminar, hosted by kenshi 24/7 and Edinburgh Kendo Club, has been announced!! 2018 is the 30th anniversary of kendo in Edinburgh, so we used this as an excuse to invite a guest – hachidan professional police kendo instructor Yano Nobuhiro sensei. Yano sensei was featured in a recent article on […]
The following is a loose translation of a short essay from a book entitled “Kendo: the route to promotion.” There are two books in the same series, each containing about 60 short essays by people who have passed hachidan. In the essays the sensei discuss their mindset and approach to the exam. Of course, the […]
So, the start of 2018 ushers in the end of kenshi 24/7’s tenth year online. Unbelievably I’ve been writing this site since 2008 (which itself was an extension of a private kendo blog which began in 2003). I can’t remember exactly when the first post went up as I’ve deleted, archived, or otherwise removed or […]
「歩驟各々異に、文質同じからずと雖も、古へを稽へて、以て風猷を既に頽れたるに繩し、今を照らして以て典教を絶えなむと欲するに、補はずいといふこと莫し」 The Japanese word “KEIKO” (稽古) is derived from the above passage from the Kojiki. Literally it means to think (KEI 稽) about the past (KO 古), in other words, “to reflect on past experience(s).” Phew, so another year is coming to an end. This has been, in both good and bad ways, quite a […]
Today’s article is a short translation piece from the venerable Ogawa Chutaro sensei (1901-1992). Not only was Ogawa sensei kendo hanshi kyudan (teaching posts at Kokushikan and Keishicho) and an Itto-ryu and Jikishinkage-ryu swordsman, he was also one of the few distinguished kenshi known to have a truly deep involvement in buddhism. I think only […]
Like most people, I lead at times what seems to be an overly-busy life. Part of this is because I live in a large bustling city, but most of it is because of a demanding kendo lifestyle and a super-hectic job. The last two years, especially, have been chaotic to say the least. Now, as […]
When the Tokugawa-Bakufu was dismantled in 1867/68 budo education was thrown into turmoil: gone were the domain schools as well as the short-lived Kobusho, and with that budo instructors suddenly lost their profession. Many (now ex-) samurai were suddenly jobless and facing destitution. One person that stepped up to help these people was the ex-samurai, […]
Coming to Japan to study kendo, the first thing you look for is a good dojo. In English as well as Japanese (nowadays) the word “dojo” also has the implied meaning of “group” or “club,” which goes beyond the mere physical location suggested by the word itself (see this article from 2011). Although there are […]
I picked up my first nama-kiji dou in 2015, as a sort of present to myself. Up until that time – unbelievably – I’d never had a bamboo dou. There were a couple of reasons why I didn’t get one: the main one being economic, and the second that I thought that (somehow) a bamboo […]