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, […]
Registration for this years (2024) Edinburgh kendo summer seminar is open! It is hosted by Edinburgh Kendo Club and will be lead by Yano Nobuhiro sensei and myself. ***** FULL INFORMATION ***** ***** REGISTER HERE ***** If you don’t know much about the seminar or want to refresh your memory, please check out past articles here. […]
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 […]
Whew. After a hectic year of kendo I finally finished my last two keiko sessions of the year today. Today’s first keiko was in the morning, one of my asageiko sessions which I outlined in the first post of the year, and the second was an open keiko held by a friend in the Butokuden. […]
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 […]