On the 4th and 5th of May 1934, Saineikan – a budojo located in the grounds of Tokyo Imperial Palace – was the venue of the second of three Showa-period Tenran-jiai (a budo or sports competition held in front of the Emperor). This post was mainly written in order to share some of the pictures […]
At the start of 2014 I renewed the website, changing the theme (simplifying) and archiving post of the pre-2013 articles. However, quite a few people got in touch with me (in public and private) to bemoan the loss of those older articles. Bending to this pressure I have re-categorised, reformatted, and re-instated almost all of […]
Kyoto Butokuden, late Meiji period*. It’s the last tachiai of a long day but the hall is packed. The yobidashi (announcer) steps forward: East side. Tokyo. Takano sensei ! West side. Kyoto. Naito sensei ! With the call the packed audience suddenly goes quiet and an palpable feel of excitement (or perhaps expectation?) fills the […]
This morning I took part in godogeiko session in the suburbs of Osaka city. This is a yearly event and includes a demonstration session plus godogeiko with some of the local kenshi (from children-adults) and a few members of the elite Osaka tokuren police squad. Last year I had the flu so video-ed and uploaded […]
一、剣道は精神が本である。技は精神を体得せんがための手段である。 一、剣道の稽古は竹刀を真剣の考え使い、身を捨てて練磨することが大切です。 一、どの間に入っても、少しもの気が抜けてはいけない。 The words above are attributed to Saimura Goro, one of the the most influential kenshi in the pre-WW2 period, and one of only 5 sensei that were awarded 10 dan after the war. A liberal translation in English reads: * The aim of kendo is to improve the spirit. The means of […]
About Iaido and Breathing: excerpts from “The Essence of Budo” by Kawakubo Takiji Editors note: the following guest post/translation comes from Eric Spinelli based in Tokyo. Although the notes were put together for iai practitioners, the content here is also not only highly applicable for kendo people, but to all practitioners of Japanese martial arts. […]
Last year I posted a short article introducing the artistic work of the oldest sensei I study under. Be sure and check out the post above even if you have done so before. This year – as always – I was happy to go into the dojo and discover a beautifully painting waiting for me. […]
Happy 2014! As you may have noticed, kenshi247.net has undergone a complete renewal mainly with the aim of making things more minimal. As part of this reworking I decided to remove pretty much all of the pre-2013 articles. Don’t worry – the content hasn’t been deleted – it’s simply been archived at the moment, and […]
In 2009 I wrote a post called TSUBAZERIA RULE CHANGES IN HIGH SCHOOL KENDO that looked at new rules that were being implemented for high school kendo competitions here in Japan. Just over 4 years later and I can say without a doubt that the flow of shiai has improved drastically due to this simple […]
“Another new fad has come to New York – Japanese fencing. If you hear the clash of armor and clang of steel as you saunter through the brown stone districts uptown it’s wealthy young men taking lessons in palace stables and studios where the famous two handed swords to the samurai are at work. The weapon always has […]