Published on 28 November

The knack of acquiring kendo in three charts 技術の習得コツ

By George , In books, kendo, theory

A couple of years ago I rolled in to the dojo on a Saturday morning only to have one of my sempai give me a stack of old kendo books. After lugging them all back home I sat down and went through them. Some were not so interesting, others were books I’d seen online but never managed to to read. One especially piqued my interested. Although probably the newest book of the pile (from 1986) it was perhaps one of the rarest (because only a finite number of the book were printed and it never went on sale): a copy …

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Published on 13 November

Eikenkai (Nov. 2018) 英剣会

By George , In eikenkai, kendo

Last Saturday (10th of November), I held an Eikenkai session at my workplace. 17 kenshi got together for some keiko: about 40 mins of kihon, one hour of jigeiko, and about three hours (or four… I can’t remember!) in the second dojo. Seven countries were represented: Scotland, England, America, Australia, Brazil, Italy, and Japan.

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Published on 02 November

Kendo art – a piece of kendo history 剣道美術品・歴史品

By George , In history, kendo, kenshi, media

Almost exactly a year ago I wrote an article about a wonderful gift I received: a Ukiyo-e print of the first Gekken Kogyo event, held in Asakusa, Tokyo, in April 1873. Here’s a reminder of what it looks like: This was one of three woodblock prints by Utagawa Kunitera the 2nd commissioned to commemorate the event. As mentioned in last years article, the other two prints I had barely seen mention of and knew almost nothing about. That was, until the end of August this year.

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Published on 02 October

27 teachings from past masters 訓導二十七ヶ条：内藤・高野・中山

By George , In kendo, kenshi

The following is a list of sayings from three well known sensei of the past: Naito Takaharu, Takano Sasaburo, and Nakayama Hakudo. The former two are known as the fathers of modern kendo and were known as rivals. Naito and Takano made for an interesting pair. Naito was a laconic speaker who emphasised the power of spiritual training over technical – large men cuts from a far distance with lots of kirikaeshi and uchikomi. He didn’t care for shiai, left little in the way of writings, and was often referred to as an “old warrior” type. Takano, on the other …

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Published on 21 September

45 points to consider during kendo practise 練習の反省点

By George , In kendo

The following is a loose translation of 45 points to consider during your kendo practise split into three levels. The book that it is from (see Source) was published in 1976, over 40 years ago. Although the book is old-ish, any kendo practitioner today could pick it up and refer to the pictures and text within without any sense of discomfort. The biggest difference is simply that some of the terminology has changed. The book has a few sections, but the bulk of the book covers a three-level “course” of kendo practise: basic, mid-level, and advanced. Today I present an …

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