Kendo is a combative discipline where you fight with a sword, and it as such it may be thought of as a brutal and bloodthirsty art by some, but thats definitely not what it is: it is method of physical education that includes educational, moral, and spiritual training. The kendojo is a place where this […]
Nukitsuke and nukiuchi are different. “Tsuke” means you are acting to forestall an opponent’s attack before it begins. Nukiuchi on the other hand means, precisely, to cut down an opponent. Without understanding the difference between these two, your swordsmanship will not be effective.* － Kamimoto Eiichi sensei, iaido hanshi 9 dan, kendo hanshi 8 […]
The kendo community is extremely small. I can’t even compute the number of times I’ve been chatting to someone (real life or online) when a connection has been made to a mutual friend. I’ve lived in three countries (U.K., America, and Japan) and have done keiko in 15+ more, so I’ve had plenty opportunity to […]
Ippon (n.) The act of successfully scoring a waza in kendo. The act of striking with ki-ken-tai-no-itchi.See ki-ken-tai-no-itchi and yuko-datotsu. Ki-ken-tai-no-itchi (n.) A term which expresses an important element in moving for offense and defense; it is mainly used in teaching striking moves. Ki is spirit, ken refers to the handling of the shinai, and […]
As it is said that ‘the eyes can speak as well as the mouth,’ it must follow that the language of the eyes is delicate and subtle. French philosopher Georges-Luis Leclerc de Buffon stated that ‘words’ express the character of man; an insightful remark. The sword is also considered to reveal the character of the […]
It must have been in 2001. It was the night before the European kendo championships (Bologna I guess) and I was chatting with the then U.K. kendo team coach Honda Sotaro sensei about shinai. In particular, I was unhappy with the shinai I had taken with me to use in the competition and was seeking […]
他人の弟子をアドバイスするな。 子供たちは順調に伸びていくわけではない。 右に行ったり左に逸れたりしながら伸べていくのだ。 右に曲がっているものを矯正するには、 真っ直ぐではなくて。 左に行きすぎるぐらいにしないと真っ直ぐにはならない。 それが解って指導できるのは、直接の師匠だけなのである。 出稽古などに行って、よその門下生と稽古するときは、 スキがあったら打ってやればいい。メンばかり打ってくる子に、 「コテもドウもあるよ」などと言わない方がいい。 訳あって「メンの稽古をしろ」と言われているかもしれないのだ。 Don’t give advice to other peoples students! Kids (kendo) doesn’t always improve according to plan. If you go too far to the right the only way to fix it is aim left, not by simply going straight ahead. In fact, if you don’t bend […]
Eikenkai organiser George went back to his home country of Scotland and whilst there managed to conduct a small 2-day kendo workshop as well as some local keiko in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. The two day workshop consisted solely of kihon with only a small amount of jigeiko had. More was planned but due […]
a.k.a. kendoka pictorial directory Editors comment: what follows here is another great translation by Isaac Meyer which I believe will be useful to the researchers out there. This book – kendoka shashin meikan (剣道家写真名鑑) was published in 1925, and it attempts to catalogue the butokukai of that time. This includes not only various pictures but […]
(a.k.a.Kendo and you: what it means and how you approach it at various points in your life) I started kendo at the comparatively late age of 19 (I’m 35 now) and, with only 16 years of practise under my belt, I can say with no false humility that my experience is pretty shallow… considering that […]