Categories
kendo

Kendo as Character Building

(Note this is a guest post from Joe Pielech) Kondo-sensei (Hachidan, Kyoshi) is one of Aichi Prefecture’s most well-repected kenshi.  He often discusses kendo in terms of character building and its benefits to modern society.  In this brief post, I have attempted to covey some of his feelings on these topics. 剣道とは、相手と気を合わせることを学ぶ第一歩である。そして人の心を大切にすることにより完成し、「武士道」は「もののあわれ」日本人特有の感情である。無常感である。思いやり、繊細、風流、風雅さなど。ここにいたって諸行無常という仏教の根本的思想やキリスト教の愛の精神と一致し、一種の宗教的境地まで達したのである。 人と会ったら挨拶する、何か教えを受けたら感謝する、集団の中ではお互いを思いやる、人として最低限必要な礼儀、心を重視した教育を実践致します。 近藤勁助 剣道教士八段 財団法人　全日本剣道道場連盟理事 愛知県剣道連盟参与 […]

Categories
history kendo kenshi

The last Busen graduate

As every kendoka knows, Busen (Budo Senmon Gakko) was – along with Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko – the premier place for training kendoka before the war. It was run by the Butokukai and was based in the legendary Butokuden in Kyoto. People who graduated from here went on to train kenshi all over the country. […]

Categories
kendo

‘Traditional’ kendo pedagogy and abuse

(Note this is a guest post from Ben Sheppard) My area as some of you know is teaching kendo to young people. In high school I teach kendo as an elective subject to 12 and 13 year olds. One tool I have found very useful for firing their imaginations is telling them stories from Japanese […]

Categories
dojo history

Kendo Places #4: Butokuden

Founding of the Butokuden in 1895 on the 1,100 year anniversary of the transferring of the Japanese capitol to Kyoto (Heian-kyo), and as part of the building of Heian-jingu, the Butokuden construction began. It was originally meant as a demonstration platform for the Butokukai. It was completed in 1899 on the north-west side of the […]

Categories
kendo

Meijin no Waza #1: Kobayashi Mitsuru hanshi’s KATATEZUKI

This is the first in a series that looks at techniques done by those that are as acknowledged as the best executors of them. The individual final of the 1st world kendo championships (1970) was between Toda sensei, twice winner of the All Japan Kendo Championships (1962 and 64, using jodan), and Osaka police’s Kobayashi […]

Categories
dojo history kendo

Kendo Places #3: Disposable – The End of Noma

(The following is a guest post by Leiv Harstad from 2009.) “The night bus to Tokyo: a nine hour hell ride in a muggy sardine can, with an interior that is all too reminiscent of a cheap airport hotel, and a smell to match. This is the chariot of thrifty foreign travelers, poor university students, and gassy […]

Categories
history kendo kenshi

Showa no kensei (昭和の剣聖)

This small article intriduces the “Showa no kensei (昭和の剣聖)” or “The Sword Saints of the Showa period.” All of these kenshi are widely known within the Japanese kendo community, and abroad as well, but I thought a quick article in here would serve as a useful reference. I hope to expand on this and write […]

Categories
equipment

Kamidana Statistics

(Note this is a guest post from Richard Stonell) Kenpō Nagasaki is a bimonthly kendo publication available to subscribers in Nagasaki prefecture. Each issue features shiai and seminar reports and articles by sensei on various topics. Recently the magazine featured statistics about dojo in Nagasaki prefecture, including a survey on how many dojo have kamidana […]

Categories
iaido

The Student-Teacher Relationship, Seitei and "Traditional" Iai

(Note this is a guest post from Rennis Buchner) Like many, my first step into the world of iai and traditional Japanese sword arts was through the Zen Ken seitei-gata and for several years my experiences there strongly colored how I viewed iai, koryu arts and budo in general. Now anyone who has spent any […]

Categories
kendo

Womens kendo in Japan: a survey

The following is a very brief synopsis of questionnaire results that were featured in an article by Kendo Nippon (Dec 2008) entitled “女性剣士の現状と「これから」” (The present condition of womens kendo and its future). I will list the questions and there results but will leave you to draw your own conclusions from there or to discuss in […]