As far as the pursuit of kendo goes (shugyo), the most important thing is keiko, the second most important thing is keiko, and the third most important thing is keiko. You must not put academic learning of the principles of kendo before actual practice. If you do manage to become technically proficient then you will […]
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When I was a wee bit younger than I am today (I’m 39) I wanted to be good at kendo NOW. Not tomorrow. Not in 1 or 2 years time. Now. Immediately. I practised (and still practise -> more on that later) like a madman, feverishly awaiting the point where I’d make the switch over […]
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Kirikaeshi 切返し
Over the last few weeks I’ve been super busy, both with keiko (as usual) and also researching/planning/writing the next kenshi 24/7 publication(s). Feeling guilty about neglecting this website (!!), I’ve decided to post an entire chapter from our last publication: KENDO TOKUHON (the kendo reader). If you haven’t picked it up yet, the full book […]
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 […]
Due to an injury, I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting down and watching keiko a lot recently. This is usually termed KENGAKU (見学) or MITORI-GEIKO (見取り稽古) in Japanese. The former uses the kanji 見 for “look” and 学 for “study” thus means “study through observation.” The latter has a slightly different literal translation […]
The following is short semi-translation of a small introduction piece published from the ZNKRs official kendo magazine Kenso (August 2013). I say only ‘semi-” as there wasn’t much explanation behind the points in the magazine so I’ve liberally translated what there was and then freely added in my own explanations. Feel free to interpret the […]
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Shoshin ni kaeru (初心に返る)
Even though I don’t post on kenshi247.net on a daily basis, I usually find myself linking cool videos, pics, and kendo what-nots to the facebook page every day, so I’m sure that some people were wondering whats been up with the lack of updates over the last 2 weeks. Basically, after a silly fall, I […]
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Don’t become a Tengu
Last Sunday after keiko, I was lining up to say thank you to one of the older 7dan sensei (lets call him S-sensei). 77 years old now, I remember going to his 70th birthday celebration the highlight of which was him doing tachigiri keiko – he fenced a shodan, a nidan, a sandan, a yondan, […]
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Kendo Books
UPDATE: I’ve decided to renew this particular article every so often when new and interesting books become available. The original post was published in April 2013. Most recent updated January 2017. As I write this post at work, I have dozens of kendo books standing in the shelf on my desk: ones about learning the […]
Naito Takaharu (1862-1929) was one of the most influential kenshi to pick up a shinai. Born as as Ichige Takaharu in Mito in 1862, his Samurai parents were of budo stock: his father an archery instructor for the domain and his mother the daugher of the Hokushin Itto-ryu shihan Watanabe. At the age of 7 […]