This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Shinpan seminar in Lexington, KY, instructed by Ariga-Sensei.
For those not in the know, a Shinpan is one of three people that judge any given Kendo match. The purpose of these seminars is to get people accustomed to all that is involved in judging a match.
When we see someone judging matches, it's easy to complain about how they score whether it be that they missed several good points, didn't give hansoku (penalty) when they should have, or just didn't seem into it. From the outside, it seems pretty simple; see a point, raise a flag. See an offense, give a hansoku. But what I quickly realized was that everything isn't as black and white as it seems.
For example, when scoring a point, it's not as simple as seeing someone strike men and raise a flag. Things to consider here are the concepts and intents behind Ki-Ken-Tai-Icchi (Spirit, Sword, Body as One), Zanshin and whether or not the person is showing spirit or just showing off. In terms of penalties, one has to differentiate between someone doing something illegal or if it's just part of a waza. You even have to think about where you are in the court since there are certain parts of the court that's your area and making sure you always have optimal view of the match.
After that, we had some matches to give the higher-ranked people to show us what they learned throughout the day. Some of the more fun ones were the ones where offenses were done on purpose, such as walking out without a tasuki, excessive pushing and holding the shinai with the wrong orientation.
I definitely learned a lot throughout the day. It gave me a whole new perspective on judging to hopefully make it less daunting when I have to go through the shinpan stuff once I reach San-Dan. Don't get me wrong, I always had respect for the judges. Heck, the sportsmanship pledge says that you agree that the judges' decisions are final. But now I have a better understanding of what goes through the minds of the shinpan within that 3-minute match. Thank God there's 3 of them.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Back to the Usual...
This past weekend was business as usual...if you call having to work on the weekend as being usual (overtime FTW!!!). It was a pretty productive weekend for Kendo and Iaido nonetheless.
The Saturday Kendo was pretty intense as usual. I've did my best to keep my energy up despite it leaving really quickly. There really isn't much to say in particular about this practice, but I was left with a few tips:
- My men hits are too high. In application, this caused me to hit more on the grill instead of the top of the men. Seems like it's an issue with my wrists not providing enough of that extra movement to get the downward force.
- This is an issue that I really should try harder to work on. I need to hit through the men instead of just on top of the men. This is a nice breakthrough that could help me hit harder.
Sunday was pretty nice. I went back to iaido and worked on ipponme through gohonme that day. It's really daunting of all the peculiarities that come with each of the movements. When you see it done, it looks so simple but actually doing it is another matter.
The Kendo portion was pretty interesting. Since it was the first weekend of the month, we spent a lot of the practice doing kata. I really need to learn the rest of the kata since I'm really behind. As it stands I only confidently know up to kata 4. I have done the others, but not really enough to count with confidence. The second part just consisted of kirikaeshi, uchikomi, jigeiko and kakarigeiko due to lack of time. I tried my best to make it intense.
Ugh, not the best of entries though it is getting kinda late. Hopefully my next entry will be a bit better.
The Saturday Kendo was pretty intense as usual. I've did my best to keep my energy up despite it leaving really quickly. There really isn't much to say in particular about this practice, but I was left with a few tips:
- My men hits are too high. In application, this caused me to hit more on the grill instead of the top of the men. Seems like it's an issue with my wrists not providing enough of that extra movement to get the downward force.
- This is an issue that I really should try harder to work on. I need to hit through the men instead of just on top of the men. This is a nice breakthrough that could help me hit harder.
Sunday was pretty nice. I went back to iaido and worked on ipponme through gohonme that day. It's really daunting of all the peculiarities that come with each of the movements. When you see it done, it looks so simple but actually doing it is another matter.
The Kendo portion was pretty interesting. Since it was the first weekend of the month, we spent a lot of the practice doing kata. I really need to learn the rest of the kata since I'm really behind. As it stands I only confidently know up to kata 4. I have done the others, but not really enough to count with confidence. The second part just consisted of kirikaeshi, uchikomi, jigeiko and kakarigeiko due to lack of time. I tried my best to make it intense.
Ugh, not the best of entries though it is getting kinda late. Hopefully my next entry will be a bit better.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The Training Mind
Because of the Labor Day weekend, the Miami Valley dojo and Northern KY Dojo was closed. But that fact didn't matter because I am in Atlanta right now. Despite me being away, I still got to practice Kendo at Georgia Kendo Alliance.
Today's practice was okay. It was pretty difficult to navigate the floor because my feet would slide. Because of the differences in footwork, it kinda threw off everything else a bit as well.
I attended both the intermediate and advanced practices for the night. The intermediate practice went over the principles of kirikaeshi. It was a pretty nice breakdown of the major components of it such as good fumikomi, good swings and proper distance. I put those explanations together with the ones that people in Ohio tell me to really give everything my all.
After that, the advanced practice began where we started off with waza and ended with free geiko. There were two new things that I learned from training yesterday:
The free gieko was pretty nice. I tried to fight against one guy doing nitou but he put his other shinai down when fighting the lower ranked people (I was hoping to get the chance to do it). I also got to fight an old friend of mine who pretty much dominated me as usual.
I did say earlier that one of the things that was holding me back was the floor. Normally, I would have eventually adjusted by the end of practice, but there is another thing that was bothering me at the back of my mind. Gustav is heading towards the Gulf Coast as we speak. I know that most of my family is okay, but just the thought of possibly going back and seeing the city destroyed yet again really sucks. Of course, only time will tell when the storm actually makes landfall where ever it's going. Now I know how it feels to have personal connections to various disaster areas.
This brings up a point about training while something is constantly on your mind. Before every practice, you meditate (command is Mokusou (黙想)) to bring your mind to the kendo tasks at hand and away from the outside world. But, even if something is a bit more difficult to shake than a few seconds of meditation, should you continue practice?
Sometimes it can help to do something completely unrelated to the problem to make you feel better. There were times during practice where I did concentrate all on Kendo to let go of what's been going through my mind. I did what I could to put my all into practice but overall was about 95%.
The difference between most activities and Kendo is that practice depends as much on yourself as the other person you're training with. If you don't do your part, then the other person doesn't get anything out of it and that part of the session just remains empty. Anyone who has done Kendo will probably know what I'm talking about to some extent on this.
But should you continue to practice? I would say that it depends on the situation at hand and how it's affecting you. In most cases, the Kendo can be therapeutic to keep your mind off the issues at home and allow you to deal with them with a vigorous activity.
But there are times where you can't really shake the feelings you have which can negatively affect your abilities. If it's just a practice and you have been finding yourself crying or doing things negatively in your main life, then it's probably best to skip one practice to not add to the guilt of being a bad partner and not doing so well.
Today's practice was okay. It was pretty difficult to navigate the floor because my feet would slide. Because of the differences in footwork, it kinda threw off everything else a bit as well.
I attended both the intermediate and advanced practices for the night. The intermediate practice went over the principles of kirikaeshi. It was a pretty nice breakdown of the major components of it such as good fumikomi, good swings and proper distance. I put those explanations together with the ones that people in Ohio tell me to really give everything my all.
After that, the advanced practice began where we started off with waza and ended with free geiko. There were two new things that I learned from training yesterday:
- For the kaeshi waza, the foot must move as you are warding your opponent's shinai out of the center. This should allow you to more quickly get in before the opponent has a chance to react
- Another point for the kaeshi waza. Whenever I do it, I tend to just try to knock the shinai out of the center. What I should be doing is just letting it slide out of the way before I counter attack to take over the center
The free gieko was pretty nice. I tried to fight against one guy doing nitou but he put his other shinai down when fighting the lower ranked people (I was hoping to get the chance to do it). I also got to fight an old friend of mine who pretty much dominated me as usual.
I did say earlier that one of the things that was holding me back was the floor. Normally, I would have eventually adjusted by the end of practice, but there is another thing that was bothering me at the back of my mind. Gustav is heading towards the Gulf Coast as we speak. I know that most of my family is okay, but just the thought of possibly going back and seeing the city destroyed yet again really sucks. Of course, only time will tell when the storm actually makes landfall where ever it's going. Now I know how it feels to have personal connections to various disaster areas.
This brings up a point about training while something is constantly on your mind. Before every practice, you meditate (command is Mokusou (黙想)) to bring your mind to the kendo tasks at hand and away from the outside world. But, even if something is a bit more difficult to shake than a few seconds of meditation, should you continue practice?
Sometimes it can help to do something completely unrelated to the problem to make you feel better. There were times during practice where I did concentrate all on Kendo to let go of what's been going through my mind. I did what I could to put my all into practice but overall was about 95%.
The difference between most activities and Kendo is that practice depends as much on yourself as the other person you're training with. If you don't do your part, then the other person doesn't get anything out of it and that part of the session just remains empty. Anyone who has done Kendo will probably know what I'm talking about to some extent on this.
But should you continue to practice? I would say that it depends on the situation at hand and how it's affecting you. In most cases, the Kendo can be therapeutic to keep your mind off the issues at home and allow you to deal with them with a vigorous activity.
But there are times where you can't really shake the feelings you have which can negatively affect your abilities. If it's just a practice and you have been finding yourself crying or doing things negatively in your main life, then it's probably best to skip one practice to not add to the guilt of being a bad partner and not doing so well.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Kendo Police?
What I want to write about today is something that has sort of getting under my skin for a while now. And since I want to actually do something with my blog, now's the time to do it. Keep in mind that this can be extrapolated to other aspects of life, but since this is a Kendo blog, I will be specifically talking about Kendo.
People on the Kendo World forums should already be familiar with this sort of thing. We see a video on Youtube that showcases some random yahoo doing what they think is Kendo and some people decide to get up in arms about it. In most cases, it's posted for people to laugh at. But in its most extreme case, some will go to the source of the video and pick it apart and pretty much flame the person to the point where the video is taken down. You may also see cases where someone will get on the forum and post something that shows that they don't really know what Kendo is, but they feel they do. As a result, the Kendo hounds sniff it out and pile on the person.
It is understandable to do this sort of thing. Everyone that does Kendo knows that it isn't easy. First you have to find the nearest dojo which, for most people, is not just around the corner. Then there is the long period of trial and error that people go through for the rest of their Kendo career which takes a lot of effort to keep up with and improve on. So to have one person come up and just say that they are doing what we are doing can understandably get under someone's skin.
Despite this going on, is this really justified? To be a little miffed, that is understandable. But I do think that there are better ways in which we can handle this.
A lot of times, we tend to make assumptions about the person, where they practice and why they do what they do. The majority of videos on Youtube and the like have people just dicking around, not really thinking much about what they are doing. Then you have the cases where people might be misguided, thinking that they are doing what they are doing is the right thing. What we may not know is that the person may not know about those intricacies of Kendo techniques, where a dojo may be, or how to find a dojo.
Making assumptions and immediately flaming people from the get go can only cause harm to the Kendo community. Ever since I have been involved in Kendo, I have only met kind and accepting people with the bastards being a very small minimum. This would be a huge contrast to what others may think if they thought all we do is go around finding bad Kendo videos and immediately chastising the person for what they are doing. While we know that everyone is an individual, we still represent the Kendo community as a whole wherever we go, whether or not the general public knows that we do it. It's hard enough to get people to stick with Kendo, but we would only be making it harder to spread if people think we're total bitches who can't allow people to enjoy themselves.
How can we better handle the situation when we encounter these kinds of people? If we see a video online, then don't immediately angerly flame the person. First see what the intent is and take appropriate action. If they are just screwing around, then just leave them alone and let them go about their business. We may be worried that they will hurt each other, but Darwin works in mysterious ways. If they are misguided and providing erroneous information, then you can correct them, but don't expect to have a new convert who is hurrying to the nearest Kendo dojo. If they start spouting out random samurai phrases to prove they are on the higher path...then run away, lol.
Really, the best way to combat this is information. If you happen to be in a conversation with a misguided person, you should be able to answer any questions they have. If you don't have the answer, then you should know where to seek it and get back to the other person.
The previous point brings up something else. We all know that there is a lack of information out there about Kendo compared to some of the more common arts like Karate or Tae Kwon Do. Let's face it. Most of the information that is really out there for people to easily see is found in anime and movies. Not to mention that there's the erroneous information about kendo and living the samurai way and stuff.
That means that we need to take charge and get this info out there ourselves. If you happen to be HTML proficient, you can make webpages about what Kendo is, what it means to you, the dojos you go to, things to look for in a Kendo dojo, journaling your own training process and other things of the such. If not, there are various blogging sites like Myspace, Facebook, Blogger and Live Journal where you can do similar things minus all the HTML work. You shouldn't have to be a 5th Dan sensei to do stuff like this either. In fact, it would be nice to have views of Kendo from people who may not be so proficient in Kendo to have that realistic view of what it's like to be a beginner out there. Plus, it's a very nice way to get to know more about the art you're doing with a little bit of research beyond the Wikipedia article.
I would say that the main point of the article is that we should concentrate less on the others and more on ourselves. We may be able to take one video down through flaming, but with the capabilities of Web 2.0, five more videos may show up within minutes. We know what Kendo really is so we should be able to stand up and take charge and be the forefathers (and mothers) of using the internet to our advantage.
People on the Kendo World forums should already be familiar with this sort of thing. We see a video on Youtube that showcases some random yahoo doing what they think is Kendo and some people decide to get up in arms about it. In most cases, it's posted for people to laugh at. But in its most extreme case, some will go to the source of the video and pick it apart and pretty much flame the person to the point where the video is taken down. You may also see cases where someone will get on the forum and post something that shows that they don't really know what Kendo is, but they feel they do. As a result, the Kendo hounds sniff it out and pile on the person.
It is understandable to do this sort of thing. Everyone that does Kendo knows that it isn't easy. First you have to find the nearest dojo which, for most people, is not just around the corner. Then there is the long period of trial and error that people go through for the rest of their Kendo career which takes a lot of effort to keep up with and improve on. So to have one person come up and just say that they are doing what we are doing can understandably get under someone's skin.
Despite this going on, is this really justified? To be a little miffed, that is understandable. But I do think that there are better ways in which we can handle this.
A lot of times, we tend to make assumptions about the person, where they practice and why they do what they do. The majority of videos on Youtube and the like have people just dicking around, not really thinking much about what they are doing. Then you have the cases where people might be misguided, thinking that they are doing what they are doing is the right thing. What we may not know is that the person may not know about those intricacies of Kendo techniques, where a dojo may be, or how to find a dojo.
Making assumptions and immediately flaming people from the get go can only cause harm to the Kendo community. Ever since I have been involved in Kendo, I have only met kind and accepting people with the bastards being a very small minimum. This would be a huge contrast to what others may think if they thought all we do is go around finding bad Kendo videos and immediately chastising the person for what they are doing. While we know that everyone is an individual, we still represent the Kendo community as a whole wherever we go, whether or not the general public knows that we do it. It's hard enough to get people to stick with Kendo, but we would only be making it harder to spread if people think we're total bitches who can't allow people to enjoy themselves.
How can we better handle the situation when we encounter these kinds of people? If we see a video online, then don't immediately angerly flame the person. First see what the intent is and take appropriate action. If they are just screwing around, then just leave them alone and let them go about their business. We may be worried that they will hurt each other, but Darwin works in mysterious ways. If they are misguided and providing erroneous information, then you can correct them, but don't expect to have a new convert who is hurrying to the nearest Kendo dojo. If they start spouting out random samurai phrases to prove they are on the higher path...then run away, lol.
Really, the best way to combat this is information. If you happen to be in a conversation with a misguided person, you should be able to answer any questions they have. If you don't have the answer, then you should know where to seek it and get back to the other person.
The previous point brings up something else. We all know that there is a lack of information out there about Kendo compared to some of the more common arts like Karate or Tae Kwon Do. Let's face it. Most of the information that is really out there for people to easily see is found in anime and movies. Not to mention that there's the erroneous information about kendo and living the samurai way and stuff.
That means that we need to take charge and get this info out there ourselves. If you happen to be HTML proficient, you can make webpages about what Kendo is, what it means to you, the dojos you go to, things to look for in a Kendo dojo, journaling your own training process and other things of the such. If not, there are various blogging sites like Myspace, Facebook, Blogger and Live Journal where you can do similar things minus all the HTML work. You shouldn't have to be a 5th Dan sensei to do stuff like this either. In fact, it would be nice to have views of Kendo from people who may not be so proficient in Kendo to have that realistic view of what it's like to be a beginner out there. Plus, it's a very nice way to get to know more about the art you're doing with a little bit of research beyond the Wikipedia article.
I would say that the main point of the article is that we should concentrate less on the others and more on ourselves. We may be able to take one video down through flaming, but with the capabilities of Web 2.0, five more videos may show up within minutes. We know what Kendo really is so we should be able to stand up and take charge and be the forefathers (and mothers) of using the internet to our advantage.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Five Years And Counting...
The month of August marks the 5th anniversary of when I started Kendo. It's hard to believe that I've been with this for all that time, considering the big changes that have happened in my life during the time span.
As many of us know, it's hard for one to keep interested in one activity for so long and Kendo is definitely no exception. The plethora of options for things to do, work and school are the biggest killers of prospective college Kenshi, but I fought it. For those that can dedicate the time, sometimes people realize that Kendo is not really what one expected it to be or took too much commitment, but I fought that too.
I pretty much started Kendo because I wanted something to do when I was in college to break the monotony of studying and slaving. To be honest, I originally wanted to do Aikido. But I found out about Kendo and considered trying to do both. But when school started, the Kendo callout came first so I went with that one first. I would have done Aikido as well, but the classes clashed with the advanced classes that I wanted to eventually attend at the time. In short, I only had room for Kendo.
It seems like only yesterday that I walked into the Stewart center as a wide-eyed, timid freshman spending two hours a week going back and forth on the floor before moving on to spending those same two hours a week making our arms fall off.
What made me stick with Kendo? At first, it got me out of my dorm so it was pretty much something to do and something to pad my resume with. But despite the difficulty of coming back with sore feet and arms every week, I still had some mysterious force calling me back. What really made me stick with it was when I saw my first tournament in Chicago. Seeing people in the mysterious armor and uniform whacking away at each other gave me a preview of what we were going to do if we stick with things long enough. It probably helps that I had no expectations of Kendo whatsoever. Sure, I went to the callout the week before the first practice, but I was going into it pretty much blind at this point.
Fast forward five years and I'm still doing it with abilities that I never thought possible. I've visited various dojo across the country and participated in my fair share of tournaments with no signs of stopping any time soon.
Where do I see myself in the future? I want to be able to continue Kendo for as long as my body is able to allow me. In the present time frame, I want to do my best to develop my own style and improve on the skill set that I have now. I also want to increase my Kendo competency enough to be able to do my best by spreading the knowledge of Kendo by teaching those that are willing to learn.
Well, I got 5 years down. Now lets hope for 5+ more!
As many of us know, it's hard for one to keep interested in one activity for so long and Kendo is definitely no exception. The plethora of options for things to do, work and school are the biggest killers of prospective college Kenshi, but I fought it. For those that can dedicate the time, sometimes people realize that Kendo is not really what one expected it to be or took too much commitment, but I fought that too.
I pretty much started Kendo because I wanted something to do when I was in college to break the monotony of studying and slaving. To be honest, I originally wanted to do Aikido. But I found out about Kendo and considered trying to do both. But when school started, the Kendo callout came first so I went with that one first. I would have done Aikido as well, but the classes clashed with the advanced classes that I wanted to eventually attend at the time. In short, I only had room for Kendo.
It seems like only yesterday that I walked into the Stewart center as a wide-eyed, timid freshman spending two hours a week going back and forth on the floor before moving on to spending those same two hours a week making our arms fall off.
What made me stick with Kendo? At first, it got me out of my dorm so it was pretty much something to do and something to pad my resume with. But despite the difficulty of coming back with sore feet and arms every week, I still had some mysterious force calling me back. What really made me stick with it was when I saw my first tournament in Chicago. Seeing people in the mysterious armor and uniform whacking away at each other gave me a preview of what we were going to do if we stick with things long enough. It probably helps that I had no expectations of Kendo whatsoever. Sure, I went to the callout the week before the first practice, but I was going into it pretty much blind at this point.
Fast forward five years and I'm still doing it with abilities that I never thought possible. I've visited various dojo across the country and participated in my fair share of tournaments with no signs of stopping any time soon.
Where do I see myself in the future? I want to be able to continue Kendo for as long as my body is able to allow me. In the present time frame, I want to do my best to develop my own style and improve on the skill set that I have now. I also want to increase my Kendo competency enough to be able to do my best by spreading the knowledge of Kendo by teaching those that are willing to learn.
Well, I got 5 years down. Now lets hope for 5+ more!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Some thoughts on my Kendo and Iaido
In my latest attempt to get more self-practice in for Kendo and Iaido on those no practice days, I've been having some thoughts about my progress in Kendo and Iaido.
For those not in the know, I participated in the AUSKF tournament in Las Vegas last month. I was knocked out of the first round, unfortunately, but it allowed me to really think about Kendo in a different kind of light.
One of the major problems that I have been having with Kendo is the fact that I'm most definitely not the strongest person out there. Sizing up at 5'7" and 125 lbs (170.18 cm, 56.7 kg for those that don't follow our system), I tend to get pushed around quite easily by a good number of people out there that I face. Due to this, I am trying to find a way around it by using my size and go the more agile and tactical route. This means taking advantage of moving around swiftly and taking command of various waza, such as hiki, nuki and kaeshi. In some ways, that sort of thing seems to be working, but there is still a LOT to do before I can really say that this kind of tactic is working.
On an somewhat related note, since this is August now, it marks the 5th anniversary of me starting Kendo. Can't believe it's already been that long. I'm very proud of myself that I started something and able to keep up with it for that amount of time, given the large amount of distractions in college. This is something that I really want to keep going with for the next 50+ years, provided my body is able to keep up with it. Maybe I'll do another entry about the future of Kendo in my own personal life and my thoughts on the growth of it in the western world.
BTW, for those that are interested, here's my match video from the torunament.
On the iaido front, I've only started in February so I'm still very green about the art. Lately, I've been doing things to get myself more familiar with the art by looking up information and making sure I actually remember the names of the seitei kata (the ones I'm working on right now). To help out with that, I'm looking at youtube videos for reference of the necessary movements and intent. I also bought a book called Iaido Sword: Kamimoto-Ha Techniques for Musou Shinden Ryu. According to reviews, it's supposed to be a pretty complete guide book for Musou Shinden Ryu. I haven't gotten it yet so I really can't say much about it.
Oh yeah, I ordered my Iaito from Aoi Budogu back in April...and I'm still looking for it. I emailed the people and they told me that the swordsmith was backed up so it might take another 6-8 weeks for my iaito to come in. I'm glad to know that at least it's able to come in. The way I see it, it gives me a bit more time to be "ready" for the iaito when it comes in. I have my bokken and saya right now, so that will have to do until it finally comes in. But I still come up to my door, anticipating the view of the slip of paper saying I can grab it from the main office of my apartment complex.
That's it for now!
For those not in the know, I participated in the AUSKF tournament in Las Vegas last month. I was knocked out of the first round, unfortunately, but it allowed me to really think about Kendo in a different kind of light.
One of the major problems that I have been having with Kendo is the fact that I'm most definitely not the strongest person out there. Sizing up at 5'7" and 125 lbs (170.18 cm, 56.7 kg for those that don't follow our system), I tend to get pushed around quite easily by a good number of people out there that I face. Due to this, I am trying to find a way around it by using my size and go the more agile and tactical route. This means taking advantage of moving around swiftly and taking command of various waza, such as hiki, nuki and kaeshi. In some ways, that sort of thing seems to be working, but there is still a LOT to do before I can really say that this kind of tactic is working.
On an somewhat related note, since this is August now, it marks the 5th anniversary of me starting Kendo. Can't believe it's already been that long. I'm very proud of myself that I started something and able to keep up with it for that amount of time, given the large amount of distractions in college. This is something that I really want to keep going with for the next 50+ years, provided my body is able to keep up with it. Maybe I'll do another entry about the future of Kendo in my own personal life and my thoughts on the growth of it in the western world.
BTW, for those that are interested, here's my match video from the torunament.
On the iaido front, I've only started in February so I'm still very green about the art. Lately, I've been doing things to get myself more familiar with the art by looking up information and making sure I actually remember the names of the seitei kata (the ones I'm working on right now). To help out with that, I'm looking at youtube videos for reference of the necessary movements and intent. I also bought a book called Iaido Sword: Kamimoto-Ha Techniques for Musou Shinden Ryu. According to reviews, it's supposed to be a pretty complete guide book for Musou Shinden Ryu. I haven't gotten it yet so I really can't say much about it.
Oh yeah, I ordered my Iaito from Aoi Budogu back in April...and I'm still looking for it. I emailed the people and they told me that the swordsmith was backed up so it might take another 6-8 weeks for my iaito to come in. I'm glad to know that at least it's able to come in. The way I see it, it gives me a bit more time to be "ready" for the iaito when it comes in. I have my bokken and saya right now, so that will have to do until it finally comes in. But I still come up to my door, anticipating the view of the slip of paper saying I can grab it from the main office of my apartment complex.
That's it for now!
Sunday, June 08, 2008
How important do you think timing really is?
Sigh, my wrist has been kinda sore for the past week so I've been out of Kendo and Iaido for the time being. Since the tournament is coming up, I don't want to risk injuring it further and ruin my chances of going to Las Vegas.
If you have been doing Kendo for a little while, you probably heard your sensei or sempai keep telling you of ways to improve your timing and how important that is. It's not that we don't believe them since we try to improve timing and strength along with the other Kendo requisites if we desire to improve ourselves.
But do we really understand the whole concept of timing? Most likely not. But this video that has been circulating on youtube for the past week or so should help with that. The guys involved in the video have the experience to move so fast and accurately and the judges have the experience to be able to see who is hitting what. But for us normal people, we have a high speed camera that helps us see just what's happening just before the hits that give them the edge. I don't want to give anything away, so here's the video, and I'll just leave it at that.
EDIT: Due to the fact that I'm having some issues viewing the video in its embedded form, I'll just post the link below.
Kendo in High Speed Camera (Slow Motion)
If you have been doing Kendo for a little while, you probably heard your sensei or sempai keep telling you of ways to improve your timing and how important that is. It's not that we don't believe them since we try to improve timing and strength along with the other Kendo requisites if we desire to improve ourselves.
But do we really understand the whole concept of timing? Most likely not. But this video that has been circulating on youtube for the past week or so should help with that. The guys involved in the video have the experience to move so fast and accurately and the judges have the experience to be able to see who is hitting what. But for us normal people, we have a high speed camera that helps us see just what's happening just before the hits that give them the edge. I don't want to give anything away, so here's the video, and I'll just leave it at that.
EDIT: Due to the fact that I'm having some issues viewing the video in its embedded form, I'll just post the link below.
Kendo in High Speed Camera (Slow Motion)
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Iaido Happenings and Random Crap
There really isn't too much to report on the Kendo front in terms of lessons. I did learn Kata on Sunday, but it was from a book so I don't really consider myself knowing it until someone can physically bring me through the movements. After that, I went to UC and basically went through drills as I was told that I was either moving too early or too late (sigh, the many contradictions of Kendo...).
I can take a moment out and talk about Iaido a bit. I started up in February and attended every practice that I was able to, with the only reasons being that I happened to be at the Kendo training camp that weekend.
Things in Iaido are going pretty well. As I am going through the motions, I am learning how there is so much more than meets the eye to the movements. There's always some better way to take out and sheath the sword or getting the swing correctly and whatnot. I think I'm slowly getting the grasp of the goings on there, though I have a LOT of work to do. A few months ago, one of the former members came by and showed off his Iaido skills (his name escapes me, unfortunately). Everything looked so clean and crisp. As I was watching, I was wishing I would get to that point, but of course that could take years. So here I am, attending practice at 8am on Sunday mornings to improve on the iaido.
One thing I would like to address is the whole concept of teaching stuff. I attend the Northern KY Kendo Club (they also do the Iaido there too) to get in some extra practices, but ended up having the teaching duties laid on me since I happen to outrank the people there (I'm only an Ikkyu by the way).
Here are some of the issues/ideas that I am facing
- I am an Ikkyu, so I sometimes wonder how far would I need to go before overstepping my bounds or something. The people seem to not have a problem with me teaching so at least the rapport is there. One thing I do want to do is try to keep an open dialogue of sorts. So I may be teaching them my way of things, but encouraging people to question my motives to get me thinking about what's going on and stuff.
- I don't want to change things around too much, but then I don't want to keep things exactly the same. Anyone can do warm ups, drills and end practice, but there needs to be something in between so that people can leave practice learning something. I'm probably thinking too much about this though. The formalities can remain the same, but I can pretty much do whatever I want in the middle, I guess. I just need to add some of my own flavor to it. I did learn quite a bit so it's nice to be able to pass that knowledge on.
- There's only an hour to do stuff so it's a matter of what to do and what is just fluff. I guess I could have some sort of themed practice as in one that concentrates on basics, and another on waza and another on fighting, etc.
I dunno, sometimes, I think I may be thinking so much about what I could be doing wrong, that it hinders me from trying to do what I think is right. I guess one of the reasons why I'm going through this is that I'm not used to being in the leadership position. There are some that are born leaders and others that need to warm up to things and I represent the latter case. We'll see how things go though. I have a few points I want to get across to the people there to hopefully get some sort of good stuff out of them.
I can take a moment out and talk about Iaido a bit. I started up in February and attended every practice that I was able to, with the only reasons being that I happened to be at the Kendo training camp that weekend.
Things in Iaido are going pretty well. As I am going through the motions, I am learning how there is so much more than meets the eye to the movements. There's always some better way to take out and sheath the sword or getting the swing correctly and whatnot. I think I'm slowly getting the grasp of the goings on there, though I have a LOT of work to do. A few months ago, one of the former members came by and showed off his Iaido skills (his name escapes me, unfortunately). Everything looked so clean and crisp. As I was watching, I was wishing I would get to that point, but of course that could take years. So here I am, attending practice at 8am on Sunday mornings to improve on the iaido.
One thing I would like to address is the whole concept of teaching stuff. I attend the Northern KY Kendo Club (they also do the Iaido there too) to get in some extra practices, but ended up having the teaching duties laid on me since I happen to outrank the people there (I'm only an Ikkyu by the way).
Here are some of the issues/ideas that I am facing
- I am an Ikkyu, so I sometimes wonder how far would I need to go before overstepping my bounds or something. The people seem to not have a problem with me teaching so at least the rapport is there. One thing I do want to do is try to keep an open dialogue of sorts. So I may be teaching them my way of things, but encouraging people to question my motives to get me thinking about what's going on and stuff.
- I don't want to change things around too much, but then I don't want to keep things exactly the same. Anyone can do warm ups, drills and end practice, but there needs to be something in between so that people can leave practice learning something. I'm probably thinking too much about this though. The formalities can remain the same, but I can pretty much do whatever I want in the middle, I guess. I just need to add some of my own flavor to it. I did learn quite a bit so it's nice to be able to pass that knowledge on.
- There's only an hour to do stuff so it's a matter of what to do and what is just fluff. I guess I could have some sort of themed practice as in one that concentrates on basics, and another on waza and another on fighting, etc.
I dunno, sometimes, I think I may be thinking so much about what I could be doing wrong, that it hinders me from trying to do what I think is right. I guess one of the reasons why I'm going through this is that I'm not used to being in the leadership position. There are some that are born leaders and others that need to warm up to things and I represent the latter case. We'll see how things go though. I have a few points I want to get across to the people there to hopefully get some sort of good stuff out of them.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Training Notes: 5/31/08
This has been one hell of a week. Work has been pretty hectic, though Kendo really helped take me away from the stresses of it. Unfortunately, it kept me away from practice on Thursday as I pulled a 16 hour day.
But it didn't keep me away for long since I was ready to practice again at Miami Valley today. As the weather warms up, my body has to acclimate itself to a new set of temperatures. This was only heightened by the training conditions since Ariga sensei only allows the ceiling fans and open doors to provide ventilation. I really had to fight exhaustion due to the heat, but I think things went well overall.
There wasn't much that was different from the normal practices there. We had warmups, kirikaeshi, waza and then mawari geiko. The only difference was that I didn't go to second dojo due to some work issues that I couldn't solve anyways due to the files not being sent till um...two hours ago...Yeah, I'm not happy about this.
As usual, I will leave some words of wisdom that was left for me by the sensei and sempai in attendance.
1) I need to try to feel out my opponent instead of just blindly attacking. This seems like a somewhat difficult concept to understand since there seems to be the necessity of balance between blindly attacking and waiting around for the opponent to hit me.
2) I have the tendancy to hesitate before attacking. If I move forward, then I need to become committed to the attack since I am so close to the other person. Being closer than issoku-ittou no maai puts me at an advantage since I don't have to move so much, but it also gives the opponent that same advantage. And if the person I'm going against is much faster or more experienced than I, then that can only spell trouble for me.
3) Gotta work on that distancing. It's harder than you think to guage how far you need to be since there's only a certain part of the shinai that will count as a point. On that note, I should fix my shinai since my nakayui seemed to slide down a bit.
Now it's time for me to wait until tomorrow to try my hand at Kendo and Iaido again with my tattered body.
One final note before I go. I am going to pursue the fansubbing of the anime Musashi no Ken to see how well it does with the general public. Bamboo Blade seemed to have some sort of popularity as of a few months ago, so it would be interesting to see how things go when it's accessible to the English speaking world for the first time (to my knowledge anyways). Plus, I think it would be better if the person translating the anime actually knows a bit about the subject matter at hand, which is Kendo in this case.
If you would like to help me out on this, feel free to holler at me. The only requirements are that you have some knowledge of the Japanese language and the desire to translate something. The Kendo knowledge can be proofread by me if you have no knowledge about it.
But it didn't keep me away for long since I was ready to practice again at Miami Valley today. As the weather warms up, my body has to acclimate itself to a new set of temperatures. This was only heightened by the training conditions since Ariga sensei only allows the ceiling fans and open doors to provide ventilation. I really had to fight exhaustion due to the heat, but I think things went well overall.
There wasn't much that was different from the normal practices there. We had warmups, kirikaeshi, waza and then mawari geiko. The only difference was that I didn't go to second dojo due to some work issues that I couldn't solve anyways due to the files not being sent till um...two hours ago...Yeah, I'm not happy about this.
As usual, I will leave some words of wisdom that was left for me by the sensei and sempai in attendance.
1) I need to try to feel out my opponent instead of just blindly attacking. This seems like a somewhat difficult concept to understand since there seems to be the necessity of balance between blindly attacking and waiting around for the opponent to hit me.
2) I have the tendancy to hesitate before attacking. If I move forward, then I need to become committed to the attack since I am so close to the other person. Being closer than issoku-ittou no maai puts me at an advantage since I don't have to move so much, but it also gives the opponent that same advantage. And if the person I'm going against is much faster or more experienced than I, then that can only spell trouble for me.
3) Gotta work on that distancing. It's harder than you think to guage how far you need to be since there's only a certain part of the shinai that will count as a point. On that note, I should fix my shinai since my nakayui seemed to slide down a bit.
Now it's time for me to wait until tomorrow to try my hand at Kendo and Iaido again with my tattered body.
One final note before I go. I am going to pursue the fansubbing of the anime Musashi no Ken to see how well it does with the general public. Bamboo Blade seemed to have some sort of popularity as of a few months ago, so it would be interesting to see how things go when it's accessible to the English speaking world for the first time (to my knowledge anyways). Plus, I think it would be better if the person translating the anime actually knows a bit about the subject matter at hand, which is Kendo in this case.
If you would like to help me out on this, feel free to holler at me. The only requirements are that you have some knowledge of the Japanese language and the desire to translate something. The Kendo knowledge can be proofread by me if you have no knowledge about it.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Training Notes: Pittsburgh Joint Practice
This past weekend was another one of the ECUSKF joint practices in Pittsburgh, PA. It was a nice, kendo-filled weekend full of fun and excitement as I do my best to improve my abilities whilst staying alive during these very tough practices.
The first day was mainly for the senshu in preparation for the tournament in July. It started out like the general practice and then moved on to the practical matches. I participated in three matches and won the first two. This is pretty nice since it seems to be pretty hard to win, considering you have to get judges to vote in your favor. Of course, I didn't leave it to just those wins. I could always use some tips so I went to Nagata-sensei for some afterthoughts. These were some of the points that he left me:
1) I should concentrate on going forward as much as possible and taking advantage of the position. Overall, I did a decent job with keeping maai, but sometimes I went backwards more than I should have.
2) On the subject of getting the correct maai, the opponent was able to get the correct distancing faster than me. I need to work on not only getting the maai, but getting it quickly before the other person knows what's going on.
After the practice, we ate dinner at this restaurant that was pretty expensive, but had good beer. Then we went over to a fellow kenshi's house to watch the videos. It felt strange looking at myself after the fact, but it was a great opportunity to see what I look like in a match from a different vantage point. It was pretty uneventful as most of us were tired and concerned about staying up too late for the practice the next morning.
The next practice was the general practice for everyone. There was a lot of people there for such a tiny room. The main practice included the general men, kote and kote men before moving on to a variety of oji-waza against someone doing men and kote.
After a short break, we moved on to the free practice against the highest ranked people there. I went against some people for the free practice the day before, so I made sure I went against those that I didn't get to go against the previous time. The first person was Nagata-sensei, which is always an exercise in survival. No matter what I did, my distancing was always too close or too far for a good hit. Sigh, yet another thing I need to get straight.
The practice finished off with kakari-geiko with the Sensei there...which was 7 people for 10 seconds each. It's really hard to keep going, but it was something I had to do if I wanted to improve. After that, practice was over and I got some more pointers from Nagata-sensei.
1) He said that I have improved a lot since I first met him as I have done my best to improve each point. Now the next step is to get my footwork straight by not moving the left leg and having good weight distribution. It was the only point that he gave me that day. but you don't want TOO many pointers!
Well, the tournament is coming soon so I need to take everything for what it's worth...and dry out my uniform...
The first day was mainly for the senshu in preparation for the tournament in July. It started out like the general practice and then moved on to the practical matches. I participated in three matches and won the first two. This is pretty nice since it seems to be pretty hard to win, considering you have to get judges to vote in your favor. Of course, I didn't leave it to just those wins. I could always use some tips so I went to Nagata-sensei for some afterthoughts. These were some of the points that he left me:
1) I should concentrate on going forward as much as possible and taking advantage of the position. Overall, I did a decent job with keeping maai, but sometimes I went backwards more than I should have.
2) On the subject of getting the correct maai, the opponent was able to get the correct distancing faster than me. I need to work on not only getting the maai, but getting it quickly before the other person knows what's going on.
After the practice, we ate dinner at this restaurant that was pretty expensive, but had good beer. Then we went over to a fellow kenshi's house to watch the videos. It felt strange looking at myself after the fact, but it was a great opportunity to see what I look like in a match from a different vantage point. It was pretty uneventful as most of us were tired and concerned about staying up too late for the practice the next morning.
The next practice was the general practice for everyone. There was a lot of people there for such a tiny room. The main practice included the general men, kote and kote men before moving on to a variety of oji-waza against someone doing men and kote.
After a short break, we moved on to the free practice against the highest ranked people there. I went against some people for the free practice the day before, so I made sure I went against those that I didn't get to go against the previous time. The first person was Nagata-sensei, which is always an exercise in survival. No matter what I did, my distancing was always too close or too far for a good hit. Sigh, yet another thing I need to get straight.
The practice finished off with kakari-geiko with the Sensei there...which was 7 people for 10 seconds each. It's really hard to keep going, but it was something I had to do if I wanted to improve. After that, practice was over and I got some more pointers from Nagata-sensei.
1) He said that I have improved a lot since I first met him as I have done my best to improve each point. Now the next step is to get my footwork straight by not moving the left leg and having good weight distribution. It was the only point that he gave me that day. but you don't want TOO many pointers!
Well, the tournament is coming soon so I need to take everything for what it's worth...and dry out my uniform...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Training Notes: 6/22/08
The practice last night was pretty intersting. Nagata-sensei came to visit us about halfway through practice to teach us quite a few basic points:
1) When you are about to push off, do not move the left foot forward. It's something that's quite natural if you aren't confident in the power of your step, but all it does is telegraph your movements to your opponent.
2) Pay great attention to your maai. There's a fine line between being too close and too far, which can mean the difference between making a successful strike or not. This practice for distancing really made me pay attention to the huge importance of all the elements of the stance to achieve optimum ability.
3) When cutting men, better power can be achieved by hitting through to the ear instead of tapping the top of the head. It gives enough power to be strong without overpowering your hits. This is something that could definately help me out since my hits tend to be on the weak side.
Paying attention to these basic points made the practice a bit difficult by trying to approach things in a different light. Of course, it wasn't the hardest part once things got moving with the jigeiko with Nagata-sensei. It was more of the usual in the fact that it's an exercise in physical longevity while keeping your spirits up. He has to be one of the toughest sensei out there, but it's something I appreciate since his methods tend to make me REALLY see what's going on with my Kendo.
Well, tomorrow is the joint practice at Pittsburgh. Hopefully, things should go over pretty well there.
1) When you are about to push off, do not move the left foot forward. It's something that's quite natural if you aren't confident in the power of your step, but all it does is telegraph your movements to your opponent.
2) Pay great attention to your maai. There's a fine line between being too close and too far, which can mean the difference between making a successful strike or not. This practice for distancing really made me pay attention to the huge importance of all the elements of the stance to achieve optimum ability.
3) When cutting men, better power can be achieved by hitting through to the ear instead of tapping the top of the head. It gives enough power to be strong without overpowering your hits. This is something that could definately help me out since my hits tend to be on the weak side.
Paying attention to these basic points made the practice a bit difficult by trying to approach things in a different light. Of course, it wasn't the hardest part once things got moving with the jigeiko with Nagata-sensei. It was more of the usual in the fact that it's an exercise in physical longevity while keeping your spirits up. He has to be one of the toughest sensei out there, but it's something I appreciate since his methods tend to make me REALLY see what's going on with my Kendo.
Well, tomorrow is the joint practice at Pittsburgh. Hopefully, things should go over pretty well there.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Training Notes: AUSKF Tournament Update Edition
It's been quite a while since I have updated the blog. I should really try to update more regularly to keep track of my progress and hopefully give others guidance on things they may be having trouble with.
It's about 43 days until the national tournament in Las Vegas and I've been practicing hard to make sure I can get past the first round in the Mudansha division. I have been doing this mainly by going to lots of practices that are routinely held in the area as well as the special tournament practices that have been held recently.
Generally, the tournament practices aren't too much different than normal joint practices, except that there are shiai-styled matches alongside. The practices may not seem like much on the outside, but can teach some very valuable information if taken the right way. The most important takeaway I see from this is the chance to see how well you handle yourself when people are watching your every move. It's one thing to be able to judge you and your partner's hits during jigeiko, but it's another thing to be able to practice how to make all of your hits strong and believable enough for at least two of the judges to vote in your favor. It's a completely different environment that's necessary to get some acclimation to if you hope to succeed in tournaments.
I have been told by many people that my form is great, as well as a few suggestions for improvement. One thing that I seem to not be able to shake off is my hesitation before I go. It really seems to depend on the experience level and fighting style of the person I'm going against, but I really need to at least be more aggressive and resolute in my style. I don't think it's an issue of doing the high school kind of kendo where the senshuu are extremely aggressive to the point of knocking each other down, but it's more of me taking opportunities as I see them instead of worrying about getting hit. This is something that can be stopped in time by paying more attention to doing what I can to break the opponent's kamae to create openings instead of them hitting me.
There are also a few other smaller issues that need to get worked out, such as doing taiatari from the stomach instead of the arms. This is something that could possibly help my arms from getting tired out so much as well as being able to go in with more force with someone with a frame as small as mine. To round things out, there are some small issues with footwork that should allow me to push off with more explosive force by keeping both feet parallel and having more strength in my hits.
Am I doing enough to prepare myself? In the context of the typical American lifestyle, one would think so since the opportunity is rare to be able to practice more than once or twice a week. I tend to be able to get in four practices at most. But there are some things that can be done at home on my part to keep my body moving, such as suburi and running. The suburi thing is nice since I have the vaulted ceiling that gives me the extra space necessary to swing a shinai with little problem. As far as running, I could possibly do more of that so I don't get as tired from practice. The weather is warming up outside and there's a park behind the apartment complex where I can run around...provided there's no rain. I guess I could use the treadmill in the crappy gym as a substitute on those bad weather days, but it's just not the same.
Ah well, I can do all the things in the world to prepare for this, but the thing that really matters is whether or not I give no less than 100% on the fateful day. One thing that might help is to reset my goals for the tournament. In most tournaments, I only hope to get further than the last one, which may be something that's holding me back. I should set my sights on getting first place, and nothing less. In a way, I thought that this sort of thought would only lead to disappointment, as it's not an easy task to achieve as you weed out the lesser-experienced people. But really, having this sort of goal forces you to give your all every single time to improve even the slightest imperfection with your form and thought processes.
It's about 43 days until the national tournament in Las Vegas and I've been practicing hard to make sure I can get past the first round in the Mudansha division. I have been doing this mainly by going to lots of practices that are routinely held in the area as well as the special tournament practices that have been held recently.
Generally, the tournament practices aren't too much different than normal joint practices, except that there are shiai-styled matches alongside. The practices may not seem like much on the outside, but can teach some very valuable information if taken the right way. The most important takeaway I see from this is the chance to see how well you handle yourself when people are watching your every move. It's one thing to be able to judge you and your partner's hits during jigeiko, but it's another thing to be able to practice how to make all of your hits strong and believable enough for at least two of the judges to vote in your favor. It's a completely different environment that's necessary to get some acclimation to if you hope to succeed in tournaments.
I have been told by many people that my form is great, as well as a few suggestions for improvement. One thing that I seem to not be able to shake off is my hesitation before I go. It really seems to depend on the experience level and fighting style of the person I'm going against, but I really need to at least be more aggressive and resolute in my style. I don't think it's an issue of doing the high school kind of kendo where the senshuu are extremely aggressive to the point of knocking each other down, but it's more of me taking opportunities as I see them instead of worrying about getting hit. This is something that can be stopped in time by paying more attention to doing what I can to break the opponent's kamae to create openings instead of them hitting me.
There are also a few other smaller issues that need to get worked out, such as doing taiatari from the stomach instead of the arms. This is something that could possibly help my arms from getting tired out so much as well as being able to go in with more force with someone with a frame as small as mine. To round things out, there are some small issues with footwork that should allow me to push off with more explosive force by keeping both feet parallel and having more strength in my hits.
Am I doing enough to prepare myself? In the context of the typical American lifestyle, one would think so since the opportunity is rare to be able to practice more than once or twice a week. I tend to be able to get in four practices at most. But there are some things that can be done at home on my part to keep my body moving, such as suburi and running. The suburi thing is nice since I have the vaulted ceiling that gives me the extra space necessary to swing a shinai with little problem. As far as running, I could possibly do more of that so I don't get as tired from practice. The weather is warming up outside and there's a park behind the apartment complex where I can run around...provided there's no rain. I guess I could use the treadmill in the crappy gym as a substitute on those bad weather days, but it's just not the same.
Ah well, I can do all the things in the world to prepare for this, but the thing that really matters is whether or not I give no less than 100% on the fateful day. One thing that might help is to reset my goals for the tournament. In most tournaments, I only hope to get further than the last one, which may be something that's holding me back. I should set my sights on getting first place, and nothing less. In a way, I thought that this sort of thought would only lead to disappointment, as it's not an easy task to achieve as you weed out the lesser-experienced people. But really, having this sort of goal forces you to give your all every single time to improve even the slightest imperfection with your form and thought processes.
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Great Kendo Weekend
Before I begin, I think things would make more sense if I provide an update to my Kendo life.
I recently started a new job here in Cincinnati, OH doing heat transfer analysis on gas turbine engines. Over time, I have adjusted to the new area which includes joining in on the Kendo activity in the area. There are practices at the University of Cincinnati and in Covington, KY which is just across the river. Once a week, there are practices in Dayton, OH at Miami Valley Kendo Dojo with Ariga Sensei.
Things are going very well over there as I was immediately accepted into the Ohio Kendo family. No sooner after I start before I am invited to pretty much every planned outing that has happened recently. I felt very welcome and I know I will be happy being here.
Now, let's fast forward to this weekend. There were two Kendo events that happened over the weekend. One was the normal practice in Dayton on Saturday and then there was the joint practice with the East-Central United States Kendo Federation (ECUSKF).
Saturday's practice was more intense than the previous week's practice. It started up with stretching and warm ups which included a mix of suburi and footwork. That was followed by the practice of various useful waza. By the end of that, I was already feeling weak. It's drill after drill that can really take the wind out of anyone, whether or not they are prepared for it. After that was a small break in which I took the opportunity to wet my throat and take a swig of my asthma medication before the fun really starts.
It's a good thing I took the time to do that because practice finished up with mawari-geiko. There were 8 people in total so we had to fight 7 times in a row for a few minutes each. Throughout this time, I tried to remember what I was told last week about me being afraid to get hit and just concentrate my energy on pushing through. There really isn't much of an explanation for this other than it's a bad habit of mine to not really push through like I should when I'm sparring with someone. The hardest moment came when I had to go against Ariga sensei and Koizumi sensei in succession. It turned into essentially a 10 minute constant bout trying to muster up any sort of energy I had to make hits as effective as I did when I started practice. Naturally, I kept getting my but kicked, but that's pretty much expected when you go against people who have been doing Kendo like 10 times longer than you have.
After that, practice ended and we went across the street to drink some beer and eat some grapefruit slices and peas. There's just something about Kendo and beer that goes together, but I can't put my finger on it. I did discover that Killians is a very good beer by the way.
The next day was the joint practice. The ECUSKF holds this monthly in Columbus to allow everyone to get together, meet up and exchange knowledge and form friendships. It was a 1.5 hour drive to get there, but it was well worth it as I got to meet a lot of people and learn how this regional federation operates. I had some trouble finding the exact location because it's a little weirdly situated, but after a call and some asking around, I was able to find the place.
The practice started off like any other practice with the stretching ane warmups, then began with some tryouts for the US Kendo tournament in Las Vegas in July. The matches were pretty interesting because I saw some really good Kendo. One thing that was really interesting was that there wasn't one person that even remotely dominated the brackets. One person might lose a match against one person but would win the next.
After the matches, everybody who had bogu put theirs on and began the free practice. I honestly was expecting some sort of a structured practice, but it was just a free practice with anyone you could round up, with the sensei fighitng anyone who was in line. I fought with about 5 people or so including Ariga sensei and Nomiyama sensei. I tried to have an additional match with Kojima sensei, but I ran out of time. I guess I know who to go to next month, lol.
All in all, I had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next month's meeting. I ended up spending any energy that I recoverd, and then some, from yesterday during that practice. I also met quite a few people who were all pretty nice. One interesting note is that I saw two other black people there! I don't want to make it racist or anything, but it's nice that there's some increase and potential in increase of diversity that Kendo really needs (this was discussed somewhat in the previous entry). Either way, I was glad to meet everyone there.
On the upside, I found out that there are some openings for the mudansha division in the US Kendo tournament. I've heard about people going for it, but because I was going back and forth between Indiana and Georgia for college, I didn't make much of an effort to try since I wasn't sure about where I would fall. Now that I should be living here for at least a few years, I thought I would give this a shot. This would be the first time I get to go to Las Vegas, but this is also an opportunity to not miss to be able to participate in a highly regarded tournament within the Kendo community. I sent in my application and everything so we'll see what happens from here on out. Other than that, I will be trying very hard to prepare myself for that moment.
Next week is the Detroit tournament. Regrettably, I won't be participating in it due to the whole moving thing and whatnot. I was on the fence about going because I'd only be watching and possibly participating in a godo-geiko and after party that usually occurs after these things. I found out that the All Japan Kendo Champion will be giving a seminar that weekend. Now I REALLY have to go and take advantage of this. I could really use any help I can get if I plan on improving over the next few months. There is the Cleveland tournament that I will be participating in. I was told that they are expecting this to be pretty big due to the Japanese team captain in the World Kendo Championships will be visiting and this will be the 20th anniversary of the Cleveland tournament, so this year should be exciting. My goal here is to do better than the last tournament and get to the 4th match without almost passing out.
On a side note, I started Iaido recently. This past Sunday was my second class (I left right after to go to Columbus). This practice was better than the last one since there was only three people there. Due to this, more time was able to be spent on learning more about the basics. This gives me something more to think about with the training. All I have right now are the knee pads which are pretty much necessary if you plan on walking when you're 30. My paycheck is coming in this week so I know I can buy an Obi. I think I might just go on ahead and purchase a plastic saya for now while I do some financial planing to see if I can get an iaito. Of course, I will ask the instructor there before I buy one to make sure I don't make any mistakes or buy one earlier than they allow. I can only go so far with holding it in my hand, you know.
Due to the tournament and visiting a friend of mine, I won't be able to attend for the next two weeks, which is pretty unfortunate. I told them that I would be there next week, but I didn't realize the Detroit tournament was next week and that there would be an important seminar going on there. As for next week, I think I might stick around for the weekend and practice with the old Purdue club while I'm there and get my Menjo. They practice on Sunday afternoon so that would cause me to miss the iaido. I wish I could get in contact with someone who plans on going since I would like to let them know I didn't just drop off the face of the earth. I tried sending emails earlier but they seemed to never get through. We'll see what happens. I know I will return, but it would be nice of me to tell them if I'm not coming since the club is small and close-knit enough.
Okay, I think that this entry is long enough. I hope you were able to read all of that!
I recently started a new job here in Cincinnati, OH doing heat transfer analysis on gas turbine engines. Over time, I have adjusted to the new area which includes joining in on the Kendo activity in the area. There are practices at the University of Cincinnati and in Covington, KY which is just across the river. Once a week, there are practices in Dayton, OH at Miami Valley Kendo Dojo with Ariga Sensei.
Things are going very well over there as I was immediately accepted into the Ohio Kendo family. No sooner after I start before I am invited to pretty much every planned outing that has happened recently. I felt very welcome and I know I will be happy being here.
Now, let's fast forward to this weekend. There were two Kendo events that happened over the weekend. One was the normal practice in Dayton on Saturday and then there was the joint practice with the East-Central United States Kendo Federation (ECUSKF).
Saturday's practice was more intense than the previous week's practice. It started up with stretching and warm ups which included a mix of suburi and footwork. That was followed by the practice of various useful waza. By the end of that, I was already feeling weak. It's drill after drill that can really take the wind out of anyone, whether or not they are prepared for it. After that was a small break in which I took the opportunity to wet my throat and take a swig of my asthma medication before the fun really starts.
It's a good thing I took the time to do that because practice finished up with mawari-geiko. There were 8 people in total so we had to fight 7 times in a row for a few minutes each. Throughout this time, I tried to remember what I was told last week about me being afraid to get hit and just concentrate my energy on pushing through. There really isn't much of an explanation for this other than it's a bad habit of mine to not really push through like I should when I'm sparring with someone. The hardest moment came when I had to go against Ariga sensei and Koizumi sensei in succession. It turned into essentially a 10 minute constant bout trying to muster up any sort of energy I had to make hits as effective as I did when I started practice. Naturally, I kept getting my but kicked, but that's pretty much expected when you go against people who have been doing Kendo like 10 times longer than you have.
After that, practice ended and we went across the street to drink some beer and eat some grapefruit slices and peas. There's just something about Kendo and beer that goes together, but I can't put my finger on it. I did discover that Killians is a very good beer by the way.
The next day was the joint practice. The ECUSKF holds this monthly in Columbus to allow everyone to get together, meet up and exchange knowledge and form friendships. It was a 1.5 hour drive to get there, but it was well worth it as I got to meet a lot of people and learn how this regional federation operates. I had some trouble finding the exact location because it's a little weirdly situated, but after a call and some asking around, I was able to find the place.
The practice started off like any other practice with the stretching ane warmups, then began with some tryouts for the US Kendo tournament in Las Vegas in July. The matches were pretty interesting because I saw some really good Kendo. One thing that was really interesting was that there wasn't one person that even remotely dominated the brackets. One person might lose a match against one person but would win the next.
After the matches, everybody who had bogu put theirs on and began the free practice. I honestly was expecting some sort of a structured practice, but it was just a free practice with anyone you could round up, with the sensei fighitng anyone who was in line. I fought with about 5 people or so including Ariga sensei and Nomiyama sensei. I tried to have an additional match with Kojima sensei, but I ran out of time. I guess I know who to go to next month, lol.
All in all, I had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next month's meeting. I ended up spending any energy that I recoverd, and then some, from yesterday during that practice. I also met quite a few people who were all pretty nice. One interesting note is that I saw two other black people there! I don't want to make it racist or anything, but it's nice that there's some increase and potential in increase of diversity that Kendo really needs (this was discussed somewhat in the previous entry). Either way, I was glad to meet everyone there.
On the upside, I found out that there are some openings for the mudansha division in the US Kendo tournament. I've heard about people going for it, but because I was going back and forth between Indiana and Georgia for college, I didn't make much of an effort to try since I wasn't sure about where I would fall. Now that I should be living here for at least a few years, I thought I would give this a shot. This would be the first time I get to go to Las Vegas, but this is also an opportunity to not miss to be able to participate in a highly regarded tournament within the Kendo community. I sent in my application and everything so we'll see what happens from here on out. Other than that, I will be trying very hard to prepare myself for that moment.
Next week is the Detroit tournament. Regrettably, I won't be participating in it due to the whole moving thing and whatnot. I was on the fence about going because I'd only be watching and possibly participating in a godo-geiko and after party that usually occurs after these things. I found out that the All Japan Kendo Champion will be giving a seminar that weekend. Now I REALLY have to go and take advantage of this. I could really use any help I can get if I plan on improving over the next few months. There is the Cleveland tournament that I will be participating in. I was told that they are expecting this to be pretty big due to the Japanese team captain in the World Kendo Championships will be visiting and this will be the 20th anniversary of the Cleveland tournament, so this year should be exciting. My goal here is to do better than the last tournament and get to the 4th match without almost passing out.
On a side note, I started Iaido recently. This past Sunday was my second class (I left right after to go to Columbus). This practice was better than the last one since there was only three people there. Due to this, more time was able to be spent on learning more about the basics. This gives me something more to think about with the training. All I have right now are the knee pads which are pretty much necessary if you plan on walking when you're 30. My paycheck is coming in this week so I know I can buy an Obi. I think I might just go on ahead and purchase a plastic saya for now while I do some financial planing to see if I can get an iaito. Of course, I will ask the instructor there before I buy one to make sure I don't make any mistakes or buy one earlier than they allow. I can only go so far with holding it in my hand, you know.
Due to the tournament and visiting a friend of mine, I won't be able to attend for the next two weeks, which is pretty unfortunate. I told them that I would be there next week, but I didn't realize the Detroit tournament was next week and that there would be an important seminar going on there. As for next week, I think I might stick around for the weekend and practice with the old Purdue club while I'm there and get my Menjo. They practice on Sunday afternoon so that would cause me to miss the iaido. I wish I could get in contact with someone who plans on going since I would like to let them know I didn't just drop off the face of the earth. I tried sending emails earlier but they seemed to never get through. We'll see what happens. I know I will return, but it would be nice of me to tell them if I'm not coming since the club is small and close-knit enough.
Okay, I think that this entry is long enough. I hope you were able to read all of that!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Diversity in Kendo
There was a recent thread on the Kendo World forums that, admittedly, hasn't really been talked about too much. The thread was talking about why women tend to not stay too long in Kendo, but it can also be applied race as well. As a disclaimer, I'm not trying to incite any sort of racism. I'm just bringing up an issue that I have thought about for a bit and would like to bring to the masses and find their opinions on it.
For those that aren't in the know, there are about 8 million Kendoka (kendo practitioners) in the world with about 7 million in Japan alone. Everyone else is dotted throughout the world in various clubs and organizations with an interest in Kendo for various reasons. I don't have any demographical data, but one can infer that the vast majority of people that practice in the world are either Japanese or Korean. Then you have your Whites, Blacks and whatever bringing up the rear.
Anyone who has been practicing Kendo for long enough has seen a number of people come and go. These beginning groups can be quite diverse with a variety of types of people, but quickly dwindle in the following weeks for a number a reasons that would be left for another blog entry. The exact number of retainers vary from place to place depending on the local demographics, but it's usually males of caucasian or asian descent that are more likely to stay longer. There are exceptions to this rule, or you wouldn't be seeing me typing this up.
Why do you think that this sort of thing happens? One could look at the structure of Kendo and even the people involved. Of course, we can't ignore the people themselves. There are a multitude of reasons why people decide to leave and stay in Kendo, but they can be rooted into those basic reasons. I'll tackle these reasons one by one and give possible ways to possibly retain people.
For those that aren't in the know, there are about 8 million Kendoka (kendo practitioners) in the world with about 7 million in Japan alone. Everyone else is dotted throughout the world in various clubs and organizations with an interest in Kendo for various reasons. I don't have any demographical data, but one can infer that the vast majority of people that practice in the world are either Japanese or Korean. Then you have your Whites, Blacks and whatever bringing up the rear.
Anyone who has been practicing Kendo for long enough has seen a number of people come and go. These beginning groups can be quite diverse with a variety of types of people, but quickly dwindle in the following weeks for a number a reasons that would be left for another blog entry. The exact number of retainers vary from place to place depending on the local demographics, but it's usually males of caucasian or asian descent that are more likely to stay longer. There are exceptions to this rule, or you wouldn't be seeing me typing this up.
Why do you think that this sort of thing happens? One could look at the structure of Kendo and even the people involved. Of course, we can't ignore the people themselves. There are a multitude of reasons why people decide to leave and stay in Kendo, but they can be rooted into those basic reasons. I'll tackle these reasons one by one and give possible ways to possibly retain people.
- The Newcomers Themselves
As I said before, there are a large variety of reasons that people join and leave. The issue here is that some dojos might see an influx of beginners only to be lucky to have one person stay from each new group.
In terms of diversity, when we think of the typical Kendoka, we think of the asian or caucasian male. Because of this sort of demographic, it can be quite a culture shock if they don't see someone similar attending practice. Depending on the person, that can be handled in a number of different ways.
As far as increasing diversity, the only thing that can be done is exposure. Kendo is such a small community and doesn't get much exposure to the masses like other martial arts have. As a dojo, it helps to do demonstrations that show what Kendo is, what practice is like, any information about joining and some contact info. As an individual, don't hide the fact that you do Kendo and be willing to explain things to people that are interested. With doing this, you give the exposure and the ability for people to start if they are interested.
- The Structure of Kendo Practice
Anyone who has experienced one Kendo practice should know how greuling it can become. Those with a bit more experience in bogu have a better idea of the intensity of practice while wearing 15 lbs of dead weight on your body for an hour and a half each session. In some cases, practice can be too hard for some if they aren't prepared for it. There are many variables that come into it like over-agressive people or a sensei that wants to see the best out of his or her students. Sometimes, it might get too intense for people and you might see people drop off at this point, which can be a problem for those that just start getting into bogu.
What can be done about this? I guess the real question is whether or not anything should be done about this case. Each sensei has a responsibility to their students to plant their knowledge on them in the best way they know how. Each one has a certain philosophy to Kendo and the teaching structure is based around that. So it really wouldn't make much sense to change their instruction for the sake of a small minority of people that may not be serious about it. The most that has been done was to offer a children's class so they can have someone similar in size to practice with. I mean, it's hard to do men on someone who's a few feet taller than you.
In this situation, I wouldn't say to really change the practice structure. The best thing to do is to encourage the beginners to keep going and do their best and show that progress can be made. The most important thing to do is to expose them to what is in store for them when they stick to it. I was always interested in Kendo, but going to the first tournament way back in the fall of 2003 solidified my notion that kendo was for me and I wanted to get to the point where they were at. In a way, you would be telling them that, while practice can be hard and repetitive, if you stick to it, this is what you will be doing. It really helps if you give them some sort of end-goal to all the drills and show them how they will be applied later. If they are truely serious about it, they'll form their own goals later on so I wouldn't be concerned about that.
- The Kendo Practitioners Themselves
The Kendo world is a pretty tight-knit community. No matter where you go, you will most likely be welcomed with open arms as we realize that Kendo is such a niche community and desire to expand that. For this, the thing to do would be to do a better job with having people feel included. You could have the best of instruction and the most skilled Kendoka around, but it all goes to pot if there's no sense of belonging.
What I am saying goes beyond what I said in the second part. There are outside gatherings for various reasons and conversations that go on before, during and after practice. To make them feel belonged, try including beginners in these things to have something to come back to for the next practice. In a way, this also makes the beginners start to feel a little guilty if they decide to not attend practice anymore. Don't get me wrong, if they don't like Kendo then they will stop. But if there is a small desire to keep trying, just that small push of inclusiveness could keep them coming.
Note that these aren't supposed to be the end-all-be-all for reasons why there isn't a diverse crowd in Kendo or methods for increasing the population and diversity of those that are involved. Every dojo is different in terms of available demographic and philosophy. I would be interested in hearing from others what they feel the problem may be and any possible solutions to alleviate the situation.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
New Years Resolutions
The New Year is finally upon us. For most, it's a time to start over or change things about yourself to start the year on the right foot. This is where the New Year's Resolutions come in. We all make them, and most end up not working out in the end for a variety of reasons. But we keep making them anyways. Well, in the spirit of the new year, here are some resolutions that I am proposing to do that is largely Kendo related.
Of course, this stems from my month-long absence from Kendo. Due to finals, graduation, trip to Japan, and apartment hunting, I wasn't able to find the time or energy to do Kendo practice. I was able to return to practice this morning and it obviously showed that I wasn't in practice for a while since I reverted back to some of the bad habits that occured while doing Kendo. As a result, the little Kendo flame ignited strongly so I have a strong desire to improve.
1. Do something Kendo related every day
When I see Kendo related resolutions, they usually revolve around going to the dojo more and being less lazy, etc. I have the same goals, but I want to make this one more achieveable in the fact that I honestly think that it's physically impossible to do physical practice every day of the year. We all get sick, go on trips or have last-minute engagements that may keep us away.
My version of this resolution is to make sure I do something that is related to Kendo every day. It is optimal to do physical practice every day, but I also need a backup plan just in case things go wrong. So I want to make sure I do ANYTHING along the subject of Kendo in the attempt to increase my knowledge and increase my ability. If it's not possible to do physical practice, then I will read an article in a book or watch a video or read a manga. Just something to keep the kendo flame burning consistantly. One other thing I would like to do is to do 1000 suburi in a day, once a week.
One note about the 1000 suburi deal. I am using this more as an exercise in concentration instead of an exercise in endurance. Anyone can work up to being able to do 1000 suburi in one sitting but I believe that it takes real effort to do each one correctly. So once I can do 1000 suburi in one sitting while concentrating on each swing's footwork, arm placement, etc., then I feel I have mastered that aspect.
Okay, that happened to be the only Kendo related goal since that pretty much encompasses anything that I feel can help me improve. The goal isn't to just be able to win tournaments, I want to be a better Kenshi.
On the note of resolutions, here are some other goals that I am setting for the rest of the year.
I. Begin Iaido
I found out that there is an Iaido dojo in the Cincinnati area that I could possibly attend. This is something that I have wanted to try for the longest time, so I want to try to fit iaido into my schedule so I can at least try it. They say that Iaido is a great compliment to Kendo, so I'd like to see that for myself.
II. Learn more Kanji
After my trip to Japan, I would like to try to learn more Kanji to make things more readable when I make a return trip. I bought a game called Tadashii Kanji: Kakitori Kun which is a DS game that allows one to practice writing Kanji. So far it's going pretty nice and I hope to learn more vocabulary and grammar along the way.
Of course, this stems from my month-long absence from Kendo. Due to finals, graduation, trip to Japan, and apartment hunting, I wasn't able to find the time or energy to do Kendo practice. I was able to return to practice this morning and it obviously showed that I wasn't in practice for a while since I reverted back to some of the bad habits that occured while doing Kendo. As a result, the little Kendo flame ignited strongly so I have a strong desire to improve.
1. Do something Kendo related every day
When I see Kendo related resolutions, they usually revolve around going to the dojo more and being less lazy, etc. I have the same goals, but I want to make this one more achieveable in the fact that I honestly think that it's physically impossible to do physical practice every day of the year. We all get sick, go on trips or have last-minute engagements that may keep us away.
My version of this resolution is to make sure I do something that is related to Kendo every day. It is optimal to do physical practice every day, but I also need a backup plan just in case things go wrong. So I want to make sure I do ANYTHING along the subject of Kendo in the attempt to increase my knowledge and increase my ability. If it's not possible to do physical practice, then I will read an article in a book or watch a video or read a manga. Just something to keep the kendo flame burning consistantly. One other thing I would like to do is to do 1000 suburi in a day, once a week.
One note about the 1000 suburi deal. I am using this more as an exercise in concentration instead of an exercise in endurance. Anyone can work up to being able to do 1000 suburi in one sitting but I believe that it takes real effort to do each one correctly. So once I can do 1000 suburi in one sitting while concentrating on each swing's footwork, arm placement, etc., then I feel I have mastered that aspect.
Okay, that happened to be the only Kendo related goal since that pretty much encompasses anything that I feel can help me improve. The goal isn't to just be able to win tournaments, I want to be a better Kenshi.
On the note of resolutions, here are some other goals that I am setting for the rest of the year.
I. Begin Iaido
I found out that there is an Iaido dojo in the Cincinnati area that I could possibly attend. This is something that I have wanted to try for the longest time, so I want to try to fit iaido into my schedule so I can at least try it. They say that Iaido is a great compliment to Kendo, so I'd like to see that for myself.
II. Learn more Kanji
After my trip to Japan, I would like to try to learn more Kanji to make things more readable when I make a return trip. I bought a game called Tadashii Kanji: Kakitori Kun which is a DS game that allows one to practice writing Kanji. So far it's going pretty nice and I hope to learn more vocabulary and grammar along the way.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
End of an Era
Don't worry, I'm not talking about my quitting Kendo. The situation is actually quite the opposite. I have already talked about how I felt about everything in my facebook profile, so I thought I'd use this time to talk specifically about my Kendo thoughts.
When I'm talking about the end of an era, I am talking about the end of life as a college student. I have two great pieces of information to tell the world though. After 4.5 years of being stuck in the college grind, I am happy to report that all of my requirements have been accomplished so I will be graduating in a few days. On top of that, I recently got a job doing Heat Transfer analysis in Cincinnati, OH. I start Monday, January 28.
In Kendo terms, this also means that I will be leaving the club that I started with after being there for the same length of time. All the friends I made and the experiences I've had will be remembered for a long time to come.
I never really knew how much I was going to like Kendo when I started back in August of 2003. I went to the callout and started off with the first practice. But unlike everyone else that I started with that semester, I decided to stick with it. I came back from practice complaining of sore arms and feet, but still opted to go back as many times as I was able. Then the armor stuff came along and things really began to get fun.
I'm really glad that I decided to stick with Kendo though. It is very hard for someone to start something and stick with it in the end. Originally, I really wanted to start Aikido, but Kendo's calling was stronger. I guess it meshed with my character well and everything. Plus, all the friends and rivals I have made over the years helped things along. No matter the path, all I can say is I am truely happy to have found something and stuck with it to the point of having a strong desire to continue after college.
One of the great things about my situation is that there are several Kendo dojos in the area where I will be staying. As far as which one I will attend, it depends on where exactly I will be staying in relation to my place of employment. I have several weeks before I make the final decision though, so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Another thing that I have wanted to do was start Iaido. I have been wanting to start for years but the only place in the area that has it is Indianapolis. Due to time and money constraints, I couldn't attend. I did get to see a class and it seems like a fun thing to do to augment my Kendo. Of course, I won't really see the benefits until I actually do it myself. There is at least one place that does Iaido in the area to my knowledge. I wish that they trained on more than one day though. But I know who to ask to get decent answers.
So, while it's an end of an era for me, it's also the beginning of a new one. As I think about all of the things I leave behind, I am also thinking about the new challenges and pleasures I face in the future.
When I'm talking about the end of an era, I am talking about the end of life as a college student. I have two great pieces of information to tell the world though. After 4.5 years of being stuck in the college grind, I am happy to report that all of my requirements have been accomplished so I will be graduating in a few days. On top of that, I recently got a job doing Heat Transfer analysis in Cincinnati, OH. I start Monday, January 28.
In Kendo terms, this also means that I will be leaving the club that I started with after being there for the same length of time. All the friends I made and the experiences I've had will be remembered for a long time to come.
I never really knew how much I was going to like Kendo when I started back in August of 2003. I went to the callout and started off with the first practice. But unlike everyone else that I started with that semester, I decided to stick with it. I came back from practice complaining of sore arms and feet, but still opted to go back as many times as I was able. Then the armor stuff came along and things really began to get fun.
I'm really glad that I decided to stick with Kendo though. It is very hard for someone to start something and stick with it in the end. Originally, I really wanted to start Aikido, but Kendo's calling was stronger. I guess it meshed with my character well and everything. Plus, all the friends and rivals I have made over the years helped things along. No matter the path, all I can say is I am truely happy to have found something and stuck with it to the point of having a strong desire to continue after college.
One of the great things about my situation is that there are several Kendo dojos in the area where I will be staying. As far as which one I will attend, it depends on where exactly I will be staying in relation to my place of employment. I have several weeks before I make the final decision though, so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Another thing that I have wanted to do was start Iaido. I have been wanting to start for years but the only place in the area that has it is Indianapolis. Due to time and money constraints, I couldn't attend. I did get to see a class and it seems like a fun thing to do to augment my Kendo. Of course, I won't really see the benefits until I actually do it myself. There is at least one place that does Iaido in the area to my knowledge. I wish that they trained on more than one day though. But I know who to ask to get decent answers.
So, while it's an end of an era for me, it's also the beginning of a new one. As I think about all of the things I leave behind, I am also thinking about the new challenges and pleasures I face in the future.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Role of Jigeiko
This is something that was actually thought up of after Sunday's practice while I was helping a friend compile information for the Kendo club next semester. He was asking me about how I felt the club would be better run since I was in the club for longer than he was. Well, the subject of practing waza came up briefly, which set some sort of internal dialogue.
This is mostly a reflection of my own Kendo in that I have always felt that my actions have been a bit on the stale side. In the beginning, it's okay to just simply go for the men, kote, do and kote-men strikes but I feel that it's about time that I branch out to other techniques to round out my own style of Kendo.
Once one gets into armor, a bit part of the practice is Jigeiko, which gives us an opportunity to practice anything that we've learned in class that day in sparring matches at the end of the day. While this is great and all, I feel that I haven't been using Jigeiko as effectively as I could. When I am sparring, even when it's just practicing, I get into the mode that I should try my best to get that hit before the other person does and get the "point."
As a result of this thought process, I have decided to do my best in changing the focus of my Jigeiko matches by focusing more on trying different waza to start advancing my Kendo skills. In this way, I can have a better indication of what works for me and what doesn't.
This is mostly a reflection of my own Kendo in that I have always felt that my actions have been a bit on the stale side. In the beginning, it's okay to just simply go for the men, kote, do and kote-men strikes but I feel that it's about time that I branch out to other techniques to round out my own style of Kendo.
Once one gets into armor, a bit part of the practice is Jigeiko, which gives us an opportunity to practice anything that we've learned in class that day in sparring matches at the end of the day. While this is great and all, I feel that I haven't been using Jigeiko as effectively as I could. When I am sparring, even when it's just practicing, I get into the mode that I should try my best to get that hit before the other person does and get the "point."
As a result of this thought process, I have decided to do my best in changing the focus of my Jigeiko matches by focusing more on trying different waza to start advancing my Kendo skills. In this way, I can have a better indication of what works for me and what doesn't.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Endurance Training and Thanksgiving
Sunday's practice went a little better than on Thursday. If you read the previous entry, you already know of the problems associated with that so I won't go into detail.
The main thing that was special about this practice was that there were several tests of endurance for the beginners (and the armored people as well to an extent). I didn't get to indulge in the extra 100-200 haya suburi that everyone else did for some reason. I think it's mostly because a lot of the things being done with the club are for the people that will be continuing it and I will be graduating next month (YAY!!!).
Anyways, the purpose was to do as many haya suburi as possible in one session. The beginners were allowed to stop whenever they felt too tired to go on, but us advanced people needed to go up to 10 more than the final beginner. Well, the results were pretty nice. After about 100 people slowly dropped out, though there were people that lasted to the 200s or so. Then there were a couple that lasted all the way to 400 where everyone just stopped at that point. Two things about that. First, I've never done anything like that before so it was a nice achievement on my part. Second, I was really impressed with the beginners that tried so hard to stay in as much as possible. I've never seen such a dedicated group of beginners before so I was happy about that.
There were two more endurance rounds for the beginners later on with the practice, but to a lesser extent. This one was the continuous men exercises for as long as they could within a certain time frame. They were all pretty tired, but hanged in there for the most part.
I feel that endurance is something that should be tested more often. One thing that I have noticed coming back to school in August is that the practices can sometimes be a bit too easy at times compared to where I practiced over the summer. You can get the best mens possible, but if you haven't trained enough in spending your energy and increasing your reserves, then all attempts will be for naught. In the context of beginners, it will only make getting into armor easier since they'll have the strength, for the most part, to go on longer. This feeling pretty much stems from my last shiai where all my matches went into encho with me having a hard time impressing the judges with my attacks because I was getting VERY weak. I really suffered in the end since I nearly passed out after I lost that last match.
On a completely different note, this was the last practice before Thanksgiving break. That means that there will be a week's time before I can practice Kendo again. I most likely could bring my stuff home with me and practice at GKA, but that is too much to carry with me on the airplane at this point in time. If there is any consolation, I do have an extra shinai sitting at home so I can do suburi and footwork at the most. I really need to work on the basics some more to solidify my balance and technique so this can be a good thing for this case.
The main thing that was special about this practice was that there were several tests of endurance for the beginners (and the armored people as well to an extent). I didn't get to indulge in the extra 100-200 haya suburi that everyone else did for some reason. I think it's mostly because a lot of the things being done with the club are for the people that will be continuing it and I will be graduating next month (YAY!!!).
Anyways, the purpose was to do as many haya suburi as possible in one session. The beginners were allowed to stop whenever they felt too tired to go on, but us advanced people needed to go up to 10 more than the final beginner. Well, the results were pretty nice. After about 100 people slowly dropped out, though there were people that lasted to the 200s or so. Then there were a couple that lasted all the way to 400 where everyone just stopped at that point. Two things about that. First, I've never done anything like that before so it was a nice achievement on my part. Second, I was really impressed with the beginners that tried so hard to stay in as much as possible. I've never seen such a dedicated group of beginners before so I was happy about that.
There were two more endurance rounds for the beginners later on with the practice, but to a lesser extent. This one was the continuous men exercises for as long as they could within a certain time frame. They were all pretty tired, but hanged in there for the most part.
I feel that endurance is something that should be tested more often. One thing that I have noticed coming back to school in August is that the practices can sometimes be a bit too easy at times compared to where I practiced over the summer. You can get the best mens possible, but if you haven't trained enough in spending your energy and increasing your reserves, then all attempts will be for naught. In the context of beginners, it will only make getting into armor easier since they'll have the strength, for the most part, to go on longer. This feeling pretty much stems from my last shiai where all my matches went into encho with me having a hard time impressing the judges with my attacks because I was getting VERY weak. I really suffered in the end since I nearly passed out after I lost that last match.
On a completely different note, this was the last practice before Thanksgiving break. That means that there will be a week's time before I can practice Kendo again. I most likely could bring my stuff home with me and practice at GKA, but that is too much to carry with me on the airplane at this point in time. If there is any consolation, I do have an extra shinai sitting at home so I can do suburi and footwork at the most. I really need to work on the basics some more to solidify my balance and technique so this can be a good thing for this case.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Dehydration Issues
Something happened at practice on Thursday that has never happened to me before. When I got home, I started feeling very weak, had dizzyness spells, pounding headache, fever (100.4 F), shivers and had a hard time moving. At the time, I had no clue what was going on. But, after a talk with a friend of mine, I learned that it was dehydration.
What's really weird is that there wasn't anything wrong with me until the moment I walked into my dorm room. There was the general kendo exhaustion, but that was pretty much it. In retrospect, I should have noticed the problems earlier. For one, I didn't sweat as much as I usually would for the intensity of the practice. There was sweat, but it's generally dripping down my back, whether or not there is ample ventilation (which this room had great ventilation). What made it hard to notice was that I was going through practice just fine.
We are all told to make sure that we drink enough water before and during practice to make sure that dehydration is avoided. But sometimes, it takes an incident like this one to really know the severity of it. It's not to say that this was something that I never paid attention to. It was quite the contrary. This particular time, there have been some issues with meeting deadlines for classes which have put me under more stress than usual, so I tended to forget to do the basic things of showering and eating right.
So, I really implore everyone to drink lots of water before practice, and during practice if possible. Being in my position is NOT fun. While I'm feeling much better compared to 24 hours ago, I am still having issues with the headache from time to time as I replenish my water supply.
What's really weird is that there wasn't anything wrong with me until the moment I walked into my dorm room. There was the general kendo exhaustion, but that was pretty much it. In retrospect, I should have noticed the problems earlier. For one, I didn't sweat as much as I usually would for the intensity of the practice. There was sweat, but it's generally dripping down my back, whether or not there is ample ventilation (which this room had great ventilation). What made it hard to notice was that I was going through practice just fine.
We are all told to make sure that we drink enough water before and during practice to make sure that dehydration is avoided. But sometimes, it takes an incident like this one to really know the severity of it. It's not to say that this was something that I never paid attention to. It was quite the contrary. This particular time, there have been some issues with meeting deadlines for classes which have put me under more stress than usual, so I tended to forget to do the basic things of showering and eating right.
So, I really implore everyone to drink lots of water before practice, and during practice if possible. Being in my position is NOT fun. While I'm feeling much better compared to 24 hours ago, I am still having issues with the headache from time to time as I replenish my water supply.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Musashi No Ken Anime
This was an anime series that I have wanted to see for quite some time. After being barred from purchasing it due to it's prohibitively expensive $500 price tag for the whole series for several years, I finally was giving the opportunity to get it at 94% of the previous price at $30 for the entire series. Well, was it worth the wait? Should I have paid the original $500 for the series? Read below to find out.
For the uninitiated, Musashi no Ken is a Kendo-themed anime about a boy, named Musashi (a play on kanji for his birthday of June, 3rd at 4pm), who is involved with Kendo from birth to adolescence. The series is divided into two parts, the first being from birth to the end of elementary school and the second being his high school years. In each part, Musashi is faced with the ordinary challenges of school life, as well as the challenges brought forth by the martial art of Kendo.
I believe the first part was the best part. There was a lot of character development involved with the main character as he grows from an arrogant kid and learns what Kendo really is about. It really kept the story moving along nicely for the 43 episodes or so that the series lasts. The second part gets a bit more philosophical and outlandish at the same time. While kenshi (people who practice Kendo) might get some appreciation out of this aspect, at the same time, some of the outlandish practices kind of ruin the feeling at times (training on cliffs, for example).
The animation is your standard 80s anime fare, which most definately improved from the first few episodes. But if you're expecting very crisp animation ala the Gundam series that was out at about the same time, you will be dissappointed. It's not terrible, but it does its job.
Overall, this is pretty much as true of a representation of Kendo that one can get in an anime. There is a lot of the philosophy behing kendo in here along with the action sequences with the shiai (fights) and drama between the characters and what they believe Kendo should be.
So who is this anime for? Well, the most important thing to say is that it's only available in Japanese. At most, you can get Chinese subtitles, but if you know neither language, then you are out of luck. I would say that it's worth a look if you practice Kendo or are interested in it, since these kinds of people would be the ones that understand the most out of it. One thing to note is that the anime follows very closely to the manga, so if you already read it (which I believe is the better version), then you are only missing the motions that are going on in between the slides. Judging from the anime itself, it's a pretty decent one to watch, but it's not the end-all-be-all of Kendo anime. If you want other options to see some Kendo action, there is always Bamboo Blade that's out now which is a more light-hearted fare.
For the uninitiated, Musashi no Ken is a Kendo-themed anime about a boy, named Musashi (a play on kanji for his birthday of June, 3rd at 4pm), who is involved with Kendo from birth to adolescence. The series is divided into two parts, the first being from birth to the end of elementary school and the second being his high school years. In each part, Musashi is faced with the ordinary challenges of school life, as well as the challenges brought forth by the martial art of Kendo.
I believe the first part was the best part. There was a lot of character development involved with the main character as he grows from an arrogant kid and learns what Kendo really is about. It really kept the story moving along nicely for the 43 episodes or so that the series lasts. The second part gets a bit more philosophical and outlandish at the same time. While kenshi (people who practice Kendo) might get some appreciation out of this aspect, at the same time, some of the outlandish practices kind of ruin the feeling at times (training on cliffs, for example).
The animation is your standard 80s anime fare, which most definately improved from the first few episodes. But if you're expecting very crisp animation ala the Gundam series that was out at about the same time, you will be dissappointed. It's not terrible, but it does its job.
Overall, this is pretty much as true of a representation of Kendo that one can get in an anime. There is a lot of the philosophy behing kendo in here along with the action sequences with the shiai (fights) and drama between the characters and what they believe Kendo should be.
So who is this anime for? Well, the most important thing to say is that it's only available in Japanese. At most, you can get Chinese subtitles, but if you know neither language, then you are out of luck. I would say that it's worth a look if you practice Kendo or are interested in it, since these kinds of people would be the ones that understand the most out of it. One thing to note is that the anime follows very closely to the manga, so if you already read it (which I believe is the better version), then you are only missing the motions that are going on in between the slides. Judging from the anime itself, it's a pretty decent one to watch, but it's not the end-all-be-all of Kendo anime. If you want other options to see some Kendo action, there is always Bamboo Blade that's out now which is a more light-hearted fare.
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