Kuma's Kendo Journey

Trigger

2011-04-29T21:54:00.048+01:00

So it's another Friday night without Kendo, life is DULL. It was actually the Royal Wedding today, so people are out and about celebrating all over the place I'd imagine. I had a 'patriotic' day with my girlfriend, watching the procession on the telly, eating some sandwiches and Victoria sponge cakes. It was interesting until they replayed it for about the hundredth times, lost the magic a bit methinks. Now I'm just waiting the evening out for some Wakaba action tomorrow. Which reminds me that I should put some thoughts into the points raised last week!

At the pub Katsuya asked me what my trigger was ... what makes me hit men or kote, etc. I didn't know how to answer. I just said well ... when it looks open, or when I feel like it. He demanded what exactly! Since he couldn't figure out what my trigger was. (I tend to think this is a good thing, since if they were easily read, people would easily beat me up ... no?) If knowledge taught me anything about not knowing how to answer a question, it'd be to find somebody else to throw the question at. Preferably somebody more experienced. Queue Bob smoking obliviously outside the pub.

He told me that his Kendo isn't that mechanical, it's more intuitive which I tend to agree with. I cannot say that everytime I hit a kote, I'll have pressed his shinai the other way first, or move my kenzen down before every Men cut. I normally pick a point, then try to work my way towards that forcing him to open with various forms of seme, and if an opening for another point happens to pop up during the process, I'll gladly take it. Then he went on to talk about timing, and that I can learn it better by watching the motion of the trees and the clouds and ... that's where he lost me. Polite nodding, big smile, and a please excuse me later, I'm off to get another beer.

Later at home I discussed this with Joe. Apparently Katsuya has asked him the same question just a week before. Joe said that it was a pointless goal for him currently, and he was more concerned with the 'momentum' of the jigeiko. I have his permission to write up his ideas, however they are my own interpretation and paraphrasing so I hope I'm understanding him correctly:

Joe said his trigger for attacking men or kote is based on the momentum of the jigeiko and what he thinks the probability of their next attack is based on what they've done including in previous jigeiko, like tennis, someone always holds momentum. Thus, tactics should be modified based on that, especially in shiai where there are 3 judges who can see the momentum of the match. However, yesterday he tried to think more systematically about jigeiko and came up with a framework (like a menu) in approaching jigeiko:

1. Try to score the first ippon

2. Everyone has a regular timing for men cuts, try and find that

3. Then try and attack before/after/debana/kaeshi whatever based on # 2.

"Then you should have a sense of their regular timing, and you’d just have to try and break it, step forwards, tap their shinai whatever. Observe how it changes the timing, by the end of the jigeiko then put opponents into categories:

People like Junji obviously strikes your debana if you're too close, some people attack as soon as you try and force a timing change, some step back, some block, some (like Karen) stand still.

After this, try different shit using this change in their timing to fuck them up, also try and be conscious of your own regular timing"

The first point "try and score the first ippon" is to avoid thinking too much, after each jigeiko reset and just try again. He finds it most difficult when he's "caught out of time", he explained this as his timing being read. This may be due to the fact that his timing was too regular and hence being hit before he realised it. He expanded further by saying that everyone has a "cycle time" after each bout in jigeiko. For this bit, I'm just going to take it verbatim:

"This is the time it takes to come back into distance and think ok next attack, I've been hit many times when i think "ok i'm getting ready for nex..." This reminds me to shorten my "cycle" time and always concentrate. But of course I slack off after a while. Dipak has a very short cycle time, probably at the expense of thought and graceful movement, but it catches me off guard alot."

On that bombshell ... until next post!

5 Nations - Mumeishi

2011-03-06T16:54:00.003Z

Looking forward to doing some geiko with our continental brethrens, we drove to the venue of the 5 nations. I admit to being the guilty party for making us late, and when we arrived, it was over. Which was just stupid.
The plus side was that I was introduced to Swiss team, met Oscar Kimura the captain, very nice fellow, awesome kendo too from what I hear. Now that I've made contact with them hopefully I'll get a chance to practise with them soon.

We weren't going to waste our planned kendo day and instead came up with the idea of Mumeishi's practise. It was well worth it too. It was a very small practise, very cozy, but the advice we knew was going to be invaluable with the human resources available there. Geoff and Terry were there and so was Hiyama-san. After some sweaty keiko, this is their respective pointers for me:

Terry Holt sensei: after Men cut, zanshin, pull shinai back with the body rather than arm ... in a spin around sort of action
Geoff Salmon sensei: Be quicker to bring in back foot, more abdomen push
Hiyama Yasuyuki-san: Recuring theme of big kendo v small kendo, cut down rather than tap up

All very good advice, and all worth taking on. I'll work hard on it!

Merry Christmas Mr. Nabeyama

2010-12-26T12:05:00.000Z

Wow ... some weekend I've had. Probably one of the more memorable Christmases I've ever had actually, not in the true spirit of Christmas I wouldn't say, well actually I don't know. It might well be. It's just not very traditional I suppose. You can tell it's going to be a long blog when, even the writer isn't quite sure what he wants to write about. Actually that's not fair. I know what I want to write, I'm just not sure what to make of it. There we go. The love was certainly all around ... pure unadulterated love as kendokas spread the joy of kendo to one another. (Sounds dodge there!) Bliss, knowledge, and experience were our presents, something money can never buy. (well not directly anyways) So first of all, Happy Christmas.
The reason for this Christmas being so kendo-special was because Nabeyama sensei graced Thailand kendo once again. I don't know what it is, perhaps I'm mildly starstrucked, (I've just found out this was possible for me when I sat behind Miyazaki sensei this Summer in Japan, I was extremely starstrucked, to the point that I almost screamed) but in the small amount of time that I got to play under him, he's always had a big impact on my kendo. Last year he installed Suriage-Men into my arsenal, this year ... hope and courage. Right, hold your horses, it might sound soppy as hell but let me explain. This year we got to sit down, eat and drink with one another. So we could talk outside the context of the dojo, which makes a massive difference in my opinion. There were also less people on the Saturday, which made the whole ordeal very intimate. It could well be the alcohol but who knows. We talked about all aspects of kendo from suburi, waza, movement, technique, seme ... up to a promise that he'll tsuki the hell out of me at practise the next day. Hmm ... it's gonna be kendo 201 instead of 101 as P'Prem said!

Photo courtesy of Ma Prang

This does leave me with a problem. The fact that so much shit, sorry pearls of wisdom, were said over the weekend I don't think I can write all of them down. Even though they are all worth sharing. I mean for a start
my memory isn't particularly stellar, far from it in fact. Well I'll try by splitting them up into little chapters, all may interest you, some may not. I can't be arsed to make them into separate posts either so here we go.

Chin-up, heads down

I have an ongoing discussion with Joe about the best way to tuck your chin in whilst doing a men cut. A lot of kendoka suffer from this, myself included. Joe with his brilliant mind came up with some awesome analysis as per usual, and possible ways to fix it, though incomplete. He used to do it as well, but he got pushed over a lot. So since then he forced himself to keep his head level and his bum forward. Junji still does it. The reason for getting it in the first place included the pushing of the shoulder flap up as your arms go up, and your neck being relaxed, which I think Joe best described as akin to dragging a rag doll. I will quote him word for word,
"Think of your head as a rag doll, just a weight on your head, keep it loose and move forwards quickly. It's like you're dragging it along with you, if you then think about keeping it level, it's sort of like moving everything forwards at once. So instead of dragging this loose weight around, you're moving forwards like an arrow."
In the end he said go ask one of your senseis in Thailand/from Japan, perhaps they'll come up with a better answer. So who better to ask than Nabeyama.

He started off by making the distinction between the two routes of kendo, budo and sport. Then he said this question falls under the budo category because if a sword goes under your Men, you're dead but frankly with a shinai ... it doesn't really matter. It's natural and makes no difference. Oh ... right. So all this time worrying, for nothing?

Actually, when talking to Joe I was afraid that its going to slow me down or fall over as my weight may be shifting backwards, but no he said "well may be ... but i think it just looks stupid" So just me then.
Nabeyama gave the analogy of a car suddenly accelerating, the unknowing passenger will whip-lash back. Your head is this unknowing passenger. It is actually a good sign since your body is moving before your head. If your head is diving in first, then you have a problem. The only upside to it is it looks cool (he literally used the word kakui). To be fair the only reason I initiated the discussion with Joe was because of the photos that were taken of us at the Mumeishi 3's. It just looks fucking awful. Kendo is a vain sport by nature, so I guess this is a valid point.

So I pushed him further, what if I want to look cool? Well ... if you get tsuki enough times whilst your tsuki-dare isnt where it's supposed to be ... you'll learn to keep your head down and chin nicely tucked in. He then volunteered to help me look cool. Fair play.

Beating the Midgets

I then asked how to maximise my height advantage, since he is a tall kendoka as well. I figured he'll have some gems for me to mull over.

Using distance has always been a pointer, but it's only effective to use as a surprise up-the-sleeves trick, in my experience after a while people will be able to block it. I shared my concerns with him, to which his reply was: "datte ... omai wa warui desu"
T.T thank you sensei ... I love you too

Suburi

One of the things that made him stand out as a good teacher for me is his impecable attention to basics, because as we know without solid basics (something I definitely don't have) good kendo cannot be built upon. Last year he was admiring his suburi in the mirror and saying how beautiful he was, this time he was making us do hiyasuburi. His one makes a sound every time it cuts through the air.

When I started kendo I was told to pull the shinai all the way down my butt. This is to straigthen my back and teach me posture. I then somehow decided that this was the proper way to do suburi. It of course isn't. I've been told by everyone all the time, especially at our beloved UCL. To reiterate why not, Nabeyama-sensei said you should pull back as far as your left arm would allow you to go, as we use the left to cut in kendo. If the shinai reaches your arse, you are now bending your right elbow too.
Each strike should be made with the abdomen, like doing a vertical sit-up, snapping your body together. Easily said, very difficult to do ... and bloody tiring at that!

Waza

Last year he did a lot of shomen, which happens to be my favourite waza. I was in awe of the speed and timing. At 7dan, most of them would revert to 'old-man's kendo', with lots of kaeshi-do thrown in, he's not one of those, and I admired him for that. This year he seems a bit more laxed, more kaeshi-do and a lot of debana kote. Slightly worrying, but not to say he wasn't awesome. His kaeshi-do was somewhat different though from all the others, the block was rather powerful, almost a cut on its own. It apparently destroys the opponent's spirit and initial strike, I'm not sure if this is necessary as one might probably want to make the least movement and get to the Do bit as quickly as possible ... but who am I to question him.

Ikeda our beloved coach

The fun didn't only come from Nabeyama sensei, but also Ikeda sensei our newly appointed national coach. First a side story on him, he flew all the way to Nagoya, got on a bus took his 6th Dan, passed it, and flew straight back to Thailand. All in the name of the Thai national team since 5th Dan is, and I'm quoting, not good enough to be the coach of a national side. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is!

He then told us of stories of when he was studying in the States and Canada, of how he would exchange kendo for language lessons and a place to stay. How it is the duty of Japanese speakers to speard the knowledge to kendokas in the rest of the world since they have access to materials not available outside of Japan.

His pearl for the night was that in a shiai match you should think that you can score any point, against any opponent. That will give you the confidence to approach a match without any fear or hesitation. Always move and be ready, and try many different forms of seme.

We then drank more sake and all was well.

Winter in the Kok

2010-12-20T04:07:00.002Z

So I'm back in Thailand, and what have we learned? My first keiko was at Chula. Everyone said I had improved which got me chuffed to bits. Good morale boost and representation of UCL Kendo! To be fair most people there were either my level or lower. So yesterday when I went to the first usual Sunday keiko at the Japanese School, I was swiftly brought back down to Earth. The joys of getting creamed by 5-7 Dans.

It was Yamamoto sensei's last practise.

He's moving to Singapore. I've always enjoyed playing him, so it's a shame. Best of luck to him.

I started off with a quick bash with P'Prem. He has certainly improved whilst I was away. Solid would be the best description of his kendo at the moment. I used to be able to get his men from tohma, but now his kamae has more of a presence. Basically his chushin has become stronger. Good fight, his comment after our keiko was that my kote was bloody fast. Fast enough to take him aback, however, the contact wasn't great and I should've aligned my body straighter so that I can go for kote-men. This means bringing back my left foot, to get it ready for the next cut, exactly as Junji said before I left London. I suppose I could, but by forcing for it to be straight, my new found kote speed will surely be jeopardised. Prang also mentioned that it is now beautiful (finally, it's always been my dream to have awesome kote because Dave did it so well, even though Men is my bread and butter)

I'll find a way ...

Jodan

2010-11-01T07:00:00.001Z

Since we mentioned Junji in my last post, let's discuss this. Time and again, someone would come along and tell me I should do Jodan. The last time it was Shohei's uncle with an anecdote about how his friend used to be crap like me, but switched to Jodan and is now amazing. This time it was Junji. He argued my hands are faster than my feet (which apparently made my Do easier to hit as a counter to my Men), and of course I have the height. Hiroki then joined in the conversation and added that the only reason he's doing Jodan now is because he was shit at Chudan. What a reason. Well ... what if I become an amazing Jodan player but have never tried?

I do enjoy switching into it for a laugh every now and again, confusing people and grabbing a few cheeky Men. However, at the moment I can think of more negatives to this argument than positives. First of all if I really want to be serious about this I would have to completely switch over, meaning do ever single practise in Jodan to get accustomed to the style. I would almost be learning kendo all over again, albeit having some of the concept down ... well vaguely down at least. (for example I wouldn't have to try and learn what mai or seme is and why it's important) By doing that it would mean that my progressively improving Chudan will come to an abrupt halt. Whilst practising Jodan my kendo may continue to grow, but my Chudan will definitely remain as it is. Is this too hefty a price to pay for trying out a new stance? What if my Jodan really is shit and I have to revert back to Chudan? That's just so much time wasted even though they say it'll probably help me with my concept of distance and pressure once I get back into Chudan.
The most concerning thought for me though is that it probably won't suit my kendo. Neil has mentioned this when we've discussed it previously. My kendo is rather laid back, like me. I'm not nearly as crazy enough to be able to do Jodan. You'd have to be mental. It's all about the pressure; you'd have to keep it on all the time and be completely focused. We've just talked about my concentration in the previous post, and we all know how that is. You've also essentially exposed your Tsuki and Do, and possibly both your Kote by going into Jodan. Everything really. It's a very suicidal stance if you ask me. You'd need a lot of courage. Balls of steel and all that to successfully pull it off.
My last concern is that, as it stands, I don't think I can ever reach the level of say ... Shodai or even Ichimiya at Fukyodai doing Jodan. Whereas Chudan, with another decade of practise, I reckon I can edge the current Honda. I have more confident in it. Or may be is that because I'm familiar with it? I'd have to play in a similar fashion to them too, I can't just play it cool like Chiba-sensei does. Sounds tiring to me! May be when I reach 4th Dan ... my Chudan will be stable enough by then. Yes ... we'll talk about it again then. For now I'll stick to my Joke-dan element of surprise.

Concentration

2010-11-01T06:38:00.001Z

Another week passes as I search for a job. If anyone reading this is a banker, give me a job please.
At least I've now renewed the contract for my flat so I don't have to deal with the whole moving + flat hunting gore. The theme of today's post is as the picture below suggests:

One of the main problem with my kendo at present is my concentration. I don't normally have a short attention span, and I wouldn't say I don't concentrate whilst doing kendo ... but it is really difficult to keep absolutely focus and be a 100% ready to attack/react at will say ... 2 minute into a jigeiko. It is mentally tiring to do so. I never take much notice of the concept before: I would normally crack out some moves, and generally play at my own pace. My sparring partner can attack, I may or may not react, I can block ... dodge ... counter ... then when I feel like I'm ready I apply my own pressure. This is apparently not the healthiest route for your kendo. Clearly.
It has come to my attention because recently ever since the second gasshuku in Fukuoka, people have generally been impressed at the level of improvement I've achieved. The comments have moved on from the physical side of kendo, to the technical/mental side. This is where it gets tricky. People can try to tell you what to do, but they can't exactly say how or show you as it is rather intangible.
The latest catch phrase is this: "Chris has glimpses/moments of brilliance". Well fuck me silly and call me bob if I know how to maintain these 'moments' of brilliance. Hell I'll do it all the time and be super awesome. I reckon, it is related to my concentration. If I can concentrate, I'll operate at my best. Often my laziness gets synonymously lumped with my lack of concentration, it may have something to do with it, but I don't think they should be confused with one another. Laziness is just an unwillingness to move, or do anything for that matter. Whereas concentration comes and goes in lapses, they're usually a quick rest before I switch on again.
Bob (yes, real one this time) has mentioned it, Hiro has said it ... so has Junji after I beat him in shobu. (Our new addition to UCL by the way, he rocks! Kicked my arse half way around the world last week). Joe has always said it, "out of the corner of my eye, for a second you looked like Honda sensei". I just need to concentrate ... the question remains, how do I focus my mind, and maintain this?

Mmm ... concentrate

Reflection

2010-10-29T01:07:00.015+01:00

So let's do a quick reflection about my kendo thus far. In Japan this Summer I was focusing on how to move more like a Japanese kendoka, just because it looks beautiful. Yes, it is probably also more efficient and effective, but hey ... details.

Kendo = Kufu: experimentation or self-discovery, long road

So I think after a while I was getting more used to it, and I have to start focusing on actually hitting stuff again, rather than my lower body + legs. My accuracy has been rubbish and I havent really hit sweet sounding datotsu. This was clearly evident at the central region taikai I participated in Thailand. I was too busy trying to be a dragonfly rather than getting them ippons. I lost all my matches, bar the one I drew. Fuck that! Time to turn it into something useful for my kendo, because it so can be.

To do that … I must focus on my kenzen. Sounds easy enough, and even obvious you might say. Not really. Like shooting, if you don’t use the aiming thing at the end (I swear there’s a more professional sounding term for it) you’re likely to miss 8 times out of 10. You get cocky, and you start just aim in a general direction. Big mistake. It is imperative that you don’t make it bleeding obvious though. I do know of someone, a certain kendoka, who before hitting a target, he would literally look. Thus you can see it coming from a mile away.
Unpredictability is very much an important aspect of kendo. Using a timing or waza in which your opponent does not expect. In the words of Miyamoto Musashi (oh lord, I did not just use his quote in my blog … I swear it’s pertinent!): “You win battles by knowing the enemy’s timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect”

Lastly let’s talk about distance. John has said to me that whenever he gets into tohma, I can already hit Men, which made his life difficult. Well I’ll have you know that’s going exactly according to plan. One of the most influential jigeiko I’ve had this year was with Osato sensei after the shiai I mentioned earlier in Bangkok. All we did was work on my timing and distance. I would get ready for debana men, and the moment he moves in tohma, I will have to strike. If he doesn’t move, I should seme for him to do so. Logical, but it was so good. Also, if I go in and he blocks men, change to Do! A simple enough menu. It required so much concentration though. It just had a huge impact on my kendo …

British Open 2010

2010-10-16T21:20:00.009+01:00

Having not been in a competition since August in Thailand, ok that was only 2 months ago, but it really felt like forever, I was looking forward to the British Open. (was there a kendo event that I haven't looked forward to?) Shiai is certainly one of my favourite aspects of kendo, so as you can imagine I was really happy to get into the shiai-jo once again.

The British Open is an individuals only competition, which is fine. Somehow I'm accused of doing better in the individuals as compared to the teams, so I guess that suits me just fine. I don't do it on purpose trust me. Personally, I enjoy them both.

In team competitions there is of course the added pressure of trying your best not to let the team down. Having said that, it is also more fun. There's nothing like hearing the good old UCL encouragement of 'man up!' bellowing from behind, assuring you that your mates are rooting for you. Sometimes though, I get a bit complacent. I tend to subconsciously rely on my team mates to do well, so I can enjoy my match. It really depends on which position you play in the team order and how the previous fighters did. There's the, I would dare say, rule of thumb that if you can't win, at least draw so that your team mates can take care of the rest. Obviously a win is the best and desired outcome. You're happy, your team is happy. In any case, I reckon I have to try and fix that mentally, I should try to adopt the same mentality I have as if I was playing individually. Which is to say playing as if you have nothing to lose.
In the individuals, if I lose, I'm the only person who's going to get disappointed. Which is fine. It eliminates the 'fear of losing' ... especially if you come up against an opponent whose level is similar or higher than you. When you play weaker opponents, it's meant to be easier, but for me sometimes that isn't so ... I feel like I have to beat them, so that in itself is a pressure, and a fear. Fear is as a kendoka should know, one of the four shikai or 'sicknesses' (as defined by: Geoff Salmon, 7dan) of kendo. Anger, doubt, fear and surprise. I think every kendoka is suscepitble to these 4, regardless of your level. We do try to eliminate them however ...

After that bit of waffle I suppose I should get on to the reflection of the actual event. Tumbling into Mumeishi Dojo on a Saturday morning, I was still rather sleepy. An easy first fight would be preferable to get warmed up, but right away I was put up against Saf. Thus our grudge match continues, as you may recall he has beaten me the past 2 times we've met, both in the individuals and team at the University Taikai. This is not acceptable and I was determined to bring it back (I've only beaten him once, the first time we played). A spirited start from the both of us, despite the freezing cold floor. Overall I thought I had more control of the match (you can see for yourself in the video below), both of the points I lost I misjudged the timing of my kaeshi-do, silly mistake really especially so when I did the feat twice. I was pleased with the Men cut, al though a faster cut speed would be better. Somehow it looks like everything was in slow-mo. More suburi then.

Bowden Taikai 2010

2010-07-06T12:09:00.060+01:00

Surprise surprise, I was pumped up for yet another shiai. I had an especially good feeling about this one though considering the team we have. It was the best I've been a part of in a while, on paper at least

We journeyed to Reading from Waterloo station for the Sir Frank Bowden Taikai. It was a hot day and very dry. Summer time is upon us!

We checked our pools and found out we were up against Wakaba and Nenriki. Tough tough pool. Our B and C team were yet again, as with most tournaments we seem to participate, lumped into the same pool. So I suggested some tactical changes, by switching the members of team A and B. We did consider this a bit, or Neil and Joe pretended to do so, but in the end I got bollocked for suggesting the idea. This was fair enough, we're here to compete against good players, to test our kendo, not just to win. Besides if we can beat them now, the road ahead will be considerably easier.

In a very close contest, we won our pool.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, then out of nowhere I felt ill ... heat-stroke of some sort and that practically ruined my day. I had difficulty breathing and every time there was a break I had to run out for some fresh air. I tried to man-up, go out there and do my best, but I only managed to draw or lose all my matches. I've let my team down, I've let myself down. This is a nightmare for anyone going into a shiai.

Despite all that, the team fought well, pulled me through, and we got our Bronze. The final could not be completed thanks to the horrendous running of the event. Most of the competitors, especially the ones who weren't planning to come for the Premier Cup the day after were fuming. The event was to run onto Sunday. Ironically when we got to the pub I was chirpy again, I suppose a beer can fix many qualms. I admit it probably wasn't the nicest sight for my team members, even though they didn't say anything. I think given the situation it would've been better if I was to keal over and collapse.

After a peaceful respite at Anthony's for the night, playing that Inglorious Basterds game, we headed back to the venue for the Premier Cup. I ploughed through the pools, only for a little bird (possibly a sore loser) to alarm the organisers that perhaps one of the female competitors with a Russian surname was not English. Now, we were told that the Premier Cup this year was to be an open event to all BKA members, regardless of their nationalities. Apparently not. The event was stopped, and everyone was gathered for all the foreigners (me included) to be rounded up and informed that we were no longer allowed to participate. The results are annulled and basically they had to start all over again. Oh I was not happy.

After many sarcastic racist jokes, I decided enough was enough and went home. Possibly one of the worst weekend of shiai in history. Many has vowed not to return to the competition again.

London Cup 2010

2010-05-05T02:52:00.043+01:00

I must say I wasn't ready for this tournament. It's a shame really because it is actually one of my favourite events on the calendar. It isn't often you get to cross your swords with quality kendokas from all over Europe.

I blame my Easter holiday in Italy for my lack of preparation; spending about 2-3 weeks there doing absolutely no exercise, and coming back to writing lots of essays without much time to practise. Nobody likes coming back to kendo after taking a break, it is such a nightmare. You have to fumble around and adjust yourself until you find that 'feeling' again when you can actually move relatively naturally without thinking about it ... holding the correct kamae, getting your footwork right, lifting and cutting the way that was best for you.

So yes I was dully shoved into the shiai. We started with the team event on Saturday,
we thought we'd have an awesome team but as it turns out Neil has the Musashi-kai seminar on the same weekend, and Yuma was stuck in Japan because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Nevertheless the team we fielded was still decent, I was quite happy with the line-up. In the first match, one of the more surprising one, was that Anthony lost in Sempo, and Emily as a Jiho went out and saved his arse. Well done Em! The rest of us won, so we proceeded to the next match, where ... I think we also won my a small margin to make it out of the pool. Somehow my memory of the team event is rather foggy, I think I'm going to stop pretending I remember much about that day. This could be because of the Sayonara party they threw that night. I was quite inebriated. All I remember was I didn't lose a single match, and we got knocked out. So there! On to the Sunday.

The individuals was good too. First up was a match between Jeon and Anthony. Fred and I made a little bet, I banked on Jeon even though Anthony was super confident being his cocky self (which is kind of a good thing to have for shiai I would reckon!). Needless to say, I won my fiver. Zeke also did very well against Nakabayashi, the eventual winner from the French national team. He was a monster. The final was absolutely amazing, Monzelun from Pessac vs Nakabayashi. For the first minute they were all out doing kakarikeiko almost. I haven't watched a match that fast and intensed in a big while. As for my own performance, I got bye in the first round with my opponent having broken his foot (or leg ... can't remember which). In the second round I faced the fearsome Nakamura, also of the French squad. I didn't feel like I gave a good fight at all though, I was too defensive, trying to look for counter opportunities which was not the correct mindset to have. Though to be fair, I still haven't regained my Men cut, which is my bread and butter. Sucks, it was a pathetic attempt by my standard. Matches like these are the reason you want to compete in something like the London Cup, and I felt like I've let myself down a bit. Even more so since, in the next round, Nakamura was beaten by Wilson from Hizen, though fair play to him he won, I didn't think his Kendo was stronger than Nakamura. I did have a good jikeiko with Nakamura afterwards. I was also suitably impressed by a Dutch lady, Ms van der Woude who has one of the straightest kendo I've seen in a while.

Relationship with an Object

2010-04-12T07:26:00.023+01:00

I’m still not sleepy, and it’s half past 8. Ok! Let’s do a double post today, I’m on a roll. My train of thought has now led me to what I was reading earlier in the toilet, Murakami’s book Kafka on the Shore.

First, let’s do a quick roll-back. I don’t like to read books more than once, nor watch the movies I’ve seen before again. I like to claim Murakami as being one of my favourite authors, however I’ve just realised that without re-reading them, I’m missing out on a lot of what, presumably, he’s trying to get across with his books. Unlike J.K. Rowling’s Potter series, he’s not really trying to tell me a story. The selling point isn’t the plot per se. Of the many things that he is, Murakami is also a critic of society.
For whatever reasons I’ve decided to re-read Kafka on the Shore. All of a sudden I began to notice things that I didn’t before in this book. For example, the simple-minded character Nakata. (don’t worry you needn’t to read the book to understand the rest of the post, al though it would be a plus), he was created to be stupid so that it gave Murakami the chance to let other characters in the book explain things to him, the society, in a perspective in which the author wished to highlight. This is very clever yet subtle, and made me appreciate him even more as a writer.
That little enlightenment has made me come to realise that, I needed to adapt my way of reading to suit each author/book. For this particular one, I must resist the temptation to plough through and try to get a story out of it. A story isn't the sole entertainment of a book after all. I think the reason I tried to rush through it was because we were trained as such since we were a child, with story books and all, and as we grew older the stories got longer and more complicated to a point in which sometimes, there are no real plots. I don't want to reveal too much, but if you haven't read the book, give it a go! It's definitely worth reading ...
This of course relates back to Kendo otherwise it wouldn't be on this blog. I would like to explore the relation one has with a shinai.

....

I'm sure it was a really good post, but a year on and I'm trying to complete the half-written posts on my blog I haven't a clue what the fooks I wanted to say about the shinai. Sorry!

Rant

2010-04-12T07:08:00.002+01:00

So! Insomnia kicks in once again. Actually, that's not a fair statement, it's more like I've had too much sleep during the day as I went out in Switzerland last night, and had to catch an early train back to Milan (yes, I'm on holiday away from London, Easter break!) … so naturally, now I can’t bloody sleep.
Since I can’t sleep, my mind starts to wander all over the place; and of course I can’t help going down the kendo road. As I watch the web for news of the European Championships (EKC), my kendo withdrawal symptoms worsens. It’s been almost 2 weeks now without a practise. Kendo really is like some sort of drug. Fabrizio Mandia has managed to win the individuals for the second time, and France got their revenge for the ’09 London Cup in the team’s. To be honest with you I’m jealous of the guy. It makes me kind of bitter that he’s
managed to win the Europeans twice (beating Gibbo in the process this year), and al though on a much smaller scale, I wasn’t able to win the Uni Taikai. To top it off he did it in the individuals!You know I’ve fought him in a shiai once before, at he London Cup actually. Not certain which year though … he beat me of course, hiki-men it was. Not sure about the other point, probably another hiki-waza, like their tanks the Italians fare very well backwards! (referencing to the joke that Italian tanks have 2 forward gears and 7 in reverse) Of course he probably wouldn’t even remember the match, or me (well … I do have him on facebook and we interact from time to time, so he might after all). It’s not unusual though for the victor, in kendo at least, not to remember much about the matches they win unless it’s a particularly memorable one, with a friend, or in a final. I’ve often had people come up to me and go, yea! You beat me in the so-and-so competition this and that long ago. I’d just be nodding politely and go, “Yea! Of course, it was a really good match”, where in truth I can’t for the life of me remember who the person was.

Anyways, my mind wandered further into thinking how Fabrizio got to where he was. A lot of practise and dedication, of course, but also the fact that he was able to practise regularly in Japan. I saw his photos practising and buddying it up with Teramoto (my kendo idol if you don’t know by now) at the Ōsaka police dojo. I mean ok, since Japan is still the haven of kendokas, it is only natural that foreign kendokas want to go there and hopefully enhance their skills. I’ve never met a single strong kendoka who has never trained, or in fact, lived even, in Japan. So I was thinking about how I could do that.
One of my philosophies in life is ‘no regret’. Even if it’s something I did regret, I’ll eventually manage to convince myself not to. Now I’m regretting I didn’t take Japanese in school, take a semester abroad to study there, and immerged myself more into the culture so that I could learn the language and visit there whenever I want. My kendo would certainly benefit from that. I guess I could go and live there for a few years after I graduate, but would that be wasting my time? Besides I want to earn my own money as soon as possible; going straight to Japan would mean I would still have to live off my parents. I suppose I could work too, but I want to concentrate on learning the language and getting in a whole lot of kendo. I also don’t know if I like the Japanese working culture, the hours are horrendous. That’s the impression I get anyways. Therefore ideally, I should’ve done this during my undergrads. Yea, whoops. Too late. Now you see my regret? I guess it’s a matter of what I want out of life eh … how can it be considered time wasting if that’s what you genuinely want to do? One life, live it!

But that got me thinking about culture. Do I really want to dive in and become a part of that culture? Or am I just content observing it from a distance like this and interacting with it from time to time. Yesterday, Shohei and I were staying at a friend’s house in Switzerland, and we were unknowingly dragged into a dinner. We had to sit there whilst about 20 Swiss people were chatting away over aperitifs in Swiss-German, then dinner, and after. What a long evening that was. Yes, I am part Swiss, and do know the language but it’s rusty as hell. Especially now that my grandfather passed away, he at least used to speak it to me. It must’ve been worse for Shohei, he didn’t have a bloody clue what was going on. It’s hard to explain, but at that point it occurred to me that I’m not sure I want to become completely Swiss and limit myself to living the rest of my life the way they do: centred around Switzerland, their workplace, their culture, their customs, their Swiss friends, Swiss family, etc. I don’t feel completely Thai either (well … duh, I’m not). I often find myself having conversations with Thais, even at workplaces, and thinking … they’re incredibly Thai-centred. The whole mind-set and mentality, the way they think, act, do things … it’s just so … well, Thai.
So yes, I do have a bit of an identity crisis, I’m not Swiss, neither am I Thai. But what the hell am I? That’s what you get for being international I suppose: having a diverse background, travelling, living in different countries, knowing people of various cultures, trying to learn more about them, etc. Do I really want to add Japanese to the list?
To relate back to kendo and Japan, I’m not quite sure if I want to go and live in Japan anymore. What if I don’t like it? Perhaps it is better to look from out here and wish I was part of it. I mean I have been accused of being a Japanophile, even though I don’t agree with the label. Since I have already been accused, I will accept it for the duration of this blog post. What if I’m content on being a Japanophile rather than a Japanese (or a wanna be rather)? Then again if I don’t try, I guess I’ll never find out. What if I were to like it, but never tried, so ended up living all my life wishing that I was part of it, when in fact I could’ve been?
On that bombshell, I’ll leave you to it.

I suppose this is vaguely related to kendo as I’m sure a lot of non-Japanese kendokas out there have stumbled upon this thought at one point or another.

British Universities Taikai 2010

2010-03-22T16:06:00.175Z

At last, the event I've been training for the entire year rolled round once again! The British Universities Taikai, affectionately known as the Uni Taikai. This year the event is held up in Edinburgh. I've always wanted to go to Scotland and what better excuse than to compete in a kendo tournament!

The UCL squad was quite upbeat for this event, we feel it's about time we win it again seeing that we're entering quite a strong team too. For the journey North, some of us took the coach, and the others took the train from London.

Straight into the competition, first up on Saturday, we breeze through the pools, and the first round for that matter. We were expecting the SOAS team (who were on the train with me) in the quarter-finals, but it turned out they were knocked out by Queen Mary, which surprised us a little. Easier task for us may be?

Or so I thought ...
we were doing ok actually, if the score stands we'd be in the Semis. All that remained was for me to go out there and either a) win b) draw or c) lose by 1 point. Sounds easy enough. The problem though was I had to fight S. Aziz, I have beaten him before but it was a challenge, and I'm expecting heavy resistance from the big man. I told the lads from the beginning to try and win it because I can't guarantee anything. As the match progresses I became less and less focused, his habit of going into, and playing it from Tsubazerai was beginning to unnerve me. I hate that! Mentally he must have had an advantage too, he goes into the match thinking, right ... he's got to win by two points, no excuses, otherwise they're out. As for me, I'm thinking, should I draw? Or go for it? This is never a good thought to have in Kendo, and I don't know why I had it. In come Aziz with a hiki-men. Right ... one down, panic time, get it back or hold out? I just genuinely couldn't make up my mind, and Aziz is not the kind of opponent that you can afford to do that against. Next thing I know he 'scored' a kote, I'm still not happy about it, but I suppose the opportunity was there and I allowed for it to happen. What happens now is a decider's match: as I walked off the court, ashamed of my performance, Anthony was already putting his Men on looking real pumped. All I could do was sit and wait, I don't know how many times I've put my team in such situations before, Mumeishi, Bowden ... normally it's poor ol' Joe who has to rectify my incompetence, and I hate it. After a long fight, Anthony looked more and more in control. It's only a matter of time now. Until out of nowhere, Aziz smacks a kote, which ... hit the tsuba, but yet again it was given. At this point, my heart sank to the bottom of my foot. That's it, my last ever UniTaikai and I've let my team down, as a Taisho. Needless to say I profusely apologised to my team mates, they were obviously gutted, but still upbeat for the individuals. I couldn't do the same until some time later, it was really, devastating. So close, yet so far ... our competition ended there, QMUL went on to the finals and lost to Edinburgh. We so should've been there.
The Sayonara party was a good de-stresser though. Flows of Scottish whiskies and continental beers later, we ended up having a rather enjoyable/boisterous night. To be fair debaucheries and kendokas are synonymous! What else did I expect.

Thank goodness the organisers were kind on us with the starting time for the individuals event. After we've registered, the Kyu grade competition was up first. Naturally, we slept ... in true UCL fashion.

I was first up in the pools, fighting Sumi and Wu? I forget his name, but he was an Edinburgh kendoka on the winning team. Anyhow, I won the match against Wu, so did Sumi. So we're both Sumi and I are through, both pretty relaxed, good set-up for a fun fight no? Of course, perfect recipe.

Off the bat I went for sho-men only to be encountered by a decisive dabana kote, why do I never learn? The nerve-wrecking fight went back and forth for quite sometime, I was running out of ideas, and I was pretty certain time was going to be up soon, only for Sumi to pull a katate-tsuki and miss, thus my opportunity, smacked his men, managed to pull a hikiwake.

(To watch the vids, try these links: Part 1 Part 2 ........... I hope they work, they're on facebook so I'm not sure about the privacy settings)

In the next round I drew Lu. I've just come to realised (when I was going through my videos when I got home in London), that I've lost to him before two years previous ... but on the day, no problem. He got the first point off me though, but I was able to hold it together and pull through with two Men cuts. I love coming from behind (you're so childish, don't even go there) to win. The moment you equalise your opponent becomes completely demoralised, and they begin to panic. It's much harder to win that way though, as you'll probably crumble yourself, but if you can do it, good on ya!

Then as I anticipated, I had Aziz in the quarter-finals once more. There was nothing more I wanted than that match on the day. It was my chance for revenge! I wanted to kill him badly. I had to at least try to get back in the race for our grudge matches. I could also prove that he's not the better kendoka, that I've improved more, the list goes on. As it turned out, that didn't happen either. He got me. Again. I guess he really was the better kendoka on the weekend. It was of course, disheartening at first, but I think it's given me a fresh motivation. With experiences like these it's no wonder kendo can really become a lifetime pursuit. Two points. Aziz moved on to play Anthony, who also lost (but only by 1). He then won the gold.

Thus ended our invasion of Scotland. Battered, the UCL troop turned round for London empty handed. (well anthony and emily did return with something, but if I'd mention that it'd be less dramatic) But the failures didn't end there. Oh no. Thanks to EastCoast rail I had to stand all the way from bloody Newcastle to London. That's fucking ages for you. So much for open return. Fuck you EastCoast! Keep running it like that and I hope you go bankrupt soon, ha ha! There. Feel a bit better about it now that I've cursed them on the world wide web.

Peace out people. Until the next blog, keep safe.

IIGT 2010 & 2Dan Shinsa

2010-03-01T19:43:00.061Z

Finally the weekend of the International Irish Goodwill Taikai (IIGT) 2010 came round. I haven't had a competition since the Summer in Thailand! I hope I won't be too rusty in shiai situations, but not only that, it is going to be a big weekend for me in another aspect. My 2dan Shinsa! Gahhhh ... I hope I pass. I hate gradings, that's why I've never done it up until a year and a half ago when I got my Ikkyu.

After a massive delay and hanging about in Heathrow for longer than is healthy, Aer Lingus shuttled us across to Cork. Being the last flight of the day to arrive, it took us a while to get a taxi. Even more annoying was a bit before that Shohei got stuck at the Immigration for ages, they're real arseholes! Probably really bored with nothing else better to do but harass innocent passengers.

The competition was first on Saturday, we split up into 2 teams of 3s. It took us a while to do so, arranging the order and what not, we were also unsure whether or not
Neil would arrive in time to participate. Anthony took ill suddenly, shivering and turning pale. Nobody had a clue what it was, not even one of the doctors there (who happened to be a competing kendoka). Neil really had to turn up now, otherwise one of our teams would hold quite a disadvantage. In the end not to take any chances it was me, Shohei, and Yuma manning one team, Anthony, Emily, and a scratch for the other. We gave them the easier group.
They did quite well going to the quarters, after they lost his shinais, Neil arrived just in time to take over from Anthony, who worryingly isn't getting any better. We underperformed. I was rubbish. So was Shohei. Yuma was the only one doing any good, and for that reason I selected him as our rep to fight in the individuals. The shiai experience would also be good for him too as we'll be relying on him in the UniTaikai. To be honest, I also lost confidence to fight that day, man up right. Neil was completely right in saying that it's all mental, there's nothing wrong with my kendo on the day, I just have to get it going. I guess I am rusty afterall!
Yuma started off slow and tense, after winning some matches though he was visibly calmer and better. He went on to win bronze for us, not bad at all! The level was quite high too, those Irish squad members were tough.

The Sayonara party (I still don't know why they all named it that, doesn't make much sense) wasn't that great. It was really loud (some kind of a nightclub) and it took us ages to get in as the minimum age was 20, Yuma forgot his ID, we had to trek back to the hotel to fetch his passport etc. Once it got going and we had a few drinks in our system it was slightly better, started mingling with the locals a bit.

The shinsa on the next day went rather successfully. I thought we all did really well, and after weeks of extra Kata practises it really paid off. Everyone from UCL who took it, passed their exams. Well done us! So now I am officially 2dan and looking forward to the UniTaikai. Edinburgh, here we come!

Misrepresentation of Kendo in the Media

2010-02-07T02:07:00.000Z

Here's a blog post I published on Kendo World Forum:

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/entry.php/82-Misrepresentation-of-Kendo-in-the-Media

Packed Practise

2010-01-24T01:34:00.003Z

Yesterday, our relatively small dojo hosted what was the last practise for Honda sensei and his students for their London visit; the turn out was amazing. At first this was quite a sight, more and more kendokas from all around London kept turning up as we went along, but pretty soon I began to realise this was probably not such a good thing afterall. For one there was literally no space to practise. Half the time I was hitting other kendokas that wasn't even my opponent. Also, selfishly, what you want to be doing is practising with Honda and his students on their last keiko! Ok, I suppose I'll always benefit from fighting other people I don't normally get to practise with, but even so! May be another day, today is UCL's turn to have a go at these guys.

Luckily
I managed to go through all four again. We had almost 2 hours of pure ji-keiko, which as it turned out, was probably more tiring than normal kihon. I was panting and sweating like a whore by the end of it. Shohei forgot his Shinai too, actually, to be fair, he left it at mine, and I forgot to bring it ... so I lent him mine, and used my spare. My spare one is actually supposed to be better and lighter, certainly much more expensive, bought it in Fukuoka, so I don't really dare use it much (stupid I know) ... but as the practise went along I began to realise that I'm not quite used to the weight of the shinai, and it's affecting my cuts. It goes all over the place! Lessoned learnt, lighter isn't always neccesarily better. And to think I thought I quite liked its weight distribution before; then again you can't really know that until you use it enough times.
I wasn't in a particularly good mood to begin with, seeing as my flat has just been burgled the day before whilst I wasn't home. The bastards took almost everything! Expensive watches, camera, Wii plus 30 or so games, even some clothes! To make their getaway, they even dumped the contents of my bogu bag and took off with the suitcase. Welcome to London. Arghhh ... the best bit is I didn't take out a contents insurance. Talk about the best way to learn that they weren't joking when they advertise 'because shit happens'. Now I'm setting up burglar alarms, enhanced security, etc. and of course ... took out an insuarance. Going all out! Paranoid enough to sleep with a bokken next to me in my bed anyways. The police weren't much help either, and they left the house dirtier than when the burglars were in! Fingerprinting ink and what not ... now I have to scour the pawnbrokers and markets for the next two weeks to try and see if I can spot my stolen watches; chances are they're going to end up on ebay and I'll have wasted my time. FML.
Anyways! Rant over, back to kendo. Well, not much to add, as I said, I didn't have my best day, but still managed some good fights. The thing about kendo is though, it makes you forget the world once you put that Men on, so that whole fiasco wasn't actually really on my mind. Good theraphy that was! And at the end of it all, Taro gave me his shinai ... I was really touched mind! So all in all it was a profitable practise. (let's see if the present is any better than my spare ...)
After the said practise we headed down to the local watering hole, then to Joe's restaurant for some Chinese. Strangely enough, it's actually my first time actually eating there. Must say the food was delicious!

New Year's Chores

2010-01-21T01:52:00.000Z

So I took today off, 5 days of Kendo in a row would be a bit much, and even though she didn't say anything, the girlfriend was secretly cringing I'm sure. UCL Monday, Tora yesterday, skived UCL today ... Tora again tomorrow, and UCL on Friday. No Wakaba this Sat I don't think. But it's a special week as Honda's contingent is in Britain, luckily they're up in Oxford today. I mean I don't normally visit Tora that often in a week either!
Anyhoo, as it's still the first month of the year, there's lots of chores to keep up with. Renewed my BKA membership, thank God they finally caught up with the whole online payment system, otherwise I'd probably still be scrambling for my cheque book which is only used once a year.
Then I booked my flight to Cork, where the Irish Open (IIGT) is being held this year in February. Also registered teams for UCL and rang people up to make them come along. I will also be taking my Nidan there! So, if you're reading this, wish me luck! Had to bloody make a copy of the massive menjo I got for my shodan, request letter of permission blah blah ... such a hassle.
I also have to book the train up to Edinburgh at some point ... we must win it this year! Last chance to be a double winner of the Uni Taikai.
I also downloaded the form for the Ozawa seminar, he passed the message through Neil that I'm expected to be there again. To be fair I don't mind at all, really enjoyed it last year. Bollocks ... so I do have to find that cheque book afterall.
And now I'm wondering where the hell Bastin is ... he's disappeared off the radar! Ooh and can't forget, the registration for the London Cup should be coming up soon. Need to do that as well. Rant over.

Fukyōdai in London

2010-01-20T01:30:00.000Z

The Japanese contingent from Fukuoka led by Honda Sensei landed in Britain on Monday. They were far too tired to visit us at UCL that night, so I had to pop over to Tora the following day to meet them.
I got to tell you, it's always great seeing friends from afar again. I dropped in late as usual, but just in time for jikeiko; which is all you want really from a session with these guys.
My first keiko I ran straight in for Taro, had a hearty hug and a good fight. The bugger is still shit-fast as always, but you wouldn't expect anything less. Managed a few nice kote, he kept the tsuki on most of my Men cuts so I guess I'll have to work on improving it ... just as I thought it was getting better as well. To be fair though, both Honga and Joe did say it was better, so there must be some truth in it.
Then I lined up for Tanaka, Kubota sempai ... and kept the best for last, Honda Sensei. Since the queue was so long though I only managed a minute in with him, I was a bit tense I guess as I really wanted to impress him and show improvement since I last practised with him, managed to create two opportunities, but missed hit just like that! Rubbish.

Taro gave me some fancy chopsticks, and the main tip for the day was to bring my hind leg in faster after a cut. Hmm ... same thing Nabeyama said back in Bangkok! Then Kubota topped it off with the whole 'relax more to go faster' speech. Great pointers! I'd consider that a pretty successful hour if you ask me.
The pub was good too. After socialising, only the Wakaba senseis were left and I got them discussing my kendo. Katsura sensei's advice was to free more of the 'I am a big motherfucker' spirit and be less afraid to get hit. Right. Back to the drawing board then!

*All photos in this entry were taken from Honga's facebook

The New Year

2010-01-04T08:15:00.000Z

So the first practise of 2010 was out of the way. It was an unusually hot January Sunday in Bangkok, and it was rather difficult to breathe inside the dojo as there wasn't much ventilation. The practise still went well nonetheless. Some bloke from Mazda visited, reminded me how to hit sashi men the way I used to ... lately I've been focusing on proper big men cuts, it has somehow slipped off my mind.
After an evening of drinking with my old sensei in Pattaya, discussing kendo, I was constantly trying to maintain my centre in all the ji-keiko I did, with good results I must say. However as always, there's still much to work on. Which brings me to our next agenda ...
During the head of the dojo's new year's speech, he suggested we all make kendo resolutions. So I've been thinking about mine. It defnitely has to be something achievable, in terms of difficulty and time. I've come up with these 5:

Resolutions

Pass 2dan shinsa in February
Win all my matches at the Uni Taikai in March, this year in Edinburgh (hopefully the team will place gold)
Make better use of my size with my seme
Straighter kendo, minimise the flair
Improve speed & leg strength

We'll see how it goes ... wish me luck!

2010-01-01T06:59:00.000Z

Happy 2010!! Best of luck and much success in the new year. True to form, I got plastered. Hope everyone has had an equally good farewell to '09

Nabeyama Sensei

2009-12-22T18:22:00.003Z

This one happens to be one of the most useful practises I've ever attended. This was largely due to the fact that for an hour and a half, me and 3 other blokes had Nabeyama sensei all to ourselves, giving private instructions. It was rather embarassing as well ...

Starting off he's already corrected me on tying my Tare. It has to be loose at the top ... rather than tightly wrapped. Hard to explain, easier to show. Let's move on, loads more to cover.
Then apparently I've also been tying my Men incorrectly for the past 5-6 years. I've always wondered why it looked so much nicer when the Japanese wear them. I've been tying it too low, and need to tie it higher up on my head, about a quarter of the way down from the top. This gives the shoulder bit more room to sort of ... fan out and look big.
Next up is the warm up, my suburi; the next most basic thing after reigi. I wasn't doing that right either, actually it was more the case of laziness. Instead of going up and down by swinging down the tip, I bring it down first then go forward ... again, easier shown than explained. I was able to fix it pretty quickly though.

Then we did some kihon, little adjustments here and there, nothing major.
One of the highlight was the suriage waza. Kote suriage men, it is actually one of my favourite and the sensei was able to enhance it further for me. The fundamental is that it is supposed to be one forward movement, the blocking done in the middle of your Men-cutting flight. What he pointed out that was new, so simple, yet so effective was the block. It is meant to be in the centre, not off to one side (even though I normally move my left arm out and keep my right almost stationary anyways). Seems obvious enough after he said it, but I was never fully aware of it. Then from the block, where your shinai is still in the middle of the opponent's head, it is quite easy, and the distance becomes much smaller mind, to hit the Men. I can't wait to try it out.
The ji-keiko was much better, though I wouldn't call anything I landed ippon. Then Ikeda sensei, my regular, proceeded to run me to the ground and killed me off nicely. The pointer of the day was to keep my chin tucked in ... now honestly, I think this is due to the change in the tying of the Men. I've never ever had that problem before, so bloody annoying. Everytime I try to fix something in kendo, some other thing goes out of whack.
Anyways, for the time being, that's the last I saw of Nabeyama sensei ... I'm sure I'll run into him again at some point in time.

The first time I used the phrase 'sashin totemo iideska?' on a man

Winter Break - Bangkok

2009-12-20T20:00:00.082Z

My first practise back at the Japanese-association school in Bangkok for the Christmas break had quite a good turn out. All the familiar faces were present, and it was nice to see all the senseis again.

Little to my knowledge, the session had a special guest visitng. Lucky me! It was T. Nabeyama sensei (7dan) from Ibaraki, Japan. Everyone was understandably buzzing as he has competed many a times in the All Japans and Tozai-Taiko. Rumour has it he's even placed 2nd at the Zen Nippon before, al though I can't justify.

After watching him display incredible skills (which translates to whooping the the shit out of everybody) for an hour in the queue, it was finally my turn to have a go at embarassing myself. One ippon and I would consider the ji-keiko successful ... it didn't happen. The only achievement was making him move back with my seme in the beginning. It never happened before with any high ranking sensei, they normally just stand there, probably thinking this guy is absolutely harmless, there's no point ... when do I get my beer.
To be fair, I wasn't happy with my kendo on the day. After 2 weeks without practise, I was noticeably rusty. The Men cut didn't feel right, and the timing of everything was generally out of whack. So after the horrible display, the advice I got was to keep my kamae at all times, apparently I was waving the shinai about too much. Damn university kendo, too much blocking!

Naturally I was rather disappointed and frustrated, after all it's not often one gets such a opportunity. The upside is that ... the day after, I'll have another chance. Better shape up!

Mumeishi 3's 2009

2009-11-22T21:33:00.000Z

This was a rather short competition. After doing miserably the year before when we had such a good chance and team, I was determined to do better. If you're familiar with this competition you'll know that you're allowed to enter a team of 3, composed of 2 dan grades and 1 kyu grade as members. We always try to field a 'super team', I wasn't on it this time around. I may have been sulking slightly inside, but as far as teams go I never have a problem as to which team I'm placed in. I just hope to get in, do my best for my team ... and that's that. Of course I'm not going to lie that everyone is definitely in it to earn some silverwares, but, I guess it wasn't meant to be that day. We were swiftly knocked out in the prelimenaries, al though I did win my Taisho match. So that's my consolation! Too bad I was quite pumped up too ... next time

Blooper from my opponent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBxxfSC5dMY

Mitsubishi Dojo

2009-07-27T18:54:00.007+01:00

Hello Tokyo!

Apart from the magnificent city, I also had the honour to practise at one of the biggest company dojo in Japan: the Mitsubishi Dojo. All thanks to Shohei's uncle. I'm telling you, a little contact goes a long way!

Anyhoo, there was nothing outstanding to point out about the practise. It was two hours full of ji-keiko, no kihon whatsoever. I spent most of the time in awe at the cheekiness and technique of the kendokas present. Though older, they all had something special up their sleeves. Most of the attendees were 7dan, a few 6dan, 8dan, and even one 9dan.

After some educational fights, I queued up for the hachi-dan. The name escapes me, trying to remember 20-30 foreign (to me) names in two hours whilst being constantly hit on the head wasn't exactly an easy task. In any case, after 2-3 men cuts, he just did a sankyo, signalling that he'd probably had enough of me. It was time for me to walk away with my head hanging in shame.

Fine! Next. How many people on Earth can say they've had a keiko with a 9dan? Yeah, that's right. Suck it up bitches. It wasn't really a ji-keiko though, more like uchikomi, but no matter, I still learned a bit about timing, keeping centre, and a word I don't think I'll ever cease to hear 'masugui!' The funny thing though, was that ... nobody was queuing up for him ... which I found rather puzzling. Afterwards, during dinner/beer Nakamura-san cured my curiosity by telling me that, everyone was afraid they'd be the one to kill the old man, and nobody wanted to do that! So there you have it. The reason nobody queued up for a 9dan.

Fukyōdai - Gasshuku

2009-07-18T19:00:00.079+01:00

There's probably soo much I can write about this! I don't even know where to start. All the drunken debauchery and banter provided by us in the Mokkeiso at Fukyodai will not be easily forgotten. Spearheaded by Joe, my sempai, the representation of UCL was in good hands ... however, what happens there (onsen, sumo wrestling, infestation of alien-sized insects, etc.) stays there! All you'll get is a bit of kendo.

Living in the Mokkeiso, more or less a halls of residence for the kendokas of the university, was truly an amazing experience. The yakinikku + sushi welcome party, inclusive of free-flowing amber liquid, was enough to win me over. As with most cases, alcohol became the international language, and it didn't take long for everyone to warm up to us despite the initial language barrier. To be fair, their English was way better than my Japanese. So there we go.
The duration of my stay proved to be one of the most demanding kendo training I've ever experienced, minus a couple of camps in Thailand. The Kyushu summer sun worked wonderfully well in helping the dojo feel like an oven. It was hot and humid. At least the dojo floor was magnificent.

The first thing anyone will ever tell you about the dojo at Fukuoka Univerisity of Education was the warm-up ... God, that was the shocking to say the least. Most of them won't tell you much about it though, as the effect might be dampened. You'll just have to experience it, but I assure you there's nothing like it. After that, it is loads of kirikaeshi, uchikomi, some free waza (for kihon), then finally ji-keiko.

The time of practise varies depending on the day of the week, the most dreaded one was probably the Asa-keiko, having to get up as early as 5am. The rice and miso in the morning sure is a life saver though.

Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get much advice from M. Sumi sensei (8dan), except for his take on kakarikeiko. He'd rather us think of it as active kakarikeiko.
No matter, I still got loads of advice from good ol' Honda sensei. Tips on improving my Men cut, small and big, various ways to seme and keeping centre ... and as always he liked my kamae! So that's the positives, kendo wise, to takeaway from this Gasshuku. Of course, the memories and friends I've left there will've ensured that I'll head back there as soon as the next opportunity arises!