So, February 2nd 2012, in Ibaraki Budokan, Mito City. I will attempt sandan!!
Suzuki Sensei came to me recently with the information and I'm really looking forward to it!
I need to find out if the written test can be in completed in English, Suzuki Sensei is asking for me.
It'd be some job learning the answer in Japanese, but I think I could do it with the help of friends and some people here. To the best of my knowledge going a stock answer is perfectly acceptable in japan.
So. I need to get ready! Winter break is coming up, last keiko is on the 24th and I'm not sure when we start back.
I'll need to get working on kata everyday as well as at jikishinkan and in my other dojo's.
Most of the Sensei know now and have started pushing me a lot more in keiko with more uchikomi and kakarigeiko coming into it.
For the grading it's self I have to do
2x jigeiko
Tachi kata 1-7
(no kirikaeshi!)
It's pretty expensive however costing ¥10000 (€100 roughly) for the shinsa
And ¥12000 for successfully passing and registering.
That's just less thank €220
So. I'm going to enjoy my Christmas break. Let my feet relax a bit, and starting next year I'll e getting into shape for the WKC, first by grabbing the bull by both horns and passing sandan!
Want to say congratulations to Salmon Sensei for successfully passing his Kyoshi exam.
Geoff has always been a pleasure to train with and deal with regarding visiting Ireland. Constantly gives great advice on all things kendo, big and small. He also likes a few pints, as we all remember for "that" sayonara party!
Once again, congratulations Sensei!
お疲れ様でした！おめでとうございます！
One advantage of Yokose ES. Two of the teachers do kendo! They can speak alright english and talk to me everyday.
Trying to pick up some new words by translating a kendo manual. it's not an exact science as my Japanese is rubbish. But I will hopefully pick up a few new words that the Sensei in my dojo are probably saying to me all the time.
Today I learned おこりばな, relating to debanna men.
From what they said in English and physical examples. I've guessed it to mean.
The moment the aite lifts his arms to cut. Or the beginning of a cut.
They said 打つ瞬間
打つ is utsu (men "uchi") to strike, to hit.
瞬間 shun kan means moment or instant
So it means the moment of cutting or the instant of cutting.
From their demonstrations relating to debanna men/kote, it is the beginning of aites men cut. The point in which your debanna wants to land.
As they lift for men, bang your men hits. As they raise for men the kote is gone.
I don't think it means a flinch, for example you make seme, aite lifts his hands slightly, pauses, and then hits men. that is a different word. Possibly just "saki" or opening.
If anyone has a better translation or better way to express this word, I woul be most grateful!
I get the gist of it, so mission accomplished for today!
My disgustingly pink uniqlo room shoes. Yes yes yes. They had many other colors an patterns. But these were just so awful that I had to!
And my everlasting "sheepskin" converse. With a good pair of socks these things are amazing. Really warm!
The only let down is the sole. Its pretty cold!
Last night I practiced with the junior Highschool group again.
It was really good and I feel a lot ether after it!
First up was kirikaeshi, normal and then 50 cuts.
After that we did a weird version! Alot of the time people do kirikaeshi at that speed their arms end up extended and the cuts come from the wrists and elbows in stead if being big swings. Onuki Sensei made the point that sometimes your hands come over your head and the cut is not correct or sloppy.
So! We did it with our elbows tucked it at the do! Not stuck rigidly but they were kept down! So it was just an exercise using the forearms!
It made a difference to my men cut later in the practice.
We did about 5 sets of 30!!
We then did a lot of waza focusing around one type of seme or invitation
Kakrite steps in to distance, bends the left knee (and right a little) and almost drops it. Pushing the left hip forward at the same time. It really let's you burst forward when done properly. (Onuki Senseis demonstration was excellent) basically we used that move to invite the aite into attacking.
We did men, kote, aikote-men, (plus adding hiki men to the last two), kaeshi do, kote kaeshi kote, kote kaeshi kote-men, and kaeshi men!
The idea as always is that you make that movement with the intention of cutting. You don't wait, you step in with reason, hold/tame, and go when they flinch!
It works pretty well, though mine was pretty sloppy!
I got a few nice aikote men though! I need work more on the follow up hiki men. I think that kind of technique would really stand to me in Europe, a lot of people (myself included) would be caught out by it, as we tend to stop after forward attacks, I've tried to eliminate this from my kendo, but it's hard ne!
The most interesting was the kaeshi kote.
You step in, make the invitation, when aite comes for kote, you move your kensen to the right and catch the cut.
At this point Onuki Sensei made a point about tame, he repeated that word a few times! You catch the cut, tame/hold/pause and then cut the kote.
Obviously it has to be fast, but there was a definate mention of tame, and a clear pause when he demonstrated it. Also watching the stronger students it was clear they were pausing.
The kote zanshin can be backwards or forwards. (this is jhs stuff, so it's very shiai aimed btw!!)
After making the kaeshi you step diagonally to the left to make the kote.
Kote-men is similar but obviously a lot harder!! It made it easier going backwards if the aite tries to follow through on the kote, that way when you go back after you hit , they follow which makes the men easier to hit! Forwards is pretty tough as the kote and men have to be done so close to the target!
Last was kaeshi men. It was a lot like suriage though, but he defiantly said kaeshi!
The main idea was not to raise the arms too high. I don't think his hands came much above his chin. You turn your shinai slightly to the right, catch the aites men cut and with your fore arms and wrists, snap off a men cut.
The main point is that you shouldn't raise your arms too high. I don't know if it is "kaeshi men" as most people know it, but that's what he said!
Anyway. I'm on a break in school. Just thought I'd throw that out there real quick.
Thanks
Edit. I wrote this on my phone. So dont mind the spelling mistakes!
I think apple purposely made the new iPhones change things to incorrect spellings anyway. The cunts.
My new Kote arrive today, Tokuren Keishi Gata from Miayko Kendogu.
Very happy with them after one keiko. The fist is shaped a lot more than normal kote, and fits very well. The trim around the fist that keeps the tenouchi-gawa on is a bit stiff, but this will break in quickly (like my other kote from Miyako)
I'm very happy with them, I think in a month or two, when properly broken in they will be really great.
Tokuren Keishi-Gata Kote
Clockwise from top left. 5000 yen kote from Budogu Suzuki Keishi-gata kote Toru-Sempai's old kote 2.5 bu kote from Tozando
I was a little wound up so I found it hard to settle at first. I kept taking the lead as shidachi by mistake.
But, after a quick reminder and a moment to get my head together the rest of the lesson went ok. I did my best to do the things he told me the last time. Making sure that shidachi's counter cuts flowed in one motion.
He pointed out my mistakes but this time we did a lot more repetition rather than explanation.
Kata 3
The initial distance is closer than tip to tip.
Uchidachis parry (I must find the correct name of this waza) should take the centre away from shidachi. If shidachi were to walk forwards they would be impaled on your sword.
The movements should be done with the wrists. And it seemed as If the right hand was staying in the centre while the left hand was doing the work. Both hands should be loose and the wrists quick to do it right. it's not a harai or anything like that.
Kata 5.
The suriage should come to jodan and not swing back further.
Kata 6.
Uchidachi should be at a closer distance than tip to tip for the small kote.
For shidachi, the suriage should be made as the left foot steps and the cut on the right. The suriage doesn't need to be "wound up" by drawing the sword to the left before making the suriage. Just move the sword to the right, It should just be a sweep to the right using the shape of the bokken to deflect.
Kata 7. We went through this alot!
The initial tsuki
Uchidachi makes a tsuki turning the bokken slightly so the blade faces out to the right. like this \ with the hasuji being on the bottom.
Shidachi responds by pushing out his arms and turning the bokken so the blade faces to the left / (again blade on the bottom)Stepping back at the same time. While keeping the arms extended. There should be a moment of tension as you both retune to chudan.
Uchidachis shonogi and shidachis blade (not hasuji) should be touching.
This tsuki shouldn't be too high. It's not over the head. It's a tsuki.
Uchidachi makes the men strike. Shidachi does nuki do.
Steps in 1 2 3
1. Right foot slightly forward and diagonal. Lift the sword using the right hand so it is straight up and slightly to the left of centre.
2. Brin the left foot past the right, again moving diagonally. turning the foot so that the inside faces in the direction you are moving.
Cut do. Actually cut.
This has to be done quickly. Like kote men. Pan-pan
3. Bring the right foot forwards and sweep the kensen through the opponents body. Make eye contact as you go through. Then drop onto one knee. The sword should be held out to the right. The sword should be held so that it is level. With the blade facing to your rear.
Kobayashi said an absolute gem here.
I love to get the actually Japanese for it. But basically. The sword should be so flat that water would rest on it and not flow off either the edge or along the length.
Eye contact should be made as soon as you pass through. Uchidachis gaze should follow shidachi as he passes.
Shidachi makes zanshin with waki no kamae. Both turn to face each other. Shidachi squares the body and brings the bokken from waki through jodan and into chudan no kamae. Uchidahi pivots and takes jodan with the left foot forward and then chudan by drawing the left foot back.
Uchidachi takes a step back drawing shidachi to his feet.
Shidachi steps from the left foot to rise, the right foot goes through and you take regular chudan.
Both circle around to the centre don't cross your feet as that Would take you off balance.
As I digest the knowledge more I'll edit this.
Again Kobayashi Sensei showed endless patience. I struggled to understand his japanese. But I could follow his body moments fairly well. I look forward to the day I can communicate better with him!
Just thinking about getting paid my first real pay cheque tomorrow is making me shiver.
I CANT WAIT. Im going to buy sooo many things for my apartment, and ill put a load of pictures up when im done.
Ill also have money to buy my ticket for the All Japans, which is on on thursday. BOOM.
And for Nanami and my combined birthday present. Two tickets to TOKYO DISNEY LAND.
Still not sure which we will go to, We went to Disney sea last year, and id like to go to Disney Land this time.
Last night we took a trip to Mutsumi in Chiba, me Ben and Zarrah drove down to meet Tony and we had an awesome night out for halloween. Ill make a post after i recover from my hang over!
Its not surprising to hear news about the euro being in crisis.
I was working as a lounge boy all those years ago when they introduced the Euro. The first thing i noticed was the phallus in place of scandanavian peninsula.
Last week I went to Kata practice in the dojo in Omigawa dojo, i really must find out the propper name of it........
ok, so I havent dont Kata alot since Nidan, with looking after beginners and the changing around of halls I dont think too many of us in DKK got time for it this year! I did make an effort to get teh movements of the 3 Kodachi Kata into my head before i left though.
Right, well first off, I dont know enough Japanese. Kobayashi Sensei was taking me and another younger guy (going for sandan in November second year HS student) through the first 5 kata. He let us run through them once, of which I was grateful.
I thought to my self "I know the movements of the Kata well enough, while not 100%, i know when to stick my left leg in and when to shake it about, more or less."
WRONG
basicly after the first run through, Kobayashi sensei took my whole kata apart. It was very frustrating for both of us. Kobayashi Sensei, speaks a little English, but was not speaking it that night. I understand kendo, to an extent, and kata to, so I could determine, "what" he was talking about, even though I didnt know what he was eally saying. I mean, I got the general idea, but perhaps the deeper meaning was lost on me!
I think, perhaps, it would have been better to let me run through them a few times getting used to the footwork and movements again, rather than taking every movement apart. While I 100% appriciate Kobayashi Senseis effort and patience, I think it would have been easier for both of us to keep the explanations down to a minimum for the first while. what would i know though!! damn nidans!
Lets start from the beginning. these are just the things he pointed out to me, not going to be the same for everyone. Alot of the things said, i already knew, but i made a ton of mistakes so it was good to have everything pointed out! there were times when he would ask me a question and I simply couldnt understand, i knew the answer in english, but either i couldnt explain, or i just didnt understand the initial question. Fair play to him for sticking with it for an hour and a half!
Kata 1
Shidachi.
The kensen should point more upwards in Migi jodan.
the nuki men should be more in the timing of one, Ichibyoshi? foot work should be better
after cutting teh nuki men, the kensen should lower to the eyes, the left had should be used to bring the bokken to hidari jodan.
Uchidachi
Again kensen should be a little higher
The first cut is aimed at the tsuka of the opponent. After you cut, remain eye contact (metsuke) with the opponent, dont look down, also dont lower you head too far. .
Kata 2
Shidachi
cut should be in timing of one. Left foot was sticking all night as i tried to move. but it was the fact that i made the nuki kote into two movements that was incorrect. Step back and to the side with the left foot, lower the kensen as the right foot follows, when the right foot gets to its usual place, dont stop it, but keep it moving, return the kote cut and bring up the left foot.
ill have to draw that to explain it, its like the right foot doesnt stop, the left foot goes back, and the right foot draws a V as you draw it towards the left and slide it forwards again.
Uchidachi
no really big comments, just make the cut a bit lower.
Kata 3
for both he said that the initial distance should be closer. a little more than tip to tip.
Shidachi
so, the left hand does not move for the checking of the tsuki. it stays in the centre. the right hand and the shinogi are used to deflect the tsuki.
as you step back with the left foot, the bokken stays slightly forwards, you draw it back with the right foot and immediately should "flow" forwards with the first of shidachis two tsuki seme attacks.
again the right foot doesnt stop, its all one movement.
the return tsuki is to the chest.
Uchidachi
the first tsuki is to the solar plexus. Or the Mizuochi みずおち
the deflections of shidachis tsuki attacks should leave you in a good position. If shidachi steps forwards, your kensen should touch him while his is safely deflected
Kata 4 - lots in this one
Shidachi
Waki kamae. the hands should be lower than i had them, "almost" fully extended.
the hasuji should face out, not down
the right hand should also grip the tsuka firmly.
same applies for both, bring the bokken into propper jodan for the ai men. the distance should be no more than half way down the two bokken.
for the kaeshi/block, again the same idea, ichibyoshi, one movement. the bokken should move to your side up through jodan and cut the head in one movement
Uchidachi
tsuba more inline with the mouth.
stepback if needed after the ai men
tsuki is too the opponents right chest. between the ribs
maintain eye contact/metsuke
Kata 5
Shidachi
suriage men is one movement, mine was pretty good he said (yeah!! watch out Jodan players!)
zanshin was also good.
Uchidachi
the men cut is to the chin. of the face, not the japanese meaning of chin. which is willy.
lower the kensen to below the knee after the suriage
Right, well, we also did kata 6 and 7 but he didnt really say much about them as we only got time to do them once.
One of the big things Kobayashi kept pointing out was metsuke, which is the way you look at your opponent. Enzan no Metsuke, looking at a far mountain. For those who dont know, in kendo kata, and kendo its self, you should not make direct eye contact with your opponent. you should avoid looking at specific targets and rather try to see everything at once.
im not qualified to explain it really, but if you have ever looked at your hand and been able to "see through it" this is the same idea. You look at the whole opponent rather that just the eyes.
Having said that, I do remember doing keiko with Paquet sensei last year, and nearly shitting myself when we made eye contact. Unbelievably scary.
right, well i hope that made sense. Im struggling with information processing at teh moment as i am studying japanese to beat the band, working like a sexy work machine and kendoing like a deamon too. Pretty tired over all, but i love it really.
Today I heard about a taikai in my dojo. The Kentou taikai! its the east Ibaraki Highschool Kendo taikai. With schools from Kamisu, Kashima, Hasaki being represented as well as other places that I dont know the names of!
It was an Individual Taikai, and I thought the level was quite high. there was not too much typical highschoolishness!! Towards the end some of the kendo was excellent, one or two of the boys were seriously strong and the girls we quite impressive too!
I didnt catch the names of the winning shcools, but in both men and womens one school took all the medals (different schools for men and women)
After the taikai there was a Keiko kai I had gone back home for my bogu earlier so I ran to get ready. I got dressed, met one or two of the sensei and went up to the dojo!
I got quite a few looks, but once people saw the Kamisu Kids said hello to me they didnt look so shocked!
I sat down to take out my bogu and was pretty astonished by the amount of people there. Probably around 100 people there students sensei and local people. there was a reat atmosphere!
I got ready and was immediately asked by a kid from Kamisu yonchu (no 4 JHS) We did about 10 mins keiko which i really enjoyed! the hang over wasnt effecting me too much!!
I was trying out lots of waza and getting some success.
By then a small que had formed for me which was pretty nice! there were plenty of Sensei there and I kind of wanted to do keiko with them, but I enjoyed my little que! I was lucky too, I was right next to the doors/windows so it was nice and cool!! maybe thats why there was a que?
In an hour i did about 8 or 9 keikos with students, it was really really good fun! I was really enjoying my self and trying to do nice kendo/encourage the kids etc. It was quite funny all the kids had big grins on their faces, I wonder what they were thinking?
My last keiko was against one of the older students, around 17 i think he was! Good kendo, nice solid kamae and good posture. I really enjoyed that keiko, we were both giving it everything!
After keiko was finished, the sensei called seiretsu, I went to go to the end of the line, but one of the Kamisu Sensei said no, I should go to the high side! I was a bit shocked to be honest. I sometimes sit there after the Childrens class but this was different, there were maybe 20-25 sensei and then hordes of students infront of me, I got a few funny looks and felt a little awkward/out of place. But sure when in rome!
All the people i did keiko with came to me at the end and said thanks I thanked them all and tried my best to mention something about our keiko!
one girl tried to fold my bogu, but not a chance! that would be too far!
Over all I had a great day, my hanger over is gone, I got to talk to the kids from the club as well as meet some of the other HS/university age people from Kamisu. I had a little bit more confidence with my Japanese after teh Enkai last night!
Tomorrow i will take part in the 36th Joso Kendo taikai in Toride city. 常総剣道大会
It is supposed to be fairly big, and there is quite a few people from KamisuKen going! there will be competitions for, elementary school, JHS and adults. Im not sure if there is an adults team event.
This is my first taikai in Japan, and hopefully not the last. I dont know if any Irish person has ever competed in Japan?
My goal is simple. Kendo starts and ends with Rei. So if I can go there and do proper reigi at the beginning and end of my match then I will be happy. Im representing my country, club, and foreign kendo in general. I want to show that we know what we are doing and how important reigi is to kendoka outside Japan.We dont just know how to wack each other with sticks!!
Being realistic, there is little possibility of me doing very well. Tomorrow is a national holiday, so I imagine this is a big deal for a lot of people. Im expecting tough competition! I have represented Ireland twice, once disastrously, so I know what state of mind I have to be in, and hopefuly I can keep cool tomorrow and get my self focused. Of course I want to score an ippon, and win a match, but if I can come away with a good performance ill be happy.
I did quite well and Mumeshi last year and in the INC. I hope I can find that kind of form/confidence again while I am here, but it will be a long steep path! I hope tomorrow is a good learning experience for me and that I can do myself and Irish Kendo proud!!
Ill have whole troupe of JHS kids supporting me too! YEAH! GO KIDS!
Ill update this post tomorrow after I come home!!
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Ok so yesterday was a great day! I really enjoyed my self!
We met at 6am at Kamisu city hall, Suzuki Sensei, Onuki Sensei, Noguchi Sensei and Terashima Sensei were all there as well as about 12 ES and JHS kids, Terashima Senseis son was also there. Onuki Sensei works at the city hall and had borrowed a bus to take us to Toride. We followed the Tone river most of the way, which was pretty quick i have to say (might be worth taking that route to some other places rather than pay for highways)
On arrival the JHS kids took all the stuff off the bus and went to mingle with their kendo mates, I stayed and talked to Terashima sensei and his son, who, like his father appears too cool for school!
8 o clock came and Suzuki Sensei said it was time to go. We headed for the sports complex which was up some cool stairs. After the stairs, came the stares. There were loads of people there waiting out side the building and i got many second glances!
from the bus
cool stairs, lots of them too!
dojo statue and crowd
statue, looks like something from Robots!
Entrance
Sports complex map
Once we had got in and settled I went with the kids to help them warm up, they then had to line up for the opening ceremony so I returned to our seats. The kids had to sit through about 45 mins of speaches and then demonstrations of Kendo no Kata and some Koryu! the whole time in seiza!!
after warm up
opening ceremony
The Taikai had competitions for ES Male and female, JHS male and female, HS male and female, and adults 3rd dan and below, and 4th dan and above. I didnt notice any ladies in the adults taikai, but there may have been some! There were 8 shiai jo and the competition ran as smooth as a whistle all day.
Our seats were right above shiaijo 1, so i got a great view of the HS competition, there were some great ippons scored and some almighty Highschool style flourishes. The matches lasted 5 mins, after which there was a 2 minute encho, after which there was another 2 mins encho, and after that hantei.
Im 100% sure if that happened in the JHS, but i saw hantei in the ES category. There was even hantei in the sandan below devision, but I only saw it once.
About 30 mins before the start of the sandan shiai Hiyashi Sensei asked me if i wanted to go for warm up practice. I went with him and Otsuka-san to a small but beautiful dojo where there were many people practicing and warming up. I was once again stared out of it, especially by a group of HS girls! (not strictly a bad thing!)
We did about 20 mins of warm up, kirikaeshi, men, kote, kote men, dgote etc. Hiyashi sensei is unreal, he is 26, godan, probably weighs 100kgs, an absolute power house and his kendo is excellent, he is the sensei at Kamisu HS, and im really hoping i can go there for keiko regularly. Otsuka san was 24 and yondan, also very good, but not a tank! His kote was brilliant!
Practice room (this was after my shiai)
I went back out to the main hall, met with Terashima-san who was also competing in 3below, we got our Kamisu Budokan tasuki and went down to the competition floor. Again stared out of it, by all the cool dudes and referees, but sure fook it.
I was in the 4th shiai on my shiai-jo so i put my men on straight away. Hiyashi sensei and Otsuka-san had come down to support and the JHS captain came down too.
The shiai before me was a buy, so I went to the line to get ready. I wasnt nervous as such, as I have represented Ireland before and lost, so the fear of defeat wasnt really an issue. But I knew I was being watched.
My opponent came to the line and we stepped in. I made a nice sonkyo and stood up quickly after Hajime. I imediatly put pressure forwards and went for feint-men kote, I got the opening but I hit the tsuba. I heard a reassuring OOOHHHH from the supporters above me. My opponent was very strong, especially in tsubazeriai, I tried my best to keep my feet moving and hands strong rather than pushing and shoving, and we separated back to distance. Ine the beginning I was attacking more and trying to create openings with harai and osae, but his kamae was very strong. He kept trying to hit men from far, so it was easy enough to block or try to get a counter attack. I was trying to get debanna men (or at least ai-men) but he wasnt taking teh bait. Id say I lasted about 3 mins before his first ippon which was a thunderous Kote-men. HIs second came about 10 seconds after the restart, I went for men (which i thought i got) then I went for de-kote. From tsubazeriai he got a hiki men, I chased quickly but I knew it was an ippon. I stopped, nodded shinai and went back to the line. I made sure to do propper sonkyo and reigi on the way out and that was that.
I wasnt disappointed really as I hadnt been expecting anything. Noguchi sensei was there and said I could have scored men, but maybe my Ki ken tai was a little off so they didnt give it. He was happy enough as were the rest of the sensei.
Ive only been here 2 months, I didnt do any preparation really. But to be honest, I think next time I will at least score an ippon. My thoughts during the match after the first minute or so, were focused on the aite, rather than focusing on my own kendo and trying to be the one to dominate/make the oportunities, putting him under pressure. I started to watch my opponent too much. This led to me waiting, and eventually led to his ippon. Tsubazeriai is the worst part of my kendo too, and he was alot stronger there so I have to work on that more.
My opponent was defiantly stronger than me, and he went on to be in the best 8. From talking to one of the mothers who I discovered spoke good English I found out that he was joining the Police via kendo.
The rest of the day was free time so I relaxed and watched the shiai, Terashima-san won two matches and scored some really great ippon. He is only 20 and pretty strong. Hiyashi sensei lost his first match and went out. One of the JHS boys got best 16, and one girl got best 8!
stage and Sandan/Yondan quarter finals
The Sandan final was great, but the guy I had been following all day lost :( , He had a similar dou to me, so you know, respec...
The yondan plus final was fought between Jodan and Chudan. The jodan guy had been demolishing people all day, he was seriously strong. He eventualy won the match in encho with a really good two handed kote. A bit bendy and definalty very shiai, but if you watch the video, you can see its a really well executed cut, pretty nice technique!
Final
Final Encho
closing ceremony
The closing ceremony lasted about 30 mins, and there were not nearly as many people there by then.
Once everything was wrapped up, we got our gear packed away and went to get the bus home. It took around 2 hours to get back, and I slept most of the way. Arriving in Kamisu just before 8 we said our goodbyes, the sensei's said their few words and congratulations and off we went. I went from some food with the other ALTS, and after that I slept. Like a baby.
I put the videos in once they are loaded on youtube!
One of the older female teachers in my local school gave me a present this afternoon. A small bottle of green tea and two large slices of Japanese pear. skinned and pipped in a little bag.
I just ate one half of it, and my god, it is delicious. I took a bite and nearly cried it was so good. It made me shiver and close my eyes. It really is amazing, orgasmic even.
wow! it has been quite a while!!
the heat has basicly been unbearable keeping me in an almost unconscious state for the alst few weeks.
With work returning from september 1st ive also had to readjust the body clock!!
Things are going well, School is fun, classes are still enjoyable. Got my car so Kamisu/hasaki/kashima and Choshi are now mine to explore!
Kendo is going well, ive been training alot with the JHS group, seriously hard keiko at the moment, lots of Oikomi geiko and "piggy in the middle" keiko! We are also doing quite a bit of chain attacks .
eg, Ai kote - men, mowari hikimen, with motodachi chasing and doing ai kote men, and hikimen. really really tough, cant get the hang of taiatari at all! these guys weigh probably 2/3rds? of me? and they just bounce me around!
technique!!
Anyway, the most important thing is that
I have my first Shiai in japan coming up on teh 19th!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its supposed to be pretty big, and it is on in Toride which is here http://g.co/maps/pm6bp
I cant wait for this as it will be a whole dojo trip! Kids and adults meeting at 6am and taking a bus!
I hope i get to practice my japanese and pick up some phrases!!
my goal is to just do well. an ippon would be a bonus, but ill take a decent performance and be happy with that!
Well, last night, I went to keiko in Ohnohara-sho (onohara elemnetary school)
It was a beautiful cool evening. Seriously, like being back home, A soft warmish breeze and no humidity, the whole day and been cold and wet with a light rain. Very nostalgic!
So, anyway, keiko!
30 mins warm up - i actually felt more pain from the last warm up than the last keiko, Its soo good to stretch everything out, and these guys only practice once a week (i think) so they really have a long warm up. We did lots of suburi too, which is great too!
After that we had 30 mins of Kihon keiko. Lovely says I. last time i was there, I was dead in about 5 mins. I couldnt finish the jigeiko portion i was just dead. But yesterday, we had Irish weather, so I was able to open the tanks and really push myself.
DISCLAIMER : This was my night. And I was totally in the zone from the start. Ive had enough sessions over here where i have been worse than I ever was ever in ireland, so im allowed to brag about my one good session.
We did
3 x kirikaeshi
3 x 5 men uchi, "dai furikaburi" and chiisai. From isokuitto
2 x 5 debanna kote starting from toma, stepping in and cutting. I did really well at this, as i said ive been practicing it in Keiko.
2 x nuki do. Using a very small up swing and pushing the left hand up the tsuka. I was able to get a good few of these, which surprised me. My do before i left Ireland completely fell apart, and I have barely practiced it here except the odd "osae do/gyaku do" I wasnt stepping forward to the right but I was using the tips Geoff Salmon posted on http://kendoinfo.net/ Cut straight out in front with your arms extended. Easy.
1 x Kaeshi do. again, havent dont this in ages. But I was able to stay still, catch the incoming men cut and make the do cut quickly, and then move to the right.
2 x tsuki. I got a bit carried away at this stage! My tsuki was maybe a bit to much! they were all on target though! and I have a nice collection of new bruises and scrapes to go with it!
2 x tskui - suriage/kaeshi/harai men This is something Toru thought me back in the day!! I always try to do it to lee but with no joy! It worked ok tonight, when the tsuki comes in, make a sharp harai and cut men. I kept going backwards though, which isnt good. Sometimes i went back before making the men cut.
the sensei then did another exercise which i found to be really really interesting. On any other night, I would have made a mess of it, but like I said, I was in the zone.
The motodachi attacks with tsuki. The kakarite stays in chundan and simply uses the shape of the shinai to deflect the tsuki. Then cut men when the opening is there.
I got this straight away. While some people were trying to move forwards and cut men as the tsuki came in, I realised that the idea is to stay on the spot. Dont move forwards or push your hands forwards, just keep centre, maybe with a little extra pressure to make sure the opponents shinai gets deflected. As they get closer your shinai is safely deflecting theirs, so you can just lift up and cut men, from here, move forwards and go through, or make static zanshin. (again, something Geoff Salmon said to us at a seminar came back to me. When he makes suriage men, he just "cuts men" letting teh shinai keep the center, and deflecting the opponents shinai without trying to make an arc, or sweeping motion.) This bit of advice really made this technique work for me. I got the chance to practice it against the sensei, who was very happy "Sou Sou Sou, John san, Ie desu! jyouzu!"
Again, forgive me, but it was my night.
After that we did jigeiko, I did 4 one with two guys who are roughly the same level as me. They were fairly even jigeiko with some good cuts coming my way. Japanese kendoka have the belief that i dont have to just attack. this i believe comes from years of kakarigeiko. Even kendoka who are twice my age are able to whip me around in this way. One that that keeps happening is I get caught as I turn., I know this is because of my bad footwork, and that i am not going through fast enough or far enough. I usually dont have this problem back home, with time, and making sure to always keep it in mind this will improve. Many people dont even wait till i turn, they just seem to like hitting me on teh shoulder or on teh back of the head!
Japanese kendoka also have great mowari and hiki waza, something which has long be a bad point for me. Hopefully when i go for keiko in the HS i can try practice this more.
Following this I did two keiko with the top two guys there. First a 6th dan and second a 7th dan. My keiko with Suzuki sensei last week brought back my fighting spirit, and I was able to use it well in these fights.
Both sensei had very strong Kamae keeping center and very solid. I used the advice given to me in Yanai senseis dojo about keeping my kamae straighter, as well as some tips from Gabor Sensei about using different movements of the kensen. (of course both of these sensei were far above me in skill) but they gave me openings and let me have cuts when I made good attacks, and If i may say so i got some nice ippon during the jigeiko. I also recieved my fair share, especially of debanna men. I try to end each keiko with a string of ai men, before i get asked for ippon shobu.
Against the 6th dan in ippon shobu, I got a nice katsugi - kote-men, i was very happy with it, as it just came out of the blue. the sensei was really happy with it.
In the next keiko against the 7th dan, I knew it was the last one, so I was giving it everything, and he was encouraging me to do so. We did ippon shobu at the end, and i was really trying to get that point. It had the feeling or a real shobu, very tense, neither giving an inch. We came together for ai men, but neither got the ippon, (Ive been teaching my self to not step back in these situations with my shinai lowered, and to use proper footwork) As we stepped back, i saw the sensei lower his shinai to the right, I kept kamae, and from toma stepped in to about isokuitto no maai, the sensei started to move forwards and bring his shinai up, and without thinking, I cut men. Ippon. I was deeeelireh!
During both keiko, I felt so focused, and concentrated. I really have to try to make the effort to recreate that kind of feeling in all my keiko.
I really pushed my self for this keiko, and i think i will be able to push my self more from here on. I really enjoyed being able to compete on the same level as the Japanese, rather than huffing and puffing in 30-34 degree 100% humidity as normal.
Forgive me if this comes across as arrogant!
Also, Despite my cooking space limitations, I am still a considering myself a culinary WIZARD.
Teriyaki Chicken with Onion, moyashi carrot and green pepper. Over Rice. BOOM
Basicly, ive just been chilling out at home. Studying Japanese and watching a bit more TV.
I met with Nanami in Ikebukuro on Saturday 20th, we had some lunch in burger king (special offer) and had a great time at the Sunshine City Aquarium. Im really excited to go back to Sunshine City! It seems amazing! Me and Nanami got on really well, which was great! I really need to improve my Japanese though, its not fair that we only talk in English!
There was a kendo break for about a week, so I went back on Thursday the 18th. I felt a bit refreshed after the break but i kind of had leg cramps from sitting on this rubbish chair in my apartment all the time!! I only did 3-4 jigeiko on Thursday. On Saturday evening, Nanami was going to a DCU reunion, so I returned to Kamisu to try get to kendo. there was a que of about 100 people for my bus!! I couldnt believe it!! It was quite busy in the morning when i was leaving, but this que was NUTS! no other bus had such a long line!! I got a bus at 6:10, made it back to Kamisu at 7:30, i flew home picked up my bogu and made it to start keiko at about 8:02!!
It was a fairly good session, I went to Suzuki sensei first as he was the last to get ready. I haven't done keiko with him since maybe my first week in Kamisu? He is usually last to get ready as he looks after the kids and talks to some parents, and I think he is helping some people get ready for shinsa?
We did 20 mins of Keiko, and I really felt like it was good. He is quite a strong kenshi with 7th dan, and is quite fast and agressive> the fact that I was in a rush to get to kendo, get changed and get started kind of had me in a different mind set, I wasnt thinking, and I was just "doing", I did a lot more mowari waza, which I havent been doing at all over here. I felt like I had a lot more "mind contact" during this keiko than any others, and that I was having more of a effect with my seme and pressure. I made a few good attacks and felt pretty good with my overall fighting spirit.
Following that I did Keiko with his son! He is 15, and really really fast! To be honest, I was knackered after my keiko, and feeling the "no warm up" So I kind of took it easy, Tried to just focus on making seme and then watching his reactions as well as trying to do ai men and debanna men. We did ippon shobu and I turned it on then, but he got a beautiful hiki men in the end!
Lastly I went to Konuki sensei, he has been really nice to me since I got here, his kendo is great, and he always has fun when we do keiko, his foot work is amazing, and he loves to just dodge my attacks and do nuki or kaeshi men from any angle. He has been trying to get me to make my attacks less obvious, Its had to know exactly what he is saying, but I think he means that he can see my atacks comming, you know that "seme............(here itcomes)..................men". To be honest, Im kind of lumbering around the place at the moment! Footwork is improving, and im trying to be more explosive.
At the end of the keiko we did a few men cuts, and he was trying to explain something, but I really dont know what he was trying to say.
I was watching some videos of the recent highschool competitions, especially moments when both go for men. and one scores. As you get more experienced at kendo, I suppose you start to see more? And this time, I was kind of able to notice who "started" the cut (while before I just would have looked for who was fastest or who hit first, if you know what I mean) I noticed that on a very basic level, the two would be at toma, and usually the one that took that first step in would be the one to score, it always happens so quickly and i never noticed that before. I guess they are taking that step with the intention of it leading to debanna men. They step in, slight pause sometimes, and go straight for men. Most of the attacks like this result in the person taking the initiative scoring the point.
I know for a fact that when I step in ,9 times out of 10, I stop. Because I dont have the confidnace in my seme or attacks, or the experience to see the opening. Ive been trying to counter this by attacking more, but not by just attacking wildly with no purpose.
When Emanuel Sensei was over in Dublin just before I left, he did this practice where we just did ai men, 6 times, quickly, turning fast and imidiatly going again. then change, no rei ,just go, do it fast and get exhausted. I realy felt something during this keiko, the tiredness brought out a focus and single mindedness, and I was even able to get the men against someone the height of Jason, ive tried to keep that idea in my head when I go for men or debanna men.
Ive realised over the past few months that there are times when stepping in with purpose, and with the sole/soul? intention of cutting a certain target, often leads to debanna (some of the kote I got at the INC were like this). Where as before I would step in, look, and then, its too late.
So this is what I have been trying to do. And from watching those videos it seems to be how these guys score those ippon!!
So back to my keiko with the Sensei. I think he was saying the same thing. That I need to step in with more purpose, rather than stepping in, stepping back, and then being caught as I step back in again. (and maybe even stepping in with pressure, tame, and then explode when the opponent moves?) He kept making a gesture with his hands, kind of showing me how one persons shinai would actaully be on top? depending on how you attack. And he also as I made the first step into distance, he would step back, I chased him with two quick steps and went for men, but he shook his head and stopped me. Maybe he was trying to show me how I should step in, tame, and if the opponent steps back, keep the pressure and wait for him to step forwards and then attack??
Blegh I dont know!! Its so hard to understand!! I have to improve my Japanesesesesesese!
If anyone has any ideas on any of the above, please let me know!
I know its a bit al over the place, but I find it hard to put down on paper/screen!
Oyako don is a really popular Japanese Donburi dish, and is pretty tasty!!
Its made with Chicken and Egg, and is served in a donburi (large bowl) on top of hot rice.
Oya means parent and Ko means child, so clever eh??
So here are the ingredients!
Onion
Mitsuba
Mirin
Shoyu (soy sauce)
Cooking Sake
And of course parent and child. Chicken and Egg.
First step is to mix the ingredients for the sauce.
1 tbsp of shoyu
1/2 tbsp mirin
1/2 tbsp sake
1 cube of sugar
Enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.
Most recipes call for dashi stock, but I didnt have any, so I used a drop of mentsuyu (noodle dipping sauce) which was made using konbo (which is a main ingredient in dashi)
Mix these ingredients in the pan and bring to the boil. Add chopped onions and simmer for about 2 mins.
Next add chicken
Cover with the lid and simmer for about 5 mins, or untill chicken is cooked
Covered pan
Chicken Cooked!
Next lightly whisk the two eggs, pour about 3/4's of the egg over the chicken and sauce, stir lightly and cover for 2 mins.
After 2 mins, add the rest of the egg and the mitsuba. Cover with the lid and turn off the heat. Let settle and serve over hot rice.
Im no master chef, but I was pretty happy with this dinner! The photos are from my iphone, so may not look the most appetising!
In future, I would increase the amount of shoyu and mirin in the sauce, just a little bit. I dont think I added too much water, but the flavour was a little weak, practice makes perfect right??
I also cooked the egg a bit too much. Im not sure how runny it is supposed to be, but alot of the videos ive seen have very runny egg.
This morning I received my new Tokuren keikogi from Miayako Kendogu. This is a synthetic type of keikogi and is my first time trying a non cotton keikogi.
The last few times ive been to keiko it has been extremely hot, Im talking "I think im going to faint or throw up" hot. As a result of that both my hakama and keikogi wind up completely soaked through, as if they had just come out of the wash... gross...
I have seen many of the JHS kids wearing synthetic keikogi that look like wetsuits, in that there is no texture to the material its just smooth. Now they must be good, because ive seen them everywhere, and allll the kids have them. but they look rubish, so I said id go for the Tokuren as it looks more like a real keikogi!
Initial impression is that it is really really really light!
Having of course tried it on its very comfortable, and fits very well. It looks a little odd to me, because im so used to cotton, but the weight alone is outstanding. Im really looking forward to wearing it tonight!
Few photos!
Keikogi as a whole, looks nice, solid color and nice pattern.
Went for my surname just to see how it looks. Think I prefer it to ジョン
Keikogi inside and outside
This is actually the sleeve of the keikogi, I wanted to show how thin it is and how light the material. You can actually see right through it!!
Ill edit this later once I have used it for keiko, im pleased so far!
Ok! So I have now used it for keiko!
Its amazing. Its like wearing a football jersey, it really kept me cool during keiko and I think I didnt sweat as much. At the moment temperature is around 30-34 with evening temperatures of around 28-29, but its very humid. I didnt notice the heat as much when I wore this keikogi, and I didnt feel like I wanted to get sick either!
The keikogi is really comfortable to wear and doesnt cling to the skin (which I thought it would) It looks the part compared to other cotton types and looks far superior to the cheaper synthetic keikogi.
I washed it right after practice and it was bone dry the next morning. If I was practicing everyday, it would be ideal.
I didnt notice any difference between this and a cotton keikogi when getting struck off the bogu.
Over all the initial impression is very positive. Chances are that I will end up wearing it more than my other dogi, so I will have to see how it stands the test of time. I am certain I saw cotton dogi of similar thickness (thinness really) when I was in Tokyo, so I must check out the prices there for comparison.
A good product from Miyako Kendogu. Happy out.
Price
8000 + 2000 (for name embroidery) = 10000円 with a 600 yen delivery charge. Not bad.
We slept for 3 hours, and woke up at 5 am. After much deliberation, it was decided that we would return to bed. so that we would be fresh for the days labours.....
aaaaaannyway.
We left the hostel at 11, feeling very refreshed and headed to Ueno to meet Nanami (dun dun dun)
Its been a long time since we saw each other last, last September actually.
We met her at 12, and went for some lunch in Ueno, we had some nice sushi (which was quite cheap) and I played the big man/sempai and paid for it (I was shocked at how cheap it was, I think they may have made a mistake!)
When we left the place, it was absolutely lashing, really hammering down! We found some umbrellas and made our way to the Tokyo Natural History Museum, we got pretty wet, but sure, its only rain!
We qued for around 40 mins, but it was well worth it, they had dinosaurs and some pretty cool displays of other animals and some cool science stuff, i would defiantly go back again!
Irish Dinosaur _ Murphi
Triceratops or トリケラトプス
T rex
grow up lee
We had a Whale of a time. bahahhahahhaha. yeah
Lee had to head home so we went back and got our stuff and said good bye in Tokyo station, we had another bromance hug and only cried a little bit! Was really good to see Lee in JAPAN! yeah! more keiko next time!!!
Nanami and myself walked around Nihombashi and the area near the station, eventually returning to the station for some dinner in the Daimaru Department store. We went to a fancy Tonkatsu restaurant and I had a nice pork dish (kind of like pork chops) while Nanami had a Katsudon. If im honest, I was well jealous of the Katsudon, it look delicious!
We went to a coffee shop in the basement of the station, which would put many Irish shopping centers to complete shame btw! We had a nice talk over some coffee and tea, I gave her her present, disney t-shirt and Flounder teddy from teh Dublin Disney store. It went well, so lets see what happens?
I saw her to Ueno, right to the platform, tried not to embarrass her too much! We said good bye, and hopefully we will see each other again soon!
I went back to Tokyo station, got my bag, and go right onto a bus that was waiting there, sometimes I can have such a goldilocks effect when it comes to timing! I got home and all by 10:30 on Wendesday night, washed my stinky dogi, chatted to Nanami on Skype and fell into bed around 12 pm exhausted.
BUT, i stayed awake reading A Dance with Dragons for about 2 hours!! holy crap, its awesome, fuck you George RR Martin, seriously, get the F-ing finger out and write the next book you twat! 5 years??? come on!
I had a great two days, and again fell more in love with Tokyo, it really is an amazing city, so full of life and complete lunacy!
Hi, my name is John. I started Kendo in my home country of Ireland in 2008 and later moved to Japan where I practiced Kendo intensively for four years. I lived, worked and practiced in New York City for a while before returning home. I now live in Dublin working as an engineer and practicing kendo a Dublin Kendo Kobukai.
