Nanseikan Kendo Club 南西館剣道クラブ

Monsoonal rain and warm temperatures have lately made for an authentic taste of Japanese summer, so... Saturday 17 December is the annual Nanseikan Shochugeiko, from 9am until 5pm, at Nanseikan Dojo in Heidelberg West. People of all skill levels and ages, including those not yet wearing bogu, are most welcome. 'Shochugeiko' means practice in the middle of summer. Mid December isn't as hot as it gets here, as we all know, but it is a convenient time to farewell the year before we all go our different ways over the Christmas break. As a gesture to all VKR members who are full-time students, the cost of the Kangeiko will be only $10.00 for the day.  The cost otherwise is $20, which is purely to cover hire of the hall. Please RSVP to me by Friday 16 December.  Hope to see members from all the VKR clubs! b PS - Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Nanseikan Kendo Club, so keep an eye out for some special celebratory events.

   On Monday 14 November 2011, Nagae sensei passed away peacefully in Tokyo. Nagae sensei's importance for Australian Kendo cannot be underestimated. Along with such greats as Rex Lawley and Ron Bennett, his hard work and guidance helped to bring the level of Kendo in Australia to where it is today: a traditional Japanese martial art where the average length of time in training and average grade of Australian kenshi would be higher than any other martial art. Nagae sensei's kendo was elegant, gentle and indomitable. As he said to me, he passed every one of his gradings up to and including 7th dan on the first attempt. Nagae sensei's special importance was to act as a conduit for Japanese assistance in developing kendo in Australia. In the 1980s, when the ZNKR and Japan Foundation first asked him which sensei he would like sent to Australia for teaching seminars, he asked for the best: Nakakura Kiyoshi sensei and Haga Tadatoshi sensei. At the beginning of the 90s, when

Itakura sensei (Kendo 6th dan) visited us this morning.  Congrats to Geoffrey who has finished all his International Baccalaureate exams. Good luck to Alvin and Jerry who may still have some VCE exams to go. Also a definite "break a leg" to Geoffrey as he auditions for NIDA next Saturday: as difficult as going for 6th dan! Hopefully Itakura sensei will return to train with us next Saturday. Usually he trains on the weekend at Kenshikan but their floor is being re-done at the moment. Here are some pics from Shinoda sensei's blog of how it is going so far: Shinoda sensei on the left and Shiina sensei, the design consultant, on the right, pretending to be the first to do kendo on the new floor... :/   b