More samurai films on SBS; Otsuka and Nagae Takai; Kangeiko, not so "kan"

-
 

"Sword of Desperation" (Hisshinken Torisashi) is another samurai film or jidaigeki currently on SBS onDemand until 18 June. "Hisshin" literally means "must die", which is significant when you watch the film!

Kangeiko

Our annual winter training will be taking place on the last training of term 2, Saturday 28 June. As usual it will be from 9am til 5pm. It promises to be not-very-cold.

This year we will be looking at the concept of tokui-waza, one's ideal or favourite technique. The morning will be looking at how to find it and practice it, the afternoon we will set up two small shiaijo and run practice shiai for beginners and advanced kenshi.

Cost for NSK members $10 (on top of term fees).

BYO lunch but morning tea and snacks provided.

Otsuka and Nagae Taikai

These taikai are coming up in July. See Paul Bserani of MBK's information below. The day is a week before we start back for term 3.

Nagae & Otsuka Taikais 
Saturday The 12th July 2014 @ Kenshikan
The Nagae Taikai will be held during the morning and the Otsuka Taikai in the afternoon.
The format of the Nagae Taikai will be the same as last year.  It will be an individuals based Taikai for senior Kendoka.  Kendoka who are 2nd Dan or above are invited to apply.  Competitors must register their interest prior to the Taikai.  Kendoka who have competed in the Nagae Taikai are not eligible to compete in the Otsuka Taikai.  Please note, the number of competitors in the Nagae Taikai may be limited.
As per each year, the Otsuka Taikai is a teams based Taikai where each team is comprised of 3 Kendoka and will be picked on the day.  The teams will be picked from 3 pools of names.  The pools of names will be based on grades.  Kendoka who are 2nd Dan or below are invited to compete in the Otsuka Taikai.
If there are not enough Kendoka to form a sufficient number of teams, Kendoka that have competed in the Nagae Taikai will be eligible to compete in the Otsuka Taikai.
Senior Kendoka are also requested to Shinpan during both Taikais if possible.
Entry to both taikais is free.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nishimura sensei's Kendo HIIT routine

-
Image
Former All Japan champion, and star of his own NHK documentary , Nishimura Hidehisa produced this workout routine for the All Japan Kendo Federation last year during the early stages of lockdown. It's an excellent HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) routine, sometimes called Tabata Training after the coach who invented the idea. Basically it has been theorised that you get better results in terms of fitness and overall body strength from short, intense and focused workouts, than you do from extended workouts. Some say it is also beneficial for improving endurance and longevity . There is even some evidence to support that it kickstarts mitochondrial function , that you're exercising at a cellular level. That's pretty amazing. Whatever the research says, it is very easy to feel the positive effects of interval training and it has several other benefits: PROS It doesn't take long, so you can fit it into a busy schedule   You can do it by yourself   You can do it almos
Read more

Results and pics - 2008 VJKC

-
Image
Another great Victorian Junior Kendo Championships today. The standard gets better every year. This year we had two divisions, 14 & under and 16 & under. Unfortunately only three Victorian dojo were represented, Nanseikan (of course!), Fudoshin and Ballarat. Firstly thanks to the shinpan who came along today: Gary Oliver, Khay-Lin Teoh sensei, Richard Ward, Jason Widdy and Andrew Lam. Thanks also to all the parents for bringing their boys (and they were all boys this year, more girl-kendoka needed!) as well as supporting their kendo throughout the year. Last but not least, thanks to Tony of UMKC, who took all the fantastic photos below. All pics are (c) Tony Shearer. Straight off the 14 & under matches were high quality. Newcomer Yuichiro Sato of Fudoshin won his first match in his first ever taikai against Thomas Goh, also of Fudoshin. Sato (red) scoring men against Thomas Goh. Poor Thomas didn't fare any better in his next match against our own Mr Weber. Geoffrey won
Read more

Koryu that are not like Kendo at all

-
Image
In the previous post I listed the various branches of Itto Ryu and asked you to consider the similarities between their use of the sword and Kendo. Sometimes when one becomes used to a certain way of doing things, one can fall into the trap of thinking that is the only, or maybe the best, way of doing things. In learning iai kata of Tatsumi Ryu, we are trying to break out of that thinking by exposing ourselves to a system devised long before even the Itto Ryu was founded. This means that there are some fundamental differences in how the sword is used.  In these posts I am mostly interested in the differences in how to swing the sword. In Kendo, and indeed in most of the styles of iaido practiced today, the fundamental cutting action is a straight up-and-down action often referred to as kirioroshi , cutting through or cutting down. In Tatsumi Ryu, the characteristic action where the sword first goes through a circular backswing before cutting downwards is called kowauchi , or 'power
Read more