Nanseikan Kendo Club 南西館剣道クラブ

Most of you know by now that I was finally successful at my 6th dan grading. As you can see from the photo below, I got a lot of invaluable, one-on-one help from Tajima Makoto sensei (Kyoshi 8 dan) who is kantoku (head instructor) of Shigakukan University in Kagoshima. Now back in Melbourne it's time to focus on ending the year well. We will be having our annual Shochugeiko on Saturday 17 December, from 9am to 5pm. As usual there will be refreshments available but lunch is BYO. This will be our last training for the year. Cost is free to Nanseikan members. $25 for non-members for the whole day.

The Monash University Kendo Club's 25th Anniversary Taikai is coming up!  All kendoka of any age and experience are welcome, as long as they are able to compete in full bogu. The taikai will be on the 27th of November, with registrations opening at 11am and opening ceremony at 12pm. We will be hosting a BBQ on Monash Campus for all attending 5:30pm-8pm for no extra charge. Guests (partners/children) are welcome - please include them on the sign-up sheet to help with catering numbers.   We are also calling for shinpan - please indicate on the registration form if you would like to volunteer! (3rd Dan and above.)  Date : Sunday 27th November  Time : Registrations open 11am Location : West Stadium Monash Sport, Clayton Campus 42 Scenic Boulevard Monash University Clayton VIC 3800 Cost : Free! Participants : Juniors (Under 16) Senior (16 and over) Kendoka of all grades will be accepted. The taikai format will be East vs West. Each team will co

Just for one week we will be training at the Kenshikan, due to local government elections requiring our usual dojo become a polling booth. Please note training will start at 8.30am sharp and go until 10.30.

tadashii, utsukushii, tsuyoi: "correct, beautiful, effective" Saturday 8 October is start of term 4. Some dates to keep in mind: 22 October - local government elections, no training at St Pius. Alternative venue an option to be discussed. Sun 13 November - Victorian Junior Kendo Championships; open to everyone under the age of 16 no matter their experience level. Sat 19 and Sat 26 November - I will be in Japan; Soon, Sean and Ben will supervise training. Sat 3 December - Mumeishi 3s Taikai Sat 17 December - last training for 2014 and Shochugeiko (9am to 5om)

As I learned from Geoff Salmon sensei's blog , we lost a giant of the Kendo world last week. Chiba sensei had suffered significant health problems over the last few years which is why he stopped his visits to improve our Kendo. A whole cohort of kenshi came up through the ranks thinking it was normal to have regular visits from a hanshi hachidan, former All Japan champion and Tokyo Police shihan. Sadly we know now that we were spoiled by his tireless generosity. There are a lot of videos of his Kendo on the net, so we can still watch his technique. But what you can't see is his playful sense of humour*. My favourite teaching of sensei's was when he admonished everyone at one of his Kenshikan seminars. "Do you think I have good Kendo?" Silence. Everyone inside their own heads: "Is this a trick question?" "Don't you think my Kendo is any good?" Awkward shuffling and looking at the floor. "I

Go to  http://www.kendo.org.au/p/2017-dates.html It also has the remainder of this year's dates too.

Aaargh!!! There's nothing more frustrating than seeing someone wrap up a tare like this! There are lots of ways you can pack up bogu, but at Nanseikan I would ask everyone who is using club bogu to follow the method I have detailed here, on our new "bogu pack-up" page. http://www.kendo.org.au/p/bogu-pack-up.html Please make a real effort to follow this method each and every time. It will not only save me time in sorting and repairs, it will save you time at the start of training.

Well done to everyone for a great training last Saturday. I hope you all had a great time at the Kenshikan. Thanks also to Fiona and the members of the Victorian Naginata Renmei for giving up their training time to teach us a little naginata. What an awesome weapon! And of course on Sunday there were many who graded and everyone passed. Congratulations! Especially to Alex, who showed great perseverance comprehensively conquered his demons. Well done mate, you're now a shining example to others. We're now on break for the September holidays, but we will be back for term 4 on Saturday 8 October. Other dates to keep in mind: Victorian Junior Kendo Championships (open to all under 16s) Sunday 13 November Mumeishi 3's Saturday 3 December Shochugeiko and last training for the year Saturday 17 December (9am - 5pm)

Next Saturday's training will be at the Kenshikan Dojo, 91-99 Rosslyn St West Melbourne. Training will start and end at the normal time. We will have a few extra people joining us... This will be the last training for the term. The first training for term 4 will be on 8 October.

For all our semester two beginners, don't forget there is an outline on the beginners' course you're currently undertaking here: http://www.kendo.org.au/p/beginners-course-outline_22.html and as I mentioned at the end of training last Saturday, a Beginners' Handbook with all the basic commands, terminology and lots of useful diagrams that you'll refer to over the next few years of your Kendo practice. http://www.kendo.org.au/p/nanseikan-2015-beginners-manual.html 頑張って下さい！ Ganbatte kudasai!

Last weekend saw the running of the 34th (!) Victorian Kendo Championships. Over the two days there were 10 separate competitions held, a massive organisational undertaking and superbly well run by Ballarat and Apollo Bay Kendo Clubs, and their volunteers. In my mind, these guys are the most important people of all those who attend. Our club had its best ever attendance. On Saturday, Quinn and Andrew competed in the Kyu individual event, a very difficult division because it contains such a wide range of skill levels. Well done to you both. Each shiai is like months of jigeiko disstilled into a few short minutes. There's lots to reflect on afterwards, but also lots of momentum and passion that can carry through into training as well. On the Sunday it was the teams' events: kyu and open. For the first time we had a team in each. Sadly I couldn't watch the kyu team in action because I had shinpan duties on the other court (note to self below!). But a look at th

This is the suburi pattern I use every day. It helps me to keep count and the small amount of variety keeps my brain interested throughout the boredom of the repetition! Men uchi is the most important of the movements to practice, but kote and do are also important to ingrain as well. So the majority are men, but there are kote and do as well. The pattern is renzoku or double-time style: moving forwards and backwards using okuriashi footwork in time with the cut. 20 sho-men 20 kote 20 sho-men 20 kote-men 20 men-do You can start by having a rest between each 20. But pretty soon if you practice every day you should be able to do 100 non-stop. Then after a while, try 200 non-stop. Then, try with two shinai or a heavy suburito , and so on. Try my pattern and if you like it, great! If you hate it, make your own! courtesy of benotdefeatedbytherain

This is one of the great Kendo docos. Although filmed with a ham samwich, A Single Blow nonetheless deals with a lot of important aspects of Kendo competition: how to deal with a slump in your performance; the difficulty of maintaining the desire to win when the desire the win can be the very thing that slows you down; and the bigger picture of Japan facing Sth Korea's onslaught, and what it means to be the world's top Kendo nation.

Click here to download the following info in pdf format Victorian Kendo Championships 2016 13 – 14 August Venue: Victoria University, Footscray Park Campus, Ballarat Road Court 1, Level 1, Footscray Park Aquatic and Fitness Centre (Building L) Time: Registrations 8:00AM ~ 9:00AM Competition 9:00AM ~ 5:00PM Events: Day 1 – Saturday, 13 August 2016 1. Men’s kyu individuals 2. Women’s kyu individuals 3. Women’s dan individuals 4. Men’s dan individuals Day 2 – Sunday, 14 August 2016 5. Men’s kyu teams 6. Women’s kyu teams 7. Veteran’s individuals 8. Kata Pairs 9. Women’s open teams 10.Men’s open teams * Events and schedules are subject to change.

The club has paid membership fees for the following people: James C, Sean, Patrick, Quinn, Ben, Alex, Evelyn (j), Andrew, Chris, Soon Lai, Andre (j), Greg, Anae (j), Yukari, Joshua (j), Rita, Jade (j), James E (y), Ben (j), Jose, Hugo (j). Sorry I made a mistake with the junior (j) fees, They are $45.00 , not $40 as previously mentioned. Seniors are $70. For payment, please email me or see me at training.

Term 3 starts this coming Saturday. See you then! Don't forget training STARTS at 9 am. That means you should arrive at 8.45!

Click on the image for full size version. Feel free to download and print as a poster for school or work. 

Hope you're all doing your suburi while we're on break! Some news: Kendo Roadtrip Sean and I will be going to Fudoshin Kendo Club training next Tuesday night from 6.30 - 8.30pm. I can take four people in my car, leaving from Heidelberg West at 6pm. First in best dressed! Fudoshin training is great fun and very correct. They often have a national team coach taking training. Casual fee is I think $10. Either email me, IM through instagram or FB, or text me on: ohfourtwotwoonefoursixthreesixseven If you want to go but don't have bogu with you, let me know and we can swing past the dojo. Shinpan seminars There are two levels, an intro level and a review level. Some NSK members would be eligible for the  intro level, please see below: Shinpan Seminars will be held on the following dates Sunday 10 July: 1Kyu to 2 Dan - Review and practice of basics Sunday 24 July: 3Dan and above - Preparation for VKC Sunday 9 October: 1Kyu to 2 D

This Saturday is our annual Kangeiko: 9am til 5pm. There is no cost for NSK members. Other VKR members, the day is $20, half day or concession $10. Snacks like toast, tea, coffee and fruit will be provided.  BYO lunch. The kitchen will be available for preparing your own food. If you are coming from another club, please RSVP by this Wednesday if possible so I have an idea of numbers for catering. nanseikanATkendovictoriaDOTasnDOTau. You can also RSVP via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/561435837368854/ See you there!

As mentioned at training, annual memberships are due. For seniors (16 and over) it's $70. Juniors are $40. If you could bring money to training next Saturday that would be very helpful.

Now that everyone from the last beginners' course is in full bogu, it's time to start thinking about buying your zekken (also called a nafuda). This is a personalised bag-shaped cover that fits over the centre flap of your tare, and shows your dojo and name. These are both useful, and necessary if you ever want to enter a competition. Zen Sankei in Japan make our zekken for us. They have a special page set up where only Nanseikan members can enter their details to order a Nanseikan zekken. You just input your name, and also the size of your tare. http://www.zen-sankei.com/onlineshop/product_info.php?cPath=21_66&products_id=347 Because they are small and light, I don't think postage is very much. But you might like to find other people who want to order them together and save on postage. Cain Lee is the man who runs Zen Sankei Australia. He lives mostly in Japan but visits Australia regularly and is a member of Melbourne Budokai.

After you've finished reading this post, enjoy this great video of oji waza (counter-attacks) from a very kind Youtube user in Hiroshima. If you go to the Youtube page, you'll see they've given the timing references for all the different techniques displayed. I love the calligraphy "do" 道 at the end of the dojo. For everyone, both our most recent beginners and our ongoing members, membership fees for the Australian Kendo Renmei and the Victorian Kendo Renmei are due by 15th June. Why the 15th? The VKR has recently introduced a cut-off date for memberships of the 15th of each month. This is to allow for processing. Remember the VKR is a small organisation run entirely by volunteers. So if you need to be registered as a member by the 1 July, then you need to get your application in by 15th of the month before. Half year memberships These don't apply now, but will be relevant to those who join the August beginners' course. Half-year memberships

We've got a shipment of new equipment just in time for Saturday's first training of term. I look forward to seeing everyone there. Hope you've been doing your suburi! ;) Dates:  term 2   16/4, 23/4, 30/4, 7/5, 14/5, 21/5, 28/5, 4/6, 11/6, 18/6, kangeiko  18 June

Shinai bags can be expensive but it is necessary to have something to carry your stuff in. Everyone at Nanseikan should have shinai and bokuto, if not now then soon, and these can be difficult to carry to-and-from training. If you're on public transport then you definitely need something to contain them in, preferably with a carry strap. This little sequence of pics shows how to make a handy shinai bag out of a length of oridinary fabric and some lightweight rope (in this case it's an old men himo ).  It's really just a glorified furoshiki . The great thing about this design is, firstly it's very cheap, it's expandable, and you don't need to take the tsuba off your shinai and bokuto before putting them away.

Usagi Yojimbo is angry at me for my bad scheduling over Easter. Although I had scheduled two more classes this term, this coming Saturday will actually be the last for the term. There will be no training on Easter Saturday. Training will start back for term 2 on Saturday 16 April. As is our tradition, the last training for term 2 will be our annual Kangeiko (寒稽古) or winter seminar. This is on Saturday 18 June. Training on that day will go from 9am until 5pm, and there will be kenshi from many other Victorian clubs in attendance. Get ready to learn 6 months' worth of Kendo in one day... Usually there is a small extra charge for the whole day training, to cover hall hire. But since my miscalculation of the dates for term 1, there will be no extra charge for Kangeiko this year for NSK members. Wishing James good luck for his shodan grading next Sunday!

Yesterday the March 6th kyu to 2nd kyu grading was held at the Kenshikan. Congratulations to Chris and Andre for both receiving their 6th kyu. Commiserations to Alex for being unsuccessful at 2nd kyu. As a grading panel member I learned the following: sometimes they will include kakarigeiko! most junior kyu grade candidates have poor tenouchi as a result, most strike the mengane (grill), and not the datotsubui (scoring section) of the men so you can  really  stand out from the crowd if you have flexible wrists when you cut kiai is generally too quiet left heel resting on the ground is a mistake that's very easy for the grading panel to see many people judge distance poorly, or fail to match their technique to their motodachi's distance, especially when doing multiple cuts most of my attention as a judge was not on whether people would pass or fail, but whether there was someone who deserved to be promoted to try for the next grade above (thi

front entrance of the Kenshikan in West Melbourne It's grading time again. Below is the relevant info. Kendo 6 Kyu - 2 Kyu  Grading When: Sunday 6 March 12:30pm registrations, 1pm start Where: Kenshikan Dojo, 91 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne Kendo 1 Kyu - 3 Dan  Grading When: Sunday 20 March 12:30pm registrations, 1pm start Where: Kenshikan Dojo, 91 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne For Nanseikan's approach to gradings (and competition), please read this. To apply for grading, just speak to me at training and I submit your application. Fees are paid after the grading is completed and the VKR sends an invoice. Dan grading questions, and the form on which they need to be submitted can be downloaded by clicking this link to Google drive . For a description of what it feels like to go for the different grades, see this older article from Shugo-Nanseikan. For the actual technical descriptions of requirements of 6th kyu to 2nd kyu, see

not the actual cover! I have just spent a little time updating the Beginners' Handbook. If you have just started the beginners' course, please take a moment to print yourself a copy. https://docs.google.com/document/d/18z5KYMuwsLMvyCd2GNWboSMw-iv-bTnZSmzK4Y2IcLk/edit?usp=sharing The purpose of the book is to cover just the basic procedures so that you can more quickly remember what you need to do and how you need to do it when you are in the dojo. It's not a handbook of techniques per se. The things it covers are: Pronunciation of Japanese words The Dojo correct attire and safety how to kneel down into seiza and stand up again correctly etiquette procedures how to hold the sword basic stances basic footwork patterns basic Japanese terms used in Kendo and their meanings what constitutes a valid strike in Kendo ( yuko datotsu )

From last week's visit by Ozawa sensei and Okada sensei. This was the Tuesday night training at Fudoshin Kendo Club. As I mentioned at training, we have more opportunities to train with high level sensei in Australia than most people do in Japan. The majority of Japanese kenshi rarely get to train with 8th dan sensei. So please consider making time to join in next time someone like Ozawa sensei comes to visit. And remember as Okada-s. said, if you want to improve your basics, just spend an hour a day doing hayasuburi !

I hope everyone has had a festive and restful holiday season. The mild summer so far has been very pleasant. Perhaps we'll get some scorching weather soon! We start back this Saturday, 9.00am start as usual. See you all then.

For those of you who haven't seen this yet, it is one of the best documentaries for explaining to non-Kendo people just why it is that we do Kendo. For a long time there were only very poor quality versions on Youtube (one reddit user described them as looking like they were filmed with a ham sandwich). This is a copy from the last time it was broadcast on TV. It is VHS quality but cleaned up as much as I could. I have searched around and cannot find anywhere that this version in English is available for purchase. Since the doco is almost 20 years old now, I would guess that Miyamoto sensei is no longer with us. However Ishida sensei has visited Australia in the intervening years, although to Sydney only, not Melbourne. All who have met him say that he is as warm and humble in person as he comes across in this documentary. Considering what he has been through, the man has an amazing smile. He is a walking advertisement for the virtues of Kendo!

Ozawa and Okada sensei last visited Melbourne in 2014. It was Okada sensei who gave me the insight to reconfigure my basic men-uchi. It is his observation that bringing the left hand up to forehead height before cutting helps to engage the lower spine.  Ozawa sensei is well-known to many as the leader of the Kobukan Dojo in Tokyo. I have reposted above the trailer for an excellent documentary in which he features. Below is a short video about his father, Ozawa Takashi sensei who was Kendo 9th dan.