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Showing posts from October, 2020

Some of my favourite Youtube channels for Kendo

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This is not a channel but just a single vid, but I'm pretty sure it's where the examples in Yano sensei's presentation were edited from. It's 75 min of Miyazaki Masahiro sensei scoring ippon in competition! Gotta be happy with that! Filmed at the Kenshikan, this is the video I mentioned in last night's discussion where Chiba sensei talks about the right foot being used for seme. This was my very first time using a digital camera to record video of Kendo and upload it to the internet. I think the camera in question was a 2MP Canon Ixus, hence the shabby quality. Still, it's a wonderful record of Chiba sensei's incredible skill.  ************************************************************************* https://www.youtube.com/user/tamichel0428/videos This channel is Sanmunokai 三無の会 and has lots of great videos of their in-dojo training and also instruction by their sensei Matsubara (K8 dan). https://www.youtube.com/user/loganbury/videos This channel has lots o

Koryu that are not like Kendo at all

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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

Kata homework - Itto Ryu lineages

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A figurine of Ito Ittosai as he appears in the manga "Vagabond" 人は眠っている時でも足がかゆいのに間違って頭をかくことはありません。人は意識下に己を防衛しようとする本能が動いております。その原理を生かせばよいのです。     伊藤一刀斎 (People do not accidentally scratch their heads when their feet are itchy, even when they are sleeping. People have an unconscious instinct to defend themselves. You have to make use of that principle.)   This is one of the famous observations of Ito Ittosai, founder of the Itto Ryu (One Sword School). It might not sound like much, but there's a lot to think about there.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJor9pGc9SS6IRT9zk2dw25qrYULXh0Qq I've made a brief playlist of the main Itto Ryu lineages. There are some others I haven't listed that are more recent (i.e. less than 200 years old) but these are the main ones.  Of these, the Ono-ha, Hokushin, Mizoguchi-ha and Nakanishi-ha are the most widely practised. Kogen Itto Ryu is less common. Most have hereditary headmasters, usually called soke . The Mizoguchi-ha is

News for term 4 - training schedule for term 4 MUKEN Zoom seminar; Tomoko's shop; Instagram; fun stuff

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Training for term 4 We will continue to have kata training 5.30 to 6pm Tuesday night  and more general training 10am to 11am Saturday via Zoom. We will continue this schedule until there is a change in regulations around public gatherings. When we come out of strict lockdown (no travel restrictions), it is likely the first opportunity to train together will be outdoors and with distancing. In this event we can consider meeting either at a park centrally or at different parks each week. I imagine that we will train in 'civvies' (normal clothes) and do solo movements:  suburi and taiso only.  When this happens we will discuss as a club what the best time and duration is for training, and what is the best mix of online and in-person training. As the situation improves, we can work towards more close-quarters training, eventually with the aim of returning to the dojo and practising one-on-one in full armour. Even then it is very likely that the following conditions would remain

Zoom seminar with Jang Sung-Hong sensei (K7 dan) and Kim Tae-Ho sensei (R7 dan)

Today the VKR held it's first group Zoom training session, organised through MUKEN (Melbourne University Kendo Club). Daniel Jeong sensei and Richard T'en were facilitators and Jeong sensei was the translator. Thank you both for your hard work and organisation. The seminar started off with a presentation by Yano sensei who is the current Australian national team coach and head instructor of the Kenshikan of the basics of yuko datotsu from a theoretical point of view. This was very interesting and I will bring you more detail about this presentation in the future.  First, a quick bio for the two Korean sensei: Tae-Ho KIM Sensei, Renshi 7th Dan  - Head Coach of Buk-gu District, Gwangju Metropolitan City Kendo Team - Member of 12th WKC (Glasgow 2003) Men’s Team 2nd place   Sung-Hong JANG Sensei, Kyoshi  7 th Dan - Head Coach of  Seong-Nam  High School Kendobu - Head instructor of  Yeok-Sam Dojo, Seoul - Graduated from Chosun University, Gwangju - 14th WKC (Brazil 2009) Men's t

Urgent: no Nanseikan training tomorrow. Please see TeamApp message

Hi all, Please refer to the TeamApp message I just sent or contact me directly if you have not received it. The link to apply to attend the special training is  https://forms.gle/ jEnaRA3nvda2RWcd9 If you plan on attending, please complete this form asap. There will be no Nanseikan zoom training.