Nanseikan Kendo Club 剣道クラブ南西館

This relates to our practice of refereeing at yesterday's Harugeiko . Here is a great video of makiotoshi men . Watch closely at 0:50 you'll see the technique. What is not clear until the replay at a different angle is that the opponent totally loses his shinai. The timing of the men cut after the technique shows how quickly you must act before the shinpan have a chance to say yame ! In this case I think the opponent's shinai had not yet hit the ground when his men was struck. Another thing to note is that zanshin after the men is expressed not by going forward past the opponent as is usual, but by standing still. The reason is that, due to the nature of the technique just executed, moving forward would not have been a natural part of the technique. Quite a remarkable technique, even more so as it was executed under great pressure at a major competition, the Tozai Taiko or East vs West Competition.

It's Spring! What better way to celebrate perfect kendo training weather than with an all day gasshuku? Saturday 18 September will be our first harugeiko , a one-day training camp from 9am until 5pm. The cost is $20/person for the whole day. BYO lunch but morning and afternoon tea provided. The focus will be shiai and will include some shinpan practice. Please leave a comment below indicating if you are intending to come. Hope to see you there. b

Here's a cool ad from Mazda Japan for their new "4 door, 4 seater concept car" the "Shinari". Not sure what the word means but the kanji (靭) contains the 'radical' (mini-character) for "blade" (刃). Must say I really DO like the look of the car. :P I think it will have to be an Autobot in the next Transformer movie! b (PS - Who else thinks the whole video is 3D animation?)

Here are some 'random' kendo-related videos which are worth checking out. Firstly, kendo versus sojutsu (spear). Both these practitioners are experienced. I don't know anything about the sojutsu sensei but the kendo sensei was apparently 7 dan when this was taken and is now 8 dan. Some every interesting strategy against a long weapon. This one is of a recent seminar Chiba sensei took in London. Here he is demonstrating oji waza (counter-attacking techniques) against jodan. Another instructional video, this one taken in Hungary of two visiting Japanese 8 dans. Rather unusually they demonstrate basic men, kote and do as well as various waza. The Way of the Warrior was a series made by the BBC in the 1970s. It's still one of the best documentary series on Japanese martial arts ever made. This one is about the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu. There is also one Youtube about kendo. In several parts. Here is the one about kendo. Actually it starts with an excellent look at ...

What people were thinking during those 500 basics. Today's kangeiko was the third Nanseikan has hosted and it was a great success. Kendoka from three clubs were represented, braving a 1 degree Celsius morning to practice kendo under the theme 百錬自得 or practice it 'til it becomes yours . With that in mind we notched up 100 repetitions each of kihon men, kote and do , as well as harai kote and debana men . All in all 500 repetitions taking about 2.5 hours to complete. The day was rounded out with jigeiko and shiai . We also looked at kata number 7 in depth, helping many to get across that difficult o ri-shiki do footwork. Afterwards we had some nice Malaysian take away and some of the parent had chance to meet and have a chat. It was a long day, starting at 8.30am and finishing about the same time in the evening. On my way to the dojo I saw the first plum blossom had come out. Already! So I picked some and we decorated the dojo with it.

This year’s special winter training will take place on the first Monday of the school holidays, Monday 28 June Cost: $20 for the day, open to all VKR members, especially junior members of other VKR clubs Schedule: 0830 – arrival, registration, clean dojo 0900 – kangeiko start and first session 1100 – morning tea (provided) 1130 – second session 1330 – lunch (please note, lunch will again be BYO this year) 1430 – third session 1700 – finish The gasshuku will cover kihon, kata and shiai. Dinner This year I would like to also invite everyone to stay for dinner afterwards. Dinner would be held in the room adjacent to the dojo and would be from 1830 – 2030 approx. For this I would need an indication of possible numbers and also dietary requirements if any. Family and friends of people attending would also be welcome. Cost of dinner is to be advised depending on numbers. Most likely $10-15 per person Applications for Kangeiko close Friday 25 June. Payment due on the day. RSVP for dinner b...

Here is an EXCELLENT video on kote uchi technique by Sumi Masatake sensei. Can't recommend highly enough! b PS - Thanks to Kendo World Forum's Richard Stonell ("Oroshi") for the translation, and "Dezza" for the subtitling.

This is a series of five videos from a TV program about kendo. The host is a Greek karate champion who lived in Japan for many years and became a very successful professional kickboxer. It's very interesting to see what problems he has when he first tries kendo! Enjoy. b

This is a video of Kage Ryu battojutsu (art of drawing the sword), using the choken (長剣), which means really long sword. More info about this rare and very interesting style here . b

...seen last year in Genbudo, a bogu shop in Ikebukuro, a suburb of central Tokyo. Unfortunately I never did ask Mr Genbudo what exactly they were for,or the price. But they were in the same cabinet as the ultra-special do-dai made of sharkskin, or inlaid with mother-of-pearl... b

This reminds me I should go and buy some more balloons... b :D

Last week we had a few extra people at Nanseikan :), some photos are above. You can also visit Shinoda sensei's blog for more pics of us, and the many, many other things Yuta and Shinoda sensei did afterwards and during Yuta's stay in Melbourne. b

Film from the 1930s of Japanese students doing outdoor keiko. Note how they tie their men. Short but very interesting. Thanks to kenshi247 for the link. (Cheers George!) b

Nippon Taiiku Daigaku (日本体育大学) or Nittaidai for short, is one of Japan's leading univeristy kendo teams. This year, Hakamada sensei , Yagisawa sensei and 31 of Nittaidai's 3rd year students have come to visit Melbourne and Sydney after a three year break. Prior to that, Nittaidai Kendo students had visited Melbourne every year for more than 25 years, thanks to the close connection between the former Professor of Kendo at Nittaidai, Shizawa Kunio sensei , and Melbourne kendoka, including Nagae sensei. This year they are back to do public demonstrations and short training seminars with Australian kendoka. This pic shows how many were at last night's training at Fudoshin dojo in Parkville. As you can imagine it was packed, and we Aussies who are used to plenty of space in our dojo found that a little tricky, but all the more fun for the amount of energy and good feelings it created! b PS - A big congratulations to Brett Smith sensei on the birth of his first son, Remy M...

Last Monday, Nanseikan held its second gasshuku for 2009. The day was a great success with 18 participants, the majority of whom stayed for the full eight hours. The little dojo at St Pius X was pretty much at capacity with these numbers, so there was a great deal of energy and spirit in the training. The day was quite warm, about 28 degrees: pleasant for a picnic in the shade, but very sweaty and tiring when wearing dogu . Our previous gasshuku had members from two VKR clubs. This time, five VKR clubs were represented: Nanseikan, Fudoshin, UMKC, MBK and Mumeishi. Participants’ ages ranged from 6 to well over 40-something. The day focused on basics and commenced with everyone performing 1000 suburi . To allow participants’ arms to recover this was followed by a short lecture on Toho (刀法) or practical principles relating to the use of a sword. There then followed an extended session of shinaigeiko looking at basic movements required for cutting, especially focusing on kikentaiitchi . ...

On Monday 21 December we will be having our second gasshuku (training camp). It will be from 9.00am until 5.00pm with a break for lunch. Date : Monday 21st December Location : Nanseikan Dojo , St Pius X Primary School Hall, Waterdale Road, Heidelberg West (300m north of Bell St intersection). Start time: 9.00am Lunch : 1.00pm Please note, lunch is now BYO. Finish time : 5.00pm Cost : All day under 16 $15.00 (half day -$10.00) All day senior $20.00 (half day - $15.00) Requirements for attendance : VKR member, shinai and bokuto, kendogi and hakama, bogu (if wearing bogu), own lunch Refreshments will be provided but please bring your own lunch. Note, there is a kitchen with fridge, microwave, toaster, etc available at the dojo. Please advise of any health or dietary issues beforehand. RSVP and enquiries : email direct to Ben Sheppard nanseikanATkendovictoriaDOTasnDOTau by Friday 18 December

The hitting dummies ( uchikomidai ) at Otemae Senior High School Kendo Dept. My host in Osaka, George, demonstrating how small my hotel room was (I took this picture standing outisde the door!) Note George is proudly wearing his souvenir Nanseikan polartop. :D Seen from the window of my hotel in Osaka: a remnant of the "bubble economy" (when Japan had too much money in the late 80s, early 90s). A Dept store building with a rollercoaster built in. Unfortunately it's now closed. The big temple gate of Senso Temple in Tokyo. You can see how big the lanterns are by the size of the people standing directly underneath them.

Autumn in Japan means the maples ( momiji ) are on fire. Maples and the autumn moon on a street in Sakura City, an hour outside of Tokyo. In Ikebukuro there is a great bogu shop called Genbudo. They have a display cabinet of some really fancy do-dai . I didn't ask how much...