Nanseikan Kendo Club 剣道クラブ南西館

Badges commemorating our 10th anniversary are now available. The first badge is free if you are a currently training member or beginner. If you have more than one kendogi, or you want to put it on a jacket or other piece of clothing, extra badges are $5.00 each. Overseas orders are welcome too! Contact the Nanseikan email address for ordering details. Badges are 6cm x 7.5cm. For locals I will have them at training this Saturday.

Takizawa Kenji sensei on the left. Thanks to efforts of Shinoda sensei, we will be hosting a visit by Takizawa Kenji sensei, Kyoshi 8 dan. He is very interested in teaching Kendo to young people and he has asked specifically to visit our dojo! Takizawa sensei's father was Takizawa Kozo sensei Hanshi 9(!) dan. He is best known for winning one of the last Tenran Jiai , or special match in the Emperor's presence. Only selected high level kenshi were invited to compete, and in this case it was members of the Imperial Guard. You can read a report about this remarkable kenshi and the match itself here .

Jean-Paul Belhomme , head of the Noumea Kendo Club , has sent an invitation to all Australian kenshi to this year's Kendo, Iaido and Jodo seminar in Noumea (lovely pic above, thanks Wikipedia— looks like a video and the sail is the 'play' icon, hehe). The seminar will be run by Ota sensei (Kendo Hanshi 8 dan), Shioiri sensei (Kendo Kyoshi 7 dan, Iaido 4 dan) and Takagi sensei (Iaido 7 dan). Ota sensei is a regular visitor to Australia, and Shioiri sensei is well-known to Australian kenshi because he is one of the All Japan Kendo Federation's main English translators, and frequently attends the Annual Summer School in Kitamoto. If you and your family were thinking of a Pacific Island holiday sometime in the next six months, why not combine it with some excellent Kendo practice?  d(^ _^) Contact Jean-Paul via belhomme at canl dot nc if you are interested.

To all members of the VKR and AKR, The Kenshikan, Melbourne Budokai and Mrs Reiko Nagae request your presence at a special memorial service to honour, celebrate and remember the life and contributions of Sensei Sumitaka Nagae (1921 - 2011). The Memorial service will be attended by Mrs Reiko Nagae who will be travelling from Japan to attend this important event. The Memorial will be held on Sunday, 4th of March 2012 at the Kenshikan Dojo (91 Rosslyn St West Melbourne). The Ceremony will begin at 10am sharp. We look forward to your participation on this important day of remembrance. Kind regards, Tony Corrigan President - Melbourne Budokai

Just got an email from Andy Fisher at Miyako in Kyoto and they're having a half-price sale. These bogu are mostly made in China, but the difference is Miyako's Japanese craftsmen travel regularly to the factory in China to inspect and train the makers there. The bogu is also made to Japanese design and specification. Andy is well-known in the international Kendo community (I think he may be the current British Kendo Team captain, even though he lives in Japan). He is an experienced kenshi and has a reputation to protect, so he would not sell inferior product. If you are thinking of buying bogu, I would recommend you seriously consider these. They are also offering free international shipping, which is pretty bonkers and saves about $100. The bogu above is their "Tsubasa" which, at a sale price of about $584.00AUD is one of the more expensive bogu in the sale. It uses "pitch" stitching which produces a softer, more comfortable bogu, but is as protect...

Our first beginners' course started lasted Saturday with seven new beginners. Even though two of those were my own children, it has been no easy task to lure them into the dojo, so I'm doubly happy. Thanks to everyone for getting into the swing of the new admin and fee structure. A testament to the success of the first class is this drawing by my daughter Jetta who is five. She doesn't draw a lot, so imagine my delight was she produced this fantastic kendo man. Actually it's a probably a kendo girl, knowing Jetta!

Nittaidai are making their annual visit to Melbourne on 18 and 19 February. Everyone is encouraged to see their demonstration at MSAC in Albert Park on the Saturday afternoon (after the beginners' course starts). Then on Sunday morning at Kenshikan, there will be a special training with the Nittaidai Kendo Dept from 9.30 until 11.30 followed by lunch. Anyone who is wearing bogu can attend that training and I highly recommend you do. There will be 35 students and 2 students from Nittaidai in attendance. These are students whose Kendo was so good in High School that they decided to become Kendo Instructors, and they are studying at Nittaidai with Kendo as their major. The demonstration on the Saturday will also feature (as in previous years): Judo, Sumo, Karate, Shorinji Kenpo, Naginata, Kyudo and Taiko Drumming. Click on the image above for a big version.

The next gradings will be held at the Kenshikan, 91-99 Rosslyn St, West Melbourne. 6 kyu to 2 kyu — Sunday 11 March 1 kyu to 3 dan — Sunday 25 March

  Welcome back and あけましておめでとうございます！ This year we will be doing a few things a little differently , like having beginners' courses instead of letting new people start any time. We will also be a bit more strict on paying dojo fees this year as well. From now on, all dojo fees need to be paid on the first day of training for the whole term in advance. There will be no paying week to week, as it becomes too hard to keep track of who has paid. Also, this year is our tenth year, so we will be having a special celebration after our Kangeiko in the middle of the year. I hope we can get in touch with a few past members and have them come along as well. More details soon. Training starts next Saturday 4 Feb. The first of our two beginners' courses for 2012 starts two weeks later. See you all then!

Went to the Kenshikan today and saw the new floor for the first time. It's beautiful!! Hopefully these terrible phone pics give you an idea. But you'll just have to go to training there yourselves. As today was the opening ceremony, there was a little Shinto offering of sake and rice to the gods in each corner of the dojo.

pic courtesy コアラ先生 To all members of the Victorian Kendo, Iaido and Jodo Community, Please see attached invitation. It is with great pleasure and excitement that Melbourne Budokai and the Kenshikan Trust formally invite you to attend the re-opening ceremony of the Kenshikan Dojo on Sunday the 11th of December 2011. We would very much welcome your participation at this historic occasion which will involve a traditional ceremony followed by a goodwill jigeiko. ***SUNDAY, 11TH OF DECEMBER*** Ceremony will begin at 10.30am (Please ensure you arrive 10 mins before) Held at The Kenshikan Dojo (91 Rosslyn St. West Melbourne VIC 3006) In early 2010 the Melbourne Budokai launched the ‘Kenshikan Restoration Project’, the most significant initiative undertaken since the Kenshikan's opening in 1990. Over 20 years of extensive usage by the budo community has lead to the steady deterioration of the Kenshikan facility with the external roofing material and the dojo floor suffe...

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...

   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

This is one of the videos I mentioned at training today. It looks just like a large kote, but it is actually a very smooth seme towards men and then kote when the opponent raises their shinai. The other video which I mentioned today, of aigote-men,  I just couldn't find. I'll keep looking.  b

Well actually it's kenjutsu art, or Tenshinshoden Katori Shinto Ryu art to be really precise! It's a drawing I did based on a photograph of Otake Risuke sensei, the headmaster of the school, doing the characteristic jumping nukistuke (drawing of the sword) of his school. Click twice on the picture and for maximum bigness. Next term we are back on Saturday 15 October.

Jakob Schmidt, a long-time jodan practitioner and Kendo World forumite, has written a very useful article on practicing jodan at Kenshi247.net. There are also a lot of great jodan videos to be found on the net like this one from Kendo World's channel, which you can watch in HD! And the one below has a fantastic translation by Kenji, who came to Kangeiko last week. I learned a lot just watching it... when I was able to stop laughing (you'll understand when you watch it)! And of course Chiba sensei himself will be here in August (although I've never seen him instruct in jodan).

This year's Kangeiko was held last Saturday in chilly, but not excessively cold conditions. Three clubs were represented: Nanseikan, MUKEN and MBK. There was a good mix of experience levels present, and I think everyone who came got something out of the day. I know the NSKers present certainly did. Kangeiko and other kendo seminars offer the chance to explore something in depth, to try things out over and over. Usually, at the end of the day, as well as being sore and tired, everyone feels that they have measurably improved. The focus of this Kangeiko was tenouchi . We started with some drills using the kusari fundo I have mentioned previously to emphasise correct swing. Then we moved on to exercises for increasing wrist strength and flexibility. From there we did exercises in visualising all the different movements of the hands in the various shikake and oji waza. This was done with empty hands. We then practiced these movements with shinai in hand, and finally against...

Chiba-bogu are one of the best online retailers of kendo equipment. However in the past all their equipment was very expensive. Now with the launch of their new site , they have a few new bogu including the one pictured above, their 5mm Clarino model . Clarino is an artificial deer-skin substitute that performs very well. Most often it is used for kote palms, but here it is used for all the edging as well. The advantage with this bogu is that it is order made to your measurements so you can be assured of a good fit. It does mean that it takes 6-10 weeks to complete your order. But it appears to have been marked down from over $1000 to around $650, which is pretty good value.

This term we will be focusing on tenouchi 手の内. To review the basic theory about tenouchi and what it means, have a re-read of this . Last Saturday we did a fun drill using a kind of kusari fundo , or weighted line. Usually this is a metal weight on the end of a chain, but we just used bean-bags on the end of cotton ribbon. The exercise was to practice cutting by using the whole arm from the shoulder and not just swinging from the elbows. If you didn't do it properly, the bean bag didn't fly through the air in an arc. When done properly it was almost as easy as cutting with a shinai. Using the whole arm and shoulder meant the weight stretched out the ribbon and swung as if it were something rigid, like a shinai. The other thing it did was to make you throw your cut forward, rather than down towards the ground. Above is a short vid of this exercise being practiced at this year's Kangeiko . I was going to put a picture, but the ' kusari fundo' is completely...