Nanseikan Kendo Club 剣道クラブ南西館

Three things will be interrupting our usual training in the coming weeks. Beginners especially, please take note! The first thing:   Because of St Pius X Primary School's 60th anniversary preparations, we will be training at the Kenshikan on Saturday 23rd August for one week only. The Kenshikan is located at 91-99 Rosslyn St West Melbourne . This means that if you need to borrow bogu, to take it home with you after this Saturday's training. Training will be from 9am til 11am as usual. Please make sure you get there with time to get ready so we start on time at 9am sharp. The Naginata group has kindly moved back their training to 11am instead of their usual 10.30am start to accommodate us and let you sleep in a little longer! The second thing:   Following the week where we train at the Kenshikan, the Victorian Kendo Championships will take place on both Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August . For this weekend there will be no NSK training. However all NSK members...

As mentioned at training today.

Everyone who has been training recently knows that we have a new format for kirikaeshi at Nanseikan. For those who haven't been at training, it goes like this: men cut following through past the motodachi men cut following through past the motodachi back the other way men cut follwing through but motodachi retreats to maintain distance nine times sayu-men (four forwards and five backwards) men cut following though past the motodachi The great advantage of this format is we can practice kiri-kaeshi and kihon at the same time. However... Our members still need to know how to do 'standard' kirikaeshi for the purpose of gradings. So in order to distinguish between 'standard' and 'Nanseikan kirikaeshi', from now on we will refer to Nanseikan kirikaeshi as: kihon uchikaeshi This reflects the fact that we can change the format of this kirikaeshi to have kote or do instead of men . When performing kihon uchikaeshi, we will start by using the ...

One of the most popular search terms that leads people to this blog is "hitting dummy" or "how to make a hitting dummy". James has sent through pictures of one he made himself, simply by putting a men onto a free-standing punching bag. A great solution! Adjustable height, heavy base. Everything you need really. And much cheaper than a 'real' one like Bob. Thanks for the idea James. I'm going to be checking my stats regularly to see how many hits this idea gets!

This year I think it is time we entered individuals and perhaps also a team into the VKC. We will also be expected to supply volunteers to help out with the running of the event. So below are the details of the event for your reference. We will discuss this at training over the next couple of weeks before the next beginners' course starts. We will also focus on shiai reiho and strategy. Please consider your availability for both competition and also helping out. Victorian Kendo Championships 2014 30 – 31 August, 2013 Venue: Victoria University, Footscray Park Campus, Ballarat Road Court 1, Level 1, Footscray Park Aquatic and Fitness Centre (Building L) Time :          Registration 8:00AM ~ 9:00AM Competition: 9:00AM ~ 5:00PM Events: Day 1 – Saturday, 30 August 2014 1.      Women’s kyu individuals 2.      Men’s kyu individuals 3.    ...

See you all then! And well done to Andy who experienced his first shiai this weekend at the annual Otsuka Memorial Taikai at the Kenshikan. Next year will be the 25th anniversary, so we should all pencil it in to take part.

Yesterday saw a group of 26 kenshi turn up for our 2014 Kangeiko at Nanseikan. That meant that there was so little floorspace during keiko that people had to use the storeroom for adjusting their bogu! As well as Nanseikan members, there were people from MBK, MUKEN, Monash Uni, Mumeishi and Fudoshin represented. The focus of the day was on tokuiwaza . We spent a great deal of time practicing all the various shikake and oji waza, trying to work out which might become the one that is our 'best' or 'singular' technique. The afternoon was spent in shiai, testing out those waza. Many thanks to Daniel Jeong sensei for attending and giving his time to coach the yudansha participants. This meant I could concentrate on helping the kyu grade and recent beginner kenshi and definitely meant the day was more rewarding for all concerned. And of course thanks to all who attended. It is great that our little club's tradition h...

It is membership renewal time again. Until such time as the VKR devises an user-operated online membership portal, I have to submit all memberships manually. Each year I have the same problem about what to do with people I haven't seen at training for a while. So, if you not currently not training, but you: imagine you will return to training soon, or have no specific return date for training but wish to maintain membership for other reasons (e.g. retaining your grade, supporting the organisation, etc) ...you need to email me a.s.a.p. to let me know your intentions.  I will only renew your membership if you are currently training, or if you get in touch with me in the next 5 days.  NOTE 1: it is not necessary to send any money at this stage. The VKR will invoice me for the total amount when they process the application. NOTE 2: it is possible to submit membership after the due date. However please keep in mind that all Kendo administrators work voluntar...

  "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 & Ots...