Nanseikan Kendo Club 剣道クラブ南西館

There are four things coming up that Nanseikan members should consider. VKR First Aid initiative The VKR wants each club to have at least one trained first aider. They are willing to subsidise the cost of the course which will take place on 1 June. Applications were due on 28th this month but the deadline has been extended. Please go to this link for details. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nHecpUGbXtBhxPffmVOdzCEqlAQFAZQcdUYfSAj9zeA/edit?usp=sharing AKR Secretary and Treasurer positions The AKR is looking for volunteers to fill these positions. Secretary position description:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/10CXLn705EJoX-7wnewwHGTJGUJP614zp6e3lu1QqORY/edit?usp=sharing Treasurer position description: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YK1JsXVvaPrXKS0QPbQ6S4HWrj5Zyv1gyJ3iI4KKaV4/edit?usp=sharing MUKEN 30th anniversary taikai and dinner Melbourne Uni Kendo Club is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with an all-day taikai and dinner afterwards i...

Welcome back! This term, please be prompt with dojo fees, paying them on the first day. Also, VKR/AKR membership fees will be due this term by the first week in June. More about that closer to time. Well done to Victoria in the recent AKCs. Both the men's and women's dan teams won this year! Please enjoy this video above. Takachiho High School is in Miyazaki Prefecture, not far from Kagoshima. This video has English captions, so you can read what they have to say about training, especially Noguchi sensei, their kantoku. He has some really nice ideas and a very calm and warm personality by the look of it. I hope watching the video helps inspire you for the term ahead. Speaking of which, we will have two weeks of interruptions this term: Sat 11 May and Sat 18 May. There will definitely be no training on the 18th (election day), but I will consider an alternative venue for the 11th. More info soon. This means that term two is an eight-week term.  We will start Wednesda...

I hope everyone has enjoyed some time off over Easter. Below are the results from this year's AKC held in Perth. See you Saturday! MEN’S KYU INDIVIDUALS CHAMPIONSHIP 1st    James OH (NSW) 2nd    James O'NEILL (VIC) Equal 3rd    Ngoc Minh PHAM (NSW), Paolo Inigo USARES (NSW) WOMEN’S KYU INDIVIDUALS CHAMPIONSHIP 1st    Xiaodong ZHAO (ACT) 2nd    Yuk Ting Alice WONG (NSW) Equal 3rd    Iris SOMERA (NSW), Samantha Mi ZHONG (NSW) VETERANS INDIVIDUALS CHAMPIONSHIP 1st    Chiharu FUKUMOTO (WA) 2nd    Toshio NISHIMOTO (NT) Equal 3rd    Brian BRESTOVAC (WA), Noriko MATSUMOTO (VIC) WOMEN’S DAN INDIVIDUALS CHAMPIONSHIP 1st    Yumiko BUNNEY (WA) 2nd    Yue Julie FENG (NSW) Equal 3rd    Susan BONAR (WA), Nobuko FUJITO (NSW) MEN’S DAN INDIVIDUALS CHAMPIONSHIP 1st    Jayson CHAPLIN (NSW) 2nd  ...

Mariko Yamamoto is a two-time winner of the All Japan Championship. In 2012 and 2013 she won back to back titles. This video is getting a little old now but someone has done a pretty good job of subtitling it in English. Her story is interesting because these kind of profile docos of elite women kenshi are not so common. In spite of being very quiet and shy, she obviously has amazing determination to win. It also helps that she was a member of the Osaka Police Force Special Training Squad and trained 5 hours a day 5 days a week. Having a dad who is a previous All Japan champion doesn't hurt either! Here she is teaching a Kendo seminar in Japan. Also, an interesting research article in English on Japanese women's elite Kendo can be found here  (download PDF) .

The 2nd kyu to 4th dan grading will be on Sunday 17th March . The rescheduled 6th kyu to 3rd kyu grading will be on Sunday 24th March . Both gradings will start at 12.30 for registration and the first grading will commence at 1pm. Questions for those going for dan grades are below. Please email me for a copy. You are allowed to complete the answers before the grading but they must be submitted on a hard copy of the official answer sheet. Nidan candidates note well: the phrase 'opportunities for datotsu' is a specific one and should be researched thoroughly. The Japanese is "datotsu no kikai" 打突の機会 . It is related to "mittsu no sen" 三つの先 All the kyu grading requirements are listed here: http://www.kendoaustralia.asn.au/publicdocs/p_5_kendo_kyu_exam_MoD_2_Kendo_09_10_19.pdf Questions for Shodan to Yondan Grading  Please answer one of the following questions for the level for which you are grading.  Bring your answers and hand them in to the grad...

To say Nakakura Kiyoshi sensei was important to Kendo is like saying Don Bradman was important to cricket. Not only was he instrumental in shaping post-War Kendo (he was largely responsible for " the Concept of Kendo "), he was an influential teacher, a swordsman without peer in his generation and at one time the adopted son of the founder of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei sensei (that's a young Nakakura with Ueshiba sensei above, c.1933).  As you will see from this excellent interview from 1987, Nakakura sensei was such a gifted martial artist that Ueshiba chose him above his own son to be his successor, hence he was adopted into the Ueshiba family and married Ueshiba sensei's daughter. For a while he became "Ueshiba Morihiro", but that didn't work out... http://members.aikidojournal.com/private/interview-with-swordmaster-kiyoshi-nakakura-1/ The reason he is so important to us is because he was my teacher's teacher. Nagae sensei became...

But back again next Wednesday. See you all Saturday.  PS - thanks to Chie for attending the delegates' meeting Sunday.  🙏

Anyone who is interested in learning some of the basics of Tatsumi Ryu iai will need two extra pieces of equipment, as well as their bokuto. They are: a plastic saya  http://www.tozandoshop.com/Plastic-Saya-p/002-wps.htm and an obi  http://www.tozandoshop.com/Standard-Cotton-Iaido-Kaku-Obi-p/095-iomo[xx].htm Oh, and a pair of knee pads might be necessary, depending on how strong your knees are! Volleyballer's kneepads are a good option. We practice from 8.30 to 9.00am Saturdays before regular training. There is no fee for this training.

The year is well underway and the Kendo calendar is filling up! Here are some events to consider: VKR Delegates' meeting Kenshikan, Sunday 17 Feb from 1pm Nagae Taikai Kenshikan, Saturday 2 March from 1pm (2 dan to 5dan) VKR AGM Kenshikan, Sunday 31 March from 1pm 44th Australian Kendo Championships East Victoria Park WA, 19-24 April If you would like more information about any of these events, please get in touch.

As promised, here is that video on whip dynamics. Watch the whole thing, or start at 5:45 for the gist of it. The speed of sound is indeed (well done Alex and Ben!) 343m/sec or 1,234.8km/h (which for all you old timers, air force or navy people is 667 knots). The similarity with the shinai, as I mentioned at training this morning, is the 'unrolling' of the whip and how this causes the speed of the tip to increase exponentially. Our aim with the shinai is not to interfere with the whip-like potential of the shinai, by having the most rational and efficient cutting action possible. We should try to imitate the kinetic wave of the whip's motion through the way we use our body, recreating this unrolling by starting with the shoulders then continuing through our upper arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, palms and fingers. As you can see in the slow motion video of the whip with the taped segments, the unrolling movement is characterised by each section of the whip coming to re...

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These are courtesy of Kyohei and Tomoko.

Congratulations to Soon for passing his 3rd dan in Brussels yesterday! Apparently it was quite a strict grading with a low pass rate. Soon has been living and working in London for the past 18 months. You can often see him at training via London Kenyukai's Instagram . Well done Soon and we hope to see you Melbourne again soon!

Thanks to Anna for sharing these photos. We had such a wonderful time I think we might have to do it again! Nanseikan end-of-year training, Blairgowrie Community Hall.

There are a number of seminars coming up in 2019, some of them before we start back at training, so please be advised. artist's impression of expected 2019 hatsugeiko at Kenshikan Hatsugeiko (first training) at Kenshikan, 31 December/1 January The Kenshikan has established something of a tradition of New Year's training and all VKR members are welcome to attend. " The dojo will open at 10:30pm and then training will start before a small pause just before midnight to allow the participants to have a celebratory drink to usher in 2019 and then training will continue for about 45 minutes or so.   After training has concluded, participants are welcome to remain to have a bite to eat and drinks as per last year….or should I say this year?  Therefore people attending this event are encouraged to bring food, drinks, dessert to share with everyone.  We hope you can make it!"  Kristine Ventura, MBK Secretary Fujiwara sensei: 17 to 22 January 2019...

Next Saturday 15th December will be our trip to Blairgowrie. We can use the St Pius bus which can fit 12 people plus luggage. Please let me know in the comments if you are coming and if you want a seat on the bus, or whether you are planning to drive. I've decided we can meet up and leave a little later than previously mentioned. We will meet at the dojo at 7.00am and leave at 7.30am . This will make it a little easier for people like Chie who have to travel further. It means we will start a little later (probably arriving by about 9.30am) but I think we can still do plenty of keiko. We will also finish a little earlier than usual, about 3.30pm. The weather forecast at this stage is 28 degrees and chance of showers. Leave a comment below with your name and how you wish to travel. All food for the day BYO and dinner will be purchased from Blairgowrie shops (either f&c or pizza). There is no extra charge for the training for Nanseikan members. For non Nanseikan mem...

As usual, St Pius X Hall with be a polling booth on election day. Although it might be fun to try and run training at the same time, I have a country wedding to go to that day. So I think the easiest thing will be to cancel training rather than relocate for the day. To make up for it, term fees will cover the whole day of shochugeiko. In the meantime, we were doing suriage waza last night and I showed everyone this video again. Chiba sensei is a great example to have in mind, and you can never share this video too much!

This year's end-of-year summer training, or shochugeiko , will be held at Blairgowrie Community Hall, 8 William Rd.  View Map We will meet at the dojo at 6.30am and set out at 7.00, aiming to arrive at Blairgowrie by 8.30. We will train until around 3.30-4pm, then head to the beach which as you can see from the map is about 100m away! St John's Wood Rd shops are also walking distance, which means fish and chips and/or pizza for tea I reckon. It looks like we will have access to a 12-seater bus, but even so we will probably need to do some car-pooling as well. The hall is about the same size as our dojo, perhaps a tiny bit smaller. The date for shochugeiko is Saturday 15 December.