Nanseikan Kendo Club 剣道クラブ南西館

NHK has just released a documentary about All Japan champion Hidehisa Nishimura. Called "The Spirit of Kendo: The Path of No Regret" it's available on NHK World's streaming site until 2 November this year. Enjoy! https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/5001232/

 Beginning rei There are videos on this channel for the first four of the five kata and also for the closing rei. The kata are: Mae Goshi, Asayama Ichiden Ryu Muso Gaeshi, Shindo Munen Ryu Migi no Teki, Kyoshin Meichi Ryu Mawarigake, Tamiya Ryu Shiho, Tatsumi Ryu There's no video for "Shiho" for some reason. So here's the previous Tatsumi Ryu Headmaster demonstrating: View this post on Instagram Shiho 四方 (Four Directions), the Tatsumi Ryu kata that is included in the Keishi Ryu iai curriculum. This video is from the Nippon Budokan's "Nihon Kobudo" film series shot in the 1970s. This is Kato Takashi soke, the 21st and previous headmaster, the current Headmaster's father. Graduate of Kokushikan Univ. Studied under Nakayama Hakudo and Mochida Seiji amongst others. He was graded 5th dan in Kendo and 5th dan in Iaido by the Dai Nippon Butokukai before WWII when these were the highest ...

7.30 to 9.00pm as usual. See you there.

I I hope you're all enjoying the break and avoiding this winter's terrible 'flu. In the meantime, please have a look at Furukawa sensei's old Kendo DVD above. It doesn't matter that it's all in Japanese. You can probably understand the names of each waza as he mentions them ( "Ano ne, ma.... ano sugi wa, debana waza desu ne... debana men, anoo~..." "Ok so, um... er, next we have, um, debana...etc" :)), and he also acts out the wrong way to do them. But just watching how straight and relaxed his posture is, is in itself an education. He really does have some of the most beautiful Kendo I've ever seen. Coming up: VKR Delegates' meeting: this Sunday at 1pm, Kenshikan Okada sensei seminar 26-28 July   If you wish to be part of this, please contact me asap. VKC's 10-11 August.    Mick is now competition secretary so he is handling this and you should have heard from him already via email. Thanks Mick!! Ueyama sensei 26-3...

Okada sensei from Nittaidai will be in Melbourne this month to run a weekend seminar. Last year was at MSAC, this year will be at Monash University. Due date for registrations is Friday 19th July (the day before we start back at training) so if you're interested in attending, you will have to let me know via email as soon as possible. Chief Instructor:  Okada Morimasa sensei, Kendo Kyoshi 8th Dan Assistant instructors:  Ito Masataka sensei, Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan, Hirokawa Takaki sensei, Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan, Otomo Yoichi sensei, Kendo Renshi 7th Dan, Hashikomi Maiko sensei, Kendo 6th Dan. Prices : Both Days Adults: $70 Students: $50 Per Day Flat Fee: $40 Participants that are 15 or under can attend for free. Content  • Lecture • Bokuto Ni Yoru Kendo Kihon Waza Keiko Ho • Nihon Kendo Kata • Kendo Basic / Advance Practice • Keiko Location and times : 27- 28 July 2019 9:30am ~ 4:30pm Monash University Games Hall Clayton Campus, 42 Scenic Blvd, Cla...

Thanks to Reuben sensei for letting me know about this video. Made this year, it is the first doco I've seen about women 7th dans in Japan going for 8th dan. It only aired for the first time on NHK about 2 weeks ago. In Japanese without subtitles at this stage. Enjoy!

Just a reminder that this Saturday is our last training for term 2.  Traditionally the last training for term 2 is our kangeiko. However due to some planning difficulties, this Saturday's training won't be an all day training as it is usually. It will however go longer than normal, finishing at 1.00pm. Term 3 starts on 20 July, and the next beginners' course on 10 August.

Please note that annual membership renewals are due this week. They must be made in a single payment for the whole club, therefore I need your payment in my account by this Saturday evening at the latest.  BSB 313-140 AC#19235215 Fees are $70.00 for adults and $45.00 for juniors. If you do not pay by Saturday it just means your membership won't be renewed until next month; the VKR has a policy of only processing memberships payments between 1st and 15th of each month.

And remember, no training this Saturday. It's Election Day!

Next Saturday 11 May we will be relocating to Olympic Village Sports Centre ( click to get directions  from the dojo). We won't have iai before-hand. Just meet at 8.30am to get changed for a 9am start. We will be training in the basketball stadium inside the main building. Just go straight ahead past reception and you can't miss it. The week after there will be no training due to the election. The following week training will be on again as usual back at the dojo. As promised here is the video of Kanoya Taiiku Daigaku, or the National Institute of Fitness and Sports (NIFS) in English, known as Kataidai for short. There are two national sports science or PE universities in Japan, one in Tokyo that we know very well (Nittaidai) and one is southern Kyushu. Kanoya is a town about the same size as Ballarat and it is located on the other side of Sakurajima from Kagoshima. It's an odd place for a national university, but that hasn't stopped them from becomi...

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...