Photos from 2007 Australian Championships

Here are some photos from last month's Australian Kendo Championships

Memoirs of a Gaijin

The members of the Hamamatsu Dojo

Last month I was lucky enough to be able to spend a week in Japan. Although the priority of this trip was to catch up with a good friend of mine, it also gave me an opportunity to train in Japan.

My plan was to train three times in Hamamatsu - a city situated approximately half way between Tokyo and Osaka and once in Osaka.

I arrived at the Hamamatsu Dojo early as I wanted to make sure I was nice and limber for what I knew would be a fairly intensive training (I trained in Hamamatsu last year when I visited Japan).
When I arrived I was met by Sensei. He welcomed me and pointed me towards the change rooms. Once changed I started my stretching as other members of the dojo arrived and began to do the same.

The first things that came to mind when entering the dojo were:
1. How nice the dojo was. It is a small community based dojo, purpose built for kendo, with a wonderfully sprung floor.
2. How hot and humid the temperature was. It had been about 32C that day and it didn't seem like it had cooled at all.

The warmup began with some stretching, with a focus on ballistic (bouncing stretches) especially to the knees and waist. This was followed by:
Jogeburi x30
Sayumen with Hiraki-ashi x30
Double time Men x30
And Haya-suburi x30 (although this was called choyaku-suburi).

The class, which by now was about 15 people (from about age 24 up), was split into two lines and the training consisted of the following:
1. Kiri Kaeshi, with an extra men cut added at the end to bring you back to the original starting position (rotating 3 times).
2. Kihon Men x4 - x2 rotations
3. Semete Men x4 - x2
4. Kihon Kote Men x4 - x2
5. Semete Kote Men x4 - x2
6. Men Do x4 - x3
7. Kote Do x4 - x3
8. Kote Men Do x4 - x3
9. Kote Kaeshi Men x4 - x3
10. Kote Kaeshi Kote x4 - x3
11. Men Kaeshi Do x4 - x3
12. Men Kaeshi Kote - x4 x3
13. Men Kaeshi Men - x2 Receiving on the left side of the shinai and x2 on the right side - x3
14. Your own Kote oji waza x4 - x2
15. Your own Men oji waza x4 - x2
16. Kote Men Taiatari Hiki-Men, Men x4 - x3
17. Jigeiko - 1-2 minute matches - x4
18. Kiri Kaeshi
19. Sei retsu, seiza, mokuso and rei.
20. Sensei addressed class on the training.

All this was done at an amazingly fast pace, with an intensity which was infectious. There was no stoppages at anytime, unless you were the odd person. The total training time would have been just over an hour.

I felt totally exhausted at the end, but I was on such a high. A very satisfying way to begin my holiday.

My second training session was on the Friday and the class was a lot smaller with just 5 people and unfortunately no sensei. The training regime was identical to the previous Wednesday.
One thing I do want to mention, there were two kids at this training, a girl who I guess would have been around 10 and a boy who was probably 1 or 2 years older. These two kids were amazing.
I have never seen anything like it, they had all the skills - I was in awe.

My third and final training session in Hamamatsu was on the Monday and it was a special one. Not only was it my last there but also because it was an opportunity for me to train with a friend who plays a very important role in my kendo.

The training was much the same as other nights with the following exceptions.
The Kaeshi wazas were replaced with:
Do Uchio-toshi Men x4 - x3
Kote Uchio-toshi Men x4 - x3
Men Uchio-toshi Men - Migi x2, Hidari x2 - x3

Also, when performing the Kote Men Taiatari Men, the Motodachi performs an oji waza of their choice against the final men cut.

After the jigeiko and kiri kaeshi, everybody lined up to do Uchikomi-geiko against Sensei, each one lasting about a minute and performed at a frantic pace - almost kakari-geiko like, but still maintaining kihon cuts.

Class then ended with seiza, mokuso, rei and again Sensei addressed the class on the training performed and there was also a photo opportunity. Finally, I approached Sensei and received some wonderful feedback (translated for me thankfully).

The next night I was in Osaka and thanks to Andrew I had been able to arrange a training session at the Yoseikai dojo. The dojo was immaculate but felt like a sauna (it was incredibly hot inside) and I knew this night was going to be something to remember. There were plenty of people there, probably 30 in total, maybe more.

Seiza and mokuso was very fast and the rei were all done standing.
Training started with Kiri kaeshi repeated about 6 times, then it was straight into Jigeiko.
I was fortunate enough to play all 4 Sensei and about 3 more people, including George, the contact Andrew gave me. Training lasted a bit over an hour and then seiza, mokuso and rei were performed. I also got to talk to all sensei who provided me with some very nice comments and excellent feedback.
It is hard for me to describe the feeling I had after the week in Japan - I don't know what superlatives I should use. It was a kendo utopia for me.
I will say that it took a few days for me to really digest everything I have learnt. The challenge for me is to somehow merge that knowledge into my kendo.

Inside the Osaka Dojo

Missing In Action

Some will have noticed that I have not been at training for the last couple of weeks. Basically I've been moving house and just starting a new job...which thus far appears to require very late hours.

I would just like to say its not an easy thing balancing, work, family, relationships and other life stuff around Kendo training. I can now see how people can get distracted and just move onto other things more important and let Kendo slide.

I think as a club we need to bond a little better and keep encouraging our mates that have a lot on to come back when they are less busy. At the end of the day we want people to come back so we have more people to play.

Australian Kendo Championships

Since I have some downtime in my Osaka hotel I thought I would try and share my experience from the Australian Kendo Championships.

The weekend was a great learning experience for me. I think I learnt more about my own kendo than anything else, especially what areas I need to work on and what I am working towards.

The Saturday morning was cold, especially the gymnasium floor.
I started my warm up early and I thought it was a solid warm up, however in hindsight I was having trouble with my nerves. I have always thought that a bit of nervous energy is a good thing but as I was soon to find out, the controlling of it is not always that easy.

The opening ceremony was something I`ll never forget. Walking out to represent my state for the first time - in a line with my team mates and standing proudly and singing along as the national anthem was played is stuff of schoolboy dreams. A wonderful feeling.

My pool matches were well into the draw so I had plenty of time to watch others play. I was surprised at the level of kendo - not that it was good or bad, but it seemed to be very mixed. There were obviously some really talented individuals but also others that seemed out of place.

My first match came up and I felt that I had everything ready - the body was warm and the mind seemed calm. However I just couldn't seem to get into the match. I suppose flat would be the best word to describe my performance. I was playing a very reactive style and it wasn't good. I went on to lose the match 2 zip, (2 kote). Certainly not the way I wanted my weekend to start - over as soon as it began.
Fortunately for me the guy who defeated me lost his next match which gave me some hope.
This time I was feeling different. I knew what I had to do.
I thought I played well in this match - winning it 2-1 (two men cuts) however the conceding of a kote spelt the end to my individual campaign. The other two played a tie breaker with the latter dude (sorry I forgot his name) going through to the next round.

As I said earlier I really discovered parts of my kendo that I could work on - both from a physical side but also a mental side.

The rest of the day went by with me taking photos for the organisers. the Dan Individuals was very impressive to watch and I managed to take some nice photos which I`ll share with you all later.

The next day was the Team events. Kyu were up first and I turned up to the venue in keikogi and hakama all ready to go (sans a change of clothing for later too).
During warm up with Burwood Mike I managed to cut my big toe so the last few moments of warm up I was busy strapping up a bloody toe but that was OK. It wasn't the best way to start the day but what can you do.

Our first match was against South Australia - I was playing third and by the time I was up the scores were one a piece. I scored a kote early but conceded two men to lose the match. I thought I played pretty well. My only criticism of myself was I was a bit predictable going for the winning cut. Elaine and Phil played exceptionally well to win both their matches and put us into the 2nd round against an understrength WA side.

With WA only able to field 3 players it was a strange match to be involved with. I think we lost the first match but won the remaining (including the 2 forfeits). I played Alison Craven and won the match 2-0. A men and a kote (which shouldn't have been paid but that happens). This put us into the final against ACT which incidentally was the ANU team that gave us the 5 - nil drubbing at Macquarie University last month.

Ephragm won his first match, Mike went down in his. I was up next and again I thought I played pretty well. I was certainly attacking more than my opponent however he picked off my kote on one of my men attempts (I was too close again...).

The last minute or so I felt I was really putting the pressure on him and I think I went close a couple of times but alas it was not to be. The siren sounded and it finished 1 zip.
Elaine and Phil both played well but in the end ACT finished up being victors. They were a very strong team (3 members finished in the top 4 of the individuals if memory serves me correctly) .

All in all I thought it was a great effort by NSW. Everyone brought their best kendo to each match and gave it their all.

The NSW Dan team were very dominate in their matches and went on to win the title.

So that was the weekend - from a first timers perspective. I didn't go into the details of the Dans, Women's and Veterans matches as I was just there to take it all in but the whole weekend was a wonderful experience and something that will hopefully benefit my kendo in the long run.

I will fill everyone in on my training here in Japan later this week. I had my 3rd and final training session in Hamamatsu last night and I have a training session in Osaka tonight. There is already plenty to write about but I will save it all for later

SMH Article

Two weeks ago, a journo from the Sydney Morning Herald visited the club and participated in the Wednesday night beginners class.

The article describing his Kendo experience was released in last weeks Radar section. For those of you who didn't see the article, here's the link to it!

http://blogs.smh.com.au/radar/archives/2007/05/sydney_knights.html

Enjoy!

Cheers
Andrew