Wasabi

Sometimes when talking to newer kendoka about the objectives and culture of kendo, I am reminded of a manzai comedy sketch I saw many years ago. The principal comedian asked a supposedly  non- Japanese sidekick about his understanding of wabi sabi (the Japanese aesthetic of imperfection and oneness with nature). The foreign straight-man replied that [...]

Read Full Post »

Sports kendo versus shugyo

I was gratified by the high level of feedback to the article on “The Aim of Kendo” by Matsumoto sensei. I know that many of the people that commented are active shiai participants.  This bolstered my view that an understanding of kendo philosophy is a natural bedfellow for hard training and ambition to do well [...]

Read Full Post »

Zen and now

In the course of the normal disjointed after keiko conversation, someone mentioned that Google had developed a new application where you can send a picture of an object from your smart phone and Google would tell you what the unknown object is. Kicking this idea around, we decided it might be more useful if you could [...]

Read Full Post »

Are kendoka selfish?

Anyone who makes significant progress in a sport or art, has to be to a greater or lesser degree, self-centred; putting in extensive time for training and reflection. Kendo is by nature an introspective pursuit.  The character, do or michi, tells us that it is not just a pastime but a way, a path or [...]

Read Full Post »

Enzan no metsuke

The sequence of perception to waza in kendo is described as ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki. One –  (gan) sight Two – (soku) feet Three – (tan) abdomen (centre / courage) Four – (riki) power (technique) In my understanding, we see the opportunity, immediately push off from the back foot committing the [...]

Read Full Post »

Ken Ri

One of my most treasured kendo possessions is a piece of calligraphy, given to me by the late Matsumoto Toshio sensei, kyudan.  The characters simply say ken ri, which to my meagre understanding translates as sword reason or theory. This was the cornerstone of Matsumoto sensei’s teaching and means that there is a reason for [...]

Read Full Post »

Kendo and Scouting

I just watched a documentary on the creation of the Scouting Movement by Lord Baden-Powell. Having never been a boy scout, I was intrigued to learn that much of the purpose for and motivation behind this organisation shares a great deal of common ground with kendo. The impetus behind the publication of “Scouting for Boys” [...]

Read Full Post »

Ask not what kendo can do for you ……….

To misquote a well known saying! I use a number of business networking sites for work and do get a lot of value from one in particular – Linkedin. This site is of a size where it has lots of specialist groups, including one for Kendo Business Professionals. In the Q and A sessions for [...]

Read Full Post »

Kendo and Zen

I am not for a moment going to try to explain the relationship between kendo and zen. To attempt to do so would take me way beyond my own level of understanding. This is more me musing on the different levels of emphasis placed on that relationship by different kendoka. Along with kyudo, sado, shodo [...]

Read Full Post »

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing……

George makes the very valid comment on my post about kyoshi, that sitting the test in Japanese, stops foreigners with insufficient knowledge, from passing shogo on an uneven playing field. I still think that what writing in Japanese best tests is your ability to write Japanese. I do agree that non Japanese kendoka have much [...]

Read Full Post »