Ko ken chi ai

Jose Vargas of Kendo Equador sent me a questionnaire covering a number of aspects of kendo philosophy. Being that time of year and feeling reflective, I decided to post my answer on “ko ken chi ai”. 4. – What do you think about: Ko Ken Chi Ai (交剣知愛)? “A) Difficult to translate precisely, but an [...]

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Pedantry

Thanks to a slow work afternoon and Kendo World Forums, I came across a fascinating Youtube video of a gentleman, who may or may not have been helping himself generously to the contents of the medicine cabinet give what felt like a thirty minute lecture on the pronunciation of tsuka. As well as fuelling my [...]

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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 [...]

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