kendo journal

back to start

after leaving probably one of the most beautiful Kendo-Dojo’s in Germany, maybe Europe, the Alster-Dojo, Hamburg - i went on a long road trip around the world, with out training for 10 month. no exercise at all, besides hiking, diving and some work. even start smoking again, sic!

now i want to practice again, which means in reality, a brand start, basics, foodwork, no Bogu. i’m nervous and frightened to feel and see, how much i lost, but hope to be back on the track end of the year.

Hello World

Hello World

leaving my duesseldorf kendo club

me moving to hamburg so was forced to leave my own club the shonen kemdo club dusseldorf. hopefully i find a new good club with great people and senseis ….

men, kote, fumikomi (and again, kiiai)

while doing men, try to hold arm parallel to floor, cause the last movement happens with your handankles -> tenuchi!

the distance for kote, should be half of the men-distance.

doing Fumikomi(-ashi). it helps to raise the shinai first and then when on the wy down start the same exact moment to move forward …

and kiiai, kiiai, kiia … it’s kendo, not your painting-class, stupid!

ps: the fumikomi was introduced after WW2 … need to find sources!

holding the shinai (again and again and again)

again and again and again:”the sword must live”  – in kamae and all other stands, dont hold the shinai like an axt, its a  bloody sword!!!

hold it as light as possible and when the strike hits, wrench and snap (tenuchi). like if u have a bird in your hands, dont crush him. this is the only way to survive 1000 suburis …

REISHIKI

bowing to shrine, in and out of the dojo, 30 degree, eyes down(?)

bowing between people, 15 degrees, eye to eye

sitting - left leg first, hands never touch ground, men’s legs are 2 fists apart,
when sitting, sit at read position, not butt on heals

rising - right leg first,

shinai (with tsuba on same level then knees) on the left side, AFAIK in “old days” while visting a samurai, u put it on the right side, as a sign of peace (cause as a righthander u couldnt be fast enough to strike the person who invited u - damm not sure if i got this right, need to ask again, know that shimzu-sensei does it)

keep your head level, means not up and down while movin.

press your ass together and use your stomach/center while breathing in to push “seme”

if i neeed to move fast, i should use smaller steeps.

beware of dragons!

i read through Jasons blog/notes and think it is a great insight that martial arts in this case kendo, means journey, a long one charter into unknown territory, where dragons live.

being stocked in Iceland, i couldnt practice and lost my whole small fundament. so erase and rewind. thanks for the inspiration, jason!

Nihon Kendo Kata

Nihonme

First: Chudan no Kamae