Andoru's Kendo Blog

A year on...

2007-06-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost a year since my last update. Despite my injuries, I did not stop doing kendo. Though I must say that there were periods in my life (last year and this year) when I kinda stopped enjoying kendo because of my injuries - they're never the same you know, but once one is cured a new ailment will come. Same old story. On the plus side, I'm more aware of the need to do better stretches, and to do post-keiko "maintenance" on the body (like gentle massage).

Anyway, enough with the injuries and let's focus on the kendo aspects.

What I've Been Up To:

I graded shodan in August last year, and will be attempting my nidan shinsa in August this year (less than 2 months to go!). Since my move to Kensington in May 2006, I've also trained almost exclusively at the University of New South Wales Kendo Club (or UNSWKC) under the teachings of Yuji Sano sensei and Kirby ("Ka-bi") Smith. Since March this year, I've also joined their club since I've stopped going to Sydney Kendo Club where I started due to location, which will be exacerbated when I move further south in late June this year. I was initially worried about possible implications arising from a shift in dojo (hence I delayed the decision til March), then I realised that it's the sensible thing to do. I try to keep weekend free from kendo these days, but will still go to SKC when possible.

One of the highlights last year was my visit to Bangkok/Taipei for the 13th WKC along with my friends from Sydney (or were from Sydney). We were in Taipei for a week and got to train at a dojo there. Additionally, we also managed to take photos with Miyazaki, Ishida, Eiga as well as the others (including the coach for Kyushu College the current winner of Gyokuryuki). We were there when history happened i.e. Japan lost the mens team semi-final match. I'll make a separate post with pictures soon.

Kendo Goals & Musings:

My goals in kendo remain the same from last year, that is Arms, Footwork & Kizeme, in no particular order. I call it AFK. :) Since last year's WKC where I get to watch so many excellent kenshi in action, I realised that one of the key ingredients to good seme and kizeme is footwork. Having relaxed arms (and shoulders) also make the execution of cuts more fluid and with good tenouchi, and that contribute to good seme too. That's kendo really - everything is inter-related. For now, I'm working on my footwork. My goal is to move like the Yang brothers since my physique is about the same as theirs.

Since October last year I've been suffering from muscle related strains in my left leg, and that has limited my capability to launch myself. After a few trips to physio and a massage session by my dojo-mate Ephragm, it's getting better. Because of this problem, I thought about learning jodan so I could give my left leg a rest. The best jodan player in Australia, Kirby Smith, trains at my dojo and he's kind enough to say yes when I asked him to teach me. I've never imagined myself doing jodan before, because I was under the impression that jodan is for tall(er) people. Why would a 1.64m tall midget like me do jodan right? Besides, with just 3 years 4 months of kendo experience under my belt, I felt that I was too inexperienced enough to try jodan. But try I must, if that allows me to train and to also rest my left leg. Kirby said I'm ready...and that's how I began jodan training in May 2007.

I've been doing alot of katate suburi at home to strengthen my left wrist. It's important to be able to wield the shinai well with one hand. On top of that, I do suburi from jodan. That is, assume jodan, go through the motion of doing a men cut, making sure that my right hand is doing the pushing and that it snaps to my right hip (or stomach) after that, and that my left hand is extended along the arm. I also practise my footwork (left foot forward). I have a shinai in my office as well so I get to do all that at work too. :) I also practise hidari-katate-kote-uchi cuts because it's different from the men cut. It's in fact alot more complicated.

Posters at Kendo World who do jodan have said that their chudan has also benefited from jodan. In particular, their aggression, seme, awareness of maai and suki have all improved by doing jodan and these can be translated to chudan. This fact is important to me because I don't know whether I''ll be sticking with jodan for the long haul, and since I'm not playing with it either I hope to be able to learn from it. It's comforting to know that I'm also improving my chudan when doing jodan.

When doing jodan in jigeiko or uchikomi-geiko I try to do correct strikes (or as correct as possible). I also work on my aggression. In chudan I work on AFK and be proactive about it. I've got my hands full in keiko as it is. :)

That's the current state of Andoru's kendo at the moment. Being aware of my kendo helps in identifying what I'd like to work on (besides obvious bad habits that sensei points out to me from time to time). I made sure to work on the things I want to improve each time I do jigeiko. There were plenty of frustrations, and plenty more to come, but it's so rewarding when something clicked once in a (long) while.

Komoto sensei is here!

2006-07-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

Haha I just spent a fantastic day with him and Bibian today. Photos to follow soon. Last night he taught us the finer points of nuki-doh and men-kaeshi-men. Training at SKC tomorrow then off to Blackcow for lunch with the gang. Can't wait!

p.s. new template change!

Migi-doh

2006-07-09T01:31:00.000-07:00

I went full out in yesterday's training. I think it's safe to say that I've fully recovered. Glad to be doing more migi-doh training but meh it's hard to train my mind to do it in jigeiko. Will have to try though.

The whole reason we do kendo is because...

2006-07-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

it gives us good feelings.

It's true you know.

The sombre tone of my recent posts reflected how I felt exactly given the injury. Good news though - the pain has subsided significantly past week. It's like...almost gone. God works in wondrous ways. Now I can prepare for the shiai at Founders' Cup 2006.

Sigh...

2006-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

I missed training once again. My injury lingers and I have no idea how to fix it. Physio's suggestions didn't work. This sucks.

Hello long time no see!

2006-06-14T00:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've updated my kendo blog. I haven't stopped training, but I've slowed down qutie a bit due to injuries (geez why do they keep happening!) and personal reasons (breakups, moving houses etc etc).

One thing I've observed though is that, the more analytical I was, the more unnatural I became in jigeiko. That's the case last year. This year however, I stopped being so analytical and focus instead on exploring different opportunities. That works well - I gain personal satisfaction from the jigeiko. Goes to show that taking a break everynow and then earns dividends.

My latest injury is to my lowerback, causing pain to the right gluteus area. I've seen the physio 3 times in 3 weeks. Let's hope this clears up soon.

I hope you are well.

Doh exercises

2006-02-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

Last Sat's training at SKC was unorthodox. We did heaps of suburi style exercises to be followed by 100 doh cuts (both sides, with side-stepping movement) as well as 100 men-kaeshi-doh cuts (both sides with similar movement). Nurlin was my partner. Took sometime trying to get into the swing of things but ultimately enjoyed the experience. Didn't hit Nurlin's armpits at all hehe.

Jigeiko with Taek has always been a good learning experience. He's such a strong player who forces me to lift my game. Learned heaps in 5 mins.

Everyone deserves a fresh start

2006-02-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

I think it's safe to say, on reflection, that 2005 wasn't as good a kendo year as it could have been for me. Plagued by various injuries, PhD deadlines, girlfriend issues (and there were many), I'd lost some degree of motivation along the way.

But what made me update this blog now is because I strongly believe that I have my (old) life back now, after resolving the issues that used to haunt me. I enjoy kendo and the companionship of my kendo friends, and I will continue to attempt to unravel the mysteries that are the essences of kendo.

As John Locke said in Lost: "Everyone deserves a fresh start."

Ki-me

2005-09-12T02:31:00.000-07:00

A new word I learned today:

Ki-me (n.) 1. A decision. 2. Finishing a strike or thrust decisively. 3. Resolution to complete an Ippon. 4. The delicate action of hand movement at the moment of a strike or thrust's impact.

Kote-men

2005-09-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here's what Gendzwill sensei wrote in this thread:

"Here's the key points I usually make when teaching this:

The fumikomi on the kote should be much lighter than on the men. If you have a strong fumikomi, then your motion will tend to stop and you'll have kote, then men rather than kote-men. So think light. You can also say "te-men" rather than "kote-men" to emphasize this. Remember that most of the action is with the left hand. Keep it light on the kote and let the shinai naturally rebound up so that you're ready for men. The right hand should just be moving on a steady path towards the kote and then smoothly up towards men rather than pulling back. Make sure you get a nice little rhythm with the light kote and stronger men - pa-PUM, not BAM-BAM."

PhD and Kendo

2005-08-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

I submitted my PhD thesis yesterday:

I've been feeling really blank ever since, though slightly nervous of the examination process. Hopefully the results will be out by Christmas.

Now that I've got some free time...

Three Similarities between Writing a PhD Dissertation and Practising Kendo:

You keep doing the same things over and over and over and over again!
You get really anal with the details;
You are constantly concerned about doing the right things;

My next focus: The Uni Games in late this Month. Will be representing Sydney Uni in the Kyu Individual and Kyu Team events.

While I'll be eligible to grade for shodan in one year's time, I'm actually interested in doing it at the WKC in Taiper next year (a la Mingshi). Well we'll have to see about that.

I've got good senseis and sempais

2005-08-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's training was great! I tried my best to "live up to the grade" and was encouraged with loads of useful advice which I have no hesitation in writing them down for my benefit:

Isaac: "Relax the shoulders". I didn't realise that I have this bad habit of tensing my trapezius muscle. Following Isaac's comments early on in practice, I made sure to focus on relaxing my shoulders/traps and it worked wonders! I was less tired, and I could feel a bit more "oomph" in my cuts during jigeiko.
Itakura sensei: "Cut with horizontal BAM!! Like this [hand gestures of right fist slamming into left palm]! Everyone has to work on this aspect of their kendo". Choice words sensei!
Payne sensei: "If you're graded ikkyu last weekend, it's time to start working on kendo at the shodan level." Too right!

Highlight of the day was the jigeiko between Kirby and I. Kirby did an excellent morote tsuki which landed on target as I was moving back, thus fuelling the backward momentum. I struggled to regain balance only to be tripped by Anna who was sitting at seiza behind me. Tsuki-owned! Even as my butt was on its way down to kiss floor, I remember thinking in my head that that was a truly remarkable tsuki. It was indeed my pleasure to receive it!

I also enjoyed being cut by my senseis and sempais as there is a lesson in each of them. I especially like the final cut by Itakura sensei during ippon shobu. As I moved in, he applied loads of seme and created doubt and confusion in me, then he finished me off with a determined men cut with plenty of spirit and zanshin. It was almost embarassing at first, but the value of the lesson hits me straight after. I bowed, sonkyo-ed, and left the jigeiko with sensei a very satisfied kenshi.

Playing Tall Opponents - learning from Takeshi

2005-08-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

After registering to participate in the Australian Uni Games - which will be held in late Sept in Brisbane - I swung by the Sydney Uni dojo to show the guys and gals the photos I took at Founders' Cup.

I didn't plan to stay long, until I noticed that Takeshi was there, and Mike Henstock turned up not long after. Perfect! Now I get to watch them both in action and observe how Takeshi takes on a taller opponent.

The jigeiko between them lasted almost 15 mins. Mitori-geiko was first-rate as I got front-row seat. As expected, Takeshi applied loads of seme. He often made sure that he's within striking distance, which means that he often appeared closer than issoku ito no maai. He tried to control Mike with his seme so that his men didn't seem to be exposed. His kensen at his maai was very close to Mike's kote, closer to Mike's kensen to Takeshi's men. That's a very interesting observation. I noticed that Takeshi constantly used footwork to move his body in and out of maai. His footwork is fluid and he's got explosive power.

Learning from these observations, I'll try to project a more "threatening" image using seme and determined strikes. I'll take any openings available and not just a select area (like men) to complete the offensive arsenal. Also, I need to be prepared to do oji waza. I'll try that against all opponents, but will adjust maai appropriately against taller opponents.

Playing Tall Opponents, Part 1

2005-08-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've managed to ask for comments about my ikkyu grading performance from every one from the grading panel and now I have some solid ideas about the things I want to work on leading up to shodan.

The comments are mostly related to the way I play tall players, as both my opponents in the ikkyu test are tall. I'm 164cm, the typical Asian height, so many of my opponents tend to be taller than me. Itakura sensei made 2 key observations:

My cuts weren't determined enough. He's right - my opponents were both quite twitchy and took my advances as a cue to initiate their cuts, thus foling my attempts at executing cuts. Still, I should make determined strikes regardless.
More focus on shikake waza. Same point as above.

So...how should I play taller opponents? Some points for considerations:

Taller opponents have superior reach, especially men;
To cut their men, I'd have to move in to close the maai. But that means "exposing" my men even more;
Taller opponents' kote/doh are more accessible;
Taller opponents can be in some way forced to cut men only.

These are some of the points I could think of right now which I should consider when doing jigeiko against them.

I've been watching Takeshi's jigeiko and shiai with great interest since he's shorter than me but is yet able to hit any opponent's men with relative ease. The key is seme. With strong seme, he is able to control the opponents, making them take the defensive posture and force them into creating suki. Since the opponents are forced to be defensive, they are not in a position to attack. This works against ALL opponents, not just the tall ones.

Accordingly, I must apply myself consistently into training my seme. This means improving my footwork, center, kigurai and other elements to produce effective seme. I hope that with more hard practices I can improve on this aspect, and will be able to make determined and spirited strikes with sutemi.

Finally! It's over!

2005-08-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Founders' Cup 2005 that is - a weekend filled with AGM, state grading and team competition. My club was the host this year, and as its president, I was running around like crazy getting final arrangements in place.

Actually, there is alot to say though I don't know where to start. I'll keep the organisation part out of the blog as it's not useful for my future reference.

The only part which I participated in was the grading. I was attempting for 2nd kyu on Saturday. Even then, my confidence was a wee bit down due to my training inconsistency for the past 2 months or so. I think my sensei wasn't very pleased that I elected to grade. Anyway, my confidence got better after the practice run in the morning. I had a minor scare during the morning practice when I sorta twisted something in my left foot but luckily it got better.

Afternoon arrived and grading started. I wasn't even feeling nervous. Not worried about passing at all. If I failed, I'd get to grade next time with my fellow sankyus who couldn't grade this time because of work commitments. In my mind, I had nothing to lose. Besides, I've already accepted the fact that kendo is going to be a life-long pursuit for me. Menkyo is just a piece of paper anyway, it's the real kendo that counts. What I expected was feedbacks about my kendo.

Grading was separated into 2 groups. Ikkyu and dan grade applicants in one group, while 6th kyu to nikyu applicants in the next group. So I was in the later group, together with my only dojo-mate Chris Barbe and my mates from the other clubs, including Dino and Adam from UNSWKC. Grading started and it was the 6th kyu applicants first and there were heaps! It's like that each grading so it's not unexpected. Most of us 2nd kyu applicants were looking at the ikkyu and dan grade applicants going through the motion so we didn't really notice the lower kyu gradings. 6th kyu grading took very long though. By the time the ikkyu and dan grades were completed (including kata), we were just up to yonkyu grading! The weather was cool so we tried ways to warm ourselves up.

Finally! It's our turn! My number was 2-5 so I got paired up with Chris, who was 2-6. Went through kiri-kaeshi, uchikomi-geiko, kakari-geiko then 2 rounds of jigeiko. I remember playing Chris in my second round of jigeiko and Nathan (from ANUKC) in my first round. Things could have been better but it was acceptable on my part. It was over pretty quickly and we were relieved.

It was over - or so we thought. I popped into the kitchen to refill the water bottle and went to chat with some of the fellow nikyu applicants. Then the steward (Dave Bunder) came to announce that applicants 2-2 and 2-5 were to put their men on. 2-5 was me, and 2-2 was Dino. Dino was upstairs chatting with his friends so I called for him and he came down looking dazed. I told him that we'd been instructed to put our men on and he thought that a bunch of us had set him up! You see, it's not common for nikyu applicants to be asked to attempt for ikkyu, and we were told to prepare to do kata if we passed the ikkyu test. The entire hall was quiet - it 's just him, myself, and the grading panel. I could feel all eyes on us as we went through the test. Since there were just 2 of us, a motodachi was selected. Turned out to be Adam McNeil, the Australian kyu champion, who attempted his ikkyu earlier in the other court. After kakari-geiko it was straight into jigeiko with Dino first then Adam second. Both of them are tall, and I was the only short guy. I didn't do that well but I tried to keep my composure and my attacks spirited and was very glad when it's over.

Dino and I were both called for kata. Again the hall fell silent as we began. Apparently I was meant to be shidachi but I heard uchidachi instead. So I started being the uchidachi in ippon-me. Dino went into hidari jodan just to see me doing the same but luckily he corrected into migi jodan. We did ippon-me to sanbon-me with me as uchidachi. When we finished, people started clapping and Itakura sensei wasn't happy as there was a mistake. He said that he's going to give us one more chance, and announced very clearly and Dino was to be the uchidachi this time. Again, we went through the 3 kata again and I finally got nervous. My body was practically shaking! I was very happy with the kata. We had done as best as we possibly could with plenty of emphasis on zanshin. One thing I should have done better was to lower the kensen more during chiburi. I noticed Dave nodding as we completed our kata and we were confident that we'd pass. Again, the crowd started clapping. Dino and I were totally exhausted. Our results were later confirmed by Vivian, the NSWKA secretary, as she reads out the results before we went home.

I don't disagree with the grading panel, but I do feel that I don't deserve the grade. I will train harder!

Using the hips

2005-08-06T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today's feedback from my sempai Isaac is to focus on cutting using the hips more, similar to what Master Kim said but 6 months later. With more trainings under my belt, I could certainly understand Isaac's comments better, which means that having a kendo blog will prove useful as I re-read instructions from my sensei and sempai in the future.

Alot of my kendo friends are down in Melbourne this weeked for the seminar with Chiba sensei (hanshi hachidan) and 2 female sensei. Chiba sensei was 3-times All Japan champion using the jodan technique. Wish I was there.

Anyway, 1 more week to shinsa...

Kamae

2005-07-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

Yano sensei came to training yesterday, and I had the privilege of doing jigeiko with him for the first time ever!

Flashback to first quarter of 2004...5 of us graduated into bogu from the beginners' class and it was Yano sensei who actually volunteered to be our motodachi for the day as we got used to executing kihon cuts on him with our bogu on. Ahhh....that was the last time ever since then that beginners fresh in bogu get to practise on a sensei like that. We were a privileged bunch.

Then in August last year, sensei had to move to Melbourne. We didn't get to do jigeiko with him at that time because of his shoulder injury too. So I missed the boat completely until yesterday.

I tried to do my best kendo because I wanted his feedbacks for ways to improve leading to the shinsa in two week's time. He said that it's good that I didn't dodge or do flashy block waza, and that I tried to maintain kamae when he applied seme. However, he advised me to use my feet to vary the maai - it's another dimension of controlling the opponent.

I was the last to do jigeiko with him too! Thank you sensei! :D

1 more month until thesis submission date. It's coming along okay - just can't wait for submission! Then I have all the time in the world to do kendo! Hmm perhaps I should reward myself with a new jin hakama....

Hello to all the readers of my humble blog, and I do apologise for my shortcomings in reading yours and replying to your comments. All will be back to normal in a month's time!

Oh yeah! Here are several crappy photos (thanks to a bad scan) of my dojo in jigeiko mode (click on them for bigger photos):

Nikon F5
Various zoom lenses
SB-24 speedlight
Fujifilm Velvia 100F

The key to de-kote is seme...

2005-07-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

That's what Yoshi told me when we were doing jigeiko on Sat.

That's right folks - I went back to training on Saturday and did jigeiko for the first time in 4 weeks! I missed kendo sooooooooooo much!

Bad news is...I've lost heaps of stamina. It's quite apparent, and very shocking. However, there are more good things than bad: for starters, my right heel is now 100%, and my right knee seems to be stronger too. I was able to push my body more when executing a cut and do full fumikomi without pain. Also, the hiatus has allowed me to practise without thinking too much. All I wanted to do was attack, attack and attack. Despite the stamina limitation, I felt great. I was lucky enough to do jigeiko with Payne sensei, Cath, Yoshi and Vivian.

By the way, thanks so much for your kind words and encouragement. I really do appreciate them - made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Arigato gozaimashita! :)

Oh yeah - I digitised a roll of film I took quite a while ago. I have this bad habit of taking photos of my kendo injuries (only unique ones), and here's a picture of a missed gyaku doh:

Temporary hiatus....

2005-06-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

I've been receiving several emails about my whereabouts since my last update (inappropriately titled "The Show Continues...") in May. Thanks very much for your concern.

I'm alive and kicking first and foremost, and still doing kendo. I'm taking a temporary hiatus as I finish up my PhD thesis in microstructural finance at the University of Sydney.

I'll try to make 2 trainings per week starting from this week as I prepare for 2nd kyu grading.

The show continues...

2005-05-21T02:52:00.000-07:00

I was relieved when the Han Rim Won competition ended last Saturday. In truth, I didn't prepare for it. All these times since the nationals, my focus has been on overall improvement. Vivian has already written a post about the competition so I won't add much except a brief commentary about my matches.

I was quite shocked to see the draw - I'd drawn Jackson from UNSWKC, a tall and solidly built guy who is also a good friend of mine. He's senior than me, about 2.5 months shy of testing for shodan. Really nice guy and an absolte joker. We've trained together, have jigeiko-ed a few times and one impression that really stayed on my mind when I first jigeiko-ed him was that he could hit my men from toma. Yup he's that tall. I've never played him before in a shiai and deep inside I sorta knew that it was going to be a tough fight. I was determined to try my best and to show good kendo anyway. When the match started I sensed that alot of people were watching our match. A giant versus a 5"5' almost-midget shiai must be an interesting spectacle. I was very calm in the match, much to my surprise. I tasted first blood (kote) which kicked him into gear. As he initiated a men cut I struck debana-kote before his men cut just to see the flags go up in his favour.. 2 of the shimpan came to explain after my match that they thought my kote lacked zanshin, so they let his men carried through to score. Fair enough. I reckon I played well and didn't lose my composure, but things were really rough at tsubazeriai making it very hard for me to wriggle out of tight corners. I ended up losing ippon to him by jogai - I think that's one of the worst way to lose. T_T. I beat the next guy 2-0 next but couldn't make it out my pool because of my loss to Jackson. Interestingly, at one point in our match, I saw him rolling his ankles which seemed like he might have hurt it. I pulled away from tsubazeriai and verbally asked if he was alright!! LOL! Well no more such compassion next time.

I haven't trained since the competition thanks to an array of work and deadlines. Today's training was good - I learned alot. Sano sensei explained to us about the action that is required for nuki waza. He said that we should wait for the downswing before initiating nuki action. Easier said than done!! It's a good point though. He asked us to think of nihonme and how kote-nuki-kote is performed.

I played Isaac next because I really wanted to play tall people and I really wanted to work on men cuts against a much taller opponent. He pushed me hard and it was so difficult to hit his men since he moved back when I initiated cuts. Yet I tried really hard not to hit kote coz today's focus was men. I tried seme to see if he flinches (not!) and ended up compromising maai and opening up my men for easy taking. He asked me to "switch on" - I really like that term. I did try my best though. I felt really confused afterwards but I have faith that whatever happened was good for me in the long run. I picked Payne sensei next and it's always fun to jigeiko him. He's on fire today! Then off to practise against my sempai Catherine for a few minutes and that's the end of the training! I was disappointed because I wanted to train more. My heel is still not 100% and that limited my training somewhat but the heel pads from Chibabogu should arrive soon.

I asked Payne sensei later on for advice about playing against tall people. He said that I should focus more on waza, waza and waza. He said (and showed me) that "big attracts small, and small attracts big" which was a lightbulb moment for me. When an opponent initiates a big cut, you can counter with a small one, and vice versa. Never let them intimidate you, sensei said - you control them! Never give up and just keep working at it, he added. Thanks sensei!

And guess who came to my dojo this morning? Kanyi from Kendo World Forum!! He called me on Thursday to confirm the dojo location etc but I was under the impression that he'd be coming in June or July. I was very surprised (pleasantly of course) to see him! Too bad I couldn't drag him to Sydney Uni dojo for the afternoon training - apparently there is no training today. He'll be flying to Brisbane on Tuesday so I'm going to pull him to the Pyrmont dojo for about 30 mins of non-stop jigeiko then drag him to UNSW dojo for more jigeiko straight after that.

Goodwill shiai and shimpan practice

2005-05-08T06:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a pretty packed day: the inaugural goodwill shiai and shimpan practice between Sydney Kendo Club and University of New South Wales Kendo Club, yum cha with the kendo gang, trip to the cinemas with the kendo gang to watch Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The shimpan practice was quite well organised I reckon. As president, I tried to turn up early to set up the shiaijo, but right when I was about to leave, Jackson called me up asking for a lift from Chatswood station. As there was no alternative, I obliged and turned up at the dojo later than usual (you owe me a big one Jackson!). Kinda embarassing really, because the shiaijo was already half done when I got there. Payne sensei didn't look particularly impressed about my lateness too. Anyway, I'm glad that many SKC members helped out.

The format of the shiai and shimpan practice is pretty straightforward: dan grades take turn doing shimpan duties while the "test subjects" i.e. us took turns fighting 3 min rounds in the shiaijo. Afterwards, the goodwill team shiai started with the kyu and dan teams.

I played 3 rounds of shiai. First 2 as "test subject" against Dino and Johnny, then in the team shiai as taisho for the SKC kyu team against Dino (taisho for UNSWKC). In total, I scored 5 kote (I think the majority is debana-kote) and conceded 1 de-kote. While I'm glad that I didn't lose, I realised that I really need to improve my men cut. My opponents were all much taller than me, making their men much harder to strike. Still, I should have tried harder to cut men anyway. Also, my zanshin after kote cut needs massive improvement too. In the team shiai, my sempai Ben Ng is the team coordinator and he assigned me as taisho. T_T Sigh....never played that position before. So much responsibility and all that. Worse still, after the fukusho match, we were drawn at 2-all, which means that the taisho match is the decider. I tried not to think too much and proceeded to win with just 1 debana-kote - was quite relieved after that. In case I forget, my team was: Johnny Kuo (senpo), Rick Farquharson (jiho), Ben Ng (chuken), Igor (fukusho) and myself as taisho.

The dan team matches were really well fought. In particular, the taisho match between Kirby and Takeshi was electric and a pure delight to watch. Takeshi tasted first blood through a hiki-kote, which Kirby later responded with a tobikomi-kote from jodan. The match ended up in hikiwake. Chuken match between Vivian and Jackson was nice to watch too - Vivian scored a beautiful men cut on him eventhough he's so much taller! Simply superb. After the dan team, the senseis formed a team and played against the senior students. The senseis in the team were Itakura, Onodera, Yano, Fukuda and Kim, against Yoshiyuki Usami, Isaac Bober, Kirby Smith, Kim (from Sydney Uni) and Yoshiki Ohtsuka.

While the sensei's matches were on, I took a photo with my camera phone:

Dino (partly hidden), yours truly and Jackson

Afterwards, it was lunch at Kum Fook in Chatswood ($27.50 each thanks to the gluttons at my table), then off to the city for the movie. A fun and activity-filled day that's for sure.

Vertigo, kendo and getting tsuki-ed

2005-05-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday's training was the first training I've had in 7 days. I was prepared to do about 3 trainings last week, starting from Wednesday, but something really freaky happened to me 30 mins before Wed's training. I was lying down reading a Dan Brown novel, trying to kill some time when suddenly, while looking at the lights on the ceiling, things started to spin. It took at least a few seconds for my eyes to re-focus. Nausea sets in afterwards and I was feeling too woozy and freaked out to train. I took sick leave the next 2 days and went to see a doctor about this. Doctor didn't make any specific diagnosis, suggesting that perhaps it's viral. Was given prescriptions for steroids and SERC to help alleviate the symptoms. I did more research about balance disorder and came across a page which provides some insights into this topic. My symptoms are akin to Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo which is described as:

"A brief, intense sensation of vertigo that occurs because of a specific positional change of the head. An individual may experience BPPV when rolling over to the left or right upon getting out of bed in the morning, or when looking up for an object on a high shelf. The cause of BPPV is not known, although it may be caused by an inner ear infection, head injury, or aging."

When I'm on my back, I'd experience vertigo when my head is tilted to the left and in that position only. I have no idea what's the cause - it appeared so suddenly. Dr Roosevelt - what do you think?

Anyway, I turned up for training on Sat, filled with steroids and SERC. The training was okay, though I felt a wee bit woozy if I spinned around alot, like after cuts. Highlight of the day: got totally owned by Australian champion Kirby Smith (tsuki-ed 4 times too!). I tried not to let that disturb me too much. ;) I was glad to be able to do kendo.

I spoke to Takashi afterwards and asked for his comments. He pointed out 3 things to me:

Avoid bobbing the head when coming in for the cut. I like to apply seme before executing the cut, which is good according to him. However, right before executing the cut, I have this bad habit of sinking down a little bit through the knees, thus giving my intentions away.
Use the wrists more to execute stronger cuts.
Avoid "playing" with the shinai to much. Like Vivian said in her post, the psychological way of breaking center is more desirable than using force. I suspect that I'm too low level to attempt that way against the seniors - not going to work I think. I'll try it anyway and see how I go.

Winners are simply willing to do things losers won't!

2005-04-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

What a weird kendo week! Had a good training on Wednesday, but things went totally pear-shaped on Friday. As mentioned in some of my kendo friends' blogs, several of us turned up to train at Sydney University on Friday. I went directly from my office (I'm an academic at Sydney University) feeling utterly exhausted. If I had a bed in my office I would have no qualms going to sleep there and then! Anyway, conscience compelled me to go because Mike Henstock once said to me that the best time to train is when one does not want to train. Addtionally, training when one is tired is good for stamina improvement. So I (reluctantly) turned up.

Heh! It's so funny how different I could be when tired. Felt like a total beginner in many ways - short stamina, no spirit, couldn't focus right etc. Jigeiko was almost too painful to bear. What's more - sweat beads getting into my eyes, and feeling dehydrated. It's one of those "what the heck am I doing here" kinda training for me. Having said that, I'm glad I did go, though I feel sorry for being such poor motodachi and training partner to the others. It's a good training, because I pushed myself.

In any case, I went nuts at the Saturday morning training to make it all up. I started really slow, having had just 5 hours sleep. In fact, I was so groggy when I turned up that Becki thought I'd awoken from death! Eventually I warmed up sufficiently for jigeiko and unleashed all the frustrations in unbelievably constructive ways. I intentionally chose to jigeiko tall guys like Isaac and Gideon, and would have had a go at Mike too if time allowed. Focus yet again was men cuts, but I threw in doh cuts and nidan waza. My last jigeiko with Sano sensei was tamed yet deep in meaning. He knew that I was focussing on men cuts, so he did just debana kote for the entire jigeiko. He stressed the importance of keeping center while executing semete-men. I tried to strike his men with sae, which is one of the things I've been working on. We had a small discussion during jigeiko and he encouraged me by asking me to "take this to the next level". I'm so lucky to have such good senseis! *sniff*

About semete-men: Fukuda sensei also gave me a very good pointer about hand and arms positioning while executing the cut. He said that keeping center is of course important, but it's also important not to extent the arms until the very last minute, right before the strike itself. Imagine this, one applies seme, moves in but still keeping hands at tanden as per chudan-no-kamae, finally extending the arms for the strike in time with the fumikomi. As Takeshi pointed out to me after the training, keeping center and keeping hands at chudan are important so as not to allow opponent to strike debana kote. If you keep proper chudan, the opponent would have to deviate from his/her center so as to be able to strike your kote. That's point #1. Point #2 is the extension of the arms - it also provides momentum for the drive because of the shift in balance.

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We finally watched Million Dollar Baby last night. Eventhough I'm touched and motivated by the message in the movie, I'm inspired even more by the slogan on the wall of the gym which says: winners are simply willing to do things losers won't! BAM! Deep inside winners, like Clint Eastwood said in the movie, is a heart - the heart which gives them the desire, the want and the need, to excel. To excel, one needs to go the extra mile. I will always keep these in mind.

Seme 攻め

2005-04-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesday (20th April 2005), SKC:

My foot is about 90%. It's been a week since I'd injured it. I still feel pain whenever I put weight on the right heel, but it's getting better.

I had the privilege of doing jigeiko with Payne sensei (and to a lesser extent, Fukuda sensei). In 30 mins, I only get to do just 1 long jigeiko with Payne sensei and it was worth it. Like any other sensei, he doesn't open if you don't break his center. Instead of wild attacks, I focused on getting good ippons. As I progress in kendo, it became clearer to me how important seme is. People talk about setting up cuts etc, but without seme, there'd be no success.

Seme could mean alot of things, as there are many elements in seme. Kigurai, ki, a live kensen etc are all part of seme. To me, at my level, keeping center is of course a prime consideration, but more importantly, I feel that I should focus on (1) ki, and (2) footwork. Accordingly, in my jigeiko against sensei, I used footwork and ki as basis for my seme.

I'm not entirely sure if my seme has improved, but I feel that it's much easier to initiate a cut after seme. I focused my footwork to adjust maai and to advance. When I got into range I tried 1-step uchiotoshi men. Sometimes I wasn't successful against Payne sensei if I didn't execute uchiotoshi properly, and ended up impaling myself. But I was not discouraged - try and try again. Self-impalation is also a good sutemi exercise! I also used this jigeiko to concentrate less on fumikomi and more on suri-ashi. All in all, it was an excellent jigeiko, eventhough sensei got my kote 3000 times in a row!

The Han Rim Won competition is coming up (May 14th) but my mind isn't focused on that right now. "Now" is all about working on the things that I want to improve on, train, polish and so on. Slowly, but surely, I will improve.

Blessings in disguise

2005-04-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

At last Saturday’s training, my right heel felt tender still but it was getting better. Catherine estimated that I was 75% to 80% (how did she get those numbers I wonder). In any case, due to the injury to my right heel, fumikomi-ashi was out of the question. I had no other choice but to focus on executing cuts with suri-ashi.

Incredibly, I found that I was able to reach further with suri-ashi, and I was definitely more relaxed as well. Perhaps I was lifting my right foot too much before, thereby compromising distance and wasting energy. I did mostly men cuts as I practised it more. Interestingly, if my heel hadn’t been injured, I wouldn’t have discovered that! The Kendo Gods are definitely looking out for me.

Other thing I want to work on is the snap at the end of the cut. Sano sensei been making fun of my soft cuts (or cuts that don’t land because I applied too much “brake”). He means well though, so I have to work hard on this as well.

So many things to work on, but hey, I’ve got a lifetime don’t I? ;)

I’m in my last 3 months of my PhD thesis, so I may not be able to practise more than twice per week. It pains me to think that I have to restrain myself from kendo practices, but I have to get my priorities right. For now, I have to concentrate on the doctoral thesis. I want to graduate!

Back to Kihon...

2005-04-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

Interestingly, Payne sensei picked me to instruct the beginners last Saturday. I have no idea why, as there were many other kendoka more qualified than me for the job. It was good though to slow down and think about kihon, especially in regards to footwork.

4 days later, I bruised my right heel on the concrete floor at Channel 9's TV studio where we did a 6 mins segment on Mornings with Kerry-Anne. I did go for training that evening, but had to resort to assisting Doug with the beginners (we did kata). Towards the end, I spent sometime doing forward ashi-sabaki along the length of the dojo. Itakura sensei saw me doing it and offered a pointer to me: try taking smaller steps. I don't bop up and down that way. Sure enough, I noticed a decrease in kensen movements.

I miss the full kendo training. Let's hope my heel heals well enough for tomorrow's keiko!

Lightbulb moments, improvements and kendo mates

2005-04-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, there was a thread on Kendo World about lightbulb moments. I have a big lightbulb moment, however, I didn't share it in that thread because, for some reason, the timing didn't feel right. My most memorable lightbulb moment came not at keiko but at my first individual shiai. In terms of my kendo, it was life changing.

Months leading up to the shiai, the only other people I'd ever practised with were my seniors. I don't recall ever doing a jigeiko with mates of the same rank, or those my junior for that matter. Of course, doing jigeiko with seniors is hard (that's the point!). They don't show openings, at least not intentionally. I was at a stage when I was still discovering my kendo (only been in bogu slightly more than 6 months at that time), so half the time I didn't know what to do in jigeiko. All I ever tried to do was to initiate attacks and execute them with sutemi, as per Strenger sensei's advice.

The Moo Doo Kwan tournament was held on October 9, 2004, and that was the first time in absolute eon that I'd ever been partnered with people of similar rank. I competed in the 6th to 4th kyu category, being a 6th kyu at that time. My only goal at the shiai was to try my best, and to show ki. My plan was to kiai as loudly as possible after sonkyo lol and try my best after. Anyway, from the first match onward, it dawned on me how many openings were visible to me. In the next few matches, all I did was spot the openings and went for men cuts. Rinse and repeat. Being able to "see" was such a special moment for me, and I'll never forget it. My friend Jackson calls it the "enlightenment". I played 6 matches in total that day, including the final. Up to the final, I'd played 5 matches, conceded 0 cuts and scored 10 ippons (2 in each match, 9 men 1 debana kote). I lost to my fellow dojo-mate and senpai Jayson Chaplin in the final who outplayed me in every fashion. Though the placing was a total surprice, albeit a pleasant one, I treasure that special moment even more. Whenever I see that runner-up medal, all I ever think about is my lightbulb moment, and it'll guarantee a smile on my face.

Up til recently, I've never seen the videos of my matches simply because I didn't know who has them. At the Australian Nationals, Dino showed me the match between us in the semi-final. The exposure was abit on the dark side so it wasn't really clear. After the nationals, I discovered that Vivian has videos of my matches! She lent it to me last Sat and I didn't touch it until yesterday. You see, I was, for the lack of a better word, afraid to watch the DVD. That day was indeed magical, and I know I'd done well. I was afraid to view it because I wasn't sure whether my kendo was better then (flawed logic I know). 6 months after the shiai, and after many keiko (including those many squad trainings), to find out that my kendo is worse off now would indeed be heart-breaking. Anyway, I bit my tongue and watched it.

Ha! Geez...was I THAT slow 6 months ago?! At times it's almost painful to watch. Perhaps the feelings I felt on that day was special because of what happened. I realise that I've now moved on in pursuit of better ippons. All in all, I'm very relieved after seeing those matches - it goes to show that my kendo has improved 6 months later. Yay!

If you want to see whether you've improved, the best way is to watch a shiai or keiko from the past. Sometimes I don't feel like I've improved. Heck, at one stage I actually believed that the more I trained, the worse I became. I suppose, at the end, one's kendo is improving without one realising it. As long as one goes for keiko, one is almost guaranteed to improve. Perhaps slowly, but SURELY.

I noticed that my opponents in the shiai have also improved too. In fact, 3 of them, Dino, Chris and Jayson, as well as myself, are all sankyu now. Chris and Jayson are from my dojo, and I do often keiko with both of them. I learned alot from them: Chris's tai-atari is absolute gut-wrenching (he did that to me just last night), Jayson's men is fast and Dino has nice reach. For me, the single most improved cut is definitely kote (thanks Master Kim!). There are other sankyu as well, such as Adam, Anna and Gavin. I look forward to walking the kendo path with them as we progress together.

By the way, I've linked up quite a few kendo blogs. You can find them at the right hand side.

It's raining men!

2005-04-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

Well well well..like I said in the previous post, life goes back to normal after the Nationals. The dojo was quite packed out today, with good attendance from the yudansha group, including our visiting sensei Masaru and a visiting yondan, Takeshi (I think that's his name). Cath and our newest yondan, Yoshi, were there too, along with Isaac, Doug, Taek, Vivian, Michael and Sano sensei. Nothing inspires me more than to see these people all in the same place! Their presence made me want to do better kendo! I was able to train all out knowing that there is no NSW squad training afterwards (we get to go for a proper lunch instead). The attention shifted from shiai-kendo to focussing on self-improvements.

Today's focus was MEN. I want to "re-discover" men strikes by focussing on the hara and footwork. I practised striking men using the hara with a big push and a horizontal footwork action as much as possible. I tied my obi a little tigher so as to constantly remind myself. In the first few jigeiko, I confused myself by thinking too much about it. Isaac sorta guessed correctly what I'd been trying to do by observing my jigeiko, and gave me a few pointers, such as the importance of holding center even while doing a men cut, and again the emphasis on using the hara. Things started to get better when I practised against Cath. I concentrated on pushing with the hara and didn't really cared what my hand movements were - and they all began to come together. At one stage I was almost doing suri-ashi with the men cuts. Cath remarked that there were nothing wrong in regards to the speed and reach of my men cuts. Of course I'm still not as quick as Jayson. Fortunately, speed will come with experience, Isaac said.

I hope to do men cuts with a POW one day. Explosive kendo indeed.

Koto shinai

2005-03-31T22:26:00.000-08:00

Michael Komoto sensei gave me his matake shinai last weekend at the nationals. It's #31-145 on Koei's catalogue (pronounced as Kyoto Shigekane I think). It's a koto (古刀) style shinai, which means that it's quite thick and the weight is quite evenly distributed along the length of the shinai. It's not as maneuverable as dobari style shinai, which is tip-light, but it feels really solid when doing kihon cuts. Komoto sensei enjoys fat tsuka, just like I, so this shinai has a really fat tsuka. When I hold it, the weight somehow reminds me to focus on my kamae. I use it for suburis now.

As to the benefits of a fat tsuka, this is what he wrote to me:

"As for that fat-grip, although I find no research available with regards to kendo, if we look at other activities such as golf, tennis, and industrial arts in which handled-implements are employed, evidence clearly reveals that larger grips require less gripping force, which is related to wrist and elbow joint function and pathological processes (of overuse.)"

Good for kenshi with elbow issues apparently.

Talking about fat tsuka, Nishimoto -san, from my dojo, uses a really fat tsuka too .

30th Australian National Kendo Championships

2005-03-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write about it for the past few days, but I don't know where to start.

The weekend came and gone and life now returns to normal. I came home with precious experience earned while watching (mitori-geiko), doing shiai or jigeiko with kendoka from other states.

I did okay in the individuals, but on hindsight, it could have been better. In my pool, I lost to Anthony Tilbury from Western Australia but won against Michael Davies (Victoria). The match against Anthony was pretty close at 1-1 each. He sneaked in a well-executed debana kote to take the match. Against Michael, I scored hiki-men for the first time in shiai. Scored the second one through debana-kote. One embarassing moment happened during gogi - as I was resting on the side I held my shinai wrongly, with the tip of the shinai touching the ground. Should have been the other way round. I saw the hachidans looking at me - I didn't know then but I know now. :) Anthony went on to win against Michael, and with his 4 ippons versus my 3, he became the winner of my pool.

In regards to my ippons, one thing I noticed is how they have improved since my last shiai at the NSW Championship in December 2004. Zanshin has improved slightly, but notably, the cuts were more natural and instinctive. I can now understand why high-level kenshi expect great ippon from themselves.

I was one of the reserves in the NSW team so I didn't get to play in the team shiai. I did try my best to look good on the sideline though! :D
We didn't do that well in the team shiai and I'm sure everyone, including our team coach Payne sensei, are disappointed.

Anyway, I look forward to next year's championship. I have one year to improve myself.

Congratulations to all the competitors and winners, especially our very own supergirl, Vivian Yung, who came third in the womens individuals and fighting spirit award winner!

Goals for this weekend

2005-03-24T01:07:00.000-08:00

The Australian National Kendo Championships will be held this weekend at Canberra. I'm due to depart tomorrow morning at about 4.30am.

It's been almost 4 months since my last shiai (NSW Kendo Championship). I'm very eager to find out how I've improved since then, especially given the intensive trainings I'd been through.

My goals for this shiai are:

Adopt the "not afraid to lose" rather than the "must win" attitude.
Don't hesitate, just do it.
Effortlessly release all that I'd been taught and learned though those trainings.
Don't think too much.
Enjoy and learn from the process!

Practise, practise and more practice...

2005-03-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

...that's the key to perfecting waza.

It's been a fun week when it comes to practising waza. Last Friday (18th March), which happened to be Kitagawa Takeya's final training before returning to Japan, we practised (at Sydney Uni's dojo). amongst others, kote-nuki-men (by raising arms up), nuki doh, men kaeshi doh, morote and katate tsuki.

Last night at Master Kim's dojo, we practised quite a few waza:

(1) 4 types of kote defence: (i) kote-kaeshi-kote; (ii) kote-suriage-kote; (iii) kote-harai-men and (iv) kote-nuki-men (one type is via raising the arms up, the other one one by raising arms in a semi-circle).

(2) Debana kote - Master Kim's favourite waza. I find it much easier to execute debana kote if the opponent raises his shinai, thereby exposing his kote. Master Kim said that if the opponent cuts men using small movement (such as semete-men), to execute debana kote involves lowering the shinai, crossing it below opponent's shinai and then strike kote.

We did shiai-geiko (ippon shobu) afterwards. Master Kim was kind enough to let me score a men cut on him. Lost to both Jimmy and Johnny via debana kote! Ahahahaha.

I received several feedbacks which I'll use as pointers for improvement:

(1) Don't hesitate too much. In Musashi no Ken vol 23, it's pointed out that it's better to have the "not afraid to die" attitude rather than the "must win" attitude. In the latter, one is way too careful.
(2) Try to do 1-step cuts
(3) Improve speed - I've read that speed can be improved if one practises more.
(4) Small men cut. Need to work on that.

Oh,on a small note, yesterday was my first anniversary in bogu. I first wore bogu on March 23, 2004. Thanks to an unfortunate twist of fate, I have been offered a spot as a reserve in Team NSW for this weekend's Australian National Kendo Championships. I will do my best not to let everyone down.

Nittaidai's visit to Sydney

2005-03-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday 12th March 2005 (5pm@Sydney University's Sports and Aquatic Centre):

Nippon Sports Science University (Nittaidai) visit Sydney and Melbourne annually for goodwill keiko and Japanese budo demonstration. It's one of the best sports science university in Japan, especially its kendo department. Their kendo students were hand-picked based on their high school kendo performance, sort of like Australia's Institute of Sports.

The keiko format was straightforward: warm-up, team shiai then jigeiko. For team shiai, there will be 2 dan teams, 1 kyu team and 1 womens team. The dan teams competed in 1 shiai-jo while the kyu and womens teams compete in another shiai-jo.

The kyu team is pretty much defunct, as Nittaidai has no kyu members. I knew I was in for a shock when Payne sensei picked me to be in the team. I ended up playing as senpo, which in this case meant that I'd be the first to die. ;)

As expected, we (all 4 teams) got our butts handed to us on a plate. I lasted a while eventhough I lost. The 2 ippons he scored on me were indeed beautiful. The first one was by nidan waza the execution of which was unique, followed by katate tsuki. Heh - first time I've ever been tsuki-ed in a shiai. Superb ippons over all.

The disparity in Kendo Skill(tm) between the Australians and them is so apparent. I spent a few days thinking about what made them such strong players. My observations:

Superior speed
Superior technique
Live kensen
Strong and active seme
Active exploitation of suki
Strikes executed with sutemi
Never say die attitude

I felt even more motivated after the goodwill keiko. Hopefully someday I will be as crazy as them.

六三四の剣

2005-03-10T15:44:00.000-08:00

六三四の剣 (Musashi no Ken) is a manga with kendo theme made in the early 80s. The storyline revolves around this boy Musashi and his kendo journey. I first heard about the manga back in the early 90s when I was in high school. In fact, I'd even read a few pages. Not knowing kendo at that time, the manga seemed quite foreign to me.

Lately, I discovered that Vivian has a whole stash of 六三四の剣. She's been kind to lend me her preciious collection and I've read up to volume 16 now.

Eventhough the work is a fiction, there is still a lesson or two that can be learned from Musashi. Sure, the character is not real, but it is the attitude that is portrayed that I find particularly endearing. For starters, Musashi *never* gives up. Losing to a stronger opponent would inspire him to train even harder. I'm sure that we've had our fair share of days when we felt that we were beaten by a better opponent and got discouraged. That is not the correct attitude - we must be inspired even more. Secondly, he is always in search for a strong opponent - someone who is stronger than him - so that he can improve himself, and he does so without fear. I must admit that when I first got into bogu I used to fear being thrashed by a stronger opponent. Now I take it as an opportunity to learn. Last but not least, his unrelenting pursuit to improve himself physically, willpower and otherwise.

These are the qualities that I find most admiring about Musashi.

The healing powers of massage!

2005-03-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

For the past few trainings now, I've been feeling rather frustrated during jigeiko for not being able to do certain things, or that those certain things are much harder to accomplish than before. I tried to shrug it off, thinking that perhaps it's all in my mind.

It occured to me last night while doing jigeiko with Taek that the problems maybe related to my body. These days, my glutes (read:buttocks) get tensed easily at training. My left calf muscles has been feeling the strain too. This year, I've only missed one training at the start (due to illness). I average 3 to 4 trainings per week (plus 1 hour of iai each week), including the almost weekly kyu squad training. The trainings have taken a toll on my body. I don't feel physically weak - quite the contrary in fact - but I need to loosen my muscles up more. It is possible that tight muscles have severely limited my range of movements. That would explain why my men cut seems to lack reach lately, or that my movements have slowed considerably.

Accordingly, I made a 1 hour appointment with my trusty massage therapist at Sydney University's sports clinic. The aim is to loosen up the lower body i.e. glutes, hamstrings, calves and quads. Besides noting that my glutes were really tense ("hard as rocks"), he made several observations about my body which are quite insightful on how kendo affects one's muscular physiology:

Left glute was tighter than the right glute. That is expected as the left leg (using compound muscles) is used to push off.
Left calf was tighter than the right calf. Same reason as above.
Left hamstring was tighter than the right. Again, the same reason as above.
Left and right calves are developed differently. Some parts are more developed than others, vice versa. This reflects on the different role the calves play in kendo - the left does the pushing while the right absorbs the impact of fumikomi.
Right quad is more developed than the left. I don't have a solid explanation for that one. Perhaps, when doing fumikomi-ashi, the right quad is used to raise and extend the right leg. It is also possible that the right quad is used to absorb the impact of fumikomi as well as to stabilise the torso

He also offered an explanation as to why my right knee hurts. It's because the right quad and hamstrings are tight, thus restricting and causing some tenderness when moving the knee.

The session was quite painful. I'm quite muscular and there are quite a lot to work on. I've been to him for massage since last year so I'm used to it, but today's was very different. It was the first time (ever) that my glutes, quads and hamstrings were worked on and they were tight as heck. After 10+ years of competitive volleyball plus 1+year of kendo, I'm not surprised that they were this tight. I tolerated and took the pain in, thinking that they were all for my own good.

After the session was over, he said that I should expect an improvement in the range of motions in my legs, and that the legs should feel lighter after a day or so. He's worked with rugby players before and he noted that many of them feel leg-heavy due to tight muscles in their major leg muscles such as glutes and quads.

For $50 it was worth it. Hopefully my physical condition will improve. It's interesting to note that in 2 months I've already been to the chiro/osteo twice and massage once.

Push, push and push!

2005-03-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Monday 7th March 2005 (Pyrmont dojo):

1 hour of jigeiko. Before I forget, here are some comments from sempai and sensei:

Isaac Bober:

- Don't establish a rhythm. Too predictable otherwise.
- Try not to show body signs that you're about to attack.
- Use more hips to push into the cut

Strenger sensei:

- keep hands down after a men cut

Yesterday's training wasn't aerobically hard. It was challenging that's for sure, but I managed okay. Keiko with Payne sensei was the hardest, but it was also most fun. I found that certain body parts tend to get tensed after a while. For example, the sides of my gluteus were quite tensed - I wasn't able to push as hard or as well. I must learn to relax more.

Needless to say, I slept very well last night. :)

Just not my day...

2005-03-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday is a major training day - morning keiko at SKC doju in Willoughby, followed by the NSW kyu squad training in the afternoon.

I woke up with the motivation to want to try suriage waza during jigeiko. I often do men-kaeshi-doh and it does get predictable - my seniors instinctively retract their arms to protect their doh once they noticed that I've blocked their men cut and was about to execute kaeshi doh. I was also inspired by the kote-suriage-men that I saw at the nanadan championship (DVD). I want to expand my repertoire of waza.

I can't remember whether I tried suriage or not at the morning keiko. I had my first sign that things weren't going well then - I played Sano sensei so badly that I lined up to jigeiko him again. He was probably very disappointed at me. Not a good start.

Anyway, at the squad training, Payne sensei talked about the qualities that are needed for senpo, jiho, chuken, fukusho, and taisho. After warm-up, straight into jigeiko but it's 2 motodachi against us. We took turns being motodachi. I played like absolute crap. I tried suriage many times. The problem is that, after executing suriage, I kept on trying to hit men when my aite's kote or doh were more accessible. That happened 3 times in a row. T_T Eventually, I managed to score men-suriage-kote, while going backwards, I stepped on my hakama and fell over. Great. I wasn't 100% mentally and in ki that's for sure. People must be wondering how the heck I managed to get selected to represent NSW in the nationals.

Team-shiai after that. In my team, Kai was senpo, I was jiho and I couldn't remember the others' positions that clearly. I had to play Chris Barbe. Silly me - I went for kote only. Again and again and again. Although Chris is tall, I should try to cut his men anyway. So I lost 2 to 1. I don't mind losing, but the way I lost was deplorable. I remembered Payne sensei saying that jiho is a person who utilises various techniques and carry on and further reinforce the groundwork that has been laid by senpo. I was a very bad jiho indeed. In fact, I think I was the only person who lost in my team. Great +2.

I was substituted out in second round team-shiai and Dino became jiho - a confirmation of how shit I must have played. Great +3.

We had jigeiko afterwards and I didn't really have the heart for it. But I tried anyway. Finally I managed to do both men-suriage-kote and men-suriage-men against Chris. Maybe he took pity on me and let me hit him.

I know that not everyday is Sunday. It just sucks real bad when it happened on a major training day like today - I feel so useless. It seems like the more I train, the worse I get. How depressing.

Anyway, I'm going to Monday's training at Pyrmont. Sensei wants me there.

So much to do, so much to learn!

2005-03-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

Kendo is infinite, like my sensei says all the time. I watched the 7th dan championship DVD (held in Kumamoto-ken) last November 28th and was motivated to try some of the waza I've seen performed with such magnificent fluidity and grace, such as kote-suriage-men, kote-kaeshi-kote etc.

I need to expand on my waza repertoire that's for sure. And I need to try different things at each jigeiko.

I Survived!

2005-02-28T04:56:00.000-08:00

Ahh Monday training at Pyrmont. Used to be scared thinking about it. You see, my past experiences at that place had not been, for the lack of a better word, memorable. It's advanced class after all, and I suppose I wasn't advanced enough then.

The training structure at Pyrmont is highly rigid. No warm-ups, no bullshit. It's 100% jigeiko mawari-geiko style, with senseis at one end. No rest too, unless of course there is an odd one out.

With the impending Nationals only 3 weeks away, I thought that perhaps it's time for me to return to Pyrmont for a good keiko. My last visit was like September, and I was 6th kyu then. Eventhough I'm now 3rd kyu, I wasn't so sure if I was really good enough to go. So I asked Taek about it, and he reckoned that I should have been training there ages ago. That made me feel more mentally prepared. I managed to convince Rick to go with me.

It was good training and we both survived the 1 hour jigeiko (with a 5 min break as the odd one out). For my first jigeiko I was up against Itakura sensei, then it was Payne sensei. I tried to conserve strength for good ippons rather than simply whacking around. I was able to handle the aerobic strain well as I tried to relax as much as possible. Certain parts of my body began to ache after about 30 mins though. The gluteaus and to a small extent the lower back began to show some strain. However, I'm comforted by the thought that they will strengthen overtime.

I believe that I was able to hold my own in there, though Nishimoto with his jodan whacked me silly. And I had to face him....twice. I wasn't able to try many different things with him due to space limitation, but I did try to katate-tsuki him. :D

Anyway, I will make Pyrmont a regular training from now on.

Kigurai

2005-02-26T04:45:00.000-08:00

Ahhh what a muggy Sat morning! Humid as hell...sweated buckets even before keiko started. -_-" Ben Sheppard sensei visited us at SKC - he was my motodachi and I learned heaps from him.

At the kyu squad training, we practised reigi - how to step into the shiai-jo, how to bow and sonkyo with SPIRIT. It's important to project kigurai even before the shai starts.

No back ache whatsoever...was able to do shiai-geiko without any physical issue. I actually felt strong!

The Power of an Osteo/Chiro

2005-02-24T04:32:00.000-08:00

Since wearing bogu almost a year ago, I've been plagued by mid and lower back pains and aches from time to time.

It worsened 2 weeks ago. At the kyu squad training jigeiko, I wasn't able to hold kamae properly due to the pain.

So I decided to pay my first visit to A Body Of Work, which treated my sempai Catherine, Taek and of course my friend Natalia. Since they've had experience treating kendoka, it made sense that I ought go to the same place.

I've never been treated by an osteo or a chiro before, and must admit that I wasn't sure if it was going to mitigate my ailments. Apparently the practitioners are well versed in both osteo and chiro - I did feel like I would be in good hands. And good hands indeed - I absolutely love the session! Apparently my spine had been out of line, and maybe pinching on some nerves. She cracked my vertebrae one by one and I felt instant relief! In fact, I felt an improvement in lung capacity right away! Breathing was so much smoother!

Money well spent indeed!

30 Days to go!

2005-02-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

30 days until the Australian National Kendo Championships. I must train even harder and with more diligence over the coming weeks. It's a privilege to represent the state of New South Wales in the individuals, and I want to play well so I stand a chance to be selected for the NSW Kyu Team. I will try my best no matter what.

Gambatte!

Focus!

2005-02-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

A quick post to remind myself on what I should focus on:

(1) Footwork - not "heavy" kendo for goodness's sake
(2) BAM! All cuts should be like that.
(3) Don't overplay the shinai as opponent may take advantage.
(4) Tsubazeriai. Do something dammit!
(5) Oji waza. Not just men-kaeshi-doh you know.
(6) Kigurai. Where's your "presence"?

The Art of Breaking Center

2005-02-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Saturday 12th Feb 2005 - NSW Kyu Squad Training

Today's focus was about working on those techniques to break opponent's center. Payne sensei got us working on many different types of waza, some quite unusual to boot. In terms of positive physical actions to break opponent's center, I can think of the following:

(1) Harai (omote and ura)
(2) Uchi-otoshi (omote and ura)
(3) Harai-n-uchiotoshi [2 movement waza] (omote and ura)
(4) Whisk (omote and ura)
(5) Whisk-n-Press (omote and ura) -> my favourite
(6) Press (omote and ura)
(7) Maki-gome (the "circular" waza)

Depending on where opponent's shinai is relative to you, certain waza works better. For example, if opponent's shinai is pointing low, then uchi-otoshi or press techniques (omote side is easier) work better then say harai waza. The converse is true if opponent's shinai is pointing higher than usual.

Master Kim also taught us to move left/right to capitalise on opponent's improperly positioned shinai as well. Example: move left then execute harai-kote (ura).

The footwork underlying these techniques are crucial of course. We used either 1 step or 2 step footwork according to situation.

We practised quite many of those techniques - excellent training indeed. Too bad you missed out, Anna. :D

Payne sensei taught us this waza that was weird (at first) but really cool. At issoku-itto-no-maai, step forward using the *left* foot, and at the same time whisk-n-press from the left side (ura), then step forward with the right foot and cut men. This waza enables the user to close the distance much much faster. It's a must-try I reckon.

Payne sensei reminded us that in terms of keeping center, every opponent has a weak point. He encouraged us to use whatever techniques to discern which side the opponent is weaker in, so that we can use the appropriate waza to exploit that weakness.Must keep that in mind during jigeiko.

Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee!

2005-02-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Well we had an excellent training at Master Kim's dojo on Monday night. For an excellent write-up and summary, have a look at Vivian's post here. ^_^

Can't really think of anything else to add in addition to what she's written. I suppose I'll add by saying that Master Kim has again asked us to focus using our backs and hips to drive forward. The exercise he introduced to us is a great training tool indeed!

On a side note, Happy Chinese New Year!

Picton 2005

2005-02-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

Alternative title: Dude, where's my pork pie?

Ahh Picton, a tiny yet historical town about 90km south-west of Sydney, is where the annual February kendo seminar and grading is held at. I'm not new to Picton, having had the priviledge of participating in the seminar in 2004 (that was my 3rd kendo training and my first experience of hitting a motodachi). The thing about this town is that, though from the outlook it may look dry, it actually contains many interesting features, 3 of which are: (1) George IV pub, (2) its local brew, and (3) its pork pies. I looked forward to the pork pies the most, but as can be seen from the alternative title in this post, something terribly wrong happened, which I will explain below.

We (Vivian, Jackson, Anna and myself, plus Yvonne's bogu) left Artarmon at about 7.15am and arrived at Picton with plenty of time to spare. Jackson was the joker as usual.

Saturday 5th Feb 2005:

Training today was divided into 2 parts. Morning's session was NSW kyu squad training, in which I was a motodachi. In my line was Malcolm Schultz, who got his shodan on Sunday, as well as my friend Robert Lee from Moo Doo Kwan and an unknown kendoka. Training was really interesting as a number of waza were practised. Even as motodachi, I was able to learn by observing the execution of techniques. In this regard, I was given an excellent show by Malcolm on uchi-otoshi techniques. They were simply superb and I was left in awe. With such clean waza execution I was convinced at that time that he would pass his shodan shinsa, which he did the next day of course as mentioned earlier. About this time I started to pay more focus on doh cuts and I used Jackson as meat shield for a while. Too bad I didn't miss his doh. ;)

Afternoon's session was focussed on grading. I was in the 6th and 5th kyu group (Becki was in there too) under Ted Rixon sensei. We received excellent guidance on what's expected from us etc. I wished that I'd been taught this way before my first shinsa last August. By the end of the session, my feet were hurting from the ashi-sabaki exercises. Also, my nose bled for the first time in kendo - must be the heat. Rick Pedley-Smith was quick to point out that it's normal in such conditions. So no panic at all.

I wondered how I was going to manage jigeiko scheduled after the afternoon session coz I thought that it'd be really really hard to move my feet at that point. Nevertheless, I tried anyway and jigeiko-ed Nathan from Wollongong and Adam Lee from UNSW. My feet hurt really bad when I stopped jigeiko and I limped my way back to my car.

Anna, Vivian and I stayed over at Min's place that night. We had an excellent (and memorable) Thai dinner at Jasmine Rice in Wollongong. The meal was superb and we were all relaxed by it. :)

Sunday 6th Feb 2005:

Ahh grading day! I dreaded this day in one sense as my first shinsa went horribly wrong, but I also looked forward to rectifying the mistakes that I'd made then in this shinsa. I was totally relaxed in the morning when we arrived. Ron Bennett sensei, Becki and I practised forming a wedding arch for Cath's wedding reception before the registration and warm-up. It was totally fun and ultimately relaxing.

In this shinsa I'd be going for 5th kyu. I knew what to do this time, but most importantly, I knew that staying relaxed is the key. There were 4 of us in my category. I was very relaxed at the grading and my kiai was strong and I was filled with tons of confidence. It was like a normal practice session. Soon enough, the shinsa steward, Dave Bunder, motioned me (#5-3) to put my men on - this meant that I'd been invited to test for 4th kyu. I remember not feeling excited or anything like that at all - it was like another training for me. I was the only one invited from my group. As I watched the 6th kyu wannabes testing for their 4th kyu, the thought that my would-be partner may not do a proper job as motodachi worried me a bit. Fortunately, Martino Ellero, a nidan from the ANU Kendo Club, became my motodachi, putting any worries in this regard to rest. Overall, I was very happy with my performance in the 4th kyu grading. My men cuts weren't hitting the motodachi's mengane but landed straight and on top of the men, giving the solid "thud" sound that was so satisfying. Kote cuts were okay too, with some minor problems with doh cuts. I kiai-ed loudly, wanting to show alot of spirit. No physical issues, but I remember feeling very tired afterwards.

Now I didn't expect to jump any grades at all. I came to the grading with zero expectation, and would have been happy with 5th kyu. Anything above is icing on the cake. I came to realise sometime after my first shinsa that kendo is a lifelong pursuit. Rank is not, and should not, be a motivational factor. We don't train so that we could become hachidans. If we could think of kendo as an activity that we'll do for the rest of our lives, then the rank will take care of itself. After doing the 4th kyu test, I of course did not expect to be invited to test for 3rd kyu. So I was quite surprised when Dave came over and motioned me to put my men on again. I didn't feel physically ready to be honest, still feeling slightly drained from the last one.

3rd kyu test was exactly the same as the 4th kyu test, except that it also involved sandan waza (kote-men-doh). The sequence was as follows, and we were suppose to cut until "yame" is called (about 5 to 6 cuts each):

Kihon men
Kihon kote
Kihon doh
Nidan waza (kote-men)
Sandan waza (kote-men-doh)
Kirikaeshi
Uchikomi-geiko

My partner was Jayson Chaplin, a brilliant kendoka who'd been invited to test for 3rd kyu also (he went for 4th earlier). Overall I thought my performance wasn't really up to scratch according to my standard. I was physically tired, and I reckoned that that limited my performance somewhat. I spent so much energy doing kiai. I attempted to motivate myself many times in that grading. No point giving up now right? I thought to myself at that time that, no matter what, I must show my ki. I actually thought that my kirikaeshi was crap. Anyway, I was extremely relieved that it was over. I knew that I'd not be invited to test for 2nd kyu as I have already reached the limit of 2 grades jump. I found out from Cath the next day that grade jump from 3rd kyu onwards is unheard of because they are all critical stages. From 3rd kyu to 1st kyu is exactly 1 year, and from 1st kyu to shodan is exactly 1 year too.

Min later told me that the more tired I became, the more natural I became too. I suppose that's a good thing. Master Kim didn't find any major fault at my kirikaeshi as well. Isn't that strange? I really believed that I didn't do as well as I could. Cath related to me about her experience grading for sandan. She thought that her first jigeiko was not so good and that the second one was better only to be told the reverse by the grading panel! I suppose the moral of the story is to try our best no matter what and let the grading panel decide!

Taek passed his nidan grading with flying colours. Who could forget that tsuki? After the grading was over, the results were announced almost immediately after a short story ("The Man With the Monkey") from Payne sensei. When the President of the NSW Kendo Assoc, Andrew Van Hammond, read my name followed by "sankyu", Payne sensei then jokingly asked "what's on the menu?". My response was instantaneous: "PORK PIES!!". I was very relieved indeed, and of course happy. My first instinct tells me to train even harder, and that I will do.

Ron Bennett sensei promised me a jigeiko on Saturday, but he wasn't able to do it due to his medical condition. I took turn going up against Adam Lee, Min, Malcolm and Martino. Bennett sensei offered some choice advice when I was doing jigeiko with Min.

So...it's back to pork pies now. I was sooooooooooooo looking forward to it after kendo. I had this premonition as Vivian and I was about to leave that the pub would run out of pork pie. I told Malcolm about it and he said that he would offer me my share if it was true. Well it did happened! THEY RAN OUT OF PORK PIE!! Can you believe it?!!! Fortunately, Chris Barbe offered me a quarter of his pork pie, so all was not lost.

On an endnote, I just had a look at the other kendokas who were also awarded sankyu:

Christophe Barbe (Sydney)
Jayson Chaplin (Sydney)
Adam Lee (UNSW)
Rebecca Marshall (ANU)
Simon Tat-Yeung Ni (Sydney)
Anna Wong (UNSW)
Kostadino Zafirakos (UNSW)

Gavin Yeoh and Nick Sordon, members of my dojo, are currently sankyu also. That makes 6 sankyus in SKC and 3 in UNSW. I look forward to training with all of them and progressing together. ^_^

Gambatte kudasai!

Doh? Doh!

2005-02-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

Great training at Willoughby dojo on Wednesday night. Picked Vivian as my motodachi - always an excellent choice!

I need to work on my doh cuts, especially the footwork leading to the cut. I tend to bend my waist. Also, I need to use more left hand.

Tsubazeriai still haunts me.....but I'll try my best.

Happy 1st Anniversary!

2005-01-31T04:57:00.000-08:00

Today I celebrate my first year anniversary in kendo. ^_^

It seems like yesterday when I first stepped into the dojo of Sydney Kendo Club. 31st Jan 2004....such a memorable day for me. I was the only raw beginner then, and my first instructor was Sano sensei. So it's fitting that I visited UNSW tonight for keiko under him again. Tonight's training was meant to farewell Futoshi too.

Though it seems like yesterday when I first started kendo...2004 has been a very long kendo year. Loads and loads of things have happened.

I really enjoy kendo. Out of karate and aikido, I like kendo the best. The ideology behind kendo fits me very well indeed. Besides, I get to make lots of new friends!

My only regret is not to have started kendo sooner. In high school, I remember reading this japanese manga about kendo but I didn't know about kendo at that time. In 2000, I watched the National Geographics documentary on the hachidan grading which piqued my interest but unfortunately I didn't enquire further. Better late than never I suppose.

Anyway...here's to many more years of kendo! Gambate kudasai!! ^_^

We are family!

2005-01-29T04:36:00.000-08:00

Ahh it's been a week since my last training. I opted to spend more time with my girlfriend after doing 10 trainings in 14 days prior. The change has been good - I was definitely more relaxed and had more energy.

The dojo was packed out today! Loads of people! Quite a few from UNSWKC too! It's great to be practising with so many people as I get to watch and learn from them. With so many people, I only get to jigeiko 3 times. Oh well....at least I get to jigeiko our new Japanese visitor and sensei who will be here for 2 more months.

Lately I've paid alot of attention in footwork. I found that it's more efficient if the forward movement is as horizontal i.e. parralel to the floor as possible. My right foot tended to go upward as I moved and that might have caused me some speed as well as stride distance. To rectify that I've been doing heaps of footwork in my apartment, with fumikomi too. Thank goodness our neighbour below us haven't made a complaint. ^_^

I think that my men-kaeshi-doh is coming along okayish. The first part of the movement, blocking the men cut is quite natural now. The problem is with the doh cut afterwards - I use too much right hand. Must learn to use more left hand. Must learn from Eiga Naoki!

Lunch afterwards at Black Cow was packed out! They couldn't handle so many of us!

Oh yeah - my sempai Vivian has her own kendo blog too. I learn alot by watching her play. Her blog is at http://shoaku.blogspot.com

The Power of Gatorade

2005-01-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

10 training sessions in 14 days - I'm buggered! Time for some well earned recovery time I think.

Morning's training at Willoughby was so-so. I wasn't able to cut men straight, which was frustrating. Nevertheless, there were plenty of encouragements from Sano, Itakura and Payne senseis, all of whom I had the opportunity to jigeiko. Even so, I couldn't help but to feel dejected a wee bit. I wore the double-layer keikogi so that I could reserve the single-layer keikogi for the afternoon squad training. By wearing the double-layer keikogi, my body temperature soared at one stage which caused me some degree of physical hardship. In fact, I noticed that the hotter it gets, the higher my resting heartbeat. I wonder how my sempai Vivian does it day in and out.

The first 30 minutes or so of the squad training was the hardest. Perhaps my body hasn't had the time to absorb the food and drinks that I'd consumed earlier. I felt exhausted but I pushed myself anyway. Midway through the training, when shiai-geiko was about to start, I started to feel stronger. I attribute that to the Power of the Gatorade! All of us kyu grades lined up against the dan grades - Toshio, Vivian, Mike and Doug - for shiai-geiko. I played Toshio and Doug and felt confident, a nice change from how I felt in the morning. Payne sensei then selected 6 other kyu grades to join the dan grades for team shiai-geiko. I was in Vivian's team and played the 3rd position, which is known as chuken. My opponent was Mike. Though deep down inside I did expect to lose, I was determined to try my best regardless. Anyway, I gave my best but wasn't able to beat the current national kyu champion, losing to his famous semete-men twice. Good thing is that I noticed I wasn't as tired this time around as compared to my shiai-geiko against Chris. Mike gave some good pointers after training so it's all good.

Things I've learned today:

When cutting men, make sure that it's one step one cut when I intended it. I noticed that my footwork hasn't been doing that today. Instead, it's like a mini nidan-waza. My left leg seems to shuffle twice before the cut. Bah!
Put more oomph into the cut. Move that hip!
Use less right hand!
When cutting kote, try to cut straight down instead of cutting it at an angle.
Don't delay when executing hiki waza, as corretly pointed out by Vivian.

I'm blessed by good senseis and sempais. ^_^

I need more power, Scotty!

2005-01-20T04:14:00.000-08:00

I died many many times at training at UNSWKC tonight. The lack of physical fitness continues to plaque me. I have to, in fact, I need to believe that my fitness will only get better each time I died like that.

The Benefits of being a Kendo Slut

2005-01-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Kendo slut:

a kendo freak who trains everywhere

UNSWKC (Monday 17 Jan 2005):

Was feeling restless so I decided to go for training at Uni of New South Wales Kendo Club, much to my girlfriend's chagrin.

Training was fantastic! The main component of it was focused on executing proper migi and hidari men cuts in kiri-kaeshi. Sano sensei slowed the class right down so that we could take the time to execute each cut properly. We did doh kiri-kaeshi as well in this fashion. Payne sensei has often said that one can easily tell a person's kendo abilities just by watching that person's kiri-kaeshi. Therefore, it is excellent training indeed to slow it right down so we could work on improving the cuts. Last night's training complements the training I received from Strenger sensei in December 2004 t the Hornsby dojo when we learned how to execute and receive tai-atari in kiri-kaeshi. Ah the benefits of a kendo slut!!

In jigeiko, I experimented with footwork a lot more. The bouts that I remember the most are between Dino (club president) and Hashimoto snr. Dino and I basically focused on keeping centre and trying to create opportunities via seme - the bout was mentally challenging indeed. It also gave me the opportunity to train with a taller person coz that allows me to experiment with maai as it's harder to reach their men! Hashimoto snr taught me not to flinch at tsubazeriai by creative use of timing (ouch my men!). My opponents scored more ippons against me than I against them. Nevertheless, I feel very much enriched by these experiences. After all, it has been said many times that we must be cut so that we can learn to cut.

A very enriching keiko indeed!

The Essence of Jigeiko

2005-01-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday (15th January 2005):

2 trainings today - regular training in the morning at Willoughby and state kyu squad training in the afternoon at Broadway.

Kirby Smith (current NSW, ACT and Australian kendo champion) honoured us with a rare visit to Sydney Kendo Club in the morning. Naturally, I selected him to be my motodachi as it's a rare opportunity. Waza training with him was excellent! He tried to simulate the realities of a kendo shiai/jigeiko and got us all fired up! In jodan, his cuts are so quick! Outside kendo, he is such a supportive and approachable person. We're so lucky to have him in Australia.

I also took the opportunity to jigeiko Sano sensei, determined to push myself hard. That must have been the longest jigeiko of my life! I tried to relax as much as I can, but exhaustion sets in nonetheless and I found myself breathing hard and gasping for breath at certain stage. I suppose the breathing part was quite okay, but my arms were definitely buggered. He did not let me finish until I've scored a proper ippon on him. My body was so broken down by then that it took me almost 10 mins to recover sufficiently for another jigeiko. I remember removing my men to wipe the stinging sweat from my eyes, and found that my arms were so exhausted that I found it quite a challenge to re-tie the men himo. Nevertheless, I am very glad to have been instructed by Sano sensei and happy in a way because I survived. Now I find myself yearning for more....because I know it's good for me. I even lined up to jigeiko Payne sensei, but didn't get to eventually because he decided that he's had enough before my turn - I should have accepted Vivian's invitation to jigeiko her (someone I will never say no to coz I learn heaps each time) .

I spoke to Sano sensei after keiko about the physical challenges in kendo and he gave me some really good advice. He said that one does one's best kendo when one's tired. It's easy to whack around with gusto when energetic, but what happens when you get tired, he asked? We must try to jigeiko to the point where we're completely exhausted, and then we'll have to endeavour to push ourselves to execute proper cuts. That's the essence of jigeiko, he added. I didn't really understand at first, I must admit. I thought about it quite often and I believe that I finally understand what he means. Kendo is about developing one's character through the applications of the katana. When we get tired in jigeiko, we try and try to push ourselves - that's character building because we have to overcome physical and mental challenges in order to do so. We become stronger not only physically but also in ki as a result. We can then apply what we have developed in everyday life. This is singularly the most important lesson I've learnt on Saturday.

I found myself pushing hard during the state kyu squad training in the afternoon as a result of Sano sensei's influence. I enjoyed every bit of it. My legs (especially ankles) were heavily stained by the indigo dye of the hakama - proof that I've worked my butt off. In the second half of the training, we were separated into 2 teams led separately by Vivian Yung and Mike Henstock (both are shodan and ex-members of the NSW Kyu Team) - Taisho (team captain) for both team. I was assigned position #1, which I later discovered from this thread to be Senpo. This position is important as the quality of play sets the tone for the shiai - play good and team morale is lifted, and vice versa. Anyway, Vivian picked Chris Barbe (my dojo-mate) to be the senpo of her team. Chris is taller and bigger than me, competing against him has always been hard due to his tai-atari. I tried my best and scored 2 debana-kote (thanks to Master Kim's instructions) while Chris scored a doh on me. Wasted heaps of energy trying to get away from Chris's tai-atari. Anyway, I was relieved that I won that match.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

2005-01-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

Willougby Dojo (Wed, 12 Jan 2005):

Ah the first training of 2005 in this dojo! Boy do I miss it! I can sense the joy jolting through the masses that kendo is finally back on the menu after 3 weeks absence! Training was great! I was glad to be back there! Got Vivian as my motodachi which was a real plus as well!

SBS Radio turned up at the training for interviews too. Payne sensei was teaching, so he couldn't do an interview, and Doug passed it on to me. So I missed kata practice and talked kendo for about 15 mins. Standard questions: what is kendo? where does kendo originate and how? what are the target areas etc. The interview was recorded so I hope I don't get misquoted. The interview continued after training for about 10 mins as well. The interviewer also interviewed Payne sensei and some of the other guys after training. He actually stayed for the entire training, recording sounds, interviewing people, taking photos etc. Luckily no UNSWKC people were there to "contaminate" the pictures! :D

Will post a link once it's up on the SBS website.

UNSW Dojo (Thurs, 13 Jan 2005):

I woke up with a bad headache that continued to the evening. Besides making me less productive during the day, I also feel quite lethargic. I took panadol, neurofen, had a couple of naps with 0% success. That totally cheesed me off!

And so I entered UNSW dojo with trepidation (and 30 mins late) not knowing what to expect. You see, the dojo is really well suited for stamina training. There is hardly any airflow, and humid as hell. Perfect conditions for a workout. Reminds me of how chinese olympic swimmers train for competition - by swimming upstream against strong current in the river.

With my conditions, I was disappointed with the training outcome. The instructions were excellent, it's just that during jigeiko I was tired after 3 rounds or so. I can feel the sweat trickling down my legs as I struggle to maintain kamae. To add salt to the wound, I had to jigeiko Sano sensei and I feel that I have disappointed him because I wasn't able to do my best. My footwork was messy as hell and I didn't even attempt to create openings as much as I'd wanted. Sigh...as the saying goes...the spirit is willing but the body is weak.

Sano sensei jokingly said to me after keiko that UNSWKC members never get tired. I have to acknowledge that that statement actually contains a good deal of truth. Physical conditioning remains a major challenge for me, and I reckon that it'd be a major stumbling block in my kendo journey unless I do something about it. I'm getting tired of the fact that it's often the physical side of things which have let me down. I have come to realise that, in order for me to improve myself physically, I'd have to go to UNSWKC every Thursday, when the advanced class is held. There is a scheduling problem though - it'd be unfair for my gf if I go to trainings on 3 consecutive nights i.e. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, plus of course the Saturday training at Willoughby. Sigh I have to do some serious thinking about this.

Kendo and Mortality

2005-01-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

Master Kim session #3:

Master Kim announced to the class before the start that the teacher who drowned in this article was the guy we all knew. In fact, when I first visited that dojo 2 mondays ago, that guy was my training partner. Yet I don't know his name and now he's dead.

Master Kim told us that he's one of his close students, and that he was a buddhist sensei in life and teached at his own temple. It's so fitting that he would die this way - by selfless sacrifice to save another. After all, in buddhism, death is just one path. Then there's reincarnation.

Whatever it is, it has affected me not by a small degree. Some people said that death is as natural as birth, though I don't think I'll ever understand it. Sigh.

Training was good as usual. Not physically hard, but tough mentally. I had to rethink alot of my movements, which is a good thing as I've been shown ways to improve. Mike, from UNSW Kendo Club, joined us for keiko. This training's emphasis is on focussing the back and hip to drive ourselves forward. We did this exercise in which we would bend our body backwards first so that the hips is more forward than the upper torse then drive forward for a men cut. That way, we'd get to appreciate hip and back movements. I didn't understand it at first, but it's getting clearer now. I suppose that many kendoka push themselves forward with their upper torsos more than their hips, thus compromising posture. Morever, as Master Kim explained, cuts can be executed quicker and more powerful if the drive is proper and strong, and also minimises counter-attacks from opponents as we'd be much quicker in closing the maai.

We practised both forms of debana kote again and I sucked. I overanalysed things when I should be relaxed. Master Kim used Mohammed Ali as an example: float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!! He said that we have to try to stay relaxed, yet focused at the same time. Better execution of techniques can only be achieved from a body which is relaxed rather than one which is stiff. I must remember that.

In other news, Taek, Master Kim, Mike and myself are buying a kaku obi to help us breathe better and also to emphasize the seika-tanden.

Kendo at last!

2005-01-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

Master Kim session #1:

After a kendo hiatus of 13 days (not by choice mind you as the dojos were closed), I visited Master Kim's dojang in Artarmon (1 street from my apartment) last Tuesday for the first training of the new year. There were 2 beginners there, plus Master Kim and Jimmy Kim, as well as members of the SKC Doug, Johnny and Taek.

The focus that night was kote, debana kote more specifically. He taught us the technique in such fine details. The individual feedbacks from Master Kim were fabulous too! He reminded us to drive ourselves using our back and hip. We sweated buckets. It was a good start to the kendo year.

Master Kim emphasises the 2 critical elements of kendo i.e. (1) Maai, (2) Center. He said that we must strive to make our own distance, otherwise we wouldn't be in the right maai to execute a proper cut. We must also be quick to adapt to maai changes, he added.

NSW kendokas are very lucky indeed. We get to train anywhere regardless of whether it's a kendo or a kumdo dojo. We get to benefit from the advice of different senseis.

Master Kim session #2:

I like to write about training at Master Kim's dojo because of the amount of stuff we learned at each training. Of course I was back there again last night along with the usual people less Doug (wife commitments).

There were no jigeiko this week - I can now understand that the 2 trainings I'd been to so far were targetted at perfecting a certain technique, which in this case is debana kote. Though it's the main focus, Master Kim got us to do other drills to improve our speed, especially in nidan waza. We started doing men cuts actually - but it's more uchikomi style. Basically, you cut in reaction to your opponent's movement, which in this case is simple one step forward movement, or a body dip commonly seen before an impending attack. Master Kim said that we must exploit moments when opponents least expect an attack from us, for example, when he/she is moving forward or in preparation to attack us. Also, it is a possible sign of a debana opening, especially the body dip commonly observed.

Once the uchikomi-men drills were complete, we proceeded to do not just 1 but 3 types of kote-men. The first one is executed from the outside similar to the kihon kote-men, but we did super small cuts and it has to be super fast. The next one is executed from the inside, as in, we commenced the waza by seme before dipping the kensen of our shinai below the opponent's and lifting it up very slightly to cut kote, which is very swiftly followed by men. Master Kim explained that in this technique, our seme may confuse our opponent to expect an impending men cut, hence he/she may lift the shinai to protect the men, hence opening up his/her kote nicely. Once the opponent realised that it's a kote cut, he/she may try to block it, hence opening up men. Of course, as Master Kim explained, the choice of doing just the 1 cut or2 cuts as in nidan waza is entirely up to the situation. If the cut to kote is successful, don't have to worry about men. The third and final type of nidan waza is very similar to the second one. Nidan waza is executed from the outside, with a small pause between the kote and men cuts. If we strike kote and the opponent tries to block it, a tiny pause might confuse the opponent further and opens up the men even more. 45 mins of those drills. 10 times each. We received loads and loads of quality feedback. Master Kim reminded us that when we propel ourselves forward, we must use our hip and back, like a frog.

The rest of the training is debana kote type 1 (of which there are 2), which is executed from the outside. We formed 1 line and took turns executing debana kote against different opponents who cut men. Master Kim told us that all of us must master the essence of this technique in this keiko. *gulp* He was very helpful, showing us in slow motion etc and giving us very good tips. He explained that debana kote is not a reactive waza - by the time we react to an opponent's cut, we've already lost the debana moment. Instead, we must expect the opponent's cut to come so as to know precisely when to execute debana kote, he added. In fact, a good debana kote attack starts from the mind, he said. Also, don't be stiff, be a butterfly and use light footwork and wrist movements, but with strong tenouchi and good posture always. Only move after we've cut with proper zanshin and never be afraid. I think I got the hang of it after doing it so many times. Can't wait to give it a go in jigeiko.

The feelings afterwards..I suppose we were all in awe and very pleasantly shocked. I could feel that my debana kote cuts have improved markedly in just 2 trainings. I'm sure Taek, Johnny and the rest of the guys felt that way too. Next Tuesday, we practise debana kote type 2. Can't wait.

Last night also spelled my first attempt at "freedom kendo" i.e. nothing under the hakama. All I can say is....FREE WILLY!!! Last night was the night Andoru went commando in training and he hasn't look back since.

Fumikomi and length of stride

2005-01-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

Got to try this:

Two things you can try: first, incorporate a lunge stretch into your warmups. Hold your shinai horizontally across the small of your back and stretch out with one foot forward and the other back. The forward leg should be bent at a right angle, shin vertical. The back leg can have the heel up, but the feet should be straight. Keep your back straight. Twist towards the front leg (to the right with right foot forward) and push into the small of your back with the shinai.

Second, from the same position stretched out, but this time with a target in front. Hold the shinai tip on the target as if you'd just hit it, arms straight (whoever is holding or being the target should help adjust distance). Make sure you're good and stretched out, thigh horizontal. Keeping your left foot in place, draw back into chudan kamae. Now attack the same target, and when you hit freeze into the stretched out position (no follow-through). Check yourself for straight back, straight feet, straight arms. Rinse, lather, repeat. After maybe 10 reps, hit the target and follow through.

Written by Neil Gendzwill sensei in this thread.

2005 - Year of the Rooster

2005-01-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2004 has been a good kendo year. Things I want to focus in 2005:

kihon, kihon and more kihon;
strengthen kamae and posture;
don't let left hand wander from hara;
improve footwork! Hopefully with hard keiko it will be come more fluid and dynamic;
Tsubazeriai! Work on that;
work on waza and try to incorporate them into jigeiko as much as possible;
be more perceptive to opportunies and,
improve the mind so as to be able to capitalise on opportunies efficiently and quickly; shin-ki-ryoku-itchi!
always endeavour to do good kendo no matter what;
always try my best!
and of course: ki-ken-tai-no-itchi

Gambatte kudasai!

An (unexpected) source of inspiration

2004-12-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

Well it's been 5 days without kendo...and none for the next 7 days at least. I'm iching to train. But for now, mitori-keiko and suburis are all I can do.

I've been watching the match between Chikamoto and Ando over and over again in the hope that I might be able to pick-up better footwork technique, or even a hint or two, from the former. I was side-tracked by a thread in Kendo World where a link to a Japanase kendo club was posted. The club, Wakakusa Kendo Club, consists of primary school kids.

Out of curiosity, I ventured into the video page where a number of videos are hosted. Watched a few of the shiai....these kids have strong fighting spirit! Then I started watching the videos of this kid called Shohei.....OH MY GAWD!! Such excellent basics and fluid execution of waza, all coupled with such strong fighting spirit! That kid could kick alot of my club members, including myself. I am so impressed and inspired! That kid must have worked really hard to get where he is now. Could he be the future All Japan Champ?? We will see! Remember his name: 川田祥平

Some breakthrough at last!

2004-12-22T06:03:00.000-08:00

Feet

Well since my last post, I've been paying alot of attention to my feet positioning, and trying ways to keep them relaxed. Last Saturday, Mike pointed out to me that my left foot tends to twist when I launch into a cut. Point 1.

So back to kamae basics... been doing heaps of ashi-sabaki at home with and without the shinai to make sure that my left foot doesn't twist. I found that if my right sole is well planted (as in the heel is not raised), my feet feel more relaxed. I still lift the right heel slightly when I move though, as per what sensei says. So right foot is getting there, now off to the left...

Kote

While doing ashi-sabaki at home, I decided to wear the kote. After much practice without the kote, holding the shinai while wearing them did come across as slightly "weird". After some analysis, I realised that the palms of my kote haven't exactly broken-in to the proper shape. Had a look at the kote break-in guide from Chibabogu, and proceeded to work them in more. Left kote feels much more comfortable when holding the shinai, but I'd need to work the right one a tad more.

Seme

I jigeikoed Itakura sensei for the first time today and he said that he felt my seme, but I've "lost" it a few times. He said that I might have lost "en", which I agree. I was so focused on the footwork that I've neglected the others. Point 2.

The dojo is now closed for the holidays - the first training is on 8th Jan 2005. That's 17 days away! I'll have to find a way to train in the mean time!

2004-12-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

This is my favourite shinai from e-bogu ("Musha") which I've been using since July. The shinai is so resilient, that there was no trace of splinters until November, and it has affected just 1 side of a slat. The hardest part about maintaining this shinai was my inability to remove the tsukagawa even after numerous attempts. This afternoon I wetted the tsukagawa slightly and put all efforts into it and voila - it came off. As can be seen from the photo, the tsuka is so pale compared to the rest. With the tsukagawa off, I can now rotate the slats, effectively extending its life.

Stupid calves!

2004-12-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

I've been stretching my calves loads. Now they are sore. T_T Hopefully they'll be back to 100% tomorrow in time for the Anniversary Keiko and states training.

The spirit is willing but the body is weak...

2004-12-15T06:06:00.000-08:00

Had one of those keiko session in which I was not able to do what I wanted to try because..well... the body wasn't up to it. More specifically, it's my legs' fault. I've been able to keep my upper body loose, but the calves in both legs were always tense and filled with lactic acid. I tried different foot positions e.g. lower the left heel slightly, try to main 50/50 weight distribution etc with only limited success. My left calf is usually the one most affected. I don't even know whether this is a medical issue, as in, I'm the only one affected by calves exhaustion, or, my foot positions.

What can I do to relax my calves? Sigh....

Otherwise tonight wasn't bad at all. Yoshi said that I'm doing "almost Japanese" kendo which is fabulous, especially coming from him!

Things to work on: practise more waza at jigeiko; create opportunities using different waza and exploit them; be adaptive to situation; be more efficient with footwork.

2004-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

The author in action in his first individual shiai on 9th Oct 2004. He came second in his category.

First Post

2004-12-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Konnichiwa!
Watashiwa Andrew desu!
Yoroshiku oneigaishimasu!

Hi I'm Andrew from Sydney, Australia. I train at the Sydney Kendo Club and I'm the club president. I started kendo on Saturday 31st January 2004.

I started this blog because I reckon that it will help enormously in identifying things that I need to work on and to motivate me. It will also serves to remind me of the fundamental values of kendo.

As James Fennessy sensei says "shoshinsa no kokoro o wasurenai", I will always remember to "never forget the spirit of the beginner".