Kendo~
Thursday
We started drinking at 5am and finished at 5pm. We began the seminar at 6pm, and suffered.
Thursday evening we practiced kirikaeshi followed by kihon and gigeiko.
Mori Sensei had us practice big men followed by big kote men, he emphases the importance of motodaichi’s distance, timing and control.
Mori sensei told us we needed to swing tall and big and not swing too far back. Doing this will change our grip (weaken it). We also had to keep good posture, proper footwork and strong kiai.
We had gigeiko with sensei.
Friday
Friday morning at Asageiko we practiced kirikaeshi followed by mawarigeiko. We need to learn to swing big and fast. Some people do big and slow, other small and fast. Neither is correct.
After breakfast on Friday afternoon we had the welcome address by Sumi sensei. He mentioned the relationship between Malta and Japan during the Second World War. He said that despite the warring nature Japan still helped to save people whose hips sank. He wanted to show us compassion as well as fighting spirit. He wanted also to show us how to live our lives through kendo. Following this we were assigned our groups and had Kata Practice followed by shinai practice – gikeiko.
For this Sumi Sensei asked us not to rush our kendo. We were to first create mind contact. Stand in front of our opponent and kiai, touch their shinai, apply pressure and attack, we should not rush our attack because we want to, we should only attack when our opponent when their body language tells us this is the correct time to do so.
We then saw a kendo no kata demonstration and a chado demonstration.
Friday evening shiai followed by mawarigeiko. For yuko datsu we need; 1) spirit 2) posture 3) specific cutting area 4) specific target area 5) correct hasuji 6) Zanshin. Shimpan must look for all these points, correct action and angle for every cut. They must use the whole area of their area on the shiaijo. Mind contact and correct identification of opportuinity is important but sometimes this cannot be seen by shimpan.
Saturday
Saturday morning saw us going back to basics for footwork, kirikaeshi and mawarigeiko.
After breakfast we practiced kata (with kote and bokken), but only the important sections. Ipponme we went to cut the left kote 2 times and followed through on the third attempt.
Footwork and mind connection were important, motodachi’s distance was also noted. The motodachi begins the timing for everything.
Nihonme require both side to apply pressure in chudan to maintain center. Uchidachi swings big. Sanbonme shidachi raise from gedan slightly behind uchidachi. Uchidachi must raise fully to chudan or the bokken will not tsuki over shidachi’s kote into the hara correctly – the kensen must be lower than the kote. Again practice this 2 times and on the third shidachi will counter nami ashi (sp?) keeping center and deflecting with a slight angle to the left with the shinogi. Counter thrust to the chest. The uchidachi will counter with appropriate tenouchi but no strenght (so shidachi can keep center). Second attack is only a step forward with seme, as is the following 3 steps.
For all the kata the uchidachi must teach the shidachi kendo and waza, to do this sometimes they must attack with power (1,2,4,7) without power (3,6,8,9) and both with power but quickly releasing power (5,10) its important that the uchidachi will apply his kendo experience to help the shidachi perform the waza in the kata correctly, maai, timing, pressure, power, speed etc. will all vary with all participants. The importance of relationship is demonstrated here.
Yonhonme, requires uchidachi to teach good maai (not to step back) and maki kaeshi waza (need to remain very sturdy).
Always uchidachi will maintain eye contact except for 7. Shidachi will always maintain eye contact.
Gohonme requires good use of suriage waza, both sides should practice this together stepping forward and back (jodan cutting to men, suriagi-men – swing up to jodan, cut men, suriage-men men – swing up to jodan, cut men… etc.) alternating many times.
Rohonme requires 3 seme’s from shidachi 1) to kote from gedan 2) to kote when openent is in jodan and 3) from chudan (however this is only 2 steps, timing and mind contact is very important). Uchidachi must teach this by responding at the correct time and in the correct manner so shidachi can learn. Maai must be close so seme can be felt.
Kodachi can (and should) also be practiced on your own with a tachi upside down in the left hand.
Ipponme, swing large men 2 times with left hand on the third time deflect with kodachi. Nihonme, apply pressure downwards with the whole body and step forwards quickly. Swing twice large with left hand and on third attempt deflect with kodachi and apply zanshin. Sanbonme kodachi suriage followed by suriotoshi. Practice 2 large swings to your dou and on the third swing execute Surinagashi and surikomi and display Zanshin.
Kodachi ipponme and nihonme requires kodachi to contact tachi at the ear. Kodachi should be vertically pointing down.
Saturday evening saw further shiai followed by mawarigeiko followed by a lovely sayonara Party and plenty of beers and silly hats.
Sunday
Sunday morning asageiko Sensei told us that there are 3 levels to learning good footwork. First we need to be at a very far distance. We take one extremely large step with suriashi and keeping good posture to issoku itto no maai and strike men. Practicing this way ensure we keep good weight distribution and increases power in our left leg. Very often we take a small step forward with the right leg and therefore our weight gets pushed on to it and we begin to lean forward slightly. Practicing with a big step will eventually allow us to take a small step with excellent weight balance and posture.
After this we learned the correct way to show Zanshin. Zanshin does not have to be running passed the opponent. As per our kendo no kata and bokuto kata our zanshin can be tsubarazerai also or even remaining in front of our opponent. Shin from zanshin refers to a state of mind, not a physical location. The problem is completing the cut before displaying zanshin. Zanshin too soon or too late is not good and it shows that zanshin is forced. When we cut we must push the sword through the target to complete the cutting action. Sumi describes this as straightening our arms after cutting, typically till the tsuba comes close to the mengane. Tscherter sensei describes this as pushing your left fist forward to seme the tsuki. Either way, we must do this to complete the cut, then if our opponent does not move we should return to tiatairi only after this point. But if the opponent does move we can run past.
To practice this there is 3 steps, firstly we should take a big step in and cut men (large first then small). But we we must stop our momentum after cutting men – we must also complete the cut fully. The next step is to do cut men from issoku itto, complete the cut, stepping forward with a small suriashi and step for ward to “touch” the opponents tiatairi. Its inportant to only touch, we must work our control so as not to “run into” the opponent.
Finally from toma we step in, cut men, and tiatari with a small push from the hara. Motodaachi helps us by stepping back as we touch kote – then they will do the same. To practice this we did it 5 times alternating between motodachi stepping aside and running through, and standing his ground and forcing taiatari.
After breakfast there was a grading.
After lunch Sensei decided we needed to work on developing and combining waza. He watched us for the weekend and for the grading and came to this conclusion.
Sensei began with practicing ai men. When we begin from sonkyo both sides have 50:50 % of the fight and spirit. When both sides do ai-men one must hit first and one must hit second, the balance move to 60:40 or 70:30 etc. Kendoka must recognise this and the relationship between kendoka, this will inform us of what waza to use.
Sensei showed us 5 ouji waza. Suriage-men, ura-suriage-men, debanna waza (men or kote), kaeshi-dou, nuki dou. Suriage men and ura suriage men are different. Suriage men is hitting against the motodachi’s grip so therefore force achieves nothing, the contact should be gentle but fast. On the ura side you are hitting with the motodachi’s grip so therefore the motion can be harder and slower. When performing suriage, you need a connection with your opponent. Generally you may step to the side and strike without running passed, it’s enough to keep your spirit high and keep your body and shinai pointing in the direction of your opponent. Same with ura side. Kaeshi dou and nuki dou must both be very fast and they both must be executed correctly in front of your body/navel and in front of your opponent.
Sensei showed us 5 types of seme. 1) Standard seme where you push forward with suriashi pushing your opponents shinai trying to “catch his feeling”. 2) seme ashi where you slide your right foot forward. 3) seme ashi where you stomp your right foot forward. 3) seme where you lean forward with your mengane 4) Seme where you lower your shinai and body and push forward raising your shinai to tsuki.
Sensei showed us 7 types of kote. 1) fast kote from isoku itto 2) fast kote from toma, applying pressure on the kensen 3) ura harai kote 4) katsugi kote 5) seme men kote 6) wave kensen under shinai then raise and hit kote 7) bring kenzen under shinai threaten kote then attack tsuki (??)
After this we had a mawarigeiko again.
Sensei closed the address and told us he was very happy to come and teach this seminar. He told us the real reason of kendo is not to win at shiai but to become better. Become better friends, and family members. Better community members and business people. We practice kendo to have a better life, but also to make a better life for others.
We drove to Dublin and met Martin at 5.30am where we were greeted with beer, cigarettes and snacks. Yummy then on to the flight to London. In Heathrow we were a bit peckish so we had some burgers for brekkie and some Beer (see a trend going on here 
). On the flight to Malta we had a bit more beer. From there we landed at the airport but had no idea how to get to the “other” Island? Szilard was pretty focused on the even practice while myself and Martin were happy to go with the flow. We ended up getting to the ferry at 4.30pm and just missed it by a few moments. Martin thought we would now miss the evening session for sure so he bout 3 pints and 3 Bacardi breezers. Well the next ferry was 15 minutes later so we were still in the zone (and laughing a lot – except Szilard ).
We made it to the session and reluctantly we geared up, 2 hours of pain here we come. It was actually a good class until with 10 minutes to go I fought Mori Sensei Hachidan. This guys has the reputation of being the toughest in all of Japan, and he lived up to it. It must have only been 6/7 minutes I fought with him but it felt like hours, I did not have time to think, I just kept hitting and hitting and when I turned he was there attacking and waiting for me to hit him, and if my technique dropped he let me know about it.
With normal sensei we all know when the student has reached our limit. I got to this stage after about 2 minutes, but still I went on and on. At about 4 minutes I felt my legs weaken. After about 6 minutes I could not hold my arms up. It is then that Sensei asked me to perform perfect technique. When I finished I was slightly elated and breathing hard. I took about 10 step (out of sight) and dropped to my knees, where I stayed for about another 8/9 minutes dizzy and feeling the lactic acid burn in my lungs.
The heat, humidity and dust in Malta was going to prove tough.
After the session we had some well deserved beers. My Friend Hisano had brought 5 of her Kohai from Japan so we went out with them in the evening. It was a late night and a 6.15am start the next day.
After the early session we had about 1hour before the next session. After the next session we had lunch and got some supplies. Then on for more kendo in the evening and more beer. This time we all got an early night…. But were rudely woken at 4am by some idiot outside our hotel who decided to shout at the top of his lungs for the next hour. Again at 6.15am we got up for kendo, breakfast, kendo and lunch. After this we decided to visit a local beach. The taxi driver politely mugged us, but he was nice so it was ok
Snorkelling in Malta is only amazing! I wish I did buy that underwater camera and the next time I see one in aldi I will. There was little sand where we were snorkelling but lots of rocks, boulders and caves. The first spot we hit had great rocks and wildlife. With plenty of crevices for fish and crabs. I was on the hunt for octopus but unfortunately did not find any. Just over a rocky outcrop we hit our second spot. This looked a bit clearer but after jumping in you suddenly got clausterfobic! It was about 15-20 meters deep. I could not get even near to the bottom with the pain in my ears. We saw some more great fish here plus the biggest and scariest jellyfish I have ever seen. What amazed me was the amount of swimmers with no masks on who could not see these monsters metres from them! These spots were a haven for snorklers and there were a lot more there.
We were really tired from this and the final even session was tough. I managed to get my fill of sensei so I was happy. Roll on the sayonara party. This was a really enjoyable night with good food and good drink. The people were great and there was great karaoke. But alas it was all over too quickly.
Sunday morning brought the final 6.30am session follow by the grading. Jason sat and passed 3rd Dan and this has now began my next step to third dan that I will attempt in Cork in February.
After that we had our final kendo session then it was off to the beach for some sun and snorkelling. After plum sake with the waves crashing at our feet and the sun setting in front of us we went for a feast and some food. We had a huge range of fresh local fish, including fresh prawns in spaghetti, tiger prawns, calamari, and barracuda. We also had several pints of the local beer. After this we went quite merrily on our way and after passing through the local teenage half naked jungle that was downtown Gozo, we caught a bus (1.40 for 3 of us) back to our hotel and hit the sack at about 11pm.
We were up again at about 3am to catch the taxi then ferry then bus then plane. With some beer along the way martin whipped out his lightsaber much to the bemusement of the tourists.
After another big meal in London and more beer we finally made it home to Ireland, and then after a further 2 hour drive home it was sleep for a few days.
Thanks for the memories guys, it was a fantastic weekend!
Kendo~
Thursday
We started drinking at 5am and finished at 5pm. We began the seminar at 6pm, and suffered.
Thursday evening we practiced kirikaeshi followed by kihon and gigeiko.
Mori Sensei had us practice big men followed by big kote men, he emphases the importance of motodaichi’s distance, timing and control.
Mori sensei told us we needed to swing tall and big and not swing too far back. Doing this will change our grip (weaken it). We also had to keep good posture, proper footwork and strong kiai.
We had gigeiko with sensei.
Friday
Friday morning at Asageiko we practiced kirikaeshi followed by mawarigeiko. We need to learn to swing big and fast. Some people do big and slow, other small and fast. Neither is correct.
After breakfast on Friday afternoon we had the welcome address by Sumi sensei. He mentioned the relationship between Malta and Japan during the Second World War. He said that despite the warring nature Japan still helped to save people whose hips sank. He wanted to show us compassion as well as fighting spirit. He wanted also to show us how to live our lives through kendo. Following this we were assigned our groups and had Kata Practice followed by shinai practice – gikeiko.
For this Sumi Sensei asked us not to rush our kendo. We were to first create mind contact. Stand in front of our opponent and kiai, touch their shinai, apply pressure and attack, we should not rush our attack because we want to, we should only attack when our opponent when their body language tells us this is the correct time to do so.
We then saw a kendo no kata demonstration and a chado demonstration.
Friday evening shiai followed by mawarigeiko. For yuko datsu we need; 1) spirit 2) posture 3) specific cutting area 4) specific target area 5) correct hasuji 6) Zanshin. Shimpan must look for all these points, correct action and angle for every cut. They must use the whole area of their area on the shiaijo. Mind contact and correct identification of opportuinity is important but sometimes this cannot be seen by shimpan.
Saturday
Saturday morning saw us going back to basics for footwork, kirikaeshi and mawarigeiko.
After breakfast we practiced kata (with kote and bokken), but only the important sections. Ipponme we went to cut the left kote 2 times and followed through on the third attempt.
Footwork and mind connection were important, motodachi’s distance was also noted. The motodachi begins the timing for everything.
Nihonme require both side to apply pressure in chudan to maintain center. Uchidachi swings big. Sanbonme shidachi raise from gedan slightly behind uchidachi. Uchidachi must raise fully to chudan or the bokken will not tsuki over shidachi’s kote into the hara correctly – the kensen must be lower than the kote. Again practice this 2 times and on the third shidachi will counter nami ashi (sp?) keeping center and deflecting with a slight angle to the left with the shinogi. Counter thrust to the chest. The uchidachi will counter with appropriate tenouchi but no strenght (so shidachi can keep center). Second attack is only a step forward with seme, as is the following 3 steps.
For all the kata the uchidachi must teach the shidachi kendo and waza, to do this sometimes they must attack with power (1,2,4,7) without power (3,6,8,9) and both with power but quickly releasing power (5,10) its important that the uchidachi will apply his kendo experience to help the shidachi perform the waza in the kata correctly, maai, timing, pressure, power, speed etc. will all vary with all participants. The importance of relationship is demonstrated here.
Yonhonme, requires uchidachi to teach good maai (not to step back) and maki kaeshi waza (need to remain very sturdy).
Always uchidachi will maintain eye contact except for 7. Shidachi will always maintain eye contact.
Gohonme requires good use of suriage waza, both sides should practice this together stepping forward and back (jodan cutting to men, suriagi-men – swing up to jodan, cut men, suriage-men men – swing up to jodan, cut men… etc.) alternating many times.
Rohonme requires 3 seme’s from shidachi 1) to kote from gedan 2) to kote when openent is in jodan and 3) from chudan (however this is only 2 steps, timing and mind contact is very important). Uchidachi must teach this by responding at the correct time and in the correct manner so shidachi can learn. Maai must be close so seme can be felt.
Kodachi can (and should) also be practiced on your own with a tachi upside down in the left hand.
Ipponme, swing large men 2 times with left hand on the third time deflect with kodachi. Nihonme, apply pressure downwards with the whole body and step forwards quickly. Swing twice large with left hand and on third attempt deflect with kodachi and apply zanshin. Sanbonme kodachi suriage followed by suriotoshi. Practice 2 large swings to your dou and on the third swing execute Surinagashi and surikomi and display Zanshin.
Kodachi ipponme and nihonme requires kodachi to contact tachi at the ear. Kodachi should be vertically pointing down.
Saturday evening saw further shiai followed by mawarigeiko followed by a lovely sayonara Party and plenty of beers and silly hats.
Sunday
Sunday morning asageiko Sensei told us that there are 3 levels to learning good footwork. First we need to be at a very far distance. We take one extremely large step with suriashi and keeping good posture to issoku itto no maai and strike men. Practicing this way ensure we keep good weight distribution and increases power in our left leg. Very often we take a small step forward with the right leg and therefore our weight gets pushed on to it and we begin to lean forward slightly. Practicing with a big step will eventually allow us to take a small step with excellent weight balance and posture.
After this we learned the correct way to show Zanshin. Zanshin does not have to be running passed the opponent. As per our kendo no kata and bokuto kata our zanshin can be tsubarazerai also or even remaining in front of our opponent. Shin from zanshin refers to a state of mind, not a physical location. The problem is completing the cut before displaying zanshin. Zanshin too soon or too late is not good and it shows that zanshin is forced. When we cut we must push the sword through the target to complete the cutting action. Sumi describes this as straightening our arms after cutting, typically till the tsuba comes close to the mengane. Tscherter sensei describes this as pushing your left fist forward to seme the tsuki. Either way, we must do this to complete the cut, then if our opponent does not move we should return to tiatairi only after this point. But if the opponent does move we can run past.
To practice this there is 3 steps, firstly we should take a big step in and cut men (large first then small). But we we must stop our momentum after cutting men – we must also complete the cut fully. The next step is to do cut men from issoku itto, complete the cut, stepping forward with a small suriashi and step for ward to “touch” the opponents tiatairi. Its inportant to only touch, we must work our control so as not to “run into” the opponent.
Finally from toma we step in, cut men, and tiatari with a small push from the hara. Motodaachi helps us by stepping back as we touch kote – then they will do the same. To practice this we did it 5 times alternating between motodachi stepping aside and running through, and standing his ground and forcing taiatari.
After breakfast there was a grading.
After lunch Sensei decided we needed to work on developing and combining waza. He watched us for the weekend and for the grading and came to this conclusion.
Sensei began with practicing ai men. When we begin from sonkyo both sides have 50:50 % of the fight and spirit. When both sides do ai-men one must hit first and one must hit second, the balance move to 60:40 or 70:30 etc. Kendoka must recognise this and the relationship between kendoka, this will inform us of what waza to use.
Sensei showed us 5 ouji waza. Suriage-men, ura-suriage-men, debanna waza (men or kote), kaeshi-dou, nuki dou. Suriage men and ura suriage men are different. Suriage men is hitting against the motodachi’s grip so therefore force achieves nothing, the contact should be gentle but fast. On the ura side you are hitting with the motodachi’s grip so therefore the motion can be harder and slower. When performing suriage, you need a connection with your opponent. Generally you may step to the side and strike without running passed, it’s enough to keep your spirit high and keep your body and shinai pointing in the direction of your opponent. Same with ura side. Kaeshi dou and nuki dou must both be very fast and they both must be executed correctly in front of your body/navel and in front of your opponent.
Sensei showed us 5 types of seme. 1) Standard seme where you push forward with suriashi pushing your opponents shinai trying to “catch his feeling”. 2) seme ashi where you slide your right foot forward. 3) seme ashi where you stomp your right foot forward. 3) seme where you lean forward with your mengane 4) Seme where you lower your shinai and body and push forward raising your shinai to tsuki.
Sensei showed us 7 types of kote. 1) fast kote from isoku itto 2) fast kote from toma, applying pressure on the kensen 3) ura harai kote 4) katsugi kote 5) seme men kote 6) wave kensen under shinai then raise and hit kote 7) bring kenzen under shinai threaten kote then attack tsuki (??)
After this we had a mawarigeiko again.
Sensei closed the address and told us he was very happy to come and teach this seminar. He told us the real reason of kendo is not to win at shiai but to become better. Become better friends, and family members. Better community members and business people. We practice kendo to have a better life, but also to make a better life for others.
Tags: kodokan, Malta, sumi sensei