Ivan's Kendo Blog

Recent goals

2012-02-02T08:29:00.002+01:00

After almost two weeks of break due to the Chinese New Year holidays, I returned to the dojo last night. It was good to exercise having eaten so much!!! (CNY is somewhat like the X'mas for the Chinese people.)

I've been more sure of my direction in kendo since the long day of matches at the Taiwan national team selection in December last year. Now I pay more attention to:

The distance between my left and right feet in kamae.
Making slightly larger and quick strikes, using the wrist power, coming mainly from the left hand.
Striking at the right timing.
Complete zanshin after the strike.

The training turned out to be really good. A few good men strikes made the day!

Selection of National Team Members

2012-01-10T10:27:00.000+01:00

Ok, so, I went for the nation team member selection on last Saturday, a tough day it was! In total, 65 male and 35 female candidates from all over the island took part in the selection. We were divided into 4 pools, meaning that each team has 16 people, and each of us had to fight 15 matches, whether you advance into the next stage or not.

The top from each pool will be selected as the team member, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th from each pool advance to the next round. In the end, 7 are selected as the first players and 3 are selected as the backup players.

The large number of participates meant that we had to fight for 7 hours. It was absolutely exhausting, both physically and mentally. I started out performing badly in my first 3 matches or so. My reaction and movement were slow. It's like I hadn't woken up yet. And it gradually got better.

Everyone fought differently, so I had to adjust my strategy for different opponents. I definitely lost far more matches than I should have, however, being able to perform wazas like kote-uchiotoshi-men a couple of times made me feel good.

My thoughts for the day are:

Fighting spirit is very very important. I found the best way to get it out of me is to regard every opponent as a strong a respectable player. This way, my mind become sharp, as well as my movement. Because I found that my performance was much better against people whom I thought were stronger than me.

My kote-men should be faster. This lies on my footwork. So I have to improve this during training.

Sometimes I raise my kensen before striking men. DONT DO THIS.

Relax my body more.

Keep my foot close to each other.

Be careful of my zanshin. Very often I let my men open after striking kote, and also not separating myself far enough from the opponent.

Be careful when the opponent is at the close range, and also do not let go of chances to attack.

The below were two matches. I'll let the action speak for itself!
(I'm the white on in the first video, and red in the second.)

Happ New Year 2012

2012-01-06T04:34:00.002+01:00

First of all, let me wish everyone a Happy and Successful New Year!!!

I had done so much in 2011 - making a lot of new friends, founding a rotary club, starting a new blog, finding a new direction in career, while maintaining regular kendo practices. Sure, I cannot say that I achieved a great deal in kendo last year, but overcoming obstacles and attending practices required a lot of self-motivation in my circumstances. I am glad that I was able to do it.

My kendo level has gone from kihon-only style to a style involving more wazas. Putting pressure and creating "false openings" to lure the opponent in striking. This requires very good timing and attention on the maai, as well as a full concentration.

However, I still need to make more effort on my practising kihon and suburi at home. My body condition has declined due to the long commuting everyday, hopefully I will be able to switch my job later this year to somewhere closer to home.

Ozawa Sensei visited in December as usual. I told him that I kept loosing in competitions in recent times, and I haven't been able to overcome this problem. And the thing is, sometimes I do not know what the problem is, that my performance in competitions is so much worse than in the normal practices.

He told me that, if only I give out 50% of my performance in practices, I would win. And the most important is to keep the fighting spirit high, and never give up.

He also said that the kendo in keiko, competition and examinations are the same. I should not do differently. I should always keep this in mind.

Below is a clip between Ozawa Sensei and Tokura Sensei (7th Dan, former national team coach of China)

Congratulations Suzuki Sensei on passing 7th Dan!

2011-12-06T06:25:00.001+01:00

A big congratulation to Aki Suzuki san for passing her 7th Dan at age 39 only! And the pass rate was 11%! What a splendid young age to obtain such a high rank especially for a FEMALE kendoka. I practised with her several times in Europe and in Japan, and all I can say is, she is by far the best female kendoka I have fought with. And she certainly has the appropriate rank to go with it.

I met Suzuki san (right) for the first time in 2007.

The below is a video clip showing Suzuki san (in blue) demonstrating the kakari-geiko with a femail Czech kendoka. Notice her swift footwork!

Debana techniques

2011-11-24T08:29:00.001+01:00

Ho Sensei gave some useful tips for doing men-debana-men/kote.

Debana-men: when doing seme and fighting for the center line with the opponent, try to put the shinai slightly on top of the opponent's shinai, so that it takes a shorter time to strike his men.
Debana-kote: similar in the case of the debana-men, this time try to put the shinai slightly below. By doing so, one also lures the opponent to strike men.

2011 Taipei Chung-Cheng Cup

2011-11-15T05:12:00.001+01:00

This is the 3rd time I participated in the Taipei Chung-Cheng Cup, since I came back to Taiwan 3 years ago. It was the toughest competition experience for me so far, as I fought about 8-9 matches with my teammates.

The competition was teams-only, no individual matches. I was the least experienced kendoka in the 7 men team representing the Taipei Kendokan. However, my sempais continued to encourage me to fight, even though at one point I really wanted to give up, and wanted to let the other team mates to take my place.

The pressure built up tremendously as I got more and more tired, and seeing my teammates scoring points, while I could only drew the match or sometimes loosing one point. In my mind, I felt like a failure being the one who pulls down our overall performance.

Su Senpai, our Taisho, looked at me and asked if I wanted to stay on and fight, I was really hesitating. Then he said, "I'm not sure what your problem is. But if you don't want to fight because all your teammates are winning, that is because we have at least 13 years of experience, much more than you have. If you are getting tired, we are getting tired, too and so are the opponents. Of course, if you are injured, then that's another story." Hearing his words, I felt there's now no reason for me to back down. So, I continued to fight on until he asked me to take a rest in the last match.

We obtain the 3rd place in the end.

There are so many other things I learned by fighting alongside my teammates.

Strategy and controlling the mental pressure. Apart from fighting as the senpo in the first match, I fought as the jiho for all the other matches. What I did well (apart from a couple of times loosing) was to draw the match, or if loosing, try not to loose the second point. This maintains a neutral mental pressure for my teammates.
I need a stronger will to win. Ozawa Sensei's saids once to me, "Never giver up." I now realise how difficult it is when you have to fight the whole day.
When attacking, move the body first and then the hands. Otherwise, it is easy for the opponent to strike debana-kote.
Move faster.

Developing one's own style

2011-11-09T16:54:00.001+01:00

Ho Sensei said at the end of today's training, that as we advance into higher Dan-grades we should start to be more aware of ourselves, and at the same time develop our own kendo styles. It will come naturally with the personality and the physical conditions.

Below is the video from Monday's training between two Senpais (there's HD version if you click on it)

Training video

2011-11-01T04:00:00.002+01:00

A little thought: In Kamae, if I apply equal force on both hands to grip the shinai, I tend to strike with the right. However, I found that if I grip harder using the left. I naturally use the left hand to strike, which evidently much more powerful.

Now this is a video in yesterday's training, between Chang senpai (5th Dan on the left) and a visiting Ogawa Sensei (7th Dan) from another dojo. Good kendo and a good fight!! Enjoy!!!

Recent progress

2011-09-01T05:44:00.001+02:00

Previously, I mentioned in the article on passing my 3rd Dan the things I wanted to work on. From then on, I have been working on these skills. Indeed, the foundation to all possible improvements are the kihon kills built up before now, for example, footwork, kamae, simple men/kote/do strikes, and kirikaeshi, etc. So, I sincerely advice all beginners to work on them step-by-step patiently and persistently. Especially, for the adult beginners, who usually tend to THINK more than to DO, sometimes you just have to switch off your brain and follow what the sempais and senseis are telling you. Perhaps, my past articles on kihon (basic) practice would help.

Recently I've become more aware of how my body postures can affect my striking range and the various wazas. No wonder athletes or students on sport sciences can learn kendo faster, because they are trained to understand and use their bodies well. Other people might start late, but with determination and perseverance they can still succeed.

Now when watching senseis or sempais fighting, there are things I can see which just didn't register in my mind before.

Kendo has just become more and more interesting.

To whose who find it difficult to make to the training for whatever reasons, please don't give up and keep on practising!!

Maai (間合;Distance)

2011-08-24T03:34:00.006+02:00

Recently, I have been working on getting the correct distance, or the maai. Maai is the distance between the two opponents, and it is basically like the "shooting range" for guns.

However, not only the distance is important, the kamae also determines whether one is ready to jump forward or not, and whether one can jump far or close.

For example, if one were to strike debana-men, he must not jump too far because it would be slow, and also it is unnecessary since the opponent moves also forward. So, doing a successful debana-men should be aiming at "touching down" quickly with the right foot, in order to be faster than the opponent's men attack.

The separation between the two feet is also crucially important. At to-maai (far distance) and issoku-ittono-maai, the separation must be close to each other. To seme from to-maai, the left foot must draw towards the right foot quickly as the body advances forwards. However, to seme from issoku-ittono-maai ("one-cut-one-step" distance), the left foot should stay put, getting ready to strike at any moment.

It varies with the ability and the height of the person, of course. Generally speaking, when the opponent comes into the "shooting range", the left foot should not move, so that one can strike immediately when there is a chance.

North-South Competition in Tainan Butokuden

2011-08-18T04:52:00.011+02:00

With my calves still sore, typing an article on kendo training is like the cool down exercise for the mind.

Last month on 7/31, we traveled down south to Tainan City to participate in the annual North-South Competition. The main event is the match between the North Team and the South Team, which consists of kendoka from the northern and the southern Taiwan, much like the idea of the Tosai (East-West) Competition.

Each team has almost 80 players, and there are two courts. 40 players from each team fights in one court with the "point-scoring" system, where one player fights with only one player (the most common system); The other 40 players fight in the other court with the "advancing" system, where one player stays on the court to fight the next if he wins.

There is also team competition between dojos. The North won overwhelmingly on the day, and the matches were exciting accompanied by lots of cheering.

I won two matches and lost one. Our dojo's team were not able to advance, and lost to a team whom we should have won. I think I played a big role in our defeat, because I was the Senpo and lost 2-0. My opponent wasn't impossible to win, but he was more experienced and calm. He made me think that I had the chance, so I launched a kote-men strike. He scored with a kaeshi-do. Then I became impatient, and wanted to get the point back. He caught a debana-kote.

It's a classic example of not being calm enough, making enough seme before striking. A good lesson to be learned!!

The event took place in a very special place called the Butokuden "武德殿". It's officially classified as a national heritage, and there's a similar one in Kao-Hsiung, where we also went for a competition 2 years ago. It was built during the Japanese occupation period for the police to train kendo and judo.

Though victory didn't smile upon us, we did had a bit of fun taking a day trip down south in a nice weather. And I did learned a lot from this competition!

Training video

2011-07-12T11:03:00.003+02:00

Two Sempais, Chang and Liang, both 5th Dan doing jigeiko. Sorry about the noise of the electric fan. If I turned it off everyone would be steamed to dead in the summer climate.

Building up my waza skills

2011-07-06T05:15:00.004+02:00

Recently I've been trying hard to improve my waza skills. It is very hard to practise against my sempais, because they are so fast. A little mistake in the posture and timing renders the waza ineffective. They have also been giving me lots of useful advices.

Debana-men: taking the center line is important. And since the opponent comes forwards, the right foot does not need to take such a large leap as usual. This makes the strike also faster.
Debana-kote: taking the center line is also important here. Make sure also that the left hand is pushed forward.
Sometimes my left heel is raised too high.

Although there are always difficulties here and there, I think my skills improve little by little anyhow. Especially, recently I have been able to "see" the winning strike at the moment when the opponent is about to strike. I seem to have a better feeling of what situation is the right moment to execute for which waza. Now I just need more practise and against more different players.

Keep it up!!

I am 3rd Dan

2011-06-19T14:07:00.006+02:00

Haven't written the blog for quite a while already, because there is too many other projects going on right now. One being my new website for promoting science communication in the Chinese speaking world, combining art, design, entertainment and science education. It's http://dr-i.info/ and the facebook fan page is http://facebook.com/newartandscience. For those who can ready chinese or have friends who can, please support my joining the fan page!!

Anyways, back to the main subject. I became 3rd Dan as of today. It was 2 times kirikaeshi and 3 times 3-mins jigeiko(which I think are too long). If one passes the above then comes the kata.

There are three things I concentrated on:

Show a good Kamae, especially with a straight back. I found that only half of the examees below 4th Dan held a good kamae with the back straght. And most wiggle the shinai too often without a purpose. So having a steady kamae immediately stands out and gives the judges a good impression.
Show the understanding of seme. Not striking relentlessly like 1st Dan and the 2nd Dan holders. Every time before launching the strike, I made sure I applied the pressure to my opponent, and showing it by inching forward with the body.
Show a few (2 or 3) oji-waza, and kote-men strikes. Ok, in my opinion and many otehrs, kote-men is an essential technique to master in order to pass the 3rd Dan. So I have to show that I can do it regularly and fluently. And I struck also debana-kote and kaeshi-do.

Kata

Fortunately, I didn't make any major mistakes, despite being a bit last minute. I should practise it more regularly!

Where to go from now on?

Being a good 3rd Dan I need to be much stronger than I am. I need to work on:

striking at the right moment. Meaning I have to create the striking moment. Put more effort on waza practice, and use them in jigeiko. Especially concentrate more on the seming and timing.
Bring more explosion into my strikes. That also includes bring my whole body forwards instantaneously.

Last but not least, I really appreciate the Senseis and Sempais who have constantly helped to improve my kendo by giving good advices and pointing out my weak points. Thank you!!

Stepping right foot to the left while striking kote

2011-05-02T03:56:00.003+02:00

The weather in Taiwan is getting more and more humid, and in last Friday's training I felt that I could throw up in any minute after 30 mins into the training. Fortunately, the kakari-geiko stopped just in time. Phew~

When I practised with Ho Sensei, my kote strikes landed several times on the fist-part of the kote, which isn't valid for a point. I think the problem is that my right foot didn't step to the left side.

And I should make my men-strike more explosive.

2011 Taipei Youth Cup

2011-04-18T07:14:00.004+02:00

Last Saturday was this years Taipei Youth Cup. It's been almost half a year since the last competition, which had been a major disappointment, not being able to even show a good kendo style. Since then I went to the training persistently, worked on the basics as well as trying to find what wazas work for me the best. And at the same time slowly building up more confidence. I can't say I'm totally satisfied with my performance this time, but at least there is significant improvements. Including:

I don't attack without first putting pressure on the opponent.
I can use wazas at the right time (Though not 100% successful).
I can analyze the current situation and adjust my fighting style immediately. For example, if I find myself starting breathing heavily, then I would hold my kamae and spend more time on pressuring my opponent while gaining the breath.

The reason for me being hit was almost the same for all matches: Lack of concentration. This made me not being able to judge the maai, and let the opponent come too close.

Another major thing to improve on is that my left foot still sometimes lag behind during seme. So, when I launch the men attack I couldn't push my body forwards enough.

Overall, I received good and encouraging words from Ho Sensei and So Sempai. It's funny that no matter wining or loosing, I have a feeling that it's all what matters. And I learned a lot from this competition experience.

By the way, thanks to the friends who came to see me. I never ask people to come to see my match, but in fact I deeply appreciate the gesture. Afterall, kendo is such a big part of my life, and I devote so much time and effort on it, although most of my friends have no idea of what it is and why I'm so attached to it. So thank you!!

Helping the Japanese earthquake

2011-03-18T10:29:00.003+01:00

Needless to inform you about the recent earthquake disaster that killed so far 5,000 people and thousands more missing, while 450,000 are staying in temporary shelters.

Please help by donation.

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Katsugi-waza

2011-03-18T09:44:00.004+01:00

Recently, there have been a couple of shiai-geikioes in the dojo, and there were wins and losses. I think I had overall a good control of my body, and didn't just hit relentlessly, but tried to pressurize my opponent until he makes the attack first. This means that I am more confident with my oji-wazas, which in turn means that my waza skills have also improved.

However, I still think I should take the center before attacking, including while executing the debana-men or the debana-kote. My shinai sometimes wiggles too much without fighting for the center. I should focus more on it.

One time I got hit on the do while I raised the shiani overhead in order to scare my opponent (Katsugi-waza). However, he didn't fall in to the trap but quickly executed a men-kaeshi-do. Next time when I use this technique I have to choose the right moment. When the opponent has an offensive mindset, it is dangerous. However, if he is defensive, then usually it works.

Improving debana-men

2011-02-28T05:42:00.005+01:00

Two weeks of Chinese New Year break arrived timely for me to catch up some sleep. But in the end, I guess most of you would feel the same, was that I couldn't wait to get to the dojo.

Gradually I am exploring the finer details of kendo. It feels like a natural progression that in order to improve I must understand these details. Like seme and timing, with their associated footworks.

For example, when fighting against fast and powerful kendokas, I tend to not hitting straight because I am too afraid of being hit with a debana-men. The advices I got were:

I need to see and feel when the opponent is going attack. Just before that moment, strike immediately to win the debana-men. The right foot should be ready to jump forwards at any moment, meaning that the left foot should be staying put on the ground.
If the opponent has strong seme and takes the centre, then I must take it back with my shinai. Otherwise, striking when the opponent has the centre is a sure suicide.

Striking kote and kote-men:

One tip to hit on the kote without looking at it is to make the kote strike long the line going through the opponents right eye.

Be more explosive

2011-01-16T04:18:00.004+01:00

Today at the mawari-keiko session, Ho sensei asked me to stand in the motodachi position for the first time. After a few fights, Ho sensei came to tell me that I should try to use more waza and execute every technique thoroughly and correctly, even fighting with junior players.

When fighting with Yi-Chen (5th Dan), I had a big problem being able to hit him, which had happened also with some other people before. When he steped in to chikma (close distance), he turned his shinai pointing to his right, in sort of a half-blocking position. I knew I could not reach his men because he can block and even do a kaeshi-do. Kote was also protected because of the angle of his shinai. The only target opened was do, which was hard to hit also because the distance was very close. But I did get his do once.

On the good side, I started to analyze more and more the opponent's movements, and try to develop a strategy against them.

I need to make my attacks more explosive.

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-08T06:10:00.008+01:00

Happy New Year everyone!!

I've been to every training in the past month. Not for any particular reason, just because I enjoyed it. There have also been a few realizations of my own kendo lately.

When cutting: One thing particularly important is that, raising the shinai higher and strike down brings more power to the cut. This way I don't loose ai-men easily.

More successes at nuki-do and kaeshi-do: Timing is critical. And to have the correct timing, one should seme until the opponent launches the attack. I found that smooth and slow seme works the best. For example, sliding the shinai forwards against the opponent's just a couple of inches from the issoku-ito-no-maai distance, if the opponent raise the shinai to strike, then execute the kaeshi-men. If the opponent shows no movement, then back out and seme in again.

Kamae: If I have a good kamae then I become confident with myself. Maybe it's the reverse, I don't know. But for sure to check for is if I am holding my kamae correctly, and build up the pressure against my opponent from there.

Kote-men moments: The moment to execute kote-men is rather interesting. Very often the kote gives the opponent a signal to defend and then he blocks the men. The solution one is, to have a blitzing fast kote-men technique, but then the opponent is still be able to block. I think the best way to solve this is to catch the right time for kote-men. One of these moments is when his kensen is low, especially when he is about to attack (debana moment).

Concentration: There is a common problem to everyone, and that is the temporary black-out of mind. If this happens one basically falls into any trap set up by his opponent. Fake-men then striking kote is one of the most effective tricks. So concentrate!!

2010 Ozawa Sensei in Taiwan

2010-12-29T07:22:00.018+01:00

This year Ozawa Sensei came again to Taiwan for a few days. Again this year, Takano Sensei and Fukui Sensei (both 7th Dan) came with him. It was his first time in Taiwan after obtaining the 8th Dan, and was invited to give a seminar aimed at kendo instructors and senior students at university kendo clubs and alike. It was different from the past two years when he came just to visit different dojos and practised, this year he actually instructed, and taught A LOT -- more than what I have ever seen him talking in such a short time.

The seminar ran for two days with many 4-5th Dan kendoka attending.

Warm-up and Kihon

Ozawa Sensei started with some exercised for warming up, like taking large leaps forwards and backwards while maintaining the body balance. This strengthens the leg muscles.

Then he explained some kihon. Kirikaeshi and men-uchi. Because most of the participants are seasoned kendoka, he didn't say too much about them. Only that there are two types of pace for the kirikaeshi: For beginners the cuts should be clear and speed is less important, and for advanced, the cuts will be fast and continuous. Later during lunch, while he answered people's questions, he said that there are three types of receiving the sayu-men cuts for the motodachi:

Holding the shinai straight up vertical. This is the normal way.
Cutting against the kakarite's shinai while he cuts. This is for against stronger kenshis whose cuts are powerful, or when you want him/her to make powerful cuts.
Be flexible with the shinai. This is for receiving cuts from children, women or less powerful kenshis.

Oji-waza

After some basic cuts when we were ready for some more advanced stuffs, we started practising oji-waza. Ozawa Sensei explained some techniques:

Men-nuki-do: Seme. When the opponent just raises his shinai to attack men, raise the shinai to strike do while quickly stepping to the right. The step to the side needs not to be big, but the timing is critical. The body should stay up-right and should not bend.
Men-suriage-men: Use the middle part of the shinai to deflect the opponent's shinai in an upward sliding motion, then immediately strike down.
Men-debana-kote: The critical point is to take the opponent's centerline before he launches his attack. In this way, his shinai naturally moves to his left side to expose his kote. If the opponent takes the centerline, then you must take it back. Otherwise, the kote is hard to hit.

We also practised kata, but I won't write the details here.

Others:

I am truly grateful that the senseis took special attention to my performance. Whether kihon or kata, the senseis asked me either to demonstrate in front of the others or watch critically. While I was doing suburi, he also watched to check if I was doing it correctly.

The small men cut is not different from the big cut, except only that the shinai is not raised as high. The rest of motion, raising the arms and cutting down are all identical. He said it's bad to extend the arms and do an upward arc movement. However, I know some senseis specifically teach this way. Well, choose whatever suits you I guess. But I stick to whatever Ozawa sensei says. Unless I become as good as him someday (maybe it will never happen).

During the only one jigeiko that I managed to have with Ozawa sensei, I took time to seme. Although my performance was poor, especially my lower body was too tired to follow up, it was different from before when I more or less struck relentlessly.

Takano Sensei said that he understood my will to become stronger, but in jigeiko I should not bend or dodge, otherwise, I would never improve.

During the dinner on day 1, Ozawa sensei said my upper body became stronger and broader compared to before. He jokingly said that I was so thin that wind can just blew me away, haha. However, my legs are not strong enough. He said that I should strengthen them by doing the exercises he taught me.

I told Ozawa Sensei that I want to be strong at shiai when I'm still young, and asked him how to prepare for shiais. He only said, " Never give up!"

After Sensei when back to Japan, he wrote me and said that I must now try to use wazas learned in jigeikos. I will try my best!! See you next year!!

(I've become quite busy in the past few weeks, so finding anytime to write blog has been difficult. Sorry for not writing it in a style more pleasurable for reading!)

One day I will be strong

2010-12-16T03:57:00.004+01:00

The past few weeks were packed with activities, kendo or non-kendo related. There was the Taipei Chong-Chung Cup at the end of November, in which the mens team got the forth place and the women got the first. I was teamed up with four strong kenshis (4th and 5th Dans), who out-performed me tremendously. It was fair to say that if I was replaced with a stronger player, maybe 3rd Dan, we would have gotten the first place. I couldn't stop thinking this for a few days following the competition. My performance was poor and made my teammates nervous, so in the last few matches I was placed in the Taisho position, so that I fought the last and wouldn't affect the confidence of the other players. I finally understood the importance of the senpo and jiho, who should never loose.

Though I disappointed myself and my teammates, who still gave me a lot of advices for improvement and encouragement, I can only put things behind and continue to train hard, if not harder. One who gives up is the real looser. One day I will be strong.

More on the hand grip

2010-11-09T02:57:00.006+01:00

To elaborate on the method of gripping the shinai I talked about in my last blog entry, I extract some figures from the manuscript from Toshio Matsumoto (9th Dan Hanshi), the same document which I quoted for describing the Natural Stance Kamae.

The position of the end of hand grip should rest in the left hand as shown here:

The two muscles circled in the upper figure should be used to squeeze the end of shinai. (Aki Suzuki Sensei form Tokyo once told me the same.) Likewise, the same muscles of the right hand have also the same function.

The feeling is like supporting an egg with these two muscles without breaking it, as shown above.

The right hand should grip the shinai in a way that is hard outside but soft/flexible inside. To explain, he use the analogy of a "bull crap under the sun (hi na ta gu so)", which is hard outside but soft inside (rather interesting don't you think ;)?).

The position and angle of the thumb should be straight and relaxed, directed roughly parallel to the floor, as shown below:

This is connected to what I described with the right hand grip in my last entry.

Hope the above information helps!

V-shape hand grip

2010-11-05T04:37:00.003+01:00

After two weeks of absence, my feet become slow again. After striking, I felt that I was dragging my feet over the floor.

However, Hsu Sensei corrected the way I hold the shinai with my right hand. I should hold it in such a way that makes the V-shape more apparent, facing myself. In other words my index finger is less perpendicular to the hand grip. This way, I naturally use more of my little finger for clutching the shinai.

I really want to get the speed up with my men cut. The slowness seems to have something to do with my foot work. Maybe it's because I don't push fast enough with my left foot, and my body center is not low enough. An indicator is the sound of fumigomi. The ideal should be a sharp "slapping" sound as almost all the japanese kendokas seem to have somehow.

One beat too slow

2010-09-21T04:06:00.004+02:00

It doesn't always happen that more than two sensei/sempais are telling you about the same problem. But when it does, you know you've found a critical thing to improve on, and that's fantastic.

What Tseng-Sensei (曾育仁) told me when practising with him was that I was "a beat too slow", and I tend to kneel down a bit before I strike, which made me slow.

While practising with Liao Sempai (廖泳畋) he also observed similar problem: I hesitated at moments when I should strike, or I would wait for the opponent's action and step backwards, basically not going forward enough.

He commented also that when I do shikake-waza, such as kote-men or maki-men, the body should go forwards already on the first strike to create pressure on the opponent.

These are great advices which can take me to the next level - a competitive kenshi.

To become one with the sword

2010-09-20T05:31:00.004+02:00

Sometimes I get striked on the men when I doesn't cover it properly with my shinai. I raise my shinai to block, but my upper body bends back instead of dodge to the direction of the shinai. The bending backward creates a space open for the opponent to reach my men.

The other day while practising with Chou-Sempei (周群堯), I got hit again like this. I realised that I didn't trust my shinai enough. I didn't have the confidence that it can defend me against my opponent.

But then isn't it the same with attacking? To commit the strike, throwing the body onto the opponent to execute a powerful strike, is also to trust in the weapon in your hand that it's going to slice the opponent in half.

Didn't the folk use to say: "Becoming one with the sword?"

Small cut

2010-09-07T06:32:00.002+02:00

My performance in the last few trainings have been up and down. In some trainings my strikes were solid and confident, while in some I couldn't seem to commit my strikes fully. In situations where confidence was lacking, I not only attacked less and reacted slowly but I tend to bend my upper body backwards too often to avoid strikes. What a waste of training time.

In last night's training, however, I could commit to my strikes. It was almost like a conscious decision that I was going to launch my strikes forwards with confidence, and then I did it. It had also a lot to do with the fumigomi. When I stomp solidly on the ground, it helped to bring power and speed in my strikes.

Last night I also strike the do successfully for the first time against Ho sensei. First I put some seme and strike his shinai from the omote side as though I'm going for the men cut, and then I quickly switched to do.

Chang-sempai （張代林）let me practised small men-cuts after doing jigeiko with him. He asked me extend my arms up until the tip is just above the opponent's men, and then extend my arms and wrists forwards. Importantly, the wrist should not flex backward before striking, which was difficult for me since I was afraid of not having enough power. Bring the power in strike in this way requires good tenouchi with the body going forwards at the same time. I need to practise more.

Short shiai-geiko

2010-08-16T03:48:00.002+02:00

Last Friday we had a short shiai-geiko. I was in the less strong division, so I won all except one. My problem was that there is a tendency for me to return to kamae before any strikes, so when my opponent just comes up and strikes relentlessly, I just defend... Need to adjust this mentality for competitions.

Ho-Sensei told us:

In Shiai, one cannot wait until the opponent shows a complete opening before striking. One should strike when it appears just a little chance.

Natural stance kamae 自然身構

2010-08-12T05:02:00.023+02:00

After reading a document written by Toshio Matsumoto (松本敏夫), 9th Dan Hanshi, talking about various detailed fundamental aspect of kendo, including body postures and weight distributions in kamae and during strikes. It got me excited after reading it, because I have noticed a few things which worried me at the back of my mind:

1. I lose the ai-men strikes very often, and my shinai tends to miss and drift towards my opponent's left-side.

2. Most sensei's kamae appears that their left hand is not exactly aligned with the tip of the sword, but shifted very slightly to their left. And I have also seen black and white pictures of some renounced 9th and 10th Dan Senseis, holding kamae in this way.

3. Kuroda-san once mentioned when I visited him in Tokyo that shifting the left hand slightly to the left and pointing the shinai towards the left eye of opponent. But I haven't actually gone out and try it.

After reading the document by Matsumoto Sensei, I think I found that could be the answers to these questions. The following are some main points:

The bottom of the waist would face directly towards the opponent, however from there above until the shoulders, the body is twisted naturally towards the left, with the direction shown by the dashed straight line in the picture at the top.

The root of thumb of the left hand is placed in front of the navel, and because of so, with the upper body facing slightly to the left, the left hand is slightly off-center, which is drawn as the solid line connecting between you and the opponent.

The tip of the shinai should, however, be on the solid line pointing towards the opponent's left eye or between the eyes. So that a triangle is formed by: 1) the line connecting the two shoulders, 2) the tip of shinai to the right shoulder, and 3) the tip of shinai to the left shoulder. (As shown below.)

This triangle should be maintained during movement, and is the basis to all attacks and defenses.

The left hand should be at the "body-centerline" (the dashed line in the top diagram) always.

This is what Matsumoto Sensei called the "natural stance (自然身構)". Because this is the most natural, without the unnecessary tension, for example, on the left wrist if it were to be exactly on the center-line (to the opponent).

He also said that there are following three advantages to stand this way:

The opponent's tsuki-attack slides off easily.
When you strike men, the opponents shinai slides off easily.
Difficult for the opponent to strike the kote.

However, one should be careful that if the shinai tip is too much to the right side, the men would be left open.

I experimented with this last week, and had good results. My ai-men was stronger, and suriage-men felt more natural. It seems that because I wanted my shoulders to face directly forwards before, my left hand tended to shift to the right during the strike, which is very self-destructing. Maintaining a natural angle with the shoulders seems logical since the right hand is much farther than the left hand. I remember once I asked Ozawa Sensei if it's ok to have one shoulder extending farther than the other, he said promptly: "Ok, ok!"

Focus on each strike (and another Czech visitor!)

2010-08-10T06:45:00.002+02:00

For some reason, in the last training while practising with Ho-Sensei I could do clean and solid cuts. I could bring my body forwards, and could feel that my posture was straight from the beginning of the strike to the end zanshin. Ho-Sensei gave me some encouraging words because of that.

However I then asked myself, how can I do this in every training? For that, knowing the reason why I did well is important. I suspect that it was because I was very focused on every strike, partly due to the weather condition, the ONLY thing I was able to put on my mind was me in kamae, and my opponent in his kamae. In other words, focusing on just myself and the opponent is essential in bringing out powerful and committed strikes. I need to remember this and try to do this every time.

Another good news is that we have another young visitor, Marek Novak, from the Czech Republic, in addition to our already old friend Adam Urban, training for the summer in our dojo. Welcome!

What to do in Jigeiko in bad body condition

2010-08-04T09:45:00.005+02:00

It's summer now in Taiwan, and training in a dojo without air-con is one hell of an achievement itself. One constantly need to regulate his own training tempo in order not to dehydrate or faint from this crazy temperature and climate.

What I do is that I shift more from using the shikake-waza to the oji-waza in the jigeiko, and take more time to seme and experiment with the different seme techniques.

Fumigomi practice

2010-07-06T08:04:00.004+02:00

Last Saturday I went to the morning keiko (Asageiko) at the Taipei Japanese School again, where Kamiyama (上山) Sensei (7th Dan Kyoshi) heads the training.

After the keiko he gave very valuable advices on the correct fumigomi and the practice for it, which I will describe in the following.

Step 1: Take one large step forward with the right foot. One main point is that when the right foot makes contact with the floor, there is a sheer-like force going, not straight down, but forward-down as shown in the picture below.

Step 2: Quickly draw the left foot to the right one, and stand on the soles of the feet, so that the body is going slightly up.

Step 3: Repeat the exercise.

This is really the tip that I have been looking for to improve my men-strikes, for a long time. So I'm eager to share with you guys here! Hope it helps!

New Homepage of Taipei Kendokan

2010-07-01T08:53:00.001+02:00

Check out the new English page for the Taipei Kendokan, that I made. Come to visit by all means when you are in Taiwan!!

Click here for the link.

Back to live in Taipei

2010-07-01T08:27:00.003+02:00

I finally moved back to Taipei from Hsin-Chu, which means that I can go for training at the Taipei Kendokan more often. My goal is to train from twice a week moving gradually to three times a week. However, living in Taipei while working in Hsin-Chu means that I need to get up at 5:30 in the morning and go to bed at 10:30pm in order to catch the dedicated bus going to my company. Everyone awed at my new schedule, and some bet that I won't be able to last long, because it's too tough. Well I'm tough, too. ;-)

Speaking of toughness, the weather is becoming unbearable to train at the dojo. I need to make sure that I have enough water in-take well before the training. Last night I felt so dizzy towards the end of the training. When I practised in Europe, I thought taking break during the training was a shame. But I tell you, in this climate this is really a matter of life and death. We usually take a 5-10 mins break after 1hr, just before mawari-geiko and jigeiko.

Yesterday I put a lot of attention on my feet, making sure that they are not too far apart. And also their fluency when executing zanshin after the strike, for both forward strikes and hiki-men strikes. There should be a smooth coordination.

Looking forward to the next practise.

First time at the Taipei Japanese School

2010-06-13T15:33:00.008+02:00

On Friday we had a looong training from 8pm-10:30pm, because Ho Sensei wasn't there and So Sempai led the training. The extra time was due to additional program following the jigeiko, which included the kakarite executing kote-men-hiki-men/kote/do followed immediately by men-debana-kote.

In order to have enough time to hit the debana-kote, one needs a solid taiatari, which makes the motodachi pause.

At the end I was really exhausted, trying to keep on going. The movement however became more and more proper - always happens.

Saturday morning at the Taipei Japanese School

The lack of sleep didn't prevent me from getting to the Taipei Japanese School (TJS) at 7:30 in the morning. There Kimura-Sensei (now 7th Dan, a former student of Ozawa Sensei) was expecting me.

2007 Autumn - my first time in Tokyo. Ozawa Sensei, Kimura Sensei and me.

When I got there the children were practising kihon without the bogu. Three 7th Dan Japanese teachers and a few other adult ones were instructing them. It was interesting to see how they explained the basics, and of course I got to practise my Japanese listening skills! For almost every item, men-uchi and hiki-men etc, the children had to use the sliding footwork all the way across the hall after the strike. This really trains their leg muscles and fluency to the movements.

Afterwards we put on the bogu and became motodachis to the children. It was a new experience for me to have so many kids coming to practise with me, and to teach them. At the end it was mawari-geiko for the adults.

I got a few insightful advices from Kimura Sensei:

Try to communicate with the opponent with kensen from to-maai.
When doing seme, no matter how tall you or your opponent are, direct your movement downwards and not upwards.

The second advice I had never head before. However, it solves some of the questions I had in mind. So it was really a unexpected reward of this visit, as well as making a couple of new Japanese friends who are teachers at the school! I think I'll be back there soon!

30th Anniversary Taikai

2010-05-31T17:31:00.007+02:00

The 30th Anniversary celebration finished successfully. About 10 teams participated in the competition including 4 teams from Taipei Kendokan, 1 team (all japanese senseis) from Shang-Hai, 1 team from Renpeikan (Japan), 1 from the police, 1 from Yi-lan County, 1 from I-Shin Kendokan, and 1 from Hsin-Chu City. The winner was the Renpeikan team and the second was one of the Taipei Kendokan team. The joint third were Shang-Hai and Hsin-Chu.

My team lost to I-Shin Kendokan, though I won my match 1-0 as the jiho. I scored a debana-kote, however wasn't able to score a further point despite some attempts to strike men. I guess that they were too slow, and my opponent just saw them coming and blocked. And I almost didn't use any kote-men, fearing that it might be too slow. More practices required!

All in all it was a good atmosphere. I was stunned by the performance from our most experienced team (members consisting 4~5 dan) and the Japanese team (many are 7th Dan). The matches were really top-notch, which further encouraged me that there are so much room for me to improve and perhaps that, if I work hard enough one day I will be like that!

30th Anniversary coming up

2010-05-27T05:10:00.003+02:00

This weekend will be one of the biggest event held by Taipei Kendokan so far - the 30th Anniversary - on this Saturday. There will be over 100 invited guests from other dojos in Taiwan and Japan, doing jigeiko and some team shiai. There will be 4 teams from us, 1 women and 3 men teams, and I will be fighting as Senpo in one of them.

Last night's training I didn't make my left foot follow up quickly enough after the strike so that my body tend to lean to the right. Sigh.... the annoying mistake popped up back again. When can I get rid of it completely?

Strike at once

2010-05-20T16:34:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I took the train up to Taipei to practise, because I felt the lack of practise and disipline led to my kendo basics becoming loose. Especially after watching my old Dresden kendo friends great performance at the 19th Leipzig Championship, and how much they have improved, it really stimulated me and gave me a positive motivation to train harder.

Recently I focused on improving kote-men, and trying to put pressure on the opponent making him strike first so that I can use oji-waza.

Ho Sensei gave some tips during the class:

kote-men should be as fast as possible, and it is important to bring the shini smoothly forwards right after striking the kote. To strike fast, the left foot stays sometimes at the same spot while the right foot stomps twice for the kote and men-strike.
when seme to strike kote, one can lower the kensen while moving in a little. This makes the opponent feel pressured and at the same time thinking that there is an opening for a men-strike. When he intends to strike men, execute a debana-kote.
when striking men-kaeshi-do, make sure to extend the arms up and forwards to block the men-strike, instead of blocking from the side. This is faster and safer since the opponent's shinai wouldn't get so close.

After my jigeiko with him, he gave the folloing advices:

Do not let the striking opportunities pass. When I see an opportunity, strike at once without thinking. I tend to make a pause before I strike, so that Ho Sensei and make a oji-waza on me.

The weather is getting warmer making it difficult to train...

Congratulation to Ozawa Sensei!!!!

2010-05-04T14:43:00.003+02:00

It was exhilurating to hear from a friend that Ozawa Sensei had just passed, what is said, the most difficult examination in Japan, the 8th Dan kendo test. I asked another friend to check the internet to see if it was indeed real, when he confirmed it. I was so excited! Finally!! There were 1530 total examinees over the two days and only 21 people passed.

I called Ozawa Sensei to congratulate him, and he sounded very happy, but "tiring" he said. I bet! The next thing that entered my mind was, I need to practise harder and not disappoint Ozawa Sensei nor Ho Sensei or anyone whom I look up to.

Taipei Youth Cup 2010

2010-04-29T10:54:00.010+02:00

Last Sunday was the Taipei Cup, in which we had one team consisted of 7 people including me. We got the third place in the end, lost unexpectedly to the Taiwan University Alumni, who came the 2nd.

I was placed in the Jiho (the second place) in the match. My opponent scored a men-nuki-men first, when I carelessly striked men while my left foot was too far behind my right, meaning I couldn't jump far. Now 0-1. "Be calm..", as I told myself. Then after a few exchanges of strikes, he leapt in, and without thinking I took once small step behind to void it, and immediate striked his kote. "Kote-ari!", a men-nuki-kote. It was a 1-1 draw.

We lost the match 2-3. Ho Sensei was not happy about my performance of the day because I made many mistakes with basics. I need to:

always make sure I draw my left foot quickly when doing seme.

usemore hiki-waza.

do not bend my body when striking kote.

Of course the lack of practice lately was to blame. There is really no short cut but to do more suburi and more practice...

My friends came for some support. Thanks guys!!

Pretending to be bad asses.

I am the red one..

Not so pleased.. to be honest.

Kuroda-san's Visit in Taiwan

2010-04-01T15:34:00.026+02:00

Kuroda-san and I met in Czech Republic about 4 years ago, when Ozawa Sensei was invited to Prague to hold a kendo seminar. Since then we've kept in touch, and met up for kendo and drink every time when I went to Japan. It all seemed like yesterday, and yet so far away. He is truly a special friend. Now I'm happy that he finally comes to Taiwan and visit me.

He arrived on Friday 3/29, and in the evening I took him to the Taipei Kendokan. As usual the training started with kihon, waza-geiko, mawari-geiko and jigeiko. Kuroda san's perfect body posture and balance could not be more familiar to me, and that's his uniqueness.

After the training at Taipei Kendokan.

My practice that evening was not so great as my right arm was too tense all the time. But it was nonetheless enjoyable to play kendo again with my old friend.

At the world-famous National Palace Museum.

Monday, 29th March

I took him to the Nation Chiao Tung University (NCTU) kendo club, and Kuroda san was asked to lead the session. The members who turned up for training were:

upon the point of contact between shinai and the men, the left arm is inclined with the shinai when looking from the side.

one should practise more large men-cuts. If one is good at large cuts, he/she is naturally good at small cuts.

Wednesday, 31st March

On Wednesday I took him to the National Tsing Hua University kendo club. The members who turned up that evening included many more advanced, who have trained for 2-3 years. Kuroda san was again asked to teach. So I told him that, and suggest he gave more tips on seme-techniques and correct attitudes as well as how to obtain them during training:

Kote strikes:

when practising kote, the kakarite should occupy the centerline first, and then the motodachi should push back at the same time create an opening while the kakarite makes the kote strike.

the kakarite should strike along the centerline.

Seme:

always keep in touch with the motodachi's shinai before striking.

when sliding the shinai against the opponent's shinai, the kensen should lower slightly, so that it is difficult for the opponent to move the shinai to the other side and hit kote.

Do-strikes:

To seme, move the body forwards and direct the tip of the shinai towards the opponent's kote at the same time pressing his shinai down. This makes him want to raise his shinai up. At this moment strike do.

For me, he gave me the following advices:

My seme is too quick, and the opponents raise shinai easily to block. I should make the movement more subtle and slower, in order to let him feel the pressure and strike first while I use oji-waza.

Relax my right arm.

I hope Kuroda-san comes again soon!!

Here is one short clip of our jigeiko. Note: At the end of the clip I struck men when he attempted a kaeshi-do, but didn't manage to block the men-strike.

Japanese delegation at Taipei Kendokan

2010-03-25T13:54:00.005+01:00

Recently many Japanese senseis visited Taipei Kendokan, I was however busy and couldn't attend the practice most of the time. Fortunately, I made it to the practice this monday, when about 15 Japanese Senseis visited the dojo, including about four 8th Dan.

I was please with my performance in that evening. I even managed to hit the kote of a young 8th Dan Sensei! Somehow my body balance was very good, and could make straight and fast attacks. However, some senseis just knew what I was going to do. Like Yonekura (米倉) Sensei, he made me think that I could reach his men, but every time when I do that, he made kaeshi-do on me.

Tomorrow Kuroda san (5th Dan from Kobukan Tokyo) will finally visit me, I'm excited to meet my old friend again!!

Training to obtain the center

2010-03-13T14:22:00.004+01:00

Last night I practised at Taipei Kendokan. There are some sempais from the dojo whom I just don't know how to fight. What makes me feel the most hopeless is when I loose over and over again the simplest ai-men strikes. When this happens, I get annoyed and want to make more men-strikes to prove that I can do it, which only makes my moves become even more predictable. I'm not sure how to act in this situation...

This Wed I practised at the Hsing-Hua University Kendo Club. There was a good turn-out rate, especially considering that they just had a competition last week. We started with the ooikomi-geiko with sayu-men, and then renzoku-wazas. My forearms were mildly tense after these exercises. "I used the correct parts of the muscles," I thought.

In the end we had about 20-minutes jigeiko. My opponents were all junior to me, so my goals were to use as much oji-waza as possible. However, I also found that most of them don't know how to hold the center, and how to attack the centerline of their opponents.

This is something really difficult to explain. For me, I understood what the "center" is after training with many Senseis and Sempais with strong centers. I think only when training with such people can one understand what it is.

Tomorrow I will attend the joint practice for all kendokas in Taipei. Looking forward to it!

Cut right down

2010-02-26T02:19:00.002+01:00

"Cut right down! Cut right down!" The instruction from Ho Sensei still echoes in my ears.. "Cut it like you want to split the opponent's head in half."

Many kenshi, especially young ones, tend to only tap the opponent when striking. I know this is not good, but sometimes I still do it without thinking.

More suburi is needed..

In the past few weeks I trained only once a week which is really terrible. However, there're something else also that needs my dedication also at the moment. Meanwhile, I will have to make sure that I split my opponent's head in half, well in my mind.

Happy Chinese New Year 2010

2010-02-14T12:28:00.003+01:00

Happy Chinese New Year!! Wish you a good health and fortune in the year of Tiger!!

There have been full of end of (Chinese) year parties from my company as well as working for deadlines, which occupied most of my Fridays in the past few weeks. So I trained seldom. This Wednesday my body couldn't stand anymore, and took a train to and back from Taipei on the same day just for kendo.

My left fingers felt rather weak from a mild injury, which I think was caused by overstressing it when I did suburis at home. And my body felt a little heavy from all that eating, so I didn't feel so agile. However, I tried my really best, especially when doing jigeiko with Ho Sensei.

Ho Sensei commented after our jigeiko that when I should hit kote straight-on instead of turning already sideways and hitting with an angle.

Short Kendo Film

2010-01-17T16:34:00.003+01:00

A short kendo film about kendo, made by Hungarian film maker George Perrin, starring mambers from Budapest Fonix Kendo Club. The trailer is very well made that touches me as a kendo practitioner who is going through these stages of training.

Accept criticism to become a better person

2010-01-16T01:21:00.003+01:00

My mind had been a little weak lately, in both work and kendo. Yesterday I went to Taipei Kendokan as usual on a Friday for a major fix-up. I got what I wished for - 1.5 hr of focused mind, and a reminder of what determination means.

My body was really tired after my first jigeiko with Ho Sensei. Then Yung-Tien Liao was the second. I knew I had to try my best to attack, because it gets on his nerves if his opponent is moving backwards a lot, and he would really show that he loose interest. The result was good. I tried my best, though still he was much faster, I was able to make the best out of the 3mins of fighting with him. A little note about him is that, he often corrects promptly on my ettiquette at the dojo. At first, it is almost irritating. But then I had realised that it was good for me, and he meant well. So everytime when he corrects me, I accept and appreciate his criticism. And everytime when I can truly accept my mistake, I feel like a better person. So thank you, Yung-Tien!

Ho Sensei commented:

During my seme, I want to occupy the centerline, but the movement is too big, such that my kenzen is too off-center.
I missed a lot of striking chances. I should use my eyes better and hit accurately.

2010-01-13T02:42:00.003+01:00

Ryuzo-kun came for a short 2-days trip in Taipei this Sunday - how wonderful to see my brother friend here in Taiwan, after so many talks in Paris about Taiwan, its culture, and people over bottles of beer and wine! It feels strange to meet up finally here, no? Ryuzo?

Two things about kendo I learned during his visit:

When doing fumigomi, the left knee bends a little immediately after pushing the body forwards. The purpose is to drop the body weight fast at the same time drawing the left foot to the right one. The result is a much sharper stomping sound. I noticed in particular when Ryuzo do it, because it sounds very different.
When I seme my upper body leans a little forwards. I should keep it up-straight, and as Ryuzo mentioned it, like someone is pulling my hair up.

I hope we will meet again soon - whereever!

No one will remember me if...

2010-01-07T03:47:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I went to the Hsin-Chu Kendokan. Not so many people turned up, and I wonder if it was due to the rainy and cold weather..?

Peng Sensei told me after the training that I was not confident and motivated enough, which was why I lost in the competition. I need to try harder and attack more, he said. "Otherwise no one will remember you, which is a pity because you are still young." I think I hesitate too much. This problem pops up every now and then. Can I get rid of this parasitic problem once for all?

Goals for the coming year..

2009-12-31T07:57:00.007+01:00

Happy New Year!
新年快樂！
よいお今年を！
Ich wuensch Ihnen ein guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!

It's the last day of year 2009 - a time to look back on the year and set goals for the next.

Until this December, I had just done 4 years of kendo, and a 2nd Dan holder. What new skills have I obtained in the past year? Let's see:

My hip can now follow up when I strike and during zanshin, which means that my legs are used to the movement, and are perhaps stronger!
Opportunity for oji-waza seems clearer to me than before.
Suriage-wazas are better.

New goals:

Stronger cuts using the left wrist.
Improve on oji-waza.
Better performance in competitions. To achieve that I cannot be relaxed during jigeikos. I need to look for every opportunity to strike, and use the wazas.

Ozawa Sensei's Visit 2009

2009-12-17T03:45:00.023+01:00

As promised last year, Ozawa Sensei came again this winter, and brought Tanemichi Chiba Sensei 8th Dan Kyoshi (Kendo lecturer in the Japanese Imperial Guard), Takano Sensei 7th Dan Kyoshi (Kobukan) and Fukui Sensei 7th Dan Kyoshi (Noma Dojo).

[First dinner in Taiwan.]

They came for 5 days, three of which had kendo practices in the evening. The first one was at the Taipei Kendokan. I've wanted to invite Ozawa Sensei to come here because I feel it's one of the dojos that play the kendo style most similar to Japan, or international kendo, instead of some simple whacking-on-the-head activity. And the members here are dedicated to improving their kendo, and strong kenshis. Of course, certain aspects are still missing compared to what is considered "beautiful kendo" in Japan, but I so far I really haven't seen much that outside Japan.

I went to the airport to pick up the Senseis. When I saw Ozawa Sensei coming out from the arrival gate, I had the feeling of seeing an old friend again after a long while! Indeed it has been percisely a year since I saw him last time, during which I've moved from Germany to Taiwan, changed a new job, and moved from Taipei to Hsin-Chu, having lots of changes. It felt like a much longer time!

The next two days I took days off at work and accompanied with the senseis to travel.

Monday, 7th Dec

[Visiting the Hakka Cultural Heritage Center.]

[Presents for the Senseis.]

[Senseis had never tasted the dragon fruits.]

[The old lady spoke fluent Japanese and chatted to the Senseis.]

[Hakka traditional grinding tea.]

On Monday we went to the Taipei Kendokan. The turn out was good - about 20+ kenshis. I think everyone enjoyed practising with the 4 Japanese sensei. I was very glad about that.

Chiba Sensei gave us some feedbacks at the end of the training:

In kihon geiko, some people's men-strikes were too small. Kihon is very important, and one should try to strike properly.

One has to break the opponent's kamae before striking. This is achieved by applying pressure, or seme, and occupy the centerline. The most effective way to apply pressure is to direct the tip of the sword towards anypoint between the throat and the middle of his chest, and move in. This is the most uncomfortable place a person feels when something is approaching.

[At Taipei Kendokan]

[Listening to advices from Chiba Sensei.]

Tuesday, 8th Dec

On the next day, after some sight-seeing on the Yang-Ming Mountain, we went to the China University of Technology, where a shot seminar is to be held.

[Yang-Ming Mountain]

I assisted Takano Sensei in teaching the beginners without the bogu, about kendo etiquette (reiho) and kamae. The most challanging thing was to translate what Takano Sensei was saying from Japanese into Chinese. I could manage most of it, since I knew roughly what he was saying. However, to tranlsate word by word would still be difficult. I need to study Japanese harder!

Ozawa Sensei and Fukui Sensei demonstrated the Mizoguchi-ha Itto-ryu kenjutsu. (click to view the full size)

Ozawa Sensei and Chiba Sensei demonstrated Kirikaeshi.

Wednesday, 9th Dec

On the Wednesday I had to go back to work, and only joined them in the evening practice at the Hsin-Chu Kendokan.

Ozawa Sensei and Fukui Sensei demonstrated again the Muzogushi-ha Itto-ryu kenjutsu. I feel I can appreciate more and more of its beauty every time I see it.

After the practice, I asked Ozawa Sensei how my jigeiko was. He said that I should relaxe my body more. I think I wanted so much to do my best in front of him that I tensed up my muscles too much. He then invited me come to the Thank-you Dinner from him and the other senseis.

Thursday, 10th Dec

The whole was filled with meetings after meetings at work. Fortunately, the last meeting didn't drag on, so I could take the High Speed Railway to Taipei and take the dinner in time. We had good food and drink. At the end, when Chou-san took the senseis to the nearby night market for sight-seeing, Ozawa-Sensei invited me to stay and have some drink at the hotel bar.

We talked for 2 hours, which passed by very quickly, about kendo, travel, friends and life. He said one day he wants me to travel to England and Czech together. I said, "then I have to become very good in kendo!"

About kendo:

One has to learn the correct kendo forms and develop good seme techniques, instead of relying one's kendo on the stamina, like many players nowadays in All Japan Kendo Championship, and some of other competitions. So kihon is very important as well as waza-practices. It is not good to let winning in competition as one's main goal in kendo.

To strike small men, one should hold the shinai in chu-dan, and moving in with the hip without the shinai moving. At the correct distance (only towards the end), strike immediately. He said it is incorrect, like some people say, to extend the arms forwards from the begining when the body moves forwards.

It is bad to strike too small. He explicitly said that right wrist should also flex up and down as well as the left. Some people might say this creates debana moment for the opponent. For this he replied:

One should use seme and strike at the right moment, so that the opponent will not be able to execute debana kote.

To have good and strong seme, one relies on having confidence with one's own techniques, or WAZA. So we should improve our waza.

He also said, to learn men-strikes, there are three stages:

First raise the shinai above head, and then strike with the body moving fowards at the same time.

First raise the shinai above head, then move the body forwards, and lastly strike.

Keep the shinai in chu-dan while moving the body forwards, and strike.

This is a good reference for all the instructors when teaching the beginners.

National Chung-Cheng Cup 2009

2009-12-14T02:26:00.004+01:00

Last weekend probably the biggest kendo competition took place in Hsin-Chu. I participated both in the team and the individual category. The total number of participants were massive. My feeling at the end of the two-days event was, "Gosh, I'm tired". It was hard to imagine the level of stamina a kendoka needs to fight until the finals. Ones really needs to be strong mentally and physically.

I didn't perform too bad, but I didn't bring any suprises either. I fought with Taipei Kendokan in the team shiai. So Sempai (蘇耿賢) said my performance was good, though I didn't win anything. I think he didn't put very much expectation on me. My expectation for myself was not to be nervous. I think I managed that. However, Ho Sensei told me I fought too conservatively. Indeed, I didn't take the initiative to step in and "provoke" my opponent. Instead, what happened was that I took one step in, my opponent took one back, and I took another step in, so on. In the end, what my opponent was doing was waiting for me to strike first, and use oji-waza against me. (Damn the number of men-nuki-men that I received!!)

I lost my first individual's match against a student from Taiwan Sports University. I didn't have enough confidence with myself, and didn't apply enough pressure. A kohai who watch aside told me my performace was very different from that in the jigeiko. Quite right. I think there's something I need to adjust with my attitude either when I fight in a competition or in the jigeiko, in order to connect to two.

Another big issue is that I am not confidence enough with my men cut. I need to work on that. So now is time to be back with more kihon...

More seme techniques

2009-11-30T03:07:00.003+01:00

Yesterday there was an invitaional Jigeiko session in Hsin-Chu, at the Tsing-Hua University. About 50-60 people from Taipei, Hsin-Chu and Taichung joined the practice, including one 8th Dan, three 7th Dan, and a couple of national team members.

The practice lasted for about 1.5 hours with a small break in-between. I had about 6 jigeiko, some of which were difficult for me. My techniques for seme are still too few, and I didn't how to go in sometimes when fighting with more experienced kendoka.

Wen-Chie Chang Sensei from Hsin-Chu Kendokan pointed out to me that my men-strike is not straight enough. It tends to come in from my right side. It's probably because I tried to seme from this side so that the shinai came in from that direction. However, I need to take more care.

I also need to push my body forwards faster when striking. It's always faster to somewhat first jump forwards and then move the hands to strike in the last minute.

Sticky right foot is no good

2009-11-14T04:34:00.010+01:00

When stomping the right foot while doing kote-men, make sure the foot is not sticking to the floor. It should be agile enough to bounce up again quickly to take another step.
When doing hiki-men, stomp the floor with the right foot while striking to gain the initial momentum backwards, and then use the sole of the feet to sprint back.
When doing hiki-do, make sure the shinai hits on the side of the do sharply. And it's ok to go a little towards the left-back.
when doing hiki-kote, make sure the distance is enough when striking.
I ask Chang Sempai about how to execute small men-strike correctly. He said to push the left hand forwards, and make the left elbow straight. The right hand naturally becomes straight as well. The tsuba will be slightly below the shoulder if striking someone of the same height.
Ho-Sensei told me to use my eyes more to observe my opponent and react accordingly. Also, I shouldn't let my emotion overcomes by senses, striking when there's no chance. (Hmm... I was thinking, there's no chance for me to hit him anyways...)

I'm sometimes wondering how much have I improved since I came back to Taiwan. Sensei and Sempais told me every now and then the same things on which I should improve.

Ho-Sensei asked a few people including me if we want to participate in team competition in the National Chung-Cheng Cup on 12-13th Dec. (Don't ask me why there're all called Chung-Cheng, the other name of the former president Chiang Kei-Shek. Anyways, this is the whole country whereas, the one I just participated was for Taipei and mostly northern counties.) I said yes right away, which was unlike me who always has to "think about it". And later he asked me if I want to fight also in the individuals. To that, I also answered quickly, "Maybe not." Thinking, "Jeez, this is the national tai-kai. What a mountain to climb!" But now I'm reconsidering, since I need to get as much shiai-experience as possible while I still could.

Ozawa Sensei is visiting Taiwan in December. He will come with one 8th Dan and 2 other 7th Dan teachers. I'm glad that I can take them to Taipei Kendokan to see good kendo in Taiwan. I'm looking forward to it!

2009 Taipei Chung-Cheng Cup

2009-11-09T06:29:00.012+01:00

Yesterday, perhaps the biggest yearly kendo competition in Taipei took place in the Taipei Sports Hall. We (Taipei Kendokan) have two men teams, one above 30 years-old and the other under, and two female teams. This was the second time I fought in the competition in Taiwan, which was also the second time I represented the Taipei Kendokan. I feel privileged, of course, because there are full of strong players in my dojo, and still Ho-Sensei and Sempais asked me every time if I want to participate in the competition.

I've been also eager to accumulate competition experiences, since it's always been my problem bringing out anything resembles the level of my kendo in practices. Nervousness had always made my muscles tense.

This time though I proved to myself that I can do it, thanks to my teammates who encouraged me to fight in the final. They could have sent the best five, all at the 3rd/4th Dan level. "Do you want to give it a shot?" Our captain asked me. With a slight hesitation, I nodded. What went across my mind was, "What if I lose? Or worse, what if I can't even put up a good fight and make a fool out of myself and the team?" I don't know. But what I knew was that if I didn't try, I'd never know and never cross that barrier.

I was assigned the senpo position (the first fighter), meaning that my job was to either win or draw. Because it matters to the overall spirit of the team. Up from sonkyo, I immediately applied pressure and striked men. My opponent blocked it, and pushed me to the floor. It was only seconds into the match. I bet my teammates were speechless. They told me from the outside that I should jump a little to loosen up my body, which also refocus my mind. I did as told, which you can see from the video. :) My moment came as my opponent missed a strike and, immediately after turning back, he wanted to strike. I took his kote. What a sensation! Especially from the cheering of my teammates! Though I lost in the end, my teammates were very happy about my performance and gave a lot of encouragement. They went on to recover and finally win the whole match. Wow!

To be honest, I think he wasn't much stronger than I was, but he certainly had more competition experiences than I did. I was pleased with myself that I didn't let my nerve took over, which had been my biggest problem so far. If I can achieve this every time in the future, it will be much easier for me to learn and gain the experiences I need.

(I was the red)

Some thoughts:

If the opponent is large and keeps pushing, step sideways so that his momentum doesn't come directly at me.
Execute hikki-waza immediately when the strike was invalid and we end up in tsubazeiai.
Observe the habits of the opponent and react accordingly. For example, how he blocks strikes.
When separating from tsubazeriai, becareful of strikes from mid-distances. For example, the second men point he got in the match.
Eat more and put up some weight!

Concentrate with your eyes

2009-11-07T13:47:00.004+01:00

Tomorrow is the Taipei Chung-Cheng Cup where I'll be fighting as a member of the under-30 team from Taipei Kendokan. In the past two weeks, due to my busy schedule I could only stay in Hsin-Chu and train with the university students. The downside is that it's hard to find a competative opponent to fight against especially in terms of speed and putting pressure. So that, everytime when I go back to Taipei Kendokan, it feels like I hadn't trained for a while.

Chang Sempai gave me some advices during waza-geiko:

focus on using your eyes and not the feet nor the hands, to observe the opponent's movement and find the right moment to strike.
stronger forward motion.

I found also that I tend to lean back a little when striking men. My cut is not strong enough and is easy to loose an ai-men facing a strong fighter. I should correct this mistake.

I hope tomorrow I will be in a good condition for the matches!

Improve little by little

2009-10-19T16:38:00.002+02:00

Thank goodness. The weather has cooled down considerably, and the trainings has become less suffering than before. In the past phew weeks I trained at Taipei Kendokan when I could, or otherwise at National Chiao-Tung University (NCTU). At NCTU, the lead trainer Chen Sensei (陳泰成) put a lot of emphasis on correct kendo and kihon practices, therefore I can gain anyways something even though the members of the kendo club are more junior than me.

During jigeiko I also try to use wazas on every opportunity. I feel like my opponent is doing kakari-geiko on me, while I use oji-waza. There is generally a lack of seme-ing. Perhaps I'll take an opportunity to suggest them exercises to improve on that.

Here are somethings I should improve, some of which had been mentioned several times, but every now and then the same problems pop up again:

Sometimes I still use too much right hand.
I need to launch men strike fast with my hip pushing the body, and not just the hands flying forwards.
Kill the opponent's shinai with shikake-wazas.

Hsin-Chu Cup 2009

2009-09-28T06:27:00.012+02:00

Last Sunday I participated in the Hsin-Chu Cup which celebrated also the 10th anniversary of the Hsin-Chu Kendokan. The competition consisted of many catagories - team and north-against-south. The team is made up of 7 people, 2 female fighting first and the rest male. I fought along with the Taipei Kendokan friends and you know what? We were the Winner!!

Although I didn't fight in the final match, since I didn't perfom well enough on the day and I thought the opponents might be too strong for me, I didn't loose the earlier matches, and had two wins and a draw.

The north-south competition featured 39 kenshis from the northertn half of Taiwan and 39 kenshis from the southern half. Much like the Tozai (East-West) Competition in Japan. Being a mere Nidan I was placed as the second person to fight, or aka the jiho. I didn't know I had to go up so early, therefore it was a little shock to me. Anyhow, I won 2-1 with two kote points.

My performance on the day was unsatisfactory because my body was too tense, and at the same time my mind wasn't calm enough. It's only when there were large gaps between our kills could I perform clean cuts.

Some thoughts from the day:

Learn to analyse my opponent and adjust fighting strategy accordingly.
When facing an aggressive and young opponent, be calm and use oji-waza.
Need more shiai experience!!

Here are some videos from the final match, the red side is Taipei Kendokan, and the white is Hsin-Chu Kendokan.

Senpo

Jiho

Gosho

Yonsho

Sansho

Fukusho

Taisho

First training in Tsing-Hua University

2009-09-15T10:55:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I practised at the Tsing-Hua University for the first time. The main reasons to go there are that I need to practise 3 times a week, and that the students from this university whom I've met in the dojoes are passionate about improving their kendo. Therefore, even though they're not stronger than me, training with them would be a pleasure because a person with a good attitude makes a good training partner.

It was indeed a good idea to go there, and I did manage to train myself. Some of them are quite good given that they're beginners. However, the common problem is that they're way too silent when doing kendo. Kiai is not enough, which is in fact one of the most important things in Kendo, and the first thing one has to learn to do well. It seems that this is not emphasized enough in many places I've visited.

Nonetheless, their potential is great given there are several sempais in the club who are passionate about kendo. With the right instruction, they can become strong quickly, at least I mean winning in competitions. Dresden is exactly one of the examples..

Anyhow, I'm glad to find a bunch of hot-blooded young guns to train with!

Goodbye Adam!!

2009-09-13T11:18:00.005+02:00

My young Czech friend Adam Urban had his last training in Taipei last Wednesday. He spent 2 months here and came to training regularly. I was very grateful that Ho Sensei took him in as one of his students and gave him a lot of advices. It was a pleasure also to see him improve. Keep it up Adam, and make us PROUD!!

Grow up, grow

2009-08-29T04:53:00.004+02:00

Yesterday at Taipei Kendokan we had a shiai-geiko. I fought two matches and lost all... The first against Chung-Li Lin (林正立) (0-1) and the second against a visitor Wong (翁) (0-2) from San-Shin (三星) Kendokan in Yi-Lan.

In my first match, we held equal for a long while until I attempted a men strike at close distance, and Chung-Li was able to make a kaeshi-do. When I think back, I should have just striked with my foot at the same spot instead of making a step forward, because I could reach his men already and moving forwards only slowed me down, and also sent a signal to my opponent.

Feedback from Ho Sensei:

strikes and postures all looked good, but timing wasn't right, because I haven't trained for a while.
find every possibility to strike.

This a good occasion to think about how to improve the competitiveness of my kendo. In training I should:

observe the weaknesses of my opponents.
use their weaknesses.
use more continuous strikes.

Though I haven't lost so badly for a while, and maybe I should feel more ashamed than I did. But actually I'm more motivated to build up more shiai experiences and become strong.

Back from the camp

2009-08-26T17:47:00.004+02:00

Many friends aboard wrote me about the aftermath caused by the typhoon. I want to tell everyone that my family and I are very fine, since we live far away from the most affected area. Watching the news reports on the lives and homes that have been lost, I feel very fortunate to live unaffected.. If you can please donate for those whose homes have been lost..

Today was my first training in a month, and I went to the Hsinchu Kendokan. My goal was to do good basics and let my body recall the movements. I didn't disappoint myself, though my speed wasn't fast. It was the first time I fought as the motodachi during the jigeiko until the end without break. Obviously in this climate, my head felt so much cooked towards the end of the training.

Most of my opponents were less experienced than I am, so I got to practise some wazas, and some uchikomi-geiko towards the end of each jigeiko. The foot-stomp of my hiki waza is still too light, so the overall sharpness of the technique is lacking.

A short break

2009-08-15T16:22:00.002+02:00

No training since the start of this month.. and there's nothing I can do about it - because I'm in the 3-weeks compulsory military training! Next week will be the last one. Finally! It's like a prison in the base. Extremely boring and full of nonesenses. Really bad for the brain..

Hiki-waza with the soles

2009-07-26T00:00:00.000+02:00

In the past two weeks, I made sure I gave my best during the trainings. Afterall, training twice a week is about what I can manage at the moment. Once Ho Sensei called me over after the training and said to me, "Because you now train seldom, you should practise with me twice every time you come. I will now fight with you like you're 4th Dan not 2nd Dan. And you should try your very best." After listening to this, I was very grateful for the mind he put into bringing up the level of my kendo. Immediately afterwards I told myself that I will try my best to live up to his expectation and not disappoint him.

In one of the trainings, we practised Hiki waza. Ho Sensei told us to move fast away from the opponent, one has to use the soles of the feet.
make cuts as though the shinai is a real sword and don't just tap the men of the oppoent but cut solid down with the left hand.

A friend, Adam Urban, a young kenshi from the Czech Republic is staying in Taipei for two months, and I brought him to the dojo. Ho Sensei instructed him as though he is his own student, and I believe this is very valuable for him, because in most of the other dojoes I've visited, including Japan, the head Sensei usually don't say much especially to the novices. I hope he can pick up a lot of things by the time he leaves here.

Keep the body weight low

2009-07-12T09:02:00.004+02:00

Training in this warm and humid climate, reactions and responses to opponents do become much slower. Sometimes, underneath the helmet I just try to stay sane...

My current immediate goal is clear: To keep my body weight low while propelling forwards during strike, and thereby making solid fumigomi.

Moving to Hsinchu

2009-07-08T17:13:00.003+02:00

Due to my new job, I moved here to Hsinchu City, 1.5 hours away from Taipei by car or 30 mins by the High Speed Railway. So my plan is to practise 1-2 times from Monday until Friday in Hsinchu, and go to Taipei Kendokan on Fridays.

This evening was the first time I went to Hsinchu Kendokan since I moved here. However, I came once here with Ozawa Sensei and Hara Sensei. Hsiao-Du-Sempai (who also practises regularly in Taipei Kendokan and a local) led the training. The session was simple, starting with kihon-geiko and then jigeiko. Four jigeikos was about enough today for me in this temperature. Anyhow, it was good that I have a place to practise here in Hsincu with many nice people.

I am Nidan

2009-06-28T19:14:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I passed the nidan test. My forgetfulness didn't want to give me an easy pass and decided to act up the night before. After the training in Friday evening, I left my bogu at the dojo which is 1.5 hr away from home and the examination venue. So I had to rush there to get it in the morning. Fortunately the exam was in the afternoon....

Despite the long wait, the exam went smoothly, and I got another good bashing session!

One step in and strike immediately

2009-06-28T18:16:00.003+02:00

After 2 weeks of absence from the dojo due to health reasons, I went to last Friday's training. Still a little apprehensive about stressing my body too much, I gave my best anyhow. There was an extensive practice of kihon- and waza-geiko, and Ho Sensei gave me a lot of useful feedbacks!

To use kote-men as oji-waza to counter opponent's kote-strike, stomp the right foot almost at the same spot, while the following men-strike moves forwards. This makes the waza fast at the same time, with the correct distance.
When striking kote, step the right foot forwards in the direction of the opponent's right foot. This brings the shinai naturally to the appropriate position to strike kote.
When striking men, jump forwards instead of upwards.
He said I struck a couple of good men-strikes while doing jigeiko with him. The whole time I was thinking of what he always said about striking men: "Make one step and immediately 'make the action' (meaning launching the attack)".

After the training we went to celebrate Du-Senpai's birthday. Lots of fun moments, of course!

2009 Asian City Cup, Kaohsiung

2009-06-08T13:42:00.016+02:00

Last weekend was full of excitement and fun. About 10 of us from Taipei Kendokan traveled south to Kaohsiung to participate in this year's Asian City Cup Kendo Taikai, held at the historical Butokuden built during the Japanese occupation period. Renovated in recent years, it is a beautiful architectual work with nice atmospheric surroundings. It's also interesting to note that, the manager of the Butokuden and the organiser of this competition, Kin Chin (陳信寰), is one of the three 11th generation Soke (Headmaster) of the Hyoho-Niten-Ichi-Ryu, which is the school created by the lengendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi.

After arriving in Kaohsiung and dropping off our luggage, we headed for some food and drink - Taiwanese style. The video explains it.

Fortunately, I got up in the morning without headache. There was keiko before the competition instead of after, which was a little strange I thought.

The competition started after an hour. The system is 3 against 3 with winning by Ippon-Shobu. My first match took place after a long wait. I fought as senpo, and was in a team with a 3rd Dan and a 5th Dan senpais. Our opponent was one from the local teams, who seemed relatively unexperienced. I was, nonetheless, still a little nervous and didn't take every opportunity to strike. A point should have given to me much earlier in the match, but instead I won the match with a men-strike, which shouldn't have counted. A rather funny situation.. Anyhow, after looking at the video afterwards I was please to see improvement in my posture during men-strikes, that my upper body was kept up-right. See the men-strike at 0:26 seconds in the video (which should have counted). I was the red.

We came out of the pool, but unfortunately lost to the Korean team B. They are extremely good at attacks in close range, and my kote was hit just after we separated from tsubazeriai.

Another team from our dojo beat the Korean Team B, and advanced to the final. Here is the semi-final match. We won with 2-1. (We were red.)

Senpo

Chuken

Taisho (Gun-Hsien So Senpai who is in the national team and will be fighting in Brazil this year)

The tension was built-up so high after the first two matches, with a tie. In the Taisho match, So Senpai won with a blitzing kote strike. Look at how everyone cheered!!

The final against Korean Team A was another dramatic event. We lost the senpo, but won the chuken match. The taisho match was a draw, so it's down to the representative match. Unfortunately, they won it with a men-strike. Though we lost, we were not disappointed at all. Everyone tried their best and showed good kendo.

Final - Representative match Taipei Kendokan (white) So senpai vs Korean Team B (red)

Here are some clips from other matches:

Leung senpai (梁文曲) (red) fighting. He has a very good form combined with agility and power.

OMG

2009-06-03T18:22:00.004+02:00

Oh my god... Everyone was so strong. I could hardly make a men-strike. Ho Sensei even just had to open up for me to strike, cuz he was winning every point.

After a few thundering debana-men, with me hopelessly on the receiving side,

he asked me: "HOW DID I STRIKE??"

I answered: "Sending the shinai forwards as though reaching the tsuki and then men."

he answered back: "That's right."

Phew.. said easier than done. But I'll try my best. And also I think I didn't take every opportunity to strike.

蘇耿賢 (Gung-Hsien Su) sensei who is in the Taiwanese National Team led the training this evening. It was my first time seeing his kendo. Very very strong.. I'm just in an utter awe by the level of kendo I saw today. I'm trying not to feel too discouraged when I wonder: When can I be as good as these people?

No correct answer. Just do it.

Competition ahead

2009-06-02T07:44:00.004+02:00

In every training I've been to since coming back to Taiwan, the senpais have helped me a lot to correct some of my bad habits. Apart from extending my arms farther, relaxing my right arm more, and yesterday Chang senpai pointed out my upper body leaned a little backwards when striking, while I should keep it up-straight. On the good side, my hip is coming forward, on the downside, the range of my reach is shortened.

This Sunday I will take the new High Speed Railway to Kaohsiung City and participate in the Asian City Cup. This is an invitational competition with teams from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and other nearby cities. So, many strong players will take part. There will be about 10 guys from my dojo going. I will try my best!

The 24th All Taiwan University Championship Invitational

2009-05-26T18:13:00.003+02:00

From The 24th All Taiwan University Kendo Championship Invitational

Last Sunday I went to see the 24th All Taiwan University Championship International, which took place just 15 minutes away from my house. About 15-20 universities took part, mainly from the northern part of Taiwan. The level seemed very mixed, with the highest up to about 2nd-3rd Dan. For me, it was a great opportunity to see what the level of student kendo is like here. Though it's far below the Japanese university students, the large number of participants is very encouraging, and they all seemed to enjoy the event very much.

First shiai-geiko at Taipei Kendokan

2009-05-22T19:12:00.003+02:00

The heat and humidity were unbearable at this time in Taiwan. And it will get worse in July and August. I started sweating already just after wearing the gi and hakama. Twenty minutes into the training, my head felt cooked...

Fortunately the ventilation system was good, with 10+ electric fans, otherwise it would be hazardous to train in this summer climate..

My waza ability was obviously not quick enough, partly because the guys were fast. So I need to catch up.

At the end of the training, we had a shiai-geiko. I fought with 4 people, two 5th Dan, one 4th Dan and one 2nd Dan. Believe or not, I won 2-0 against the 5th Dan's, 2-1 against the 2nd Dan, and lost 1-2 to the 4th Dan. I can honestly say in normal geiko, one of the 5th Dan and the 4th Dan are obviously stronger than me. But this time in shiai, my will-power was strong enough to compensate the difference in the technical level.

Feedback from Ho Sensei:

I have to identify better whether my strikes are valid or not. If not valid, then return quickly to chudan. Otherwise I would waste too much energy on doing zanshin.
Identity better the good moments to attack, instead of making lots of invalid strikes.
He said that I have advantage in shiai since my fighting-will is strong. I hope to keep this up!

Of course I'm rather happy about the results. Afterall this gives me some confidence practising in this dojo. However, I know I still have too much to learn from these guys.

Weak tenouchi

2009-05-19T07:04:00.005+02:00

From Tainan, Taiwan 19th May 2009

The temperature in Taiwan these days are getting warmer and warmer. Humidity, is the main problem. Luckily Taipei Kendokan has a good ventilation system, but even so the floor feels especially sticky, and needs some getting-used-to.

The training routine here is roughly as the following:

Kirikaeshi

Men-strike from issoku-itto-no-maai (large strike).

Men-strike from to-maai with seme (small strike).

Kote-strike from issoku-itto-no-maai (large strike).

Kote-strike from to-maai with seme (small strike).

Dou-strike from to-maai with seme (small strike).

(Sometimes tsuki)

Men-hiki-men/kote/dou-men.

Kakarigeiko

Waza-geiko

Mawari-geiko

Jigeiko

During jigeiko people are free to take a break and drink some water, though some would carry on without any break, who in my opinion have unbelievably strong stamina.. Because the training routines before then are very intense, plus in this kind of temperature.

There were many notable instances in the training yesterday.

While doing the ai-kote-men with Ho Sensei, my men-strikes could never win his, which were faster and stronger.
Mr. Shu-Hsin Du (杜時鑫), 4th Dan, does blitzing men-strikes, which caught me many times when doing jigeiko with him.

Advices from Ho Sensei:

Make sure the left hand is struck-down solid and forwards when striking. Raising the shinai too much makes the kote prone to debana-strikes.
Do not hold back when doing tsuki.

From the training in the past few weeks, I think my body-posture during men-strike has greatly improved. My left foot can also follow-up easily now. However, my tenouchi is still way too weak. Need to improve on that..

Kendo aside, I took some pictures from my trip to Tainan, a southern city in Taiwan, an old town full of cultural history.

Here I bumped into a Taoist ceremony for the thousand-year birth of a god.

From Tainan, Taiwan 19th May 2009

Offerings to the gods.

From Tainan, Taiwan 19th May 2009

Big feast after the hard work..

From Tainan, Taiwan 19th May 2009

About ambition and alertness in training

2009-05-14T14:56:00.005+02:00

The other day I was talking to Yi-Chung (益誠) after the training while digging into a huge pile of Taiwanese shaved-ice with fresh fruits on top (hm...), and we spoke of something which was quite interesting. Namely, when you visit another dojo from the one you train at everyday, you tend to be more concentrated, more alert, and more ambitious in giving your all. This alertness or "amibtion" usually makes one perform better than usual. This is why, from time to time, it is good to visit another dojo and refresh the mind.

But why can't we retain the same amount of alertness and be ambitous EVERYTIME when we train?

We should... but it's difficult indeed...

Never attack without seme

2009-05-11T19:16:00.003+02:00

There are just so much catching-up to do here at Taipei Kendokan. The Senseis and Sempais has been telling me very sharp advices every time. It does make me feel disappointed in myself sometimes, because what they said were the truth. But it also encouraged me to hard even harder.

To practise nuki-dou, I have to step in and seme in order to make the other person strike men.
Faster kote-men.
Ho Sensei reminded everyone that one should never attack without doing seme.

Much to improve

2009-05-09T10:38:00.008+02:00

Yesterday was my second training at Taipei Kendokan. As expected, many people turned up on the Friday's session, and the good thing about this dojo is that, there are enough space and enough people to practise the whole evening without rest. After two hours of solid training, I could hardly walk straight.

I expressed my wish to the leading teacher Ming-Hua Ho Sensei (7th Dan who had been on the national team many times until 2006 WKC despite being almost 50 years old) that I would like to join the dojo. After the training I went to have some food and drink with him and other sempais. I felt much welcomed there.

There were plenty of advices from sempais and sensei:

The left foot should not raise upwards during the men-strike. It should follow quickly up with the right foot.
When striking kote, extend the arms forwards more, instead of making the kensen pointing vertically upwards.
Got the same advice from another sempai to relax my right arm when striking men, so that I can extend the kensen forwards more. So it must be an obvious mistake..
For doing small men-cuts, raise the hands until the right one is roughly at the level of the oppoent's tsuki tare, then flex the wrist to strike.
Ho Sensei said my kendo became worst compared to last time when I was here !!! He said I had much stronger seme before (a few months ag0), but this time it was gone... It sounded like a sharp knife carving from my forehead straight-down to my testicles. But I know what he meant and it was true. It was partly because I was too tired already when fighting with him and I just wanted to do men-uchigomigeiko. However, on the positive side, he thinks I HAD seme. ;-) I need to work hard now.

Two Sempais, a male (Mr. Su) and a female (Ms. Hsieh), kendokas from the dojo who happened to be a married couple are selected to represent Taiwan in the World Kendo Championship this year. I was told that for the selection of the men's team, there were 63 candidates, all 3rd Dan above (which was a minimum requirement), and they must fight with each other until the final 7 or so winners. Imagine the number of matches they had to go through ... Anyways, I wish them luck!

First training after coming back in TW

2009-05-05T02:47:00.005+02:00

From Taiwan 2008

Yesterday evening was my first training after arriving in Taiwan, at the Taipei Kendokan. Not so many people turned up, because it was a Monday, however, I had a good practice, and recieved very valuable advices from Mr. Dai-Lin Chang (張代林), 5th Dan.

Some advices he gave me:

He asked me to extend my right arm farther forwards in order to gain an extra distance. It makes a lot of difference indeed.
He also encouraged me to push my hips more when doing kote-men.

There was a lady I-Chi Liao (廖依綺) who is probably 2-3rd Dan, whom I had a chance to do jigeiko with. I was surprised by how fast she was and the pressure she put forward.

Though only 6 people were at the training, it was a good starter for me, and I am already excited by how much I can learn in the forth-coming years.

Training in Newcastle

2009-04-30T00:21:00.002+02:00

Last Sunday I trained at the Ojika kendo club based in Newcastle. Thanks to Silke from our Dresden dojo, who was there for a year and contacted them before my visit, I didn't feel as much as a stranger. It was lead by Graeme Dockwray, 5th Dan, and a good 1.5-hrs solid training. My body condition was better than it was in Nottingham. Nonetheless, I was totally "knackered" after the training. Why? Because of the surprise birthday kakarigeiko. How did they know? dear friend Stephan in Dresden had asked Silke to inform them, making sure I "had fun", even though I left Dresden one day before my birthday. When Graeme asked me to step forwards before everyone, I was completely unaware of the devilish plot, until he showed me an email print-out asking me how to pronounce the name of a person did I see "Stephan...". Then I thought, "ok.. I'm in trouble..".

There were (at least) 4x kirikaeshi, 20 x men and 4x kakarigeiko. Towards the end of it I just went numb. Pain and tiredness put behind, struck on.

A couple pints of beer in the pub always helped. Which was where we headed right after the training. Very nice people. I hope I'll be back some time!

Advice from Graeme:

when doing tsuki, aim at the eyes of the opponent, and then at some point lower the kensen to strike the tsuki tare.

Newcastle April 2009

Training in Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, UK

2009-04-28T21:22:00.012+02:00

Close to the Sherwood Forest (where Robin Hood resided, as the legend goes) is the small town of Ollerton. Last weekend I visited the dojo Kashi-no-Ki Kenyu Kai headed by Trevor Chapman Sensei (5th Dan), a very nice man whom I met 2 years ago in Tokyo, and finally I had the chance this time to visit him there.

I arrived in Newcastle where my father lives on Friday. On Saturday evening I stayed over at Ken Pepper's country house, whose son works in Sunderland. He is a member of KnK Kenyu Kai, and happened to be on a visit there which is much closer to Newcastle. So he very kindly allowed me to hop onto his car and drove me down to his lovely house.

Ken is a very interesting and kind man. He has a falconry, and has been breeding and training falcons for over 20 years. What a fascinating hobby! His son David is a former member of British kickboxing squad, and had won many titles, hoping one day to start kendo. I hope he succeeds on that.

In the evening, I learned that Trevor had told everyone about my visit, and asked everyone to show up. "Oops." I thought, and started to drink a lot of water in order to prevent dehydration from practising with zeal kendokas who want to squeeze every bit out of the poor visitor (rightly so!).

The training on the next day started at 10 am. About 15 people turned up for training. We spent the first half-an-hour on kata, which was good for me, since I haven't had enough practice and Trevor has a very good knowledge on kata.

The practice with bogu started as usual with a few rounds of kirikaeshi. There was a lot of kihon practice, all with large cuts. Even so, I could never had enough of kihon practice. But it had to stop at some point because, it's time for jigeiko!

I first fought with Robert Wix, who visited Dresden last year, though I didn't have the chance to practise with him last time. My second partner was a young chap, who had lots of energy. So I got a good work out, and tried also to use more oji-wazas. Then I practised with Trevor, which was the first time because in Tokyo we didn't have the opportunity to do so. Since I knew very well his philosophy of kendo is not far away from mine and that of members from Kobukan, after standing up from sonkyo I started to work my way to fight for the centre. I succeeded in landing a couple of good straight men cuts, while also receiving a few good whacks on my head. A clear difference between Trevor and the other members of the dojo is that, I felt already a lot of pressure after bowing and during sonkyo. I see this as a sign of respect for the opponent, that he is being taken seriously. This also engaged me even more for the fighting that was to follow.

I had two more jigeikoes, one with Ken and the other with a younger member Akagi san. Ken's body condition didn't allow him to move his lower body fast, so he concentrated more on reacting to my movement. My job became trying to make him respond first and then respond in return, i.e. putting pressure by faking men or kote strikes and then strike.

After the keiko, Trevor took me to a Chinese restaurant and had much pleasant chat about kendo experiences as well as other things.

Many thanks to Trevor, Ken and the members of Kashi-no-Ki Kenyu Kai. I hope we will meet again soon and practise kendo. I'm very curious and expecting a good kendo development in everyone here.

Two feedbacks from Trevor:

For the zanshin of Hiki-men the shinai should be about 45 degrees and the tip should not point too low. This is of course for a fast strike from jodan if the opponent chases up.
My left foot is sometime too far behind from the right in kamae.

Farewell Germany

2009-04-19T13:13:00.017+02:00

[ My farewell Kakarigeiko in Dresden. ]

Sad but true. It was my last training in Dresden on Friday evening. Next time when I'm here, I will just be a visitor, whether that is in 2 years' time or 10 years' time.

Some people had to leave for the national squad training this weekend, who therefore couldn't participate in the training. However, before they left, Stephan gathered everyone together so that we could take a picture. Of course.. the BAKKA photo - Dresden style.

I think it's been a long time since we have done that all together. There was a full load of nice memories...

From Farewell Keiko 16/10/2007

From 2007

From 15th Leipzig Kendo Championship 2006

From BBQ 2006

Thank you all Dresden kenshis. Starting kendo here 3.5 years ago was one of the best things I have done during my 6-years-stay in Germany. I remember the first time I met Stephan was at the presentation of Dresden-Budo-Club at the St. Benno Gymnasium. Patrick, Liv and Jasmin were there as well. I wonder what they went through their minds when they saw me.

!! Rambling Alert !!

Stop here if you don't want to read my lengthy rambles.

The Beginning

My first class was at the Dresden-Budo-Club. At the time, Rohus was still actively teaching. Then I combined my training at both DBC and the university (TU Dresden) club - 3 times a week.

It was not until four months had passed, I could get into the Bogu. A month later, I participated in the Leipzig Kendo Championship. I looked so dum, and had no idea what was going on, but somehow fought my way into the quater-finals.

[2006 Leipzig Kendo Championship]

Apart from my terrible kendo form, you also see many familiar faces in the background, some of whom are still active while the others not (what a shame! I miss them sometimes.).

Meeting Ozawa Sensei

One of the most important events in my kendo life was the meeting with Hiroshi Ozawa Sensei, Kuroda-san and Iinuma-san in Prague during the Toru Giga Cup in 2006. And in 2007, I visited him in his dojo Kobukan in Tokyo for a month of training and leisure.

First win in tournament - 16th Leipzig Kendo Championship 2007

Paris

At the end of 2007, I worked in Paris for 3 months. During this time I could train 3-4 times a week, at Bodu XI, where Yoshimura Sensei (8th Dan) teaches. I was surprised by the high level of kendo there, but only by the Japanese immigrants but also the local French kendoka. I think France has the highest overall standard in kendo of Europe, and it made me even more humble again.

Back to Dresden, off again to Tokyo and Taiwan

In 2008, one of the most important work in my life - PhD - was handed out, which took a tremendous weight off my shoulders. My training was kept as the second priority, and I was just glad that I still went to the training regularly. I think it is still important to go to the training once a week during busy times.

Fast-forwarding to now..

In all aspect, I'm looking forward to moving back to Taiwan, for both kendo and general life. There are countlessly many kendoka much stronger than I am, so obviously there will be many high mountains to climb. I hope I will be able to break these barriers and become strong.

I will for sure keep writing when I get to Taiwan.

JP vs TW kendoka

2009-04-01T02:44:00.006+02:00

I found this video clip from 2007 when a Japanese delegation visited I-Shin Kendojo in Taipei, led by Masanori Shiroishi Sensei (8th Dan Hanshi) including the winner of 54th All Japan Kendo Championship, Satoru Harada, and other Japanese national team members. The first section of the clip shows Harada (staring on the right) fighting with Mr. Liao (starting on the left), who told me to strike with kihon when I trained at the Taipei Kendokan (click). Here you can see what I meant when I praised his kendo. Just look at that sharpness when he strikes men! And that takes only ten years?

Don't back out at crucial moments

2009-03-30T23:10:00.004+02:00

Today I realised in jigeiko that I backed out at some of the most crucial moments while doing seme. If I see the opponent's intention to strike, this is the tipping point where if I just apply slightly more pressure, he would launch the strike, which would allow me to use the oji-waza.

I should be more calm and focused.

Bad habits in jigeiko

2009-03-28T14:57:00.007+01:00

Yesterday evening 7 people turned up for the training, and I led the session. As always an extensive package of kihon-geiko was on offer. After about 300+ suburi swings, we did 4 x kirikaeshi, 2 x do-kirikaeshi, and few rounds of big men and middle men strikes to practise the wrist snap. Then loads of kote-men and kote-men-men strikes.

We also practised seme and men-strike starting from to-maai when the tips of shinais just touch each other. And by moving both feet inch by inch whiling maintaining a good kamae, the kakarite reaches the isso-ku-itto-no-maai at which point he strikes. Just before extending the arms to strike, the left foot is kept still while the right foot glides forwards.

Some 15 minutes were left for jigeiko towards the end of the training, which is rather short. Next time hopefully I can control the time better so that we can do 25 minutes jigeiko.

One difficult thing for most people including both advanced kenshis or beginners is that, many bad habits show up in jigeiko: upper body leans forwards when striking, constantly moving backwards, blocking, jumping backwards/forwards or evening sideways (which is back footwork).

It seems that for most people, the motivation to win overcomes far more than to do good kendo in jigeiko. There is a very good article on the Attitude to Jigeiko by Sotaro Honda Sensei (click). There are plenty tricks that work when fighting against players of relative low grades (including me) but they are useless against higher grade kendoka. If we indulge ourselves into these temporary moments of victory, the road to obtaining a good kendo would only be made longer and more difficult. Because these habits will become harder and harder to correct, and after one has corrected them, he would realise that much time has been wasted.

I constantly remind myself of this.

Left wrist inwards

2009-03-23T23:00:00.002+01:00

Hm... sometimes I still forget to turn my my left wrist inwards when doing tenouchi. More men-strikes and suburis are needed....

Importance of the wrist

2009-03-18T21:15:00.011+01:00

One of the things that I have concentrated on since last year training in Tokyo is to increase my wrist strength. And fortunately, I have been making steady improvement.

It is told by almost any teacher that the wrist strength is important for making the strikes sharp, and hence validating a point. However, its significance is much further beyond the mere sound effect. The following is a list of the other benefits:

It keeps the upper body up-straight. A lot of young kenshis (for example high school students) and beginners whose sole interest is winning tend to let the upper body lean forwards when striking men, in order to add an extra speed and strength to the strike. If this can be achieved by the wrist movement along, the leaning of the body can be avoid. This of course looks better, and is also essential if one were to make continuous strikes.

Better ki-ken-tai-ichi and more explosiveness. These are direct consequence of the previous point. Because if one keeps the body up-straight during seme or at the initial stage of the strike, it is very difficult for the opponent to detect when the strike will come.

Shikake-wazas rely heavily on wrist strength, as elucidated by Ozawa Sensei when I was in Tokyo. They include harai, maki, osae, and of course kote-men, etc.

How to increase wrist strength?

Many ways. In fact, I have seen many people telling each other special exercises on how to increase wrist power, but I think the most effective exercises are the OLD SCHOOL STUFFS: kirikaeshi, renzoku-waza and continuous men-strikes raising the shinai to the "medium" position (see here for explanation). While doing them, make sure the arms and the wrists are fully extended. Especially the right index finger, if straightened, should point downwards as much as possible, instead of pointing horizontally (with the right arm being horizontal).

Surprise path

2009-03-09T23:35:00.006+01:00

As an update to my life, I will be going back to Taiwan in May for good. This of course will have a significant impact on my kendo life as well! I'm looking forward to the much bigger kendo population and practising with people from different kendo schools with different styles (see this post and this post for some accounts on the Taiwanese kendo). And you'll be sure to have updates from me there!

It's of course very exciting for me that I'm returning and will actually be LIVING in my home country again. There are just so much things there that I'd like to do, and places I'd like to visit and see. I had never thought that I would go back so soon. However, as people always say, life is full of surprises.

More fighting spirit

2009-03-08T21:44:00.002+01:00

In the past few months, I've focused more on the correctness of strikes, and it's been a while since I spoke of fighting spirit and the controlled aggression towards my opponent. I think it's about time that I bring more of that element into my kendo again.

It seems that the improvement in kendo is a perpetual process of proving ki (fighting spirit), ken (sword) and tai (body). The meaning of fighting spirit is self-explanatory. The sword is, for example, the sharpness of the strike. The body means, of course, good posture, brining the hip forwards and good footwork.

The 200th blog entry and still going

2009-03-03T00:46:00.003+01:00

Today I was practising my footwork after the men-strikes using the mindset I mentioned in the last entry, which helped a lot still. But one more problem was that my strikes weren't sharp enough after I became tired. I almost "gave up" at the moment when I launched forwards with my feet.

I should commit to every men-strike whole-heartedly and execute proper movements in jigeiko, instead of making half-way and mediocre strikes.

Doing kendo like drumming

2009-02-27T23:08:00.004+01:00

Today I made it to the final 30 minutes of the training. My focus was still to make good men strikes, and, in addition, to explore the timing and moments for Oji-waza. In the past year, it became to me more and more obvious, and hence easier to recognise, my opponent's response to my seme. It therefore became easier to execute oji-waza.

One other thing I have focused on to improve is the footwork for Zanshin after men-strike. I realised today that it is much easier if I imagine in my head the tempo of my steps. If I imagine it being fast paced, and make my feet "on beat", my footwork is naturally agile and swift. This is just like for kote-men, which I always consider like drumming. By following the quick beats with my right foot stomping and the shinai-tip hitting, I can strike fast. If one wants to increase the striking speed, then simply tune the clock faster in the mind.

Post-flu and back to Dresden

2009-02-18T13:51:00.004+01:00

After a week of rest from a severe flu, I went to the training yesterday. My wrist snap is much stronger thanks to the suburi I've been doing. Footwork is however difficult to practise home, since I usually just kneel on the floor to swing the shinai in order that my ceiling doesn't get destroyed. I should continue my suburis.

It has also been a few months time since I joined the university's Tuesday training when the beginners practise. It's already towards the end of the semester and still a lot of beginners stayed on, which is very encouraging. I think this is undoubtedly due to Stephan's ability to make a training fun for them. It's not an easy task. How do you make kendo fun while teaching them solid foundations? Being too demanding takes away their fun. Being too easy going scarifies the rigor of good kendo. I don't know.

Taiwan and Japan 2008: Final Thoughts

2009-02-06T13:05:00.004+01:00

Taiwan

Yang-Ming Mountain in Taipei

The tradition of kendo in Taiwan was established during the Japanese occupation period (1895-1945). However, after the defeat of Japan in the war and the subsequent move of the Chinese regime to Taiwan, the anti-Japanese sentiment was strong. This caused a period of vacuum when very few Japanese Senseis were able to visit Taiwan to teach. Therefore, the Taiwanese kendo almost developed independently on its own.

The result is a diverse style of kendo between schools, ranging from the pre-war style kendo, to the current shiai-orientated kendo. My guess is that kendo in Japan in the last 50 years or so underwent much standardisation, which was absent in Taiwan. There are also some old regulations that remain today, such as using the katana for examinations of 5th Dan or above.

The young guns from I-Shin Kendokan

There are several 8th Dan Senseis in Taiwan, perhaps more than a handful. They are mostly the second generation kendoka counting from the Japanese occupation period. It is interesting to note that they all come from very well-educated families, such as medical doctors and engineers alike, because the cost of kendo equipment was high and people with low income could not afford such things.

I was lucky this time to have met and practised with Chia-An Liu Sensei from Jia-Yi. But unfortunately had no chance to practise in the Shudokan in Taipei, where a couple of renowned 8th Dan Senseis teach. I practised also with a few 7th Dan Senseis, indeed everyone plays kendo that are quite distinctively different.

Japan

Miyazaki

This time in Japan I felt that the conversations I had with people went deeper, on both kendo and just life in general. Of course, this is mainly because I've now known them for longer. And maybe also because deep-down they no longer think that I'm just another foreigner who shows up once and then disappear in their lives.

I received many advices from them, ranging from the more general idea of kendo, what goals should be achieved, to the more specific details on how a particular techniques should be executed. The most valuable thing was, believe or not, the kihon trainings I received from Ozawa Sensei, and kihon-related advices from Yamanaka Sensei, Suzuki Sensei and Kaji Sensei.

I think my most significant improvements are wrist power in striking and kirikaeshi. The most urgent thing I have to work on is my footwork - my legs are clumsy. I'm also continuing my suburi (almost) everyday as instructed by Ozawa Sensei.

Traditional Japanese play - Kabuki

The concept of "tadashii" (正しい) or proper/straight kendo was repeatedly mentioned by many teachers, and it is also apparent from the kendo that these great kendoka are playing. I think that this is a goal that should be aimed for from the start, instead of much later or when one gets old, as believed by some. I have received advices from some amazing kendo teachers who majored in kendo at universities, now teaching as their professions, and past winners of all Japan Kendo championships. They all pointed to me in the same direction, that is tadashii kendo.

The importance of kensen (tip of shinai) and the contact between those of the kendo players was pointed out during a private discussion between Ozawa Sensei and Hara Sensei, after visiting a dojo in Taiwan. The main point of the discussion is that, Kendo is about communication, therefore without the tips of shinais touching, it is a meaningless fight.

Miyazaki Police dojo with Hara Sensei and Ryuzo kun

In summary, this journey consolidated further the goals in kendo I want to achieve, and I am convinced that kendo will always be a part of my life. It has bound me together with my culture and my beliefs; it has given me a life without boarders between countries, and the chance to know many open-minded friends. I feel that the modern-day kendo is no longer an art to kill, but an art to connect between people and cultivate the mind. My wish is that it won't become just a game of winning and losing but maintain the much cultural qualities that makes it so much richer than some of the other martial arts.

Kuroda san and Kodama san

Taiwan 6: Videos

2009-01-24T15:18:00.003+01:00

Here are some nice and fun videos recorded when I was in Taiwan, to show you what an interesting country it is. Please click the clip to link to Youtube for more descriptions!

Long-Shan Temple, Taipei

Fish Market in Tao-Yuan County

Eating a Palm-sized Oyster

Local Tea House in Hsin-Chu City with Ozawa Sensei and Hara Sensei
Look towards the end to see how to drink with the tall (for smelling) and small cups!

Natural Hot Spring Water in Taiwan

Taiwan 5: Striking with Kihon

2009-01-01T14:40:00.001+01:00

The famous Long-Shan Temple in Taipei

I had a couple of very helpful practices at the Taipei Kendokan and I-Shin Kendokan. I practised with Mr. Liao at the Taipei Kendokan who commented that I should not forget my kihon when practising in jigeiko, and that I should not leave my hips behind. Indeed, when I look at his men-strikes, the fact that he maintained his body-posture straight throughout the motion made the attack look so aesthetically pleasing. When I asked, he told me that he played kendo for 10 years. "I hope I strike men as beautiful as that after I've done kendo for 10 years!" I thought. So far I have done kendo for 3 years. Sometimes I feel that my kihon is still shaky. There's no way I can make further progress if I don't work on this. And I have to bring that into my jigeiko instead of just doing a bashing-up.

In my last training at the I-Shin Kendokan Tsai Sensei commented that the pushing from my leg is strong enough but I didn't extend my wrist fully to strike.

Taiwan 4: Travelling with Senseis

2008-12-26T08:25:00.004+01:00

The next few days after coming back to Taiwan, I travelled with Ozawa Sensei (who came with me on the same flight), Hara Sensei (flying from Miyazaki), and Mr. Chou in several cities to practise kendo and some sight-seeing. I joined them on the second day to Shin-Ju, on the 3rd day to Tao-Yuan, and the 4th to Jia-Yi.

In a Taoist temple in Shin-Ju

From what I have seen and heard, the kendo styles in Taiwan is diverse to say at best, chaotic at worse. I have been very impressed by many young kendoka in their 20s doing strong kendo with good postures and basics, but have seen also high grade Sensei with loose centre and basics. The people here attribute the differences to the differences in "style". But I think (or educated to think) that kendo without a strong centre is simply bad kendo. So this is one aspect of Taiwanese kendo for me hard to accept. Another aspect is the ugly politics in kendo here. Uhh.. I don't even want to get into to it.

Shin-Ju Kendokan

A feast from the host in Shin-Ju

In Jia-Yi, I practised with Chia-An Liu Sensei, 8th Dan Kyoshi. His kendo is indeed very strong and I tried very hard to break his centre. Once I fell onto the floor backwards due to his pushing and my loss of balance during taiatari. Bloody hurt, but I went on.

His young students are very well trained indeed - fast with correct movements - which made me believe that he is a good Sensei. This reflects how important it is for a student to do his best in order to bring a good reputation to his teacher. Before I went on this trip with Ozawa Sensei I knew I had this responsibility. It was a heavy one, but I felt I had to do it and do it with dedication. Especially not to shame his name and the name of Kobukan. Fortunately, the feedbacks from the others were mostly positive.

Liu Sensei's Dojo in Jia-Yi

Oh, I forgot to mention that another thing I dislike in Taiwan is the drinking culture.. They make you down glasses (about 10 cl, two shots) of whisky or other kinds of strong liquor, as a gesture of friendliness... This happened with us at almost every dinner after the training.

Japan 2008 - 4: Nittaidai and Rikkadai

2008-12-22T04:50:00.007+01:00

Kabuki Theatre in Ginza. From Japan 2008

In the 2 weeks I spent in Tokyo, I went to Nittaidai twice and Rikkadai 3 times. In Rikkadai, Ozawa Sensei taught me Kihon apart from training with the (few) students there. In Nittaidai, the class was huge, filled with a pool of about 60 students majoring in kendo. Ozawa Sensei told me they are the top level kendo students in Japan. Certainly their kendo foundation and speed are above me, especially the 3rd/4th year students. What impresses me is that they have what Senseis would describe as "正しい" (proper; righteous) kendo: strong centre, good posture and straight kendo. The students in 1st/2nd year are however less so. One can thus see how the kendo of the students progresses in time.

Rikkadai

In Rikkadai, first Sensei taught me one way to strike men that I have seen but never tried before myself. It's between the usual small-men and big-men cut, so he used "medium"-men to describe it. When raising the shinai to strike, the left hand lifts until the nose-level, and the right one is in front of the forehead. The kensen points about 30-45 degrees backwards. When striking, simply strengthen the elbows and snap out the wrist to apply tenouchi. I think this way of striking is good for practising the wrist snap and tenouchi.

Yamanaka Sensei also was present in one of the trainings. After a couple of minutes of jigeiko, he made me strike men continuously to practise my footwork. I was very tired in the end, along with my cold, and still couldn't get it right :(.. He told me to move my lower abdomen forward instead of up and down.

I practised some kihon with Suzuki Aki Sensei while Ozawa Sensei was teaching. This is truly a rare chance to get some feedback from a high grade sensei, since she can sense the mistake from the opponent's point of view. On the kote-strike, she told me that I should push my hip forwards more and use my left hand, both during the strike and the zanshin afterwards.

The students in Rikkadai, of course, are not as strong compared to the Nittaidai kendo-major students. This was only good for me, since I could be more determined to win (In principle I shouldn't think differently I know..). I enjoyed very much practising with the 4th Dan students, Ishizu-san and Shimizu-san.

Nittaidai

In Nittaidai I could sense a strong solidarity amongst the students. When doing kihon and waza-geiko, the students waiting in line shout out kiai to encourage the other students. The senior students give genuine advices to the junior students after the keiko. I think solidarity is very important for people from the same dojo. One can be mentally stronger and more determined knowing there are a bunch of people supporting you regardless.

With the more junoir students I could get points, but my posture was no way as beautiful as when they make points on me. They gave me the examples of how to be a strong kendoka doing proper straight kendo.

Japan 2008 - 3: Kihon 基本

2008-12-11T16:06:00.005+01:00

From Japan 2008

Since coming back from Kyushu I have been training everyday apart from the weekend. The training time in Kobukan is temporarily shortened to just more than 1 hr due to neighbours' complaints. Hopefully after putting on sound-proof walls the training time can be extended to normal length. For this reason, training in Kobukan is not enough, I feel. Fortunately, I have also been to Nittaidai (Nippon Sport Science University) and Rikkadai (Tokyo University of Science) about once a week.

When striking...

Up to now I have received much more advices and instruction from Ozawa Sensei and other Senseis on Kihon and Waza than last year. Footwork is the most urgent thing I have to improve. He told me that one should attack from the lower abdomen. One should tense up the muscle when striking and stomping. He made me feel his lower abdomen when he struck. Indeed, the muscle tensed up rock-hard momentarily and relaxed.

Kirikaeshi

On kirikaeshi, I practised with Kaji Sensei in every training when he was present. First time he told me to swing the shinai up and down along the centerline. And to extend the right wrist more when striking sayu-men. On the second time, he asked me to relax me shoulder more. On the third time, my strikes slid off sometimes. It's hard to be perfect indeed, but I'm on my way...

Tenouchi

On our way back from Rikkadai Chiba Campus to Tokyo, Suzuki Sensei looked at my left and right palms to inspect the calluses. The right one should not have any callus, as for the left one she said the following. "The sides of the thumb and index fingers that touch the shinai grip should not have calluses," she said, "because they are not used to exert force. The important part is the muscle below the thumb. This part is used to grip the shinai when doing tenouchi. " "When gripping, the thumb wraps the shinai in the direction of the middle/ring finger, and not the index finger, which is a common beginners' mistake."

Are you making this mistake?

I will write about my trainings in Nittaidai and Rikkadai in the next entry.

Japan 2008 - 2: Kamae 構え

2008-12-05T09:28:00.015+01:00

In the first few days, some conversations popped up between Hara Sensei, Ryuzo and me (on the listening side) about the importance of Kamae.

The literal meaning of Kamae says already a lot of things. The word Kama "構“ means structure. It is the foundation for all things. Needless to say that a good Kamae is what every one should achieve. But what is the importance of Kamae? What is a good Kamae? What is a bad Kamae? Moreoever, there is a mindset that prevents having a good Kamae. I'm going to summarise what was mentioned in the conversations in the following.

First I will mention the story that Ryuzo kun told me. He started kendo at a very young age, 6/7 years old, training at the police dojo in Miyazaki. Of course, as almost all kendoka in Japan know that Miyazaki has very strong kendo, the training is tough and the style is orientated towards competition and winning. Over the years, he developed very strong kendo and had always been in the school and university team to represent in the competitions. However, he said only from 3 years ago, when he changed his view about kendo, it has become more interesting, and he thinks it's what kendo should be. "Between 19 years to 28 years old," he said, "my kendo performance depends on how much I trained during that time, and my kendo level stayed roughly the same. There was not much playing with mind." His kendo at that time consisted of much blocking, and dodging. His kensen was also flying every where. However, influenced by Yoshimura Sensei, 8th Dan, from Paris, he started to understand kendo from a new perspective, one that grows with time after each practice instead of solely on physical condition.

"The first and the most important thing is Kamae." He said. "A good Kamae is the perfect defense, and is also the best preparation for an attack. One should learn first Kamae, then learn seme, and finally the use of Oji-waza."

During the conversation with Hara Sensei, Hara Sensei talked also about the importance of Kamae, and what kendo is. "A good attack must have a story," and he asked me, "why did Liu-san hit my kote?" I could not answer it. "If the Kamae is not broken before attacking, there is no story, and no communication." I will always remember this. He continued, "To become Hachidan, the story needs to be apparent to not just the two fighiting kendoka but also the audience."

From Japan 2008

[Hara Sensei and Ryuzo kun reflecting on the essence of kendo over some sake and food.]

Japan 2008 - 1: Miyazaki

2008-12-01T15:29:00.014+01:00

Arriving in Japan

On the first day I arrived Tokyo, I was too late for the kendo practice. I only had 5 minutes of kirikaeshi and uchi-gumigeiko with Kuroda-san. I was quite touch because he had been very busy for a few months due to work, and the new working place is too far from Kobukan, so he had only been there five times in the past 4 months. He went especially because he knew I would be there. As soon as I put on the bogu, I heard him shouting: "Liu-san! Come here!" Then I had my only practice.

From Japan 2008

A snap shot of the members practising on the first night just after arriving in Kobukan.

From Japan 2008

In the next morning, I flew to Miyazaki, Kyushu, to visit my friend Ryuzo and his wife Eriko. The whole trip was filled with good food, beautiful scenery, friendly people and nice hot spring baths. Eriko san's family also embraced me whole heartedly, and I was very grateful for that.

Training with the members of the police riot squad

On the third day, Ryuko kun took me to the police dojo of Miyazaki City, where the Miyazaki Riot Squad trains. The members play very strong and competitive kendo, one of whom is the member of Japanese national team.

The dojo is lead by Oshie Sensei, 7th Dan Kyoshi. Ryuzo told me how much he is still scared of him because Oshie Sensei used to be very harsh when they were children and they used to cry, because of his difficult training. He introduced me to the Sensei and also the other members. I started to be a little scared because of the level of caution put into the etiquette. "This is a very traditional place," I thought, "and the first thing I need to do is not to make any mistake in the etiquette."

From Japan 2008

This dojo, according to Ryuzo kun, is one of the 4-5 kendojos survived the war. Since Miyazaki is the origin of kendo, this dojo has a very significant kendo history.

From Japan 2008

Members of the riot police.

The practice is only jigeiko for one hour. I first practised with Oshie Sensei. I think because he knew I was Shodan so he did not put much difficulty. There is also not so much story I can say about it.

My second and third opponents were fast and strong. When they struck kote-men, is was as though the two strikes were one. I really had no time to react. I tried men-nuki-kote several times but my backward footwork was not fast enough to make a good kote-strike.

Hara Sensei, who was in Dresden earlier this year, came towards the end of the training especially to practise with me. Practising with him was a total pleasure. His kamae is very strong and has very strong kisei. He made me work to open a striking opportunity. There were a couple of moments when I felt connected to his thoughts, but unfortunately I made too premature kote-strikes which were not able to overcome his strong kamae.

From Japan 2008

Hara Sensei, Me and Ryuzo.