It’s been pretty busy around here lately. I’ve been keeping up at school, as well as, planning for a big after Semester trip. Today I bought the Lonely Planet Guide to Japan (EN) and started making out a rough Itinerary for the trip.

Yesterday I had kendo where we practiced the “Kata” kendo form. Kata is not exactly “beat the man down” form of kendo. It’s more of the ritualistic form or the 道 (do) of 剣道 (kendo) (“do” meaning the way of ~). A better description can be found on wikipedia:

There are 10 nihon kendo kata (Japanese kendo forms). Performed with wooden swords (bokken/bokuto), the kata include fundamental techniques of attacking and counter-attacking, and have useful practical application in general kendo. Occasionally, real swords or swords with a blunt edge, called kata-yo or habiki, may be used for a display of kata.

Kata 1–7 are performed with both partners using a bokken (long sword) of around 102 cm. Kata 8–10 are performed with one partner using a bokken and the other using a kodachi (short sword) of around 55cm.

During kata practice, the participants take the roles of either uchidachi (teacher) or shidachi (student). The uchidachi makes the first move or attack in each kata. As this is a teaching role, the uchidachi is always the ‘losing’ side, thus allowing the shidachi or student to learn and gain confidence.

Nihon kendo kata were drawn from representative kenjutsu schools and tend to be quite deep and advanced. In some areas the regular training curriculum does not include nihon kendo kata.

In 2003, the introduction of Bokuto Ni Yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho, a set of basic exercises using a (bokken/bokuto), attempted to bridge this gap. Bokuto Ni Yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho is intended primarily for kendoka up to 2-dan, but is useful for all kendo students.

So we have practiced the first 3 forms of Kata, hopefully we’ll get to practice the other forms later.

~J out

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