So last night I got a chance to practice with the kendo club which was a real treat! However, the kendo club here doesn’t necessarly have a “Sensei”. Rather, the club is ran by a small group of “Sempai” or the experienced members. So I went with a friend of mine to check it out and we were greeted warmly by the other members.

In minutes we were given a “Shinai” which is made of four bamboo slats (take) held together by two pieces of leather, tsuka-gawa (handle) and saki-gawa (tip), and a string (tsuru). Placed under the saki-gawa is a plastic plug saki-gomu. To prevent the four take from getting misplaced there is a small square of metal, chigiri, placed between them inside the tsuka-gawa. A leather thong (nakayui) is wrapped around the take and tied to the tsuru about one-third of the way down the shinai from the tip (kensen); this holds take together in the event of a break and marks the proper striking portion of the blade (datosubu).

We were told to line up with the other kendo class and ritually meditate and then thank the gym owners for the use of the gym by bowing to the ground this is called Sonkyo (I think).

Warm up came up next and we were to replecate simple drills that I tried, but was far from “good.”

The Kendo class then split into groups and a member from the group came to Nick (my friend) and I and began instructing us on the basics of kendo starting with the foot stance, stride (or walk), the holding of a Shinai, and the forward and backwards walk with the shinai. It all seemed pretty easy, but in fact it was very difficult to get it right.

After getting the stance and the walk, we practiced drills with the shinai. The first drill had us moving across the floor with the shinai at a 45 degree angle. Nick and I went back and forth until our instructor said it was ok.

The next drill we did was called “Neh” where we were to strike the head of our opponent and call out “N~E~E~E~H!” This drill was followed by a simple Right/Left Strike to the temple of our opponent’s head. (umm I should point out that these we’re drills and everyone was completely safe and didn’t get hurn during any of this)

The sempai put these two drills together to make a full drill. This full drill started with first taking a long forward stride while striking our partner’s Shinai, then striking to the right, left, right, left, (then going backwards) right, left, right, left, right and then the final strike which we had to scream Meeeeeeeeeeeen! (x2).

We did about an hour and a half of these drills with breaks in between them. It was fun, I felt really tired and sore, but it was that real good sore feeling like you had worked new mustles. Out of all the pains I feel regularly, that “work out” pain feels the best. The night was over at 8:00pm so tired and hungry, my friend and I went out to get some Chinese food and some Sapporo Classic beer. It was a good night, I felt like I had done something cool and worth while.

Next practice is next Tuesday at 4pm I think… I can’t wait.

~J out ya’ll

*Edit:
Ok ya’ll according to All United States Kendo Federation (AUSKF), the drill we did was called Kirikaeshi. This is the discription that they give:

Kirikaeshi is one of the fundamental learning tools used in Kendo. It contains 5 elements which are described by the metropolitan police as the following: 1. sho-men, 2. tai-atari, 3. four yoko-men forward followed by five backwards, sho-men, 4. four yoko-men forward followed by five backward, 5. sho-men followed by zanshin. Conceptually kirikaeshi develops strong ki-ai and breath control, large motion, correct cutting angle (ha-suji), correct grip (te-no-uchi), correct footwork (ashi-sabaki) all with ki-ken-tai-ichi. It also limbers the muscles, promotes harmonious action of the whole body and correct ma-ai, follow through with zanshin. Kirikaeshi is said to provide 10 virtues to the attacker and 8 virtues to the receiver. It makes the waza sharp and swift, strengthens the cut, builds stamina, relaxes the stroke and body, improves the motion of the body, improves dexterity and grip, improves the vision of the partner, improves the ma-ai, teaches mental tranquillity, improves observation of the opponent, makes the grip firm yet flexible. ~from http://www.auskf.info/main/study.htm

Read More