by Mark Kawabe | Feb 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
You have a choice: Stay down or get back up. If you stay down, your opponent will try to hit you. If you get back up, your opponent will try to hit you. If you stay down, you can’t strike back. Better to get back up. Any...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 15, 2017 | Uncategorized
I came across a quote from 13th century Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiren Daishonin. “Iron, when heated in the flames and pounded, becomes a fine sword.” Nice. What’s that got to do with you and your kendo? Just a reminder that when you started your...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
Every now and then, someone asks when they’ll be ready to grade, or when they’ll be ready to wear bogu. To date, I have tended to answer these questions with questions. “Do you think you’re ready?” Not a very satisfying answer, although...
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 31, 2017 | Uncategorized
There will be no kendo class this evening as I am ill. This is the 2nd time in the history of the club that I’ve cancelled class due to illness. Not bad 🙂 Classes will resume on Thursday unless you hear otherwise. Sensei Mark
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 30, 2017 | Uncategorized
I call it the R-word. Seriously. It seems like a dirty word or at least an impossible feat to achieve for some kendoka. “How can I relax when someone’s swinging a shinai at my head?” I don’t know how to make someone relax. I just know that if...
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 1, 2017 | Uncategorized
We wrapped up our 2nd Annual Toshikoshi Keiko around 1:30 a.m. ET. To my knowledge, we’ve held the first kendo practice in Canada two years in a row. Here’s hoping for a third 🙂 Highlights: Exploding Kittens (the card game). Food – lots of it –...
