by Mark Kawabe | May 1, 2012 | Kendo Road Trip
Well, the bogu carrier has had its first run. Here are the pictures and some responses to some questions. 1) How does it handle in the wind? I have no idea. It wasn’t windy when I rode it last Saturday morning to practice. However, it sits right behind me so I...
by Mark Kawabe | Apr 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This quote is often attributed to Albert Einstein.* Every day we live, we are faced with a singular challenge: how will I become better today? What can you do to become...
by Mark Kawabe | Mar 20, 2012 | Kendo Road Trip
I have a dream . . . to travel by motorcycle across North America, visiting as many dojos as I can along the way. I’ve talked about this with my indescribably awesome wife and she’s said she’s fine with the idea, so – wow – time to start...
by Mark Kawabe | Mar 15, 2012 | Uncategorized
We played the Canadian Women’s Team at the U of T Tournament last weekend. In one of the matches, our biggest, tallest player was matched up against the smallest player on the women’s team. She stepped out of bounds once. If he’d played a more...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 16, 2012 | Uncategorized
“Knock me and I’ll just get up again Stronger, wiser The adversary will now become my friend” From ‘Stir it Up’ by Howard Jones Yes, you poor souls who’ve had to drive with me long distances listening to my 80’s electronic-pop mix...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 5, 2012 | Unwritten Rules of Kendo
It’s been my observation that most dojos I’ve been to haven’t practiced tsuki. There’s probably a good reason for this. Perhaps it’s a bit more dangerous than the other strikes. It’s certainly more intimidating – knowing...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 5, 2012 | Unwritten Rules of Kendo
The title and the topic is perhaps misleading. SOMEWHERE, these pointers are probably written down. However, the flip side of that is that they’re probably written in Japanese or are in some form that the “average” kenshi isn’t ever going to...
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
I thought going through my two matches at SWORD would be useful. They’re probably more useful to me…but I hope you find them beneficial as well. Here’s a breakdown of the match with a few pointers I think will be helpful to my students (and other...
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 8, 2012 | Uncategorized
A: More than most students realize. Let’s be clear: teaching a martial art like Kendo is a challenge. Especially in a small dojo. Every student has their own reason for being there. Sometimes it’s tough to try and meet everyone’s needs in a class,...
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 4, 2012 | Uncategorized
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – there will be no class tonight as Kawabe Sensei will be out of town.
