by Mark Kawabe | Feb 24, 2016 | Uncategorized
Brian getting his 1st kyu certificate Dylan getting his shodan certificate Proud sensei moment 🙂 In kendo we don’t wear belts as part of the uniform. The only thing that distinguishes one kendoka’s ability from another is – their ability 🙂 That being...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 23, 2016 | Uncategorized
It’s been my experience at several dojos that when a student leaves, there is a special “goodbye” keiko with that person. This is usually done with people who anticipate continuing kendo elsewhere. For those who are leaving because they fine...
by Mark Kawabe | Feb 7, 2016 | Uncategorized
It’s been a week since last weekend’s FIK Shimpan Seminar held in Toronto. I jotted down some notes after the seminar, but wanted to reflect on them a bit before putting them online. One point emphatically made at every shimpan seminar I have been to is...
by Mark Kawabe | Jan 1, 2016 | Uncategorized
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Toshikoshi Keiko this year. For those who haven’t experienced one, the term “toshikoshi keiko” refers to a practice that is held over the new year. Our version went something like this: Eat, drink & be...
by Mark Kawabe | Dec 2, 2015 | Uncategorized
I was fortunate to have been in Japan long enough to have enjoyed a couple of New Year’s eve and New Year’s day celebrations there. One year was with friends and the other was with friends in the dojo. New Year’s eve practice (Toshikoshi Keiko) at...
by Mark Kawabe | Dec 2, 2015 | Uncategorized
As talked about in an earlier post, I believe one of the reasons people choose to train in martial arts is for a purpose of self defense. Kendo is a weapons-based martial art and is therefore “impractical” as a form of self defense. I believe this way of...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
Congratulations to our students who successfully graded! Congratulations as well to all those who were successful in their attempts. And, of course, to those who weren’t successful, I hope you consider how you can improve to attain that next level. A few...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
Someone asked me how this year’s JCCC tournament was. Here are a few observations. Shinpan-cho Bryan Asa noted at the end of the tournament that the referees needed to do a better job controlling the matches to prevent roughness from creating safety issues and...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
Sitting in a McDonalds waiting for my daughter’s job training session to end when I should have been at the dojo, my mind wandered to the state of kendo in Ontario. Kendo, along with other weapons-based martial arts suffers from low participation rates. Karate,...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
On my most recent visits to the JCCC, Tsumura Sensei has been teaching me how to strike men properly. That might sound odd to you. After all, someone with a 5th dan should know how to do this already. And, of course, you’d be right in thinking that. However, the...
