News
April 2012 | Granby
Congratulations for the fantastic display of kendo showed by the whole team. You made us all proud !
April 2012 | Basics, basics, basics
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At the end of March we were very happy to receive a visit from Funamoto sensei’s direct student, 6th dan Matsuura Sensei. Proudly wearing his old Shidokan Zekken and Tenugui he was ready to lead a wonderful two day seminar. We started the weekend with a joint practice with our friends from Montreal Kendo Club and McGill University Kendo Club. During the suburi and kihon periods of this practice Matsuura Sensei reminded everybody that we should attempt every technique with utmost conviction an make every attempted strike count as an ippon. |
Most of the practice was devoted to ji-keiko which gave everyone the opportunity to fight with Matsuura Sensei and with everybody else. Each of us engaged in at least 20 fights, giving our best effort to honour our opponents by giving our 100% in every fight. After practice we refuelled our energy with food and refreshments at PJ’s.
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We continued on Saturday morning with more kendo. We spent the morning session working on the men strike. Matsuura sensei reminded us that even if “men-uchi” is the first technique that we learn, it should not be considered a beginners’ technique, and it can be improved on at every level. We reflected upon the basics of footwork and the men strike, and we all tried to apply them and improve on them at our respective level.
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After two hours of footwork and men we took a lunch break. During this break we had a chance to witness Matsuura Sensei’s proficiency with origami. Some of our member tried their hand at this Japanese art as well with decent results although anyone could tell the difference.
In the afternoon we started with some very intensive kirikaeshi waza that left us all almost exhausted within 30 minutes. After a short break we continued with ji-keiko. Again everybody had a chance to fight with everybody. Towards the end we were all treated to a fight between Hanitijo Sensei and Matsuura Sensei. The skill, courage and dignity displayed by both of them were truly inspiring for all of us.
A few words from Matsuura Sensei:
"This time, I got to see a lot of you twice. Friday night at Shidokan was a more relaxed and fun time, while I hope that Saturday was more of an educational experience for all of you. What I enjoyed most this time was that many of the faces were now familiar and I have been trying very hard to remember all of your names a little bit about each of you."
Full Article "Basics, basics, basics"
We would like to thank Matsuura Sensei and Hanitijo Sensei for their teaching and their example this weekend and we will train hard to improve and make sure that we get closer to the kendo level that they put on display this weekend.
Our immense gratitude Sensei ! Please visit us again !
March 2012 | Distinguished guests
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At the end of February, Shidokan Kendo and Iaido club received the visit of two distinguished guests from Toronto for a weekend dedicated to the way of the sword. Over the course of two full days we practiced Iaido, the art of drawing the sword from the scabbard and striking or cutting an opponent, and Kendo, full contact Japanese fencing using armour (bogu) and bamboo swords (shinai). |
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Our weekend with Ohmi Sensei (Iaido 7th dan and Kendo 6th dan) and Cruise Sensei (Iaido 7th dan and Kendo 5th dan) began early Saturday morning with Iaido by going through the 12 katas of Seitei Iai, placing added emphasis on centering the angle of the initial draw or (nukitsuke) and the direction of one’s gaze (metsuke). Seitei Iai katas are katas institutionalized by the Japanese Iaido federation for grading purposes.
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After a short lunch break we launched full tilt into an intensive two hours of Kendo. We were all very thrilled to cross shinais with such high ranking sensei, and gain the experience of and exposure to a different style of training. At the end of the day we were treated to a Kendo demonstration match between Shidokan’s Hanitijo Sensei and Cruise Sensei.
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The activities continued on Sunday with more Iaido at our John Abott college location. After reviewing Seitei Iai katas one more time, the students practiced Muso Shinden Ryu 12 katas of the first level, also called Omori Ryu. The Muso Shinden Ryu is the traditional style of Iaido practiced in our dojo. The day concluded with a demonstration of Muso Shinden Ryu 10 katas of the middle level by Cruise Sensei.
We were all thrilled to spend two very busy days in such distinguished company.
Arigato Ohmi Sensei and Cruise Sensei !
