Posts 2014
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December 2014 | Another succesful year ends.
The foundations of our dojo are fortified with the strong spirit of our growing family. We are looking forward to new challenges that we will face in 2015! Of course, there was no better way to finish the year than with good keiko.
Happy new year 2015!!
December 2014 | Breakfast Television visits Shidokan
On Thursday, December 11th, the crew from Breakfast Television paid a visit to Shidokan to get an idea of what the club is all about. Many of us met at the dojo and braved the early morning for a demonstrative practice.
The crew filmed a variety of short pieces throughout the morning featuring both Kendo and Iaido. Our members showed the crew some of our warm up drills, kata, and more. At the same time, the host interviewed one of our senior members, Adam, who explained and summarized some of the key points of what we do. The host even put on a bogu and joined us for some friendly keiko before the end.
We are very thankful to our guests over at Breakfast Television who initially approached us to do this. It was a lot of fun, and a great opportunity for us to help bring some positive attention to both Kendo and Iaido in the local media.
Hopefully there will be many more chances such as this in the future to help generate interest in the Kendo and Iaido communities.
December 2014 | JCCC, Iaido and Kendo Grading
We are also very grateful to Tsuji Sensei who was at the tournament and provided us with guidance and feedback.
The following day there was a winter Kendo grading held by the Canadian Kendo Federation at JCCC. We are very proud of our members who graded, all of whom passed their exams, ranging from 1kyu to 4th dan. Everyone did a wonderful job!
On the following weekend, another Shidokan contingent travelled to Toronto to participate in the Eastern CKF Iaido grading & Seminar. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all our members who passed their iaido grading as well. As Sensei always says "grading is just another step in our journey towards the far away mountain."
We would like to thank Santoso Sensei for his continued patience and guidance.
November 2014 | Toida Sensei visits Shidokan
Finally, we performed footwork exercises, ranging from okuri-ashi to lunges, aimed at developing our fumikomi whilst keeping good posture.
Second, we spent some time working on kirikaeshi. Toida Sensei showed us the proper form to maintain throughout the drill: large, smooth cuts with strong kiai for every set of ten hits. Shinsa-style keiko followed, where every kendoka could bring out their best kendo in order to set our minds on the upcoming grading.
Finally, we loosened up with some kakari-geiko and had a chance to have keiko with Toida Sensei. After some quick pictures, we had breakfast together to kick off the weekend. We hope to see Toida Sensei very soon, - please come visit us again!
November 2014 | CLAK 2014
The week was full of activities, Godokeiko, Kendo & Iaido Seminars, Shinpan Seminar; And of course 2 days of full competition.
It was clear that the Kendo level of all countries has greatly improved and that all the hard work is paying off.
"It was a great experience to participate amongst competitors with such level of commitment and intensity in their kendo, I feel motivated to keep demanding the very best in my own training here in Montreal" - Juan.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our dear friend Kenji Toida Sensei , who passed his 7th dan Kendo exam.
An amazing achievement, well deserved!
November 8th & 9th 2014 | Iaido Seminar with Cruise Sensei & Ohmi Sensei
Since their first visit in 1991, Cruise Sensei and Ohmi Sensei have continued to lead iaido seminars in Montreal in collaboration with Shidokan. This year, the annual two-day fall seminar was held at our John Abbot location. The first day was dedicated to Seitei Iai. Some of the more prominent themes of the day were the differences between Mae and Shohato, as well as the understanding of the relationship between movement, posture, and "teki" (enemy) position in order to achieve correct waza. The second day focused on the first four katas of Omori Ryu in Muso Shinden Ryu. |
Pictures from our training prior to the seminar:
During both days, Senseis emphasized the critical value of improving our training through the development of a precise understanding and fluid execution of the kata. We would like to thank Cruise Sensei and Ohmi Sensei for more than 20 years of continued guidance, and we hope to see you again soon.
November 8th 2014 | Quebec Provincial Championship - Granby
Shidokan did very well, bringing back a bronze and a gold medal in the mudansha-shodan division, as well as a bronze and a silver in the sandan-nidan division. Our teams also fought hard in their respective courts, giving their best against tough opponents.
We returned to Montreal in high spirits. We then had dinner at PJ's where Santoso Sensei joined us to celebrate.
We would like to express our gratitude to the organizers of the tournament for setting up this competition twice a year, as well as extend our thanks to Santoso Sensei for his patience and his constant guidance.
- SHIDOKAN
October 19th 2014 | Special Joint Practice with Kawamura Sensei
The first part of the practice focused on the basics, especially footwork and distance. Afterwards, we practiced many waza with emphasis on tenouchi, before moving onto mawari geiko and jigeiko. Another valuable lesson of the day was to remember the importance of the maintaining the center, especially when striking. After the practice, everyone was invited to come out and enjoy each other’s company over dinner and drinks.
We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to both Kawamura Sensei(s) for taking the time to visit us and for leading the practice. We would also like to thank Toida Sensei of MKC and Tuan-Anh from McGill for all their help with the organization of the practice. Also, our gratitude to Ariyama Sensei for her help with the translation during the practice.
It was truly a great opportunity to learn and practice together. We look forward to the next one!
September 27th 2014 | Tsuji Sensei & Shidokan 40th !
Tsuji Sensei emphasized the importance of setting up your strike and maintaining good kamae, encouraging us to correct any flaws in our posture.
After a quick lunch break, we spent an hour reviewing our kata. We used the time to develop seme and datotsu-bui, and improved our sense of correct striking distance. Tsuji Sensei reminded us that practicing kata is imperative to improving the foundation of one's kendo. This became apparent as we moved on to ji-geiko. Everyone showed strong spirit, fighting to the best of their abilities. We were even treated with a keiko between Santoso Sensei and Tsuji Sensei.
In the evening, we celebrated Shidokan's 40 years and Funamoto Sensei's legacy together with our fellow iaidoka over a nice dinner. We had a great time and would like to sincerely thank Tsuji Sensei for taking the time to visit and join us for a whole day, as well as Santoso Sensei, Dean Sensei, and Robert Sensei for their continued patience and constant guidance.
Happy birthday Shidokan! Many more to come.
September 9 2014 | New beginning
September 7 2014 | Special Joint Practice
August 2014 | Otakuthon
We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the Otakuthon organizers for once more inviting us to take part in this event. Thank you to all of our members who volunteered to participate in the events! See you next year!
August 2014 | Camping Trip
We had the opportunity to practice suburi outdoors, swim across the lake, test our 'ax skills' chopping wood, test our 'shinken skills', going for adventurous hikes and of course build amazing campfires while sharing great music, stories and drinks. A wonderful bonding experience that shall be repeated in years to come.
We will incorporate more iaido training next time, We hope all our iaido members from Loyola and John Abbott College can make it next time.
Our sincere gratitude to our dear Amelie Tessier for the fantastic organization!
And now, back to work!
July 2014 | Women's Practice at Shidokan
Thank you to everybody who joined us, and once again to Ariyama Sensei for your guidance!
July 2014 | Hot Summer Training
Also, we want to express our gratitude towards our dear friend Paul Marko Sensei (Etobicoke Kendo & Iaido Club, ON) for paying as a visit on July 3rd, - Your advice is most valued, Sensei!
We really hope you visit us again !
Let's keep training hard.
June 2014 | Canadian Nationals
We enjoyed a “Master class” shiai demonstration of East vs West, performed by recognized Sensei(s) from different dojo(s) as well as a iaido demonstration performed by our dear friend Goyo Ohmi Sensei, and Shidokan's very own Dean Jolly Sensei.
Kendo Nationals are definitely a challenging experience. We got a lot of feedback and will keep training together in order to continue improving. As Santoso Sensei always tells us "practice, practice, practice"
Thanks to our dear Shidokan photographer Ochuko Kpolugbo for the great pictures!
Special thanks to our dear friend Pham T. Quoc for letting use some of his wonderful photos.
June 2014 | Summer Kendo Grading
As Santoso Sensei says, 'Grading' is just part of our training. The challenge of obtaining our next rank helps us set milestones and rather than being considered as the "end" of a cycle, it should be embraced as the "beginning" of a new one.
We would like to congratulate all our members who took part in this grading. It can be a very difficult and nerve-racking experience.
- We hope you are motivated and we hope you never stop trying. Gratitude to MKC for hosting this special event and to our dear instructors for their constant guidance.
Special thanks to our dear friend Pham T. Quoc for letting use some of his wonderful photos.
May 2014 | QC Women's practice
On Sunday, May 18th, many of Shidokan’s female practitioners set out to McGill Kendo Club for a joint women’s practice led by Ariyama Sensei. The practice was attended by women from McGill Kendo Club, Shidokan, Montreal Kendo Club, l'Académie Martiale Serei, and Quebec Kendo Kai.
The practice started off with a close and careful look at kirikaeshi. However, in preparation for the upcoming tournaments in June, the majority of the practice focused on shiai training and oji-waza. The biggest lesson of the day was timing, and its importance was emphasized in each of the drills that we did.
Thank you to McGill Kendo Club for organizing the event, and thank you Ariyama Sensei for your guidance!
We look forward to seeing everybody again soon.
April 2014 | Quebec Regionals, Granby
Congratulations to all of our participants for their hard work and for showing a tremendous amount of spirit and support at the Taikai. We would also like to congratulate:
-
Women's
- Ruby Kulikowska: Gold -
Kyu/1Dan Division
- Minh Phan: Gold
- Robert Carson: Bronze
-
2Dan/3Dan
- Tong Dinh: Gold
- Gabriel Schor: Silver -
Teams
- Shidokan A: Silver
We would like to thank Santoso Sensei for his constant guidance and patience with us! Also, thank you to Matsuura Sensei who travelled all the way to the tournament and provided us with much advice.
We understand there's a long road ahead of us and lots of work to do, let's set mind and heart to purpose!
- Shidokan
April 2014 | Special Joint Practice at Shidokan
The second half of the practice was set aside for team shiai, giving everyone the opportunity to apply the lessons of the day.
Thank you to all the Kenshi(s) from McGill Kendo Club, Montreal Kendo Club, Acadamie Martiale Serei and Shidokan who participated in this special joint practice. We hope to continue these special practices and to see many of our friends from all dojo(s) in Quebec in the future.
Our sincere gratitude to Toida Sensei and Tuan-Anh !
April 2014 | Training never stops
We are happy to see our bonds of friendship and camaraderie growing stronger than ever through devoted practice, an ideal that Santoso Sensei always reminds us of.
We hope that our effort and dedication will bring us success.
“Be better today than you were yesterday, and then strive to be better still.”
- Shidokan
March 15th 2014 | Matsuura Sensei
Again, we concluded the practice with Ji-geiko and Matsuura Sensei took the time to fight all of us and through his own example emphasized that we should treat all fights the same way, no matter who we fight, we should always give our 100%. After the practice, we enjoyed some well deserved refreshments, food and some great kendo talk.
A week after, our brothers from the Battle Creek dojo had a wonderful performance at the 2014 Kentucky Kendo tournament, including our very own Ruby Kulikowska.
- Congratz!
March 9th 2014 | Quebec women's practice
One of the most valuable lessons that we took away from the seminar is that women don’t need to fight rough or try to overpower their opponents with force in order to win. It is more important to display confidence and to focus on having good, clean kendo technique. As Ariyama Sensei said, women should practice ‘beautiful’ kendo.
Thank you to AMS Kendo Club for organizing the event, and thank you to Ariyama Sensei for your guidance!
- Shidokan
March 2nd 2014 | Special joint practice at MKC
We want to express our sincere gratitude to Toida Sensei and MKC for making possible this special practice. We hope we could enjoy many more practices like this one in the future.
- Shidokan
February 18th 2014 | A friend from Seoul
February 16th 2014 | 16th Memorial Detroit Kendo Tournament
- Ruby Kulikowska - 1Dan category, Bronze medal
- Gabriel Schor - 2Dan category, Silver medal
In the team matches Gabriel joined forces with Markham Kendo Club, led by Sumi Sensei and Tsuji Sensei (Shidokan senior). It was a great opportunity because Shidokan senior instructor (Battle Creek, Michigan) Yutaro Matsuura was there to oversee our players and offer his valuable advice, thank you Sensei!
A wonderful experience, one to be remembered.
January 2014 | New beginning
We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Kenji Toida Sensei for paying us a visit, it's always a wonderful learning experience having Toida Sensei teaching us. Please visit us again Sensei !
January 2014 | Family tradition
Let's have another great year 2014 !
- SHIDOKAN