Dojo News: Nanseikan Kendo Club

  Warakiribattousai's Youtube channel is good fun, mostly about Iaido, and has lots and lots of tameshigiri. This vid is interesting because he does his own version of the question, "Can Kendo techniques really work when using a real sword?" I think he has a background in Kendo prior to his focus on Iaido: you can certainly see he has done at least high school Kendo to a high level before switching to Iaido. So when he uses "Kendo" techniques, he knows the difference. Interestingly I think he adjusts his 'Kendo" technique slightly after the first few tries, going from 'hitting' to 'cutting'. This is exactly what accomplished kenshi work on in the shinai Kendo even they they might not get the chance to test the effectiveness of their cutting technique in this way.  Here is a link to that other video featuring Kondo Hikaru sensei (K7 dan) which I shared last year dealing with the same question: https://youtu.be/RcEgu6WQQsw This is a teaser

Dan announced and end to lockdown as of midnight tonight so that means we are good to go! Our COVID policy covers us for current requirements. Remember: scan QR code at entry for contact tracing mask or shield at all times reduce kiai no taiatari good hygiene at all times (sanitise hands regularly, don't touch things in dojo unnecessarily, come to training already dressed if possible, no access to armoury, BYO first aid kit) See you on Saturday!

Stay safe everyone and hopefully see you all next week!   What are the new rules for Victorians? By  Rachael Dexter 1.26pm Friday 12 February 2021 Under the stage four lockdown restrictions to come into force at midnight tonight there will only be four reasons for Victorians to leave home: shopping for essential items, essential work, permitted education that cannot be done from home and exercise for up to two hours a day with people from your household. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has just listed some other restrictions: You must stay within 5km of your home other than for permitted work Masks are mandatory everywhere in Victoria No visitors to anyone’s home Public gatherings not permitted at all Schools will close but will remain open for vulnerable children or children of essential workers Religious gatherings and ceremonies are not permitted. Funerals can involve no more than 10 people. Hospitality will move to take away only Child care and early childhood centres will remain

Term 1 will be 8 weeks, not 9 weeks as mentioned at training. Previously I indicated we would finish term 1 on Sat 3 Apr. It's been pointed out to me that this is Easter Saturday. So we will instead finish the week before, Sat 27th Mar . This means that fees are now $80.00 (or $160.00 including Wed's) for the full term. A new 2021 dates page has been posted here which I will update as we go along. This year it is harder than usual to make long-term scheduling plans, so please check it from time to time.  Also remember that our new training times for Saturday are 10.00am to 12 noon. 😊

Training times and fees for this year Wednesday nights 6.30 to 8.00pm Saturday mornings 10.00am to 12 noon. Training fees are $10.00 per training ($5.00 for HC card holders and FT tertiary students). VKR Seminar: Club-based gradings, next kyu grading The VKR will now be handing over the responsibility of grading people from 6th kyu to 4th kyu to individual clubs. There will also be the scope for three gradings per year at this level. Grading for 3rd kyu and above will remain a state-run event that takes place twice yearly, same as current practice. A VKR seminar will be held at Monash Uni across the weekend of the 6th - 7th March to introduce this concept and train members on how to run club-based gradings. It will be a free event, I t is important that as many Nanseikan members as possible attend this seminar . More details to follow about exact times and location.  There will also be a VKR grading for 3rd kyu to 4th dan held on the Sunday. VKR AGM The VKR's Annual General Meeting

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Hi Everyone Here is an update of all VKR events for the year Andrew D

  the symbol for 'Ox' in the Lunar Zodiac    Happy New Year everyone. Welcome back and welcome to 2021, Reiwa 3, the year of the Ox. Grading in March As Andrew mentioned in the previous post, the VKR wants to know how many people wish to grade this March. Please email me asap (i.e. by this Thursday 28 Jan) with the names, grades and VKR numbers of all those in your household wanting to grade from 6 kyu up to and including 4 dan. VKR Executive - positions vacant Nominations are now open for the positions of President, Secretary and Treasurer. Support will be available for the successful applicants. Please contact the Vice-president, Michael Dunn directly if interested. His email is: vicepresident at kendovictoria.asn.au The voting for these positions will be at the next AGM which will be held in March. First training back - Saturday 6 February For our first training we will start at the usual time, 9am but we will have a shorter training, finishing at 10am. We will then have a c

 Happy New Year Everyone. Here is an update from the VKR on a proposed grading camp. I have asked Sensei if he wants to recommend any candidates. I would like to do it if allowed so please let Sensei know if you are interested. Andrew D The grading would be held at the Monash University Sports Centre, Clayton in line with COVID-safe practices.   A grading panel training seminar would be conducted by the Victorian Kendo Technical Committee (VKTC) prior to the grading.  The VKR seeks feedback from clubs on the likely interest and number of candidates for this grading.  Grading eligibility will be based on:  - Minimum 5 months financial member of the VKR  - Minimum 'time in grade' requirements for relevant grade (inclusive of online and in person training periods)  - Minimum 3 months regular training based on senior instructor determination   Each CLUB is requested to indicate their approximate grading candidates by 29 January 2021 to support VKR planning using the following link:

Well we got to train together finally! I hope everyone has a restful and rejuvenating break and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year. There may be some informal trainings during January so keep your eye on Team App for details. Official training starts back on 6 February. Here are some pics of Atsushi's place and surrounds. Looks like he might need a visit from a few of us to help him with that garden!

This is a short video of the right-foot-first, small men cut technique we looked at yesterday. It was great to train face to face finally! Everything went well and it was great to welcome back Soon properly and also two new members, Nick from Cairns (previously from Ballarat) and Nate our one and only Zoom beginner! In light of reaching the 28-day milestone of no new local cases of the virus we trained largely without masks but with other COVID-safe modifications to training. However if individuals wish to train with masks as some did on Saturday that is of course their right. It is likely that in future we may have new cases in the community and so we'll have to go back to a more strict mask-wearing regime during training, but for now I think we have earned the right to train mask-free without danger if we wish. Some points for those who haven't yet been to Latrobe:  parking is free after hours, even though the signs all say 'permit only'. So no need to find a parking

***NOTE: changes below*** We will be training at Latrobe Indoor Sports Centre for the next three weeks: Saturday 28 November from 12 noon to 1pm Saturday 5 December from 11am to 1pm Saturday 12 December from 11am to 1pm Cost of training will be $5.00 per person on 28/11 and $10.00 per person after that, payable on the day. Please bring two N95 masks per person to train in. Do not buy the ones with the plastic valve. Have other masks on hand for non-training use. ALSO PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES: We will be using the basketball court, not the squash court. But we will be in the same venue. See map below. This means the instructions around training a slightly different: We can get changed in the change rooms. We  will do  rei and mokuso before and after training. We will be training in the same space, which will make things easier and more flexible I have changed the other instructions below to reflect this. Some, such as the overall plan for training, remain the same. The locati

 As mentioned at training this morning there will be no Kata training this Tuesday 10 November. There will however be a special meeting at 5.30pm on Wednesday 11th to discuss returning to in-person training. Items on the agenda: confirm ability to train in person next Saturday 14 Nov decide on location and time discuss options for return to dojo  I will endeavour to speak with St Pius and find out what I can about their needs/issues around us returning. I will also see if there are some alternative (larger, better ventilated) venues that might be available either for a short-term or a medium term option. Videos First, the video of Tagawa sensei (H8 dan) from Detroit that I mentioned. And also the classic video of Chiba sensei and his 'seme-ashi'. Take note of the movement of his kensen when he makes seme. 

This is not a channel but just a single vid, but I'm pretty sure it's where the examples in Yano sensei's presentation were edited from. It's 75 min of Miyazaki Masahiro sensei scoring ippon in competition! Gotta be happy with that! Filmed at the Kenshikan, this is the video I mentioned in last night's discussion where Chiba sensei talks about the right foot being used for seme. This was my very first time using a digital camera to record video of Kendo and upload it to the internet. I think the camera in question was a 2MP Canon Ixus, hence the shabby quality. Still, it's a wonderful record of Chiba sensei's incredible skill.  ************************************************************************* https://www.youtube.com/user/tamichel0428/videos This channel is Sanmunokai 三無の会　and has lots of great videos of their in-dojo training and also instruction by their sensei Matsubara (K8 dan). https://www.youtube.com/user/loganbury/videos This channel has lots o

In the previous post I listed the various branches of Itto Ryu and asked you to consider the similarities between their use of the sword and Kendo. Sometimes when one becomes used to a certain way of doing things, one can fall into the trap of thinking that is the only, or maybe the best, way of doing things. In learning iai kata of Tatsumi Ryu, we are trying to break out of that thinking by exposing ourselves to a system devised long before even the Itto Ryu was founded. This means that there are some fundamental differences in how the sword is used.  In these posts I am mostly interested in the differences in how to swing the sword. In Kendo, and indeed in most of the styles of iaido practiced today, the fundamental cutting action is a straight up-and-down action often referred to as kirioroshi , cutting through or cutting down. In Tatsumi Ryu, the characteristic action where the sword first goes through a circular backswing before cutting downwards is called kowauchi , or 'power

A figurine of Ito Ittosai as he appears in the manga "Vagabond" 人は眠っている時でも足がかゆいのに間違って頭をかくことはありません。人は意識下に己を防衛しようとする本能が動いております。その原理を生かせばよいのです。　　　　 伊藤一刀斎 (People do not accidentally scratch their heads when their feet are itchy, even when they are sleeping. People have an unconscious instinct to defend themselves. You have to make use of that principle.)   This is one of the famous observations of Ito Ittosai, founder of the Itto Ryu (One Sword School). It might not sound like much, but there's a lot to think about there.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJor9pGc9SS6IRT9zk2dw25qrYULXh0Qq I've made a brief playlist of the main Itto Ryu lineages. There are some others I haven't listed that are more recent (i.e. less than 200 years old) but these are the main ones.  Of these, the Ono-ha, Hokushin, Mizoguchi-ha and Nakanishi-ha are the most widely practised. Kogen Itto Ryu is less common. Most have hereditary headmasters, usually called soke . The Mizoguchi-ha is

Training for term 4 We will continue to have kata training 5.30 to 6pm Tuesday night  and more general training 10am to 11am Saturday via Zoom. We will continue this schedule until there is a change in regulations around public gatherings. When we come out of strict lockdown (no travel restrictions), it is likely the first opportunity to train together will be outdoors and with distancing. In this event we can consider meeting either at a park centrally or at different parks each week. I imagine that we will train in 'civvies' (normal clothes) and do solo movements:  suburi and taiso only.  When this happens we will discuss as a club what the best time and duration is for training, and what is the best mix of online and in-person training. As the situation improves, we can work towards more close-quarters training, eventually with the aim of returning to the dojo and practising one-on-one in full armour. Even then it is very likely that the following conditions would remain

Today the VKR held it's first group Zoom training session, organised through MUKEN (Melbourne University Kendo Club). Daniel Jeong sensei and Richard T'en were facilitators and Jeong sensei was the translator. Thank you both for your hard work and organisation. The seminar started off with a presentation by Yano sensei who is the current Australian national team coach and head instructor of the Kenshikan of the basics of yuko datotsu from a theoretical point of view. This was very interesting and I will bring you more detail about this presentation in the future.  First, a quick bio for the two Korean sensei: Tae-Ho KIM Sensei, Renshi 7th Dan  - Head Coach of Buk-gu District, Gwangju Metropolitan City Kendo Team - Member of 12th WKC (Glasgow 2003) Men’s Team 2nd place   Sung-Hong JANG Sensei, Kyoshi  7 th Dan - Head Coach of  Seong-Nam  High School Kendobu - Head instructor of  Yeok-Sam Dojo, Seoul - Graduated from Chosun University, Gwangju - 14th WKC (Brazil 2009) Men's t

Hi all, Please refer to the TeamApp message I just sent or contact me directly if you have not received it. The link to apply to attend the special training is  https://forms.gle/ jEnaRA3nvda2RWcd9 If you plan on attending, please complete this form asap. There will be no Nanseikan zoom training.