Nanseikan Kendo Club 南西館剣道クラブ

  It is with great sadness that I pass on the news of the passing of Larry Mahaffy. Larry was not a Nanseikan member but he was a regular visitor to our dojo. He started Kendo late in life but had a rare passion and commitment for the art. He understood implicitly what it represented and how it fitted into his life. For a time he practiced with his son Finn at MBK-Kenshikan Dojo. Throughout his battle with cancer he continued to practice undaunted. During Covid lockdowns he regularly and enthusiastically attended our online Zoom trainings.  My last text message exchange with him was at the end of May and we were making plans for club members to go to his house and train with him, at whatever level he felt able to. He said the doctors had exhausted all treatment options. His last text was,  "I'd love to think I could manage a bit of suburi (walking around the block has been a struggle of late!) Stay warm!"  Two weeks later I texted to invite him to attend dinner at our Kan

This weekend just past saw the successful staging of our first ever, two-day gasshuku. Held right after the winter solstice, it was an appropriately chilly Kangeiko! The program was ambitious but we succeeded in covering everything on the schedule. Judging by the smiles and feedback, everyone got something out of the weekend. It was especially good to host kenshi from other dojos, whether they were dojo leaders or beginners. Nanseikan members did a wonderful job as hosts, being available not just to help but to take on various roles in the running of the weekend. Special shout-outs and thanks to Soon, Nick and Chie. Thanks also to William, Quinn and Chee for coming in on Friday to help set up. And thanks to everyone who helped with the most difficult part of the entire weekend - the clean-up afterwards! There were some important absences and apologies. Some of our own members were away because of illness or family commitments. Matsumoto sensei sent her apologies for not being able to a

  As mentioned tonight at training there have been developments in Japan regarding tsubazeriai. It is anticipated, although this is not confirmed yet, that tsubazeriai will remain tightly controlled from now on. This is building on the adjustments people have made to becoming accustomed to the 'provisional' Covid-safe restrictions around tsubazeriai.  The reason for these longer term changes is to limit the ability of shiaisha to use tsubazeriai as a resting or defensive position. This has previously been a major issue in Japan at high school and university level. And as a result, through the spread of Youtube, these 'trends' get taken up around the world. The worst use of tsubazeriai before now has been for the purpose of time-wasting: where a shiasha 'runs down the clock' once they have established an ippon lead in a match. This is from a post on George McCall's excellent kenshi247 blog. McCall sensei teaches Kendo at a high school in Osaka and is well-ve

 

  This year's VKR seminar and grading was a great success. Over 100 participants from around Australia and overseas came to Monash University Clayton campus to take part in two full days of training, culminating in a grading from 6th kyu to 4th dan. Congratulations to all those who participated and survived the gruelling sessions, and also to those who passed their gradings. Special thank you to Soon who gave up his own participation in the first morning of the seminar to run the beginners' course at our home dojo. Special events - lunch, 9 April Sean is organising our first 20th anniversary celebration event: a lunch after our last training for this term on Saturday 9th April. Please save the date. We will be going to a restaurant in High St Preston, the home of many excellent and cheap Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants. Details to follow. Sign up to our Signal groupchat (Nanseikan Casual) for updates. Special events - Zen workshop, 30 April On the first day back for term 2,

Hi everyone, please details from the VKR below about the upcoming seminar on 12-13 March. Also, remember to register for the seminar here: https://www.revolutionise.com.au/vkr/events/130340/ Lastly, here are the grading requirements for 6kyu to 4kyu, since these people will be least familiar with what is required. I will finalise who will be grading at training this Saturday, so if you want to grade, please make sure you're there!   ATT: ALL KENDO Club Representatives / Administrators: Dear All, As a reminder the  VKR March Kendo Grading  is to be held on  Sunday, March 13, 2022. Please note the latest attached revised application for  Grading Form for Submission .  Click link to form below. Grading examinations will be held for: 6th Kyu to 1st Kyu 1st Dan to 4th Dan Date and Location Details Date & Time:  Sunday, March 13, 1:00 - 4:00pm Registration opens at 12:00pm  (Timing to be confirmed) Venue:  Monash Sport Stadium, Monash University, Clayton Campus Address:  42 Scenic Bl

Welcome to our 20th anniversary year! This year will hopefully see us back in the dojo first of all. Training is always the backbone of Kendo. Then, as things slowly move back to normal, we will be sharing our dojo with visitors, friends and family to help us celebrate this milestone. More to come when these events are finalised... Training starts back on Saturday 5 February. Full list of term dates for the year are here . Beginners course starts on 19 Feb. We will have a short meeting after training on 5 Feb to introduce some ideas, issues and tasks that we will be looking at in the first part of the year. Things like: admin roles club gradings communication pathways VKR portal invitation for people to become assistant instructors and the training requirements involved social and other events COVID guidelines have changed slightly. This page is being regularly updated to reflect the latest instructions around what we must do to stay as safe as possible in the dojo. As always, if you

Vale     藤家 教平様　 Fujiie  Kyohei   1953 - 2021 It is with great sadness that I must convey the passing of Mr Kyohei Fujiie, husband of Tomoko Fujiie, father of Rodan Fujiie and founder of Benalla Renshinkan Dojo. He died on 30 December in Shepparton Hospital from complications arising from COVID-19. Kyohei established Benalla Renshikan Kendo Club in 2008. Kyohei and Tomoko were regular visitors to Nanseikan in the intervening years, usually starting their journey at 5.00am to get to Nanseikan in time for training. In recent years he and Tomoko also trained in Tatsumi Ryu Hyoho with the Melbourne Koryu Kenkyukai. Outside of martial arts, Kyohei learned the guitar so that he could perform with Tomoko in the ensembles which are her passion.  Kyohei was a warm, thoughtful, compassionate, and eternally inquisitive man. He took the meaning of his given name “to teach peace” seriously.  His training was in youth counselling and education and he worked with young people with special needs, ofte