This article is a translation of an essay by Tachibana Tatsunari-san, he works for Tozando and practices Yoshinkan Aikido and is currently 5-dan. In his essay he explores “kamae” – posture or stance – in training and why it is emphasised so strongly in Yoshinkan Aikido. In Yoshinkan Aikido, as Read More
Evaluating budo equipment can be very difficult, especially as a newcomer to martial arts. We thought who better to ask than our resident kyoshi 7-dan Hayashi Sensei: he not only has a great understanding of his chosen art (kendo), but he also actively works in product development. Let’s take a Read More
Footwork is not just a kihon practice, but a skill that will develop alongside our seme throughout our shugyo.
Stick to your original purpose to the last Seami, who spread No, a traditional Japanese art, left a lot of wonderful writings. A common saying in Japan “Do not forget your shoshin.” is attributed to Seami. “Indeed do not forget your shoshin; do not forget your shoshin in each moment, Read More
There are all kinds of sports in our world, but a big difference between kendo and other sports is its approach towards “manners”. Many people have the image that if you take up kendo you will learn good manners. Why is kendo so strict when ti comes to enfocring etiquette? Read More
I’m sure many of you would sit silently and meditate with your eyes closed both before and after practice. Some groups call it mokuso (silent thinking), some meiso (closed-eye thinking), or seiza (simply, sitting). When you join the dojo, the instructor will tell you the meaning and how to do Read More
The core muscle is very important not only in Budo but in many sports, and training your core muscle has many benefits. In this edition I will introduce some ways of training your core muscle, including ways that are effective for Budo. The core muscle (Japanese taikan) broadly refers to Read More
Kendo of course requires physical strength but also mental strength. There are many ways to train up your mentality, but the most basic level is mannerisms. This relates to other martial arts too, but it all “begins and ends with manners”. If you are aiming to be a strong kenshi, Read More
In Japanese Budo such as kendo, judo, kyudo, there are levels named “kyu” and “dan”. Each has its own characteristic, but many people wonder what the difference is between the two. Kyu is a word that describes the quality or the condition of objects as in “ikkyuhin”, “nikyuhin” and “sankyuhin” Read More
In today’s article we are looking at how we can work on our training outside of our regular dojo. If you are struggling to make it to regular training and want some ideas on how to make it up outside of the dojo then this is the article for you. Read More
