Three Yugenkai members (Kristián, Dez & Velda) travelled to St Andrews to do Kendo in the cold and on the beach.
In tempreatures touching minus 4 they met with fellow Kendoka from Edinburgh (2), St Andrews (5), Glasgow (5) for an hours Keiko.
Once we warmed up, Keiko got underway for an hour. Within 5mins I couldn't feel my toes!
Doing Kendo in these conditions does not only make you bring your spirit into a New Year but it also makes you focus more accutely on other aspects of your Kendo.
In tempreatures touching minus 4 they met with fellow Kendoka from Edinburgh (2), St Andrews (5), Glasgow (5) for an hours Keiko.
Once we warmed up, Keiko got underway for an hour. Within 5mins I couldn't feel my toes!
Doing Kendo in these conditions does not only make you bring your spirit into a New Year but it also makes you focus more accutely on other aspects of your Kendo.
Yugenkai opened its doors for another enrollment of beginners. With interest building in Kendo in this area, Yugenkai had 8notes of
interest for this enrollment but only three turned up on the night. We are delighted to have another three members and welcome them into
the club and wish them the very best for their Kendo journey.
Three Yugenkai members (Kristián, Dez & Velda) went across to Glasgow for a
weekend of Kendo.
The weekend was led by Mike Davis Sensei (Nanadan Kyoshi) and assisted by 4 x 5th Dans.
Saturday consisted of Kata, Refereeing, Suburi, AShisabaki and Jigeiko. Regardless of ability and grade everyone had something to learn even if it was to do the best Kendo you could do for the day.
Sunday saw an early start for those grading, to be ready for 09:00. With a short demonstration of how to bow in, etc. the gradings got underway. Ikkyu, Shodan, Nidan and Sandan showed their Kendo for the grading panel with some visable nerves being shown also.
Once the Kiri-kaeshi & Keiko finsihed for each group, the nervous wait to see if their names ended up on the pass sheet for Kata. Some were successful, some were not but on reflection I'm sure those who didn't pass the Keiko part knew why.
The most successful gradepass rate was Ikkyu and Sandan saw the lowest pass rate with only one pass out of seven.
The weekend was led by Mike Davis Sensei (Nanadan Kyoshi) and assisted by 4 x 5th Dans.
Saturday consisted of Kata, Refereeing, Suburi, AShisabaki and Jigeiko. Regardless of ability and grade everyone had something to learn even if it was to do the best Kendo you could do for the day.
Sunday saw an early start for those grading, to be ready for 09:00. With a short demonstration of how to bow in, etc. the gradings got underway. Ikkyu, Shodan, Nidan and Sandan showed their Kendo for the grading panel with some visable nerves being shown also.
Once the Kiri-kaeshi & Keiko finsihed for each group, the nervous wait to see if their names ended up on the pass sheet for Kata. Some were successful, some were not but on reflection I'm sure those who didn't pass the Keiko part knew why.
The most successful gradepass rate was Ikkyu and Sandan saw the lowest pass rate with only one pass out of seven.
EKC Members pass their grading...Tina - Ikkyu, Hiroshi - Shodan & Piotr - Ikkyu.
Three Yugenkai members (Kristián, Dez & Matt) went across to Edinburgh for a weekend of Kendo. The weekend was led by Geoff Salmond Sensei
(Nanadan (7th Dan)) with Saturday consisting of the Ladies individuals and the team (5 person) events with Sunday being for Mens individuals.
Words by our member Matt Carradice
It all kind of started slowly a few kendoka here a few kendoka there,I watched with great interest as the floor was marked with red and white barrier tape,done it has to be said to very exacting standards with a precision that would make a draftsman proud.
The floor soon filled up with kendoka of all shapes and sizes, then the chants began.....the teams/university warm-ups had begun and once finished the main address by the Consulate General of Japan and Geoff Salmond Sensei with a few words by the event organiser, Koji Ozawa, current President of EuKC.
The competition then started in earnest,...two teams with five a side per area....first to two points was the winner. Points were scored by the four main target areas Kote, Men,Do & Tsuki (my personal favourite) ,with points being added to the other team half at a time if the kendoka steps outwith the boundarys,now i have to tell you dear reader that i didnt quite understand the rules, but what I did see was the respect to one another that I have come to expect from kendoka from all over the world.
It was fantastic to see all that Delacour san has been teaching us put into practice by so many kendoka, all the basics with a liberal sprinkling of poetic license, a true joy to behold.
"I believe that one of the main requirements of kendo is patience,not only with others but also with yourself."
Words by our member Matt Carradice
It all kind of started slowly a few kendoka here a few kendoka there,I watched with great interest as the floor was marked with red and white barrier tape,done it has to be said to very exacting standards with a precision that would make a draftsman proud.
The floor soon filled up with kendoka of all shapes and sizes, then the chants began.....the teams/university warm-ups had begun and once finished the main address by the Consulate General of Japan and Geoff Salmond Sensei with a few words by the event organiser, Koji Ozawa, current President of EuKC.
The competition then started in earnest,...two teams with five a side per area....first to two points was the winner. Points were scored by the four main target areas Kote, Men,Do & Tsuki (my personal favourite) ,with points being added to the other team half at a time if the kendoka steps outwith the boundarys,now i have to tell you dear reader that i didnt quite understand the rules, but what I did see was the respect to one another that I have come to expect from kendoka from all over the world.
It was fantastic to see all that Delacour san has been teaching us put into practice by so many kendoka, all the basics with a liberal sprinkling of poetic license, a true joy to behold.
"I believe that one of the main requirements of kendo is patience,not only with others but also with yourself."
Yugenkai members Kristián, Dez, Velda & Matt went up to Aberdeen for an afternoon of Kendo with members of Aberdeen Kendo Club and Aberdeen
University Kendo Club. Sadly members of St. Andrews couldn't make the session due to unforeseen circumstances and had to turn back home.
The meeting was set up primarily to get to know our fellow Northern Kendoka and share ideas between the Kendo club, an exchange of teaching ideas and ways to do things as well as further development of skills for comepition, etc.
Assisted by Edinburgh Kendo Club Sempai, Steve Bishop (5th Dan) everyone got the chance to improve Kihon Kendo no Kata, Waza and then a little Jigeiko.
The two and a half hours were finished before you could say Boo and we all ended up wanting more but sadly couldn't.
A quick drive into town saw us end up chatting about our exploits over dinner and drinks.
A well worth trip and we'll happily do it all again sometime soon.
The meeting was set up primarily to get to know our fellow Northern Kendoka and share ideas between the Kendo club, an exchange of teaching ideas and ways to do things as well as further development of skills for comepition, etc.
Assisted by Edinburgh Kendo Club Sempai, Steve Bishop (5th Dan) everyone got the chance to improve Kihon Kendo no Kata, Waza and then a little Jigeiko.
The two and a half hours were finished before you could say Boo and we all ended up wanting more but sadly couldn't.
A quick drive into town saw us end up chatting about our exploits over dinner and drinks.
A well worth trip and we'll happily do it all again sometime soon.
Yugenkai members Kristián, Dez & Drew went down to London for a weekend
of Kendo with Lynne & Tina from Edinburgh. A 5person team event that has
grown from strength to strength over the three years it has been running. A
MUST for everyone as the atmosphere and level of Kendo is just AWESOME.
Our team order, which we kept all through or fights was as follows: Senpo - Dez, Jiho - Tina, Chuken - Drew, Fukusho - Lynne & Taisho - Kristián
Coming 2nd in the pool to Mumeshi, beating Bristol and a team from France we were happy with our individual fights and team order.
Meeting another strong team from France we got stopped in our progression onwards but we all enjoyed the team event and looked forward to the individuals the next day.
Our team order, which we kept all through or fights was as follows: Senpo - Dez, Jiho - Tina, Chuken - Drew, Fukusho - Lynne & Taisho - Kristián
Coming 2nd in the pool to Mumeshi, beating Bristol and a team from France we were happy with our individual fights and team order.
Meeting another strong team from France we got stopped in our progression onwards but we all enjoyed the team event and looked forward to the individuals the next day.
News from Yugenkai
2010 Jan - April
2nd January 2010 - Kangeiko
Kristián & Dez
Dez & Gareth (Shiraoka Kendo Kai)
Words about the experience from Velda (Beginner)
On the 2nd of January we headed up to St Andrews for Kangeiko (outdoor winter practice) on the beach. We drove through a raging blizzard on the way up I was really beginning to wonder if this was a good idea! Once we got to St Andrew's the snow stopped but it was bitterly cold with a strong wind whipping up big waves. The patch of beach we were using looking ominously small as the tide came in.
My feet were freezing within about 5 minutes of starting but I found I got used to the cold once we started practicing. As I'm not in armour, I did lots of kirikaeshi and uchikomigeiko. More experienced kendoka were also kind enough to teach me how to receive kirikaeshi and how to do butsakarageiko. Sempai Bishop managed to get me into the surf by distracting me with learning to strike tsuki as the waves came in! The hour of practice passed really quickly and we headed off to the pub to warm up. I had a great time and would recommend that everyone comes along next year.
On the 2nd of January we headed up to St Andrews for Kangeiko (outdoor winter practice) on the beach. We drove through a raging blizzard on the way up I was really beginning to wonder if this was a good idea! Once we got to St Andrew's the snow stopped but it was bitterly cold with a strong wind whipping up big waves. The patch of beach we were using looking ominously small as the tide came in.
My feet were freezing within about 5 minutes of starting but I found I got used to the cold once we started practicing. As I'm not in armour, I did lots of kirikaeshi and uchikomigeiko. More experienced kendoka were also kind enough to teach me how to receive kirikaeshi and how to do butsakarageiko. Sempai Bishop managed to get me into the surf by distracting me with learning to strike tsuki as the waves came in! The hour of practice passed really quickly and we headed off to the pub to warm up. I had a great time and would recommend that everyone comes along next year.
11th Feb - Beginners Course
6th & 7th Mar - Seminar and grading weekend - Glasgow
20th - 21st March, University Taikai, Edinburgh
Words about the Seminar by Velda:
On Saturday 6th March I joined other Yugenkai members at the Glasgow seminar led by Mike Davis sensei (7th dan).
This was my first seminar, so I was a bit nervous! We started out with kata, which was a bit of a challenge as I've not done kata with Yugenkai yet. It was a good learning experience though and Steve Bishop sensei gave us some good guidance. At least now I have a bit of an idea about the first two kata. I was asked to demonstrate the first kata in front of the whole group which was a bit nerve wracking but everyone was very supportive.
The seminar continued with a good variety of different topics, including kiri-kaeshi. There was also a session on refereeing which helped me to get a bit more of an idea about what constitutes a valid strike. Overall it was a great day although very tiring as we went from 11-5 with two short breaks.
I think I'll need to build my fitness up before the next one!
On Saturday 6th March I joined other Yugenkai members at the Glasgow seminar led by Mike Davis sensei (7th dan).
This was my first seminar, so I was a bit nervous! We started out with kata, which was a bit of a challenge as I've not done kata with Yugenkai yet. It was a good learning experience though and Steve Bishop sensei gave us some good guidance. At least now I have a bit of an idea about the first two kata. I was asked to demonstrate the first kata in front of the whole group which was a bit nerve wracking but everyone was very supportive.
The seminar continued with a good variety of different topics, including kiri-kaeshi. There was also a session on refereeing which helped me to get a bit more of an idea about what constitutes a valid strike. Overall it was a great day although very tiring as we went from 11-5 with two short breaks.
I think I'll need to build my fitness up before the next one!
22nd April, Kendo exchange, Aberdeen
30th April - 2nd May, London Cup