Kendo in Trinidad

2007-05-23T15:09:00.000-04:00

Demonstration Aftermath (1)
The most obvious and direct impact of the event was the media exposure we received. As a consequence of 3 articles with photos and 2 TV reports (one quite extensive) the phone has been ringing everyday since, with people enquiring. Interestingly, about half of them are women. Usually, prior to the event the majority of callers would never even show up to class, but so far the majorty have. Also, when I ask them to stay a whole class and watch the vast majority don't last til the end. This time however, it's quite different: most have stayed the whole class and a very high proportion join and now attend twice a week.

I don't expect this trend to last but at least if in the process 2-3 new "serious" students join then it will have been a resounding succes.

2007-05-23T14:57:00.003-04:00

Class size & levels
It's an interesting situation these days with half of the class with less than 3 weeks of experience, and the other half composed of the usual bunch. J&K are not yet able to lead a beginners class comfortably and at the level I would like. At the same time the advanced group needs some special attention, in preparation for the tournament in October. So I'm caught having to split the class in two and run between one group and another. This is currently making things a bit challenging and impacts negatively, I'm sure, on the quality of the class. So depending on how long and how many beginners stick we may or not completely separate the classes. There are different ways to do that:

- start beginners classes on an additional day. The benefit is that there would be no pressure for time and this may be less intimidating to them. The disadvantages are a possible increase in rent, challenges in having some of the advanced guys to attend to give class instead of me at times, and less exposure to "real" kendo could lead to some demotivation.

- another option is to keep the start of the class for beginners and have the advanced start a bit later:
- 6:30 - 7:30 Beginners
- 7:30 - 9:00 Advance class

... I think I like this last option...
Also this is most likely a short term option, as the beginners who remain will be ready to participate with advanced within 2 months or so. When that happens we'll have to see if we have special team training separated from the rest of the team.

Invitation to VZ (MCBO)

2007-05-23T14:57:00.002-04:00

Invited by AG to practice with them for a whole weekend. We've been talking about this for a long time but we never got to organize ourselves and when we finally decided we postponed a few times. It DOES require some amount of planning on my side, as such a trip (to the extreme end of Venezuela) takes some time, and time is not something I have much of these days.

I'm going there with the assumption that they're asking me to give classes and train them as I do in T&T. This may be a wrong assumption but I'm going with that in mind and we'll see...

I wasn't able to have much communication with A, which means that there's no formal practice plan. 1 practice Friday, 2 Saturday, 1 Sunday. That's all I know so far, no idea of who's showing up and what level. As far as my past observations go, we're going to have to do a lot of kihon, kirikaeshi and work on other fundamentals such as "straightness". I know etiquette is going to be an issue, as the mcbo guys somewhat suffer from a lack of it...

Check out the pics: http://kendo.ipmtt.net/event/maracaibo-training/

IKF bogu donation

2007-05-23T14:57:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since the last post. The major development has been the granting by IKF/ZNKR of kendo equipment for T&T. I received news back in April/May that they were considering and were asking back then if we were able and willing. Of course there was no question! I received an official letter before Christmas stating that the equipment would be received by the embassy shortly and that I should get in contact with them. That was a great surprise, as even before I called them, a gentleman from the embassy called me to query about the class. The following week, two japanese employees of the embassy showed up for practice (she is 4 dan, he is 3 dan). It's been a blast ever since. She shows up pretty much at every practice, and even though her kendo is not very relevant for a bunch of young men, it's still a blast to keiko with her. He is older and less into Kendo than Aikido, so hasn't practiced much. But he shows up every now and then and we have a lot of fun talking and drinking (mostly the latter).

The following week, two japanese employees of the embassy showed up for practice (she is 4 dan, he is 3 dan). It's been a blast ever since. She shows up pretty much at every practice, and even though her kendo is not very relevant for a bunch of young men, it's still a blast to keiko with her. He is older and less into Kendo than Aikido, so hasn't practiced much. But he shows up every now and then and we have a lot of fun talking and drinking (mostly the latter).

It was very touching and somewhat surprising to see all those who attended; many old students, many parents I'd never seen. Also, it really hit me, realizing how this event was important (more on this in next posts).

Check it out: http://kendo.ipmtt.net/event-ikf-donation.html

Phone call today from Japanese Embassy

2006-10-28T14:57:00.000-04:00

Wonder what it could be :-D

Cross-training seminar this weekend

2006-10-28T14:40:00.000-04:00

Thursday to Sunday we invite a friend well seasoned in Aikido and Kendo over for a few days of fun and cross training. We will do some Aikido, some Kendo and more importantly some Aiki-Ken or whatever you call disarming techniques against a sword or weapon. Should be tons of fun, anywhere between 10-20 people should attend, all serious people of course (no clowns invited!). Will be practicing in a few locations and having good fun. More info to come.

Closing down the Chag dojo

2006-10-28T14:38:00.000-04:00

A friend who had invited us to give kendo classes in his mixed martial arts dojo had to close said dojo for lack of funds. Goes to show that good ideas and people aren't always enough to get such a noble project off the ground... Never was able to generate enough funds to pay the rent and the few who joined the dojo left when some crooks posing as instructors stole them and took them to their own dojos.

Backyard Tameshigiri Pics

2006-09-16T03:21:00.000-04:00

Old poster

2006-09-14T16:46:00.001-04:00

Found this old ad... Friend of mine trying promote our class in his dojo. Looks pretty cool, except the way the shinai is held...

2006-08-28T23:19:00.000-04:00

no kendo for the past week

Had to leave urgently for a business proposal in Suriname, and spent the week there. Not much exercise during that week, and lots of frustration and steam that I will have to get rid of at practice tomorrow!!

2006-08-13T21:11:00.000-04:00

Bamboo cutting

Had fun today cutting some bamboo with D at the new house. Originally though of cutting some banana trees to clear up the area behind the house but that turned out to be way too boring and easy. Bamboo on the other hand turned out to be as fun as last time in Barbados. My Hanwei sword was quite up to the challenge against some pretty thick bamboo. It went through 2" pieces like butter. Much harder were the 3-4" bamboo with thick "skin". The blade bent quite a few times, but after some straightening it went back to work just fine. D swung wide a couple of time and almost cut off his left leg but otherwise it was a lot of fun and we sure will do this again soon.

Other Kendo dojo in T&T (2)

2006-08-10T23:57:00.000-04:00

This interesting piece of information is posted on the website of a martial arts organization I mentioned previously: "May 2nd: The Kendo classes have started in Barataria and will soon spread to the other ... Branches." Things are getting exciting...

2006-08-09T23:08:00.000-04:00

Property

Don't think it's going to work out. Simply too far; a good 20mins drive from the highway, past farms and through a very bumpy road (almost requiring a 4x4). Most people don't own a car in T&T, so there's a heavy reliance on (private) taxis. Problem is the taxis usually travel on main routes, picking up and dropping off clients on the way (up to 5 per car). Getting there would require a lot of hustling and convincing taxi drivers to go out of their way to reach this faraway place. Then the way back would be impossible (taxis don't wait).

So the offered location couldn't be used during the week for most people. Weekend would be more possible because schedules are more flexible... but the problem would remain: our dojo would be called the "Inaka dojo" (in Trini the "bush dojo"). We already have trouble attracting enough people in central areas, how are we going to attract enough people for classes there? Here are some options:

1- place is used as a "retreat" for weekend and special events
2- dojo is targeting the kids from the direct neighborhood (about 150 families, on average 2 kids per family, 5-16 years old)

To balance these options we have to consider the costs:
- property will be offered for free or sold at symbolic price (assuming proper proposal is made)
- building will cost between $100,000 and $200,000 TT (15k-30k USD)
- time spent managing the construction and maintenance of the property

On the positive side, no one will be interested on this land for a long while, so there's no rush to decide.

The NGO managing the housing project has other projects all around T&T. If provided with a proper proposal, they would be interested with a "community-based" dojo. But the question is, who would go there to teach?

Not sure what to do...

2006-08-09T22:44:00.000-04:00

Tatemae & Honne

... or the face & the truth.

Things will get exciting in the wild world of Kendo in Trinidad. With the largest provider of martial arts in the country now promoting Kendo just like Subway could promote its new sandwich, we now have to develop the keen sense of self-restraint that Kendo teaches. (I suppose Kendo also teaches to attack relentlessely and question crap, but I will conveniently ignore this for the purpose of making a point).

So we will be confronted with something we may be uncomfortable with. It may or may not have anything to do with Kendo as we know it. It may make us look good, it may make us look like a bunch of maniacs. Either way, all we can do is acknowledge and say "wow, very interesting".

The last thing we need right now is some enemies, and as such, the last thing we should do is disrespect them, however questionable their sport may be.

What is bad about having enemies?
- small country, word goes around quick
- we need all the help we can get in promoting Kendo, so one person pissed off by us, is one person too many, especially if that person is at the head of a dojo
- they have bigger muscles than us...
- who's going to invite us for demos next time?

What are signs of disrespect in this world?
- laughing or any facial expression
- not returning their bows
- interrupting them
- questioning their credibility
- asking too many questions

ok JR?

2006-08-09T06:58:00.000-04:00

Other Kendo Dojo in T&T?

It took longer than I thought but it happened: a Karate dojo now claiming they do Kendo. It's actually nothing new, as many questionable characters have already told me that they do/have done kendo in the past. I've also been told of a couple of places teaching iaido/kenjutsu (see earlier posts). Of course this is all a great joke, as none have received proper and legitimate accreditation or even trained for any decent amount of time. They are merely Karate dojos claiming to teach the use of the Japanese sword either because they smell the $$ opportunity or because they want to impress wannabe 'samurais'.

Well whatever the reason, it now appears that there will be a "Kendo Team Demo" during a Karate tournament later this month. I can't wait to see this...

2006-08-08T22:02:00.000-04:00

Property visit (2)

Finally got to see the low cost land managed by my boss's father. It can easily be explained in one word: Bush... (the vegetal type, not the dumb american one). About 20 minutes from the highway, at the end of an endless bumpy road. Pictures and comments to come.

2006-08-07T00:57:00.001-04:00

Property visit

Got stood up for a planned visit of the land that is proposed for potential "kendo dojo". Hopefully this week.

2006-08-07T00:57:00.000-04:00

Blades in the country

Must've posted about this before, but bringing swords in the country is a pain. One of the new guys mentioned "he knows someone" at customs (heard countless times before) that can get blades through easily. It would be great to have this contact; after all we're in 3rd world country where this kind of stuff happens. We shall see in the next couple of weeks...

2006-08-07T00:16:00.000-04:00

Ideas for Kendo writings

- beginner curriculum (with text, photo & video)
- shiai training
- advanced training
- warmup & stretching guide
- kendo and the blade

2006-08-03T20:04:00.000-04:00

dedicated dojo in trinidad?

I was supposed to meet with a real estate developer tonight to visit a couple of locations available at a ridiculous price because they are government land being distributed to low income families or community-based purposes. My "real martial arts training center" project seems to be acceptable to their board (they are actually a non-profit ngo mandated by government to distribute land).

Well like so many times in Trinidad, the meeting was cancelled because he was sick. Will have to reschedule...

2006-08-03T19:45:00.000-04:00

good news!

Received yesterday a letter from ikf (funnily renamed "fik", wonder how the germans like that) unofficially confirming that t&t will receive bogus sometime before the end of the year, as part of the "bogu donation program" for this year. every year bogus/shinai are donated by the "japan auto racing association" (!) to countries around the world. Countries like Macau, Congo, Iran,... and others like Venezuela (this last year), Hungary and Aruba. Not sure how the selection works but it seems somewhat arbitrary. Of course we're very happy about this and there is no doubt it will help the development of Kendo in T&T. Normally the bogu are sent to the Japanese embassy of the country, and the Kendo Federation/Association president has to go and pick them up. No problem for us, since I have a good relationship with the Embassy here.

How this came about? Well I wrote a letter

I think that, in order, those were the significant steps:
- writing the original letter
- following up with "kendo in trinidad" story and update
- displaying proper Kendo the first time they saw us (including my 4-dan test and passing) in Aruba
- following up with AJKF, including possible involvement by our regional "sponsor" Ebihara-sensei

Miyazaki Masahiro Kendo Men Strikes

2006-07-24T18:25:00.000-04:00


Miyazaki Masahiro, one of the most popular Japanese Kendoka, maybe due to his spectacular and speedy style.

KEN - the movie...

2006-07-24T18:23:00.000-04:00


Very cool video of a movie that came out many years ago.

2006-07-22T13:53:00.002-04:00

Progress...

The two guys who visited VZ with me impressed everyone there. Now the question is how do they climb up to the next level? In the case of H, after about 5-6 months of painful progress his body finally seems to adapt and remember. His footwork has improved considerably in the past couple of months, and his exam in VZ showed he finally reached the appropriate level. His back foot still is dragging somewhat but a whole lot less thab before. Also, as he gets tired he quickly goes back to his old habit (slow and limping back leg). Trouble still lies in his tenouchi and ki-ken-tai, but I'm very satisfied with the recent progress. Perhaps it is time for him to wear the bogu.

Jr now needs to develop a better sense of seme, as well as start learning and applying more of a variety of oji/shikake waza. Otherwise, his footwork and kihon (except a horrible Do) are excellent, all he really needs is more exposure to higher level Kendo. Not sure to what extent he practiced enough with higher grades as opposed to the kyu in VZ but I am concerned he will judge himself based on the poor kendo he saw then, not the higher end that some display (Ariel, Ebihara,...).

2006-07-22T13:53:00.001-04:00

Surprise practice

Every now and then the planets line up and we have a great practice with a good group. Yesterday even without Jr and E, we still had a great time and lots of focused and intense Kendo. A new guy joined and All. brought a foreign dude shopping around for something to do. My mom also saw a practice for the first time. All were very satisfied and impressed.

The group atmosphere is at a high and anyone revolving around would want to join a group that's so tight & intense yet fun and relaxed.

2006-07-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

First practice after VZ

Had a light practice after coming back from VZ, footwork, lots of kihon and kirikaeshi/uchikomi at the end. K is back with a vengance and a new haircut. Looks like seeing his younger brother traveling for kendo (for the second time) got him to straighten up and motivated to do the same. That's very good news for the future of the team. With these two properly trained we can easily defeat most other countries in the region. Mexico and Aruba could pose a problem, due to their gymnastic-like style of Kendo. We have a year to prepare and build the team we need for Columbia.

2006-07-16T23:43:00.002-04:00

Footwork...

Apparently Trinidad Kendo has great footwork... Constant praise all weekend in VZ about how great our footwork is and how straight our posture is. It baffles me why people practicing kendo for so many years under the guidance of great senseis can say such things. For years their teachers have repeatedly taught them simple concepts that they apparently can't apply? What is so great that we do that others can't do? Why can't the lower ranked senseis and sempais just reinforce what their own senseis taught them?

We don't have a secret formula in Trinidad. I teach what I was taught. My students work hard, they follow instructions and they see positive results in the efforts they put in. They don't skip levels; before they learn how to hit someone, they need to know where their body should be and how to move it there. If it takes 6 months to get there then so be it. No one wears the bogu until they know how to move around.

Someone I really enjoy once said to me this weekend "your feet are like your horse. I don't care how good you are with a weapon, if your horse can't bring you to battle, you are useless.". Cheers to that!

2006-07-16T23:43:00.001-04:00

Results in VZ

Great results! J passed shodan with flying colours and H surprised everyone at his first attempt with bogu (other than the time we used him as a crash test dummy). J's shiai was pathethic, he lost to a shinai flicker because he had no energy and couldn't reach him. The fact that the idiot had 9 (!) beers a couple of hours earlier might explain that. I think this was a good lesson. Otherwise they really stood out in their respective ranks.

2006-07-16T23:43:00.000-04:00

Kendo trip to Venezuela

Leaving for the second leg of the Venezuelan Team selections with E, J & H. E will be participating mildly due to a recent operation although we'll see him beat up a few guys by the end of the weekend. J is going to participate in the "goodwill" tournament and try for his shodan. He'll probably get it without trouble, but he'll also be reminded by a few that he just started his kendo journey. H is still not ready for bogu, much work needs to be done on his footwork and tenouchi before that happens. It will be a great experience for him that should be very good for his progress.

For my part, I'm just going there to have some fun and meet old friends. I need some challenge and I know I'll get it there. Just two and a half days though, but it should be a lot of fun and action, as it always is...

2006-07-16T23:42:00.000-04:00

Back from VZ

Interesting trip this weekend. We arrived in Maracaibo to be told that it looked like we wouldn't have much opportunity to practice, but it turned out to be the opposite. Lots of great chances to keiko and lots of good fun too. There was the usual load of constant miscommunication by the hosts (used to this since Cuba and Aruba) but things turned out very well.

Keiko Friday evening followed by many beers and dinner.

Team selection part 2 for VZ Saturday morning. Long and relaxing break until 5pm then Jigeiko, Goodwill and Mawari Geiko until 9pm. Then some odd party with not enough beer and weird music.

Sunday was for exams. As for every other activity, poorly planned and late start. Since our fight was at 2pm we had to get it over with quickly. We forced our way through the door before the end of the event but it was worth it as we had all the time we needed at the airport.

Overall and great weekend that felt like a week! More reports on the specifics are following.

2006-05-27T19:36:00.000-04:00

The monster in you...

Did an interesting experiment yesterday, put a reatively new guy in bogu after maybe 2-3 months of practices. He was not progressing at an acceptable speed in my mind, and needed to understand what he had to improve: speed, zanshin, kiai.

I usually don't encourage newbies to wear bogu until they are absolutely ready, which can take anywhere from 2 to 6 months on average. Well D-san certainly didn't expect what he got... After only 5 minutes of uchikomi he was in a state, out of breath and seemed to be in serious pain and panick. Had to stop a couple of times to explain that all he had to do was to attack straight when he had a chance. Men. That's all. But because Jr was going after him when he didn't attack or when he protected himself he got hit a lot and that seemed to bother him. Fortunately, one of the goals was achieved in that he started yelling like a madman. Got the monster out... Even after keiko he was still yelling as we were talking to him !? Odd, but hopefully that's a sign that he's coming out of his shell. For probably the next 2 months he'll keep on working on his basics, without bogu, but will have to keep in mind what he hopefully learned yesterday... He has good potential and sure has his heart at the right place, but he needs to step up his intensity, speed and footwork.

2006-05-24T23:47:00.000-04:00

Tameshigiri results

so what did I learn cutting bamboo? well, that my cut is pretty straight but follow through is short, due to the tendency in kendo to hit and stop the cut fairly high. I was originally unsure of how the shinken would react to the bamboo so I was holding back a bit. Otherwise my right cut was satisfying. On the left side however it was another story. I was quickly reminded that I had to move my body more in the angle of the blade and back leg, just like for the right side. Except it's not a natural movement in Kendo, but that's because we're lazy and forget about it, and don't focus on actually cutting. Because of the position of the hands on the sword, the swing has little power unless the body is angled in the same direction. Hands are crossed and angle is wrong systematically. But when tilting the body to the left in the same plane as the sword direction (and the back leg) the cut is straight. Easier said than done...

2006-05-24T22:53:00.000-04:00

Tameshigiri

The evening before my departure he invited me to his house for dinner and some test-cutting (tameshigiri) on bamboo. He pick a few different sizes, from about 2 inches to 5-6 inches wide. His shinken was nice and well balanced, thick blade but not awkward at all. Quite comfortable actually. It was my first time cutting bamboo and it was great! My first victim was the 2 inch "twig" that I took care of very easily, we then moved to more beefy stuff. The challenge in test cutting is to cut with the same angle as the blade. Sounds easy, but very challenging; the blade doesn't go straight unless you make it go straight. So easy to use too much right hand and the blade ends up curving and getting stuck in the the fibrous bamboo. Was a great experience. More on this later.

2006-05-24T22:52:00.001-04:00

Kendo in Barbados?

Just spent three days for work in Barbados, and had found a Japanese/Canadian man teaching Aikido who happens to be a 3-dan in Kendo. After spending two evenings with him, he made it clear that he didn't have the patience and energy to start Kendo in the island. I totally understand, considering the population is 5 times less than Trinidad and Bajans don't seem to be the most committed people (for something like Kendo anyway). His Aiki students showed limited interest in Kendo. I'll visit Bdos more regularly in the coming year so I plan on bringing my bogu next time.

2006-05-24T22:52:00.000-04:00

Aiki-ken

During my time in Bdos, my new Aikido friend invited me to a class where they were practicing Aiki-ken; disarming opponent with a sword. That was a lot of fun, and quite difficult to do correctly. Something I want to do more regularly and hopefully introduce to my guys next time he visits Trinidad.

Cross training

2006-05-14T01:18:00.000-04:00

No comments... relaxing after some grappling. Old photo discovered on my PC. This was about 7-8 months ago...?

2006-05-07T10:23:00.000-04:00

Central practice

A few new members joined when we launched the new location. Most of them with lenghty experience in MA (some are "sifu", "sensei" in various disciplines). After a few weeks of practice (at a rate of 1 practice a week) none are left. They stop by from time to time though, but have injuries of one type or another. Otherwise the dojo is very nice and the guy in charge is the nicest guy around. It is costing him an arm and a leg to get this project going and he's doing his best to get people interested but from our perspective Kendo seems to be too tough for people so far.

2006-05-06T15:37:00.000-04:00

Sad news...

yesterday, while celebrating my birthday in a downtown restaurant someone broke a window of my truck and stole two bogus usually used by students. Not sure what the thiefs will do with smelly armors. Hopefully they tossed them soon after and they will be recovered, but I'm not holding my breath.

2006-05-01T01:02:00.000-04:00

Kendo things that make you go hmmm...

1- When in seiza, why is the bokken blade towards the outside and the shinai tsuru facing the floor ?
2- Really, what is the Tare for ?
3- What's all the fuss with eye protection against "potential" shinai splinters ?
4- Why is the 3rd bokken kihon "Harai waza" ?
5- Why learn waki/hasso kamae ?
6- Why isn't the protection on the right kote systematically different than the left ?
7- Why do 99.9% of the Kendoka not know any Seitei Iai developed by AJKF ?
8- Why is the shinai so much longer than the bokken?
9- Why aren't shinai ready to use after buying them (ie, you have to prep them) ?
10- Why isn't itto-ryu taught?
11- Why each sensei teach a different way of doing kata
12- Why do "Americanized" Japanese sensei (issei/nisei) talk so much during a practice, yet sensei traveling from Japan barely talk?
13- does anyone in Kendo really know the difference between seigan and chudan no kamae?
14- why do tare and do last a lifetime but men and kote don't ?
15- why do they teach "the right way to cut" but we never get to ever cut anything?

2006-05-01T00:34:00.001-04:00

Upcoming plans

Projects and activities for the coming year:
- keep on hosting "Martial Arts in the Savannah" lime, always fun and a great chance to meet people
- Visit Venezuela in July (Maracaibo) for the second part of their team selection. Will not compete of course but support and attend a few sessions hopefully
- Hopefully host sensei in Trinidad either before or after tournament. Have yet to extend the invitation though...

Everything else is still TBD.

2006-05-01T00:34:00.000-04:00

Latest development

In no particular order:
- passed my 4-dan in Aruba
- brought a whole team there that performed quite well
- went to Venezuela for the first leg of their national team selection championships
- started a new class in Chaguanas (central Trinidad)
- lost a few students, gained a few
- group is growing at a normal "kendo" rate, the core being pretty strong and improving steadily
- had the visit of E a few times over the past year, always great fun for me and the guys
- lost access to our main location last month due to the church needing the hall full time during their renovations. this will last long enough to warrant us looking for a new place. Two-three potential locations in mind
- otherwise still practicing 3 times a week in the two remaining locations

2006-05-01T00:20:00.000-04:00

One more try

Haven't been blogging for a very long time. About a year as a matter of fact. So to celebrate, (and also since I seem to have a few new readers) let's have another go at it!

2006-04-29T20:32:00.000-04:00

this is a test using my treo

title says it all...

New life...

2005-06-25T18:06:00.000-04:00

Back to blogging after a while and much change in my life. Started working for a local company and am in charge of marketing, sales and a bunch of operations. For the last month it has kept me really busy and I haven't taken the time to write down my thoughts.

Kendo hasn't really slowed down, except last week while I was gone to Miami for a week. I expected the guys to practice in my absence but apparently they had "more important" things to do.... I was disappointed to hear that most didn't show up for practice. The younger ones are in the middle of their term exams. I guess that's a valid reason.

Otherwise, practice has been good, with more time spent with full bogu, more jigeiko and even some practice shiai from time to time. I'm giving them more and more material specific to shiai and they seem to get it:
- rules & regulations
- oji / shikake waza
- counter reactions
- kiai, timing, zanshin...
- breathing, moving
I won't go into specifics... But the idea is to increase the tempo and more importantly to make them sensitive to added pressure without losing control of their basics. I think if we can achieve this by Aruba then they'll be ready.

Re: Meeting tomorrow - Dojo & Federation matters

2005-05-21T17:51:00.000-04:00

Please note that my wife is organizing a fundraising BBQ and sells $25
tickets for BBQ boxes (Rib House). She'll have a few tickets for sale
so bring some cash with you ;-)

Eddy

Eddy wrote:
> Hi everyone, please note that tomorrow, Sunday May 22nd we will hold
a
> general meeting to discuss Kendo matters and dojo/federation
> organization for the coming year. All people involved in the dojo
over
> the past year, whether past or present members are invited to provide
> their support. Find attached the details:
>
> Purpose:
> To establish Federation outline and tasks
> To announce and assign tasks for upcoming events & activities
>
> Location: Queen's Park Savannah, across from QRC
> Time: 12 pm (noon) - 3 pm
>
> Hope to see you there,
>
> Eddy

Current Curriculum

2005-05-21T17:31:00.000-04:00

As explained a few posts back, I've changed significantly the curriculum some weeks ago. Now that most of the guys wear bogu I started doing much more uchikomi-style practices. After some basics (suriashi, tai sabaki, shomen uchi,...) we line up in pairs a start:
- Kirikaeshi (5~7)
- Shomen issoku itto (large)
- very close distance (x5)
- kensen/kensen distance (x5)
- far distance (x5)
- Shomen nissoku itto (large)
- far distance (x5)
...Sometimes kote, do & kote-men also

From this point we either increase the intensity and build up all the way to kakari geiko or we keep on with technical stuff (I started showing them Oji/Shikake techniques recently). Actually these days, with the stifling heat, I tend to go with the latter...

1- increase in intensity
- Shomen (x3) in rapid succession
- Shomen (x3) in rapid succession 1 kiai
- Shomen (x5) in rapid succession
- Shomen (x5) in rapid succession 1 kiai
- Wait for my "men" signal and they go
- Uchikomi
- men-kote-do-men
- kote/men-kote/men-kote/men
- men-taiatari-hikimen (x3) (x5)
- men-kote-do-kote/men-kote/do-men-hikimen-men
- kakarigeiko (x5)
- hai-gakari (x5)
- kirikaeshi

2- technical stuff (examples, depending on the mood and requirement)
- work on seme
- pressure on mune / tsuki / eyes
- too maai
- men, kote or do
- sachi men (started only last week)
- grip exercises ("tighten the towel") - no footwork
- one hand (left)
- two hands (right stays light)
- step forward & sqeeze (just extending arms, no hit), back to kamae
- forward and back non-stop (no hit, just extend)
- add the hit, focusing on slicing forward
- taiatari
- Oji / Shikake
- so far only worked briefly on debana, nuki, suriage & harai
...

First keiko

2005-05-21T17:27:00.000-04:00

Had the guys fight each other for the first time yesterday. Well actually it was the second time; about 8 months ago I did the experiment but it failed miserably as they were just not prepared and their basics were still so poor. Yesterday however I was quite pleased with the result. Granted, it was only 2 brothers (K & Jr.) but it was very intense and surprisingly straight. Jr surprised K with a couple of good shots and great zanshin. K was nervous in that first match. He whooped Jr's behind in a rematch that lasted less than a minute. Both were very straight and showed a lot of kiai. That's until they got really tired, about two minutes into it, haha! So the only criticism I got make was that they had to be able to keep it going for at least 5 minutes. Otherwise they kept it simple and I was very surprised to see some very nice Debana and Kaeshi. They'd only been practicing this for a couple of weeks so it's nice to see they're learning well and able to perform under stress. More of these kind of mini-shiai to come.

Meeting tomorrow - Dojo & Federation matters

2005-05-21T15:49:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, please note that tomorrow, Sunday May 22nd we will hold a
general meeting to discuss Kendo matters and dojo/federation
organization for the coming year. All people involved in the dojo over
the past year, whether past or present members are invited to provide
their support. Find attached the details:

Purpose:
To establish Federation outline and tasks
To announce and assign tasks for upcoming events & activities

Location: Queen's Park Savannah, across from QRC
Time: 12 pm (noon) - 3 pm

Hope to see you there,

Eddy

busy busy

2005-05-20T17:18:00.000-04:00

Haven't blogged in another long while. I started a new job that demands much of my time, especially because of the planning that is required to launch a whole marketing department. Kendo hasn't slowed down though and actually it's nice to keep going at the same rate. Through thick and thin, Kendo has kept me sane and I'm happy to see that even with a new job I can still keep up. Blogging has been another story obviously. I don't question the validity of writing down my notes in hopes that in hindsight it will serve a purpose (mine probably, when I'm too old or blase to remember the "good ole times") but I think I should start babbling less and focus more on quality posts. I've been posting mostly observations and not so much thoughts on the experience so far. I think I should start doing that more.

Weather ...

2005-05-14T17:15:00.000-04:00

Rainy season started last month and since then, the weather has become more and more hot and humid. Soooo hot. Last year we didn't practice in town, where there's less wind than in the east. So when a few weeks ago the heat fell upon us it was a shock to me. Reminded me of some practices in Seoul and Tokyo in August... Looks like we'll have to live through a few months of this; I guess it'll help prepare us to Aruba.

Pause at ISPS

2005-05-10T23:47:00.000-04:00

Had to pause classes at the international school because of my new work. Since I'll likely spend most of my time down south, it's unlikely I'll be able to manage giving 2 hours per week up north. Specially in the next couple of months... Perhaps next semester though, we'll see. The coordinator seemed genuinly sad, as it had impacted enourmously on a kid who'se bad behavior at school and at home had drastically changed for the better. His mom was even thinking of private lessons (!). I kinda feel bad but I had told them it might happen and alsowith only 2 kids this semester... But in the long run, I hope to get something going with them.

More and more fun with swords

2005-05-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

Today 2 hour class maybe for the first time ever; we usually start late and finish way late. We did 1 hour of kata and 1 hour of mawari keiko (uchikomi). Kata was ok, but I realised that much work still needs to be done for success in Aruba. Still some guys messing up basic things like proper bowing and hand placement. More work on the horizon. I also realized that not everyone going there will be satisfied with the tournament and will want their money's worth in seminar/exam. So although I was planning on focusing very hard on shiai stuff, I might tone it down a bit to make place for more kihon. Anyway, kata was good for the young ones, still improving quick as they go and as I give them grief, but shaky for the older guy(s).

After kata, we did a good hour of uchikomi (lots of kirikaeshi). Then for the first time in bogu I introduced them to the sweet world of Oji and Shikake waza. We didn't have time to do much, but I gave them a good taste of what's to come. We did manage to fit a good session of debana (men debana men) and nuki (kote nuki men). Pretty good results I should say. Saw too many small men instead of the still required big men but I can't blame them for trying; that, to me, is a good sign that they're ready and want to learn the nuances of sashi-men... I was concerned their form would be questionable but they were pretty clean if a bit off center. Noticing that they weren't so straight in their attacks we did a bunch of hai-gakari. That got them tired, centered and focused. End of class. As I said, a tasting of what's to come ;-)

Goju ryu karate

2005-05-08T23:40:00.000-04:00

Saturday, as usual, we practiced at the old place, where there's a Karate class just before us. Mario the sensei also tries to practice with us as much as possible and did get his 2 kyu last exam. So even though he attends much less than others, he's got the goods. Well this time I asked him to return the favor and give us an introduction to Goju-ryu karate. We did only a 30 mns warmup with very basic drills and stances but 1- it was excruciating (to me anyway) and 2-it was quite fascinating. I found myself quite comfortable with the (somewhat-odd-for-a-kendoka) footwork and body/hips movements. We have to try that again.

After the quick preview (which we will try again for sure) we went full speed for 1 hour in the scorching midday heat. Lots of kirikaeshi again and uchikomi drills. Fun Fun Fun !!

Kendo... for real

2005-05-04T23:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the first time we did what I consider real Kendo. For the first time, almost everyone got in bogu and we spent the night doing kirikaeshi and uchikomi. We've done that before but this time it was facing each other (2 lines). That meant receiving kirikaeshi... That was a disaster at first but they slowly got to speed. Depending on motodachi, they were reacting in a way or another. Flashback to the exam when E was motodachi and they didn't know how to react to his style. My main complaint was that they weren't confident enough to "do their own thing". With everyone in bogu now we can finally start working on that!

Main problems detected today:
- receiving tai-atari
- proper count 4/5 in kirikaeshi
- proper swings with kote on
- speed to put bogu on
- general laziness in lining up and ready to go
- proper hit on top of men

I had to explain why we were suddenly doing all this... prior to today, they were still doing their waza on each other's shinai (without bogu) or on either me or K. But since I gave them the ok to wear the bogu a few weeks ago, there's now nothing to stop us from "going at it".

Now the fun starts...

Exams

2005-05-04T12:15:00.000-04:00

Forgot to report on the first grading session... We held a "surprise" shinsa 3 weeks ago, the first ever... Normally I would'lve liked to prepare them a bit better but I felt timing was right. So I told them to be ready for the exam held a week later.

It took everyone by surprise, but that's how I passed many of my exams: last minute notice. Normally a shinsa shouldn't the "big" thing it seems to be for most. Normally you should be ready to test any time your asked.

It consisted of:
- kirikaeshi
- kihon waza
- kakari geiko
- kata (1-3)
The reason for this sudden plan is that I ultimately wanted them to be ready for the tournament in Aruba where an 1-kyu shinsa will be held. Since the best way to get them ready is to actually do an exam they tested for various ranks depending on their respective levels. At first they were concerned about what/how they should do. I told them specifically what we were looking for and we spent a few hours reviewing basics, proper reigi and kata.

The result: everyone passed! That's no surprise of course... There was no plan to fail anyone and the worst that could happen would be a downgrade from one proposed kyu to another. No surprises either on their performance, except.... I knew very well what their weak points were and what needed to be worked on but the advantage of this exercise was that I could have a better, more objective view of the situation. Thankfully E was motodachi so they could focus on the job at hand. In reality though, I was very surprised to see they reacted with much difficulty to E's presence and style. My guess is that they were uncomfortable with his active role (as opposed to the "easier to handle" passive moto) with the consequence being that most of them lost the little self-confidence they had accumulated so far.

Beyond mechanical/technical considerations, what I identified as the biggest problems were:
1- lack of confidence in one's actions and ability to adjust to new or unusual motodachi
2- lack of pressure and aggressiveness in attacks

We filmed the exam and will review asap, so everyone can see themselves and so we can have a good laugh!

I made some fancy diplomas, one in English, one in Japanese (including their names in Katakana) for each of them. Spent a looong time making those, they better hang them proudly on their walls !! Have a look: http://kendo.ipmtt.net/images/Pic1.jpg http://kendo.ipmtt.net/images/Pic2.jpg

And the "award" ceremony was during our little event in the park:
http://kendo.ipmtt.net/images/ceremony.jpg

Lazy...

2005-05-02T12:13:00.000-04:00

Haven't blogged in a while, certainly not because of a lack of reasons to. The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least, and I just haven't found the energy to sit down and type. I have a long list of things to say...

I'm currently stuck at the immigration office for what could take most of the morning so I'll try to make progress on my trusty Treo.
UPDATE: wow, immigration record, only one hour this time !!

Pics from Venezuela

2005-04-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

Story to come...

International School status

2005-04-19T17:24:00.000-04:00

Not so hot this semester as only 2 kids joined. One was the least attentive student yet progressing the most and a newbie. Two classes so far and still debating whether or not to cancel this semester. The coordinator tells me all classes have significantly dropped other than the usual football, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics so not to be too concerned. But I think there's a bit more to it; it probably has to do with the word of mouth: "Kendo's really hard !". I have to think about it... Before class today I was thinking "That's it, last class" but afted an hour I started having fun and seeing them improve by the minute. So now I don't know anymore...

On the positive side, we now have a nice wooden floor, right up on the stage!

Off to Venezuela

2005-04-19T17:23:00.000-04:00

In order to get some equipment from E-bogu to the dojos of Venezuela I decided to hand carry it, avoiding the shipping, taxes and duties of that country. There's a full bogu, a titanium men, about 10 hakama/keikogi combos, 15 shinais and a bunch of other varied items. That means I barely have space for my underwear... Certainly no question my bogu & shinai stay here, so they'll lend me what's necessary there.

E decided to tag along, although for him it might end up being more of a sightseeing trip, as he injured his right wrist during practice last week. We're going to spend 5 days there, I can't wait... Lots of Kendo but it looks like they're planning to take us out quite a bit. No problem! I really need that change in pace. Things are getting heavy around here.

Excellent turnout at Kendo demo

2005-04-18T12:33:00.000-04:00

The title says it all. In addition to all of my regulars, a few
different disciplines were present (details at
kendo.ipmtt.net/event.html). Everyone present told me it was a great
idea and was very enjoyable. I was concerned there might have been
some hot heads or factions present, but everyone pretty much blended
comfortably. Amazingly, things started on time, all my guys showed up
(the ones I expected anyway), and all the groups went along naturally,
ie everyone graciously took their turn without any bumps. Even better,
nobody monopolized the stage, as everyone kept it under 20-30 minutes.
Also I was expecting to see some odd MA, but everyone looked really
good and solid. Real good feeling...

Had looong conversations with local observers of martial arts, some
active, some not, and all had the same thing to say: the different
groups (they were absent) just can't sit down and talk. An event like
this helps bring everyone closer and encourage the kids to open their
eyes. The old guard is just too stuck in the past to be able to let it
go and get things organized. So maybe it does take a "foreigner" like
me to take a new and refreshing position, and encourage dialogue.

It's clear to me that there's a need to organise this regularly. The
feedback I get is similar, so figured we'll try to put this into place
every 3 months. As I mentioned, it's a good opportunity to
network/break barriers and promote in a public space. You never know,
it might grow into something interesting...

Getting equipment through customs, a cultural shock

2005-04-16T17:24:00.000-04:00

Can't talk about that right now, I'm still shaking fromin anger and frustration... But it sure is a revealing cultural experience worthy of a thick book !

History of Kendo

2005-04-13T20:09:00.000-04:00

For some very interesting insight on the "real" origin of Kendo, have a
look at:
http://www.kendo-world.com/articles/magazine/Synopsis_of_kendo/index.php

It's an excellent research and analysis by a prominent non-Japanese
expert living in Japan. Make sure you read it all, you might be a bit
surprised...

Eddy

Breaking things down

2005-04-11T13:54:00.000-04:00

For each technique or kata I rarely ask them to focus on more than one or two aspects at a time. What is the advantage of doing that?
- they are more focused
- it makes it easier to present
- it gives us more things to do in 2 hours

I know a lot (most) MA instructor like to bark:
"use your left hand"
"you're too close"
"to the right"...
and on and on...
... Until the poor guy is completely confused, doesn't know what he eventually do right and feels ignorant.

I know how difficult Kendo is, with all the things you have to do at the same time, so I try to simplify as best as I can. For example, we might practice large men x 3. At first I'd tell them to focus on proper swing and kime, not to worry about speed or fumikomi. Then we'd add proper body position ("straight through") and maai, then speed and timing.

Or we might be practicing the dreaded kata #3. Depending on who's there at the time I might tell them not to worry so much about the tsuki deflections or even the complicated footwork, but instead to make sure their body is facing the opponent and the movement comes from the hips. Same with #1. Most people use their arms too much (from jodan to men) where the hit really comes from the hips.

I think breaking things down like this helps them put their focus on the most important items one at a time. It also makes for a very progressive class where we go from a basic step/movement and build it up to a whole technique. What I like to call a logical progression, one of my favorite topics. More on that later.

First Anniversary Kendo Celebration

2005-04-11T13:52:00.000-04:00

This is a reminder for the event on Sunday. Please find attached at
the bottom, my original message.

Note the location: "across from QRC, near the coconut vendors"

Hope to see you all there, specially the ones we haven't seen in a long time !!

Eddy

This letter is to invite you to the First Year Anniversary Celebration
of the establishment of our Kendo activities in Trinidad & Tobago.
Over the past year we have taught Japanese Fencing classes to many
locals all over the country. As you might know, we now have classes in
two locations: St-Augustine and Port of Spain. Among our group we are
lucky to have very dynamic members eager to learn and progress in this
traditional Japanese discipline.

Looking back, it's been a very exciting year and more is yet to come.
We plan on using this occasion to introduce ourselves to the Martial
Arts community and in doing so, hope to establish solid relationships
with other members of other disciplines. The details of the event are
as follows:

Date: Sunday April 17th
Time: 12pm (noon) - 5pm
Location: Queen's Park Savannah (across from QRC, near the coconut vendors)
Program (starting at 1pm):
- Kendo demonstration (1 hour)
- Kata
- Bokken Kihon
- Keiko (free combat)
- Promotion results
- Other martial arts demonstrations, including Iaido, Kung Fu, Tai
Chi, Karate and more... (Feel free to participate by demonstrating
your own discipline)
- Food and Drinks!

Invited guests: All the past and present Kendo members, their friends
and families. All our friends from the martial arts community. Members
of the media will also be notified.

We hope to see you there! Please feel free to bring your family and
other members of your dojo. For more information on our activities,
contact Eddy @ 787-9100 or visit http://kendo.ipmtt.net

Sincerely,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Message
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an invitation to celebrate the first anniversary of the
founding of our Kendo dojo in Trinidad (Shoshin Kendo Dojo). As you
know, we've been growing from the first day we started and I was lucky
enough to pass along some of my knowledge to many people over the past
year. It's now time to look back and appreciate the result of our work.

It will also be a good opportunity to display our craft to our friends
and family, as well as other people not so familiar with Kendo.

In order to celebrate in a proper manner, I thought it was a good idea
to do it "Japanese-style", meaning an outdoor party under blooming
trees. We'll do some Kendo, check out some demonstrations, and more
importantly, eat, drink and be merry !

So please reserve that date in your calendar, and make sure to notify
everyone around you of the event.

For more details, please contact me directly @ 787-9100

Hope to see you there !

Eddy

-----------------------------------------
Details
-----------------------------------------
Date : Sunday April 17th
Time : 12pm (noon) - 6pm
Location : Queen's Park Savannah (precise location to be determined
later)
Format : Potluck picnic (Kendo members bring some food & drinks)
Agenda :
- Kendo demonstration
- Kata
- Bokken Kihon
- Keiko (free combat)
- Other martial arts demonstrations, including Iaido, Kung Fu, Tai
Chi, Karate and more...
- Food and Drinks !

Invited guests : All the past and present Kendo members, their friends
and families. All our friends from the martial arts community. Some
media will also be notified.

Night of reviews

2005-04-11T13:48:00.000-04:00

I was expecting E to come but as we started he was not around and unreachable so we started. Damn good he wasn't there, because half the group wasn't there !! I was not happy... Specially after I had told them to make sure to show up on time! Well he eventually showed up 30 minutes into class (bad traffic), to a full group so we didn't look like the bunch of tourists that I sometimes think we are.

Had to repeat proper seiza methodology for the nth time; still some falling on their knees, using their hands to support themselves, throwing their bokken on the floor...

We reviewed kata quickly since there was no chance to do it properly last week. Quick run through the first three and good results. This time we focused on timing and solid/straight body. I always like to focus on only one or two aspects every time we practice a technique or kata. More on this later...

So overall good kata, people are learning properly and good bokken kihon as well. Not sure if all are following though; sometimes I wonder if some of them are awake... They seem to forget everything from one class to another.

Mr. E arrives !!
From that point on we switch to more intense keiko with shinai. I use E as motodachi. As it has been the case in the past few weeks the intensity & spirit are very good. On the other hand the tenouchi, maai and kikentai are pretty bad... Need to work on that. But overall I'm very satisfied that the level of intensity has dramatically risen in the past few weeks due to my nagging them constantly :-) It's working !

Did a lot of sutemi and a very nice and gradual buildup to kakarikeiko, that included a lot of suriashi and fumikomi/kikentai.

We kept 15 minutes for the three of us and I had a fun, but always too short fight with E. Prior to that K had seemed intimidated by E. Well, he can be intimidating I suppose... Then with me he seemed very weak mentally. He got a beating...

Finished the class, commented a bit on it and introduced E to all (most hadn't met him). Told them about our view of "no thought kendo", ie we push them to tire them, we hope they start doing (not thinking of doing) asap so we can have more fun and be more challenged. In a nutshell ;-)

Then for some reason I decided we'd have a grading this coming friday. I had been thinking of it recently and thought, what the heck, let's do it. Details in a later post...

Coconuts and beer after class. Good times but beer damn hard to find. Another fun night with E and the boys. We decided that next time (every Friday?) I'll bring a full cooler so that we can relax at the park ... Couple of coconut waters, couple of beers... The air is fresh and the area comfortable.

Boring class...

2005-04-06T16:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's class was somewhat boring. I was planning on doing 1hr
kata, then 1hr keiko, but as always, there's so much work to do for
kata that we ended up spending most of the class doing just that. I
find that the new bunch are pretty bad at kata compared to the
previous guys. I'l not sure why... They've been practicing ipponme for
at least 5 hours so far and still can't hold and swing the bokken
properly. Perhaps it's because I don't give them the same amount of
attention. Or perhaps and more likely because the new guys don't have
the opportunity of the mirrors. That in itself could explain the
problem.

And there's this guy with heavy attention deficit... it's not even
funny. He just can't stand still and unable to do the same thing twice
in a row without screwing up. He's getting on my nerves so I have to
cool off. But how can someone be so bad ?!? It's unfortunate because
he's actually got a good body and strength, and seems to want it, but
he just can't process instructions in a logical manner. Odd...

Otherwise, the atmosphere is very good and all the guys are regularly
attending now, maybe the foundation I've been dreaming of is slowly
happening.

Aruba, we're coming!

2005-04-02T15:15:00.000-04:00

Sent yesterday an email to everyone about the Aruba tournament. The deadline was pretty much today so at the practice I mentioned it openly. I hadn't really mentioned anything so far because I didn't expect anyone would be interested. I had talked to K about it and he was pretty excited about it but other than him, noone was likely to come. I thought. Well I was wrong... After practice, we all talked about it. I wanted to know what the 2 brothers had in mind. Daddy supports the idea. Actually daddy showed up after class and we talked. He wants to bring the whole family! Also, R the big man, K's younger brother and new guy C, K's buddy. Wow! Not only are we going to have a team, but there might be too many of us !
Now I need to find a way to make sure all these people commit in some form so they won't dropout at the first occasion...

Aruba tournament - Who's going

2005-04-01T03:48:00.000-04:00

The friends in Aruba are organizing a tournament in October, the Panamerican Championships. Having been there a few times already, I'll be visiting again and I'm doing my best to encourage the guys to join as well. As would any beginner fear at this stage, they don't think they are/will be ready for the tournament. Well, it's still 7 months away, so technically they should be well on track, were they to commit to it. Here's the second problem... budget. It will cost about 3,000 Trinidad dollars, which for many people here represents more than a month's salary. Although I beleive my guys earn all above that amount, it's still a significant expense. I already have K's interest, I'm pretty sure he'll commit this week, and I'm hoping for the two brothers to do the same. They're used to traveling for tournaments (Taichi & Kungfu) so that's not new to them. It would be very nice to have them with us, I think they could go a long way ...

So we all need to think about budget, and, more importantly, raising funds. It's not an uncommon thing in this country, as people always try to organize events, activities or trips on the cheap. One of the most common method is called "Barbecue". No, not an open fire pit with grilled meat and veggies, it's actually a deal you make with a restaurant that sells boxed lunches for about $20 and gives you about 50% of the receits. I think it's quite lousy but it seems to work... We could probably think of something a bit more original, but here, originality usually doesn't pay off.

Another method is to find a sponsor. One that I have in mind is Toyota, a big importer of cars here and they seem to have quite an important marketing budget. Also most of their billboard ads include samurai-looking cartoons; perhaps they'd see a benefit in sponsoring us for the trip.

One year already !

2005-04-01T03:24:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's already been more than a year. I actually gave a first class on February 3rd to a few karate guys, but it really started April 16th. At that time, I had a couple of semi-interested karate guys, and some very excited "warrior-type" guys with much MA experience. They had pretty much hunted me down and were very insistent on joining a class ("don't worry, at least 6 of us will always be at practice" was the quote). First class was attended by about 10 people, which turned to 8 after 1 week, 6 after 2 weeks and 3 after 1 month. Fortunately around the same time, 3 old dudes showed up saying they had learned Kendo 15 years ago from a Japanese expat who had stayed here for a few years. So they joined with much enthousiasm, only to be told (by me) that they had to start from scratch. That pissed off one of them, and the two others are still regulars today. Out of the original group of 10, only one remains, that's K. The brothers from down south had purchased armours on a trip to the states, but so far have only attend about 25 classes. Every time they show up (last time was about 3/4 months ago) it gets harder and harder, since they have to relearn everything, so it seems to me that they're goners.

Since the excitement of the first months, things have been up and down, many practices with only me and K, most of the times 3-4 people at best. But to me it was expected, since I did little or no promo. And our dojo at the time was located a bit far from where most people live. I took the necessary time to setup things properly and am quite proud of the result. In addition to the original practice local (Saturdays) we now practice in a nice, cheap and central dojo. Since we started there I've seen a steady increase in participation, and more importantly, less dropouts. So things have stabilized quite a lot since the beginning of the year. 6-10 consistently show up for classes, and there's a nice variety in levels so it makes it interesting and motivating to say the least.

Time to celebrate !

First Anniversary Kendo Celebration

2005-03-31T03:59:00.000-04:00

This is an invitation to celebrate the first anniversary of the
founding of our Kendo dojo in Trinidad (Shoshin Kendo Dojo). As you
know, we've been growing from the first day we started and I was lucky
enough to pass along some of my knowledge to many people over the past
year. It's now time to look back and appreciate the result of our work.

It will also be a good opportunity to display our craft to our friends
and family, as well as other people not so familiar with Kendo.

So please reserve that date in your calendar, and make sure to notify
everyone around you of the event.

For more details, please contact me directly @ 787-9100

Hope to see you there !

Eddy

Invited guests : All the past and present Kendo members, their friends
and families. All our friends from the martial arts community. Some
media will also be notified.

******************************************************************
Please note that I added you to my Kendo mailing list; you don't need
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Raising the intensity

2005-03-31T00:58:00.000-04:00

Started yesterday to increase the intensity of the class, particularly by increasing the kiai, right at the beginning of the class. Until now, during suburi I'm mostly the one counting. I realized that it doesn't encourage them to take responsibility and develop their kiai. So now we all count to 10 one by one. This works wonders... now right at the beginning of the class they shout ! We did a lot of suburi, suriashi and general cardio work. I think they were quite tired after 45mins.

Then I had them work on maai, basically doing suriashi faster and faster on their own and with partner facing them.

Then, Men with the same partner, 4 times for a while, then kirikaeshi (only sayumen) on the lenght of the room.

Then K & I split the group and each had them repeat sayumen, since they couldn't receive properly.

Finally we had them attack Men on cue (I called "Men"), so they start developing their reflexes. Next exercise was kakari keiko after they had attacked 4 times after our cue.

Last exercise was multiple men attacks with one breath; first 3 men, then 5.

They were done after that. Well done I should say. I was thinking of a last hayasuburi or something, but I felt they had worked enough.

Shinai repairs & the weather

2005-03-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

I had the chance of moving here with a big bunch of shinais, some given by San Diego Kendo friends, some I had, as well as a lot of spare parts. So it's been easy so far to lend them to everyone, so they wouldn't have to dish out all this money right at the start. Even if $20-$30 is peanuts in the states, it means much more here, where the salaries are as much as 10x less than there.

But my shinais are getting a beating! I must've forgotten how hard beginners tend to hit. And I didn't expect the weather to play such an important role. Half of the year it's very dry, the other half it's very humid. It's a killer for precious wood, cigars and ... shinais. About a month ago I decided to hold a shinai repair session, that everyone seemed to enjoy. A couple of days earlier I'd wiped them with baby oil so I thought all was good. Well after fixing all of them I had 4 broken within a week!! So last week I bought a huge piece of PVC pipe, epoxied one end to a flat piece of treated wood and filled it up with 3 litres of baby oil, basically 18 inches high. I then removed the sakigawa/tsuru and plunged about 20 shinais in baby oil. Left them in there for about 4 days, hoping that the oil would seep in and up halfway the shinai. Had a look today and the color seems ok and the bamboo looks soaked alright. I'll wipe everything tomorrow, sand and reassemble it all.

Slacking...

2005-03-28T02:41:00.000-04:00

Haven't Blogged in a while, because 1- I've been focussing quite deeply on some exciting job interviews, 2- because it's Easter and I canceled the last 2 classes. About 50% of the population is part of some kind of christian religion, and Easter is a big thing for them, so since most of my students seem to go to church and our dojo shares the same land as a big church, I thought it was appropriate to cancel for the weekend...

On the job side, no update yet, but many opportunities have recently popped up. Something should happen soon...

Ended International School classes

2005-03-22T02:52:00.000-04:00

Classes have ended for the semester at the International School. They've asked me if I was interested to teach again in 3 weeks. I told them I'd get back to them because I have to check my availability. I'd like to keep going, because I think it can only grow and get better, as well as it seems to have generated quite a lot of interest with the other kids and parents. The returns (connections, opportunities,...) I can get out of that are significant. And it's nice to teach them, when they're behaving of course.

Non-Profit Budo Academy for kids ?

2005-03-18T16:38:00.000-04:00

Just had a chat today with a friend of mine who teaches Western fencing (as well as aikijutsu). After talking about the pain of rent, material, having to find new students to support the serious ones (basically when 2/3rd tourists pay the bill for the 1/3rd serious) I thought about the idea of creating a non-profit to teach kids (disabled and able-body) various budo. My teaching at the rich kids school here is part of that long-term strategy: gathering the proper contacts to eventually raise funds for such a project.

Idea would be to offer 4-5 different budos (serious ones, no gymnastic stuff), and charge a token fee for the kids. We'd need to get help from some kind of organisation like Rotary club or such, that would help provide the building and gather funds to pay the instructors a certain fee. I figure:
- rent: 10,000 / month
- fee for 4 instructors: $200/hr * 2hrs * 2/week * 4 weeks * 4 instructors = $12,800 / month
- repairs, utilities: $2,000/month

Total of roughly $25,000/month ... I gues that means finding someone with fairly deep pockets...

I'll keep thinking about it.

Some statistics...

2005-03-17T12:26:00.000-04:00

After about a year of teaching here, I thought it'd be interesting to see a few stats on who's been joining.

So far, at my latest count, 31 students enrolled in the past year (excluding the International School class). Many had just one class and left, most dropped out after less than 5 classes. Pretty average...

Some observations:
- overwhelmingly unmarried men
- by far the largest age group is 21-25, my favorite, followed by 15-20, my second favorite
- many have vast "budo" experience, many don't have at all
- the vast majority are still beginners (<10 classes), although that includes the droupouts... - it took less than 10 classes for the dropouts to, well, drop out (most dropped out after < 5 classes) - Reasons given for attending classes are out of this world... but not much different than what you'll find in any dojo around the world.

Classes attended so far:

Number of classes attended when dropped out:

Prior Budo experience:

Married or not ?

Sex:

Reasons given to join the Kendo class:

To fully understand bushido and the way of the samurai
To become a better person and lose weight
It is interesting and maintain discipline
Fitness
A new experience
New experience, wish to learn as much arts
A new experience
To attain some measure of discipline, self defense, fitness and peace
Interest in the art form and as a part of a keep fit program
To enhance the abilities of my mind & body. To acquire self-discipline. To learn about the japanese culture of the sword.
Stress, Energy to spend
It is my belief that one can obtain true spiritual enlightment only by going into a state of "no mind". I hope that Kendo can reveal this to me.
I have always been interested in Martial art and asian culture
To continue to develop my mind and spirit in the Way, Kendo helps me focus on the job at hand
I believe that the way of the sword runs in direct line of my paths in life
I'm inspired by the art of swordsmanship
Always wanted to learn a martial art
Always wanted to practice a martial art and now I've found one which I'm interested in.
Dream
To focus my desire to do a martial art, to hopefully learn some asian tradition and to seek purpose

Old farts - New blood

2005-03-10T12:29:00.000-04:00

Good class yesterday. Got there 15mns before class and there were already 5 guys warming up. That's how I like it! That's enthusiasm! Well everyone did god except the two older ones, one with just no motor skills and another overweight guy just coming out of a series of health trouble. Good for him, with all this on his back (was just diagnosed with diabetes) he still want to get better and he sees Kendo as a good way to keep himself mentally and physically fit. Except he doesn't breath properly and apparently thinks he's still 25! So after a few suburi he has to stop to breath because he whacks like a beast and he's beet red. But cheers to someone like that who has the right attitude and motivation.

Besides the "40-going-like-I'm-20" folks, most other guys are late teens, early twenties. And most learn so quick. It's really nice to see them go. They're also relatively well behaved. One thing's for sure: they can't wait to start wearing the bogu. And soon enough, they will...

Like in the old days

2005-03-10T12:25:00.000-04:00

In a previous life I used to do Kendo a lot... In Montreal (that's 15 yrs ago) I did Kendo 3/4 times a week, often practicing until 10pm and back in the dojo at 10 the next morning. Granted, that's nothing like the gasshuku trainings in Japan but it brings some of the feeling back. Today was the same; we had a good practice last night and one this morning. Slightly different people but same feeling. 6 last night, 5 today, just how I like it. Very good energy (mostly towards the end unfortunately. Got to work on that...). Nice hard atmosphere with lots of kiai and movement. It wasn't so hard yesterday although one re-injured hiw right hand and Lesley almost fainted twice due to the cardio vasc. exercises, but today was a killer. Right in the middle of the day, is was so hot and little wind that I had to give 3 breaks in only one hour. Short breaks but breaks nonetheless. Did good keiko with K; having a harder than ever time beating him with a clean men. I find myself having to trick him more and more. Either he's improving faster than I thought or my seme is getting weaker.

Had a chat with him at the end about what I think is a problem he's developing: not committing enough to his attacks, rather counting on his shinai to open the way. If I deflect it as he prepares to attack, he's stumped and stops right there. His attacks are too focused on his arms and not enough on his hips and legs. Therefore, he doesn't commit his hips enough, which is directly related to his mental blockage. He needs to stop thinking so much about "what ifs" and start throwing himself with more abandon.

Change in Tuesday - Friday practice time

2005-03-09T14:58:00.000-04:00

Please note that starting this week, classes on Tuesday and Friday at
Methodist Church Hall will promptly start at 6:30 (instead of 6pm) and
end at 8:30pm. See you there!

Eddy

Bokuto ni yoru kendo kihon

2005-03-02T14:09:00.000-04:00

I wonder if this series of technique is another example of teaching "the Japanese way" with little respect for foreign teaching methods (see below). We've been practicing this for while but with a twist. Never going beyond Sandan waza, we'd instead explore all variations in footwork to achieve men. For example, too-ma, shika-ma, men-men, kote-men, kote-men-men. Since almost everyone's a beginner I don't understand the purpose of teaching harai, hiki, suriage, nuki, ... So until I have a good chat with a sensei who really knows what's behind those kata I won't show the Oji/Shikake waza, too confusing in my mind for beginners already having a hard time with Ippon Men.

We're already having enough trouble teaching the basics to beginners who want to fling their sword in the air like Jet Li, that shoing them harai or kaeshi will only satisfy their craving and next thing you know they'll spend their time doing only that. (By "we" I don't mean my group but all the western dojos I know). I remember a few months ago when I was still showing only Men (no Kote or Do, far less kaeshi...) to K and the guys, and when he saw me and E (from London) go at it and E always doing nuki do or kaeshi do, he started doing the same. Without ever having been taught! Unfortunately he was doing it all wrong, but it showed me that they'll grab onto any cool new technique they see.

The risk is certain. First, a beginner is not skilled enough to read through his opponent's mind to do or even understand debana or even suriage. So they'll rely on kaeshi do a lot. Then they will start thinking mostly in terms of receiving, then blocking the attack. This is the big risk: that they'll become used to "block and attack", forgetting the only thing a beginner should do during keiko, that is mindless abandonment (sutemi). Until I get proof that the risk isn't as high as I think I won't take the chance.

The Japanese teaching I refered to above is that I think the AJKF doesn't take into account non-Japanese when developing curriculum. In this case I don't understand why they included fancy techniques like described above without explaining why and how to make sure they are part of the more common (shinai) curriculum without the risk of generating a bunch samurai wannabes. Unless they introduced it without understanding the possible complications in a western dojo. See, things don't work the same way in Japan as elsewhere:
Tanaka sensei: "Practice men- kaeshi-do with bokken. But don't do it with a shinai until next year!".
Little Kotaro: "Hai !"

Johnny sensei:"Practice men- kaeshi-do with bokken. But don't do it with a shinai until next year!"
Bob: "Why not?" (Bob is in late 20s)

Empty class !?!

2005-03-02T14:05:00.000-04:00

Nobody showed up for class today... One told me last week he was out of the country, 2 called this afternoon, 1 called while I was walking in the dojo. I had with me all the shinai so I spent the time dissassembling them and fixing/throwing away what needed to be. Then did some reading on the Bokken Kihon (see next post). Then A showed up and we had a long chat on a bunch of things. His daughter is giving him hell to the point he spends his days worrying... Supposedly she's rebeling, but not in the way he'd like. As for me I told him all about my work (or lack of) and had an earful about the Trini work system. It was a good chat, I have to spend more time with my guys not doing Kendo.

Are Trinis too weak for Kendo?

2005-02-28T16:52:00.000-04:00

OK the title may be harsh, but it's a valid question, considering my classes are pretty soft compared to average US/Canada or Japan/Korea classes, yet guys are dropping out left and right, even after showing a genuine interest. Kendo attrition is famously high, and the average dropping out rate is more or less the same internationally, but beyond common reasons for stopping it seems that they find it physically too demanding. I have no proof that's the case, it's just an impression so far. But like mentioned, considering I go easy on them, it's a bit surprising to see them gasping for air all the time. Considering they all look quite in shape and have been or still are active in other sports, that most don't drink or smoke... It could be a bunch of things, like the fact the average age is higher than usual, the hot climate or that the classes are harder than I think they are.

Although I do see many drop Kendo because of the realization that it's too demanding mentally or simply not what it was expected to be, most seem to drop because of the physical aspect. They have that look and attitude that I can't quite explain but it screams "man, this is hard and I haven't been hit yet".

A colleague suggested a more intriguing reason for the high attrition. He thought that it could be that they don't expect Kendo to be so strict and that it required to follow clear guidelines. Something not necessarily the case in other budos that exist here. I attended a few different karate dojos and it's true that the most popular ones have quite a relaxed atmosphere while the strict one I saw was not so populated.

Discipline, order, respect, decorum, etiquette... Foreign concepts in Trinidad ? More to come on that aspect...

Try kendo "as a new thing"

2005-02-28T16:50:00.000-04:00

Lots of people here do martial arts. Well that's what they call taekwando, kung fu, tai chi, jujitsu, and all the karate variations. It's surprising in a way... There seems to be very few "legitimate" senseis and few people have the chance to visit and practice in Japan and China. But on the other hand, martial arts are somewhat cheaper than any other sport. It also appeals to the animalistic nature that Trini locals seem to have plenty of.

Beyond the fact that everybody here seems to have practiced some form of martial art at one point or another, is that very few have persevered and stuck with one discipline for more than a few years. A lot of the people in my class have already been through 3 or 4 different disciplines, and often, their approach to Kendo is "I want to check it out". So it seems to me that horizontal mobility is the norm. I wonder if it's the same situation in other sports (football, cricket,...)
So far the ones with the least budo experience (K for example) are the most serious about Kendo, and the ones with most experience are long gone.

Disillusioned samurai wannabes

2005-02-28T16:47:00.000-04:00

I find that in this country, where nobody's ever taught japanese swordfighting, there's an unusually high number of people of older age (say, above 30) wanting to learn. They've "always dreamed of one day learning more about samurai spirit + technique". I've been told that more than a few times. In past experiences it used to be kids reading manga or watching anime... Now it's grownup men and women telling me they want to learn more about the samurai and japanese culture. I guess it's also quite common in western countries, but here it's all the more remarkable, maybe because there are much less kids asking for the same.
Somehow I find it sad when they approach me with that in mind. Maybe because I know they'll drop out after a month, or maybe it's because the image of a grown up man in bad physical condition wanting to pursue the "way of the samurai" makes me sad. Eventually, they do drop out with the most fantastic excuses. That's sad too...

On a similar note, it's surprising to see the interest people have for martial arts and japanese "culture". Historically, there's relatively no connection with Japan, so all the info they get comes from TV, movies,... Yet, there's a deep curiosity for all things Japanese. I have to dig deeper to find out more.

Gotta go teach my Monday "bratty-snotty- filthy-rich-kids" class.

Yet another new class

2005-02-26T16:48:00.000-04:00

Well not quite true, it replaces the Wednesday class. The karate guys asked me if I could give them a class on Saturdays. Sure, I said, as long as I know that there'll be people there... So seeing my Wed. attendance was dropping I thought it'd be a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Have the few interested join the karate bunch and we'll have a nice group. That's what happened today. A bonus is that it will be free since the guy who asked for the class owns the place. That's unless too many of my guys show up, which I don't see happening any time soon...

Change to Wednesday class

2005-02-26T12:52:00.000-04:00

Please note that as of this week, the Wednesday class in St-Augustine will be canceled. Instead, starting tomorrow, there will be a class every Saturday at 12pm at the same dojo (St-Augustine). For directions, see attached file,

Eddy

More and more Uchikomi

2005-02-25T16:43:00.000-04:00

Men ni/san kyodo (bokken)
Ashi sabaki
Ashi + men + tai sabaki
Suriashi men lenghts
Suriashi men x 2
Uchikiomi
Kirikaeshi

Few people today. Surprising for a Friday. The ones showing up were the serious ones fortunately. 20 minutes after start I lost one guy to a vomit emergency. I doubt it was the intensity, I think it was rather a bad dinner. It was nonetheless my first casualty in a long while.

Had them do uchikomi since they now know kote, men + do. I usually hold back on kote and do until they're very good at men but in the case of these newbies (the 2 brothers mostly) I decided show them right away. They're young, curious and very natural. So far I don't regret it. They're turning out to be quite solid.

Attendance in the east

2005-02-24T17:09:00.000-04:00

Class attendance has been dropping in the eastern dojo (the original dojo). Not sure why but the fact is that the more conveniently located dojo in POS is attracting the crowd. I had a guy post some ads on billboards at his campus and 4-5 people called but nobody showed up yet. The only one showing up regularly is K. The karate landlord/sensei asked tonight what was going on... since he had changed his class time to accomodate us he wanted to know if it was possible to revert to original times since our Wednesday classes are either cancelled or pretty empty. He said that him and some of his guys wanted to practice on Saturdays so I figured I should cancel Wednesday and replace it with Sat. This way my guys can join, and it'll be free too!

Nothing beats 1 on 1 training

2005-02-23T17:05:00.000-04:00

Excellent practice today with K. Noone else showed up so I could work with him all night.

Interestingly enough, I got a great training out of it, attacking with more and more intensity, I was able to check myself and make sure I kept good form. Repetition is good. I guess there's never too much of it. I wonder if I make the class too varied and they need more routine and repetitions...? I'll experiment next class.

Did a lot of oji/shikake waza. Actually focused a lot on debana and suriage, but did some kaeshi + hiki waza. He seems genuinly overwhelmed by all the new stuff I'm unloading on him, but I think from time to time, it's good to give out candy ;-) Could hardly find anyone more willing to learn than him, so it's all good!

Slacking

2005-02-20T17:00:00.000-04:00

I've been slacking a lot from this blog recently, as my head was busy with work considerations. Thank god Kendo's there though, or I would've ended up mad by now. It's amazing how Kendo has given me a sense of purpose this past year... There's been a lot of ups and downs (mostly downs really) and routine and regularity hasn't been part of my life in a long time. Besides Kendo of course, I'm so thankful for that. It gave me so much to hang on to, that I'll give back forever. Now that I think of it, I used to live for Kendo when I started, at University, in 1989. For at least 4 years I practiced 3 to 4 times a week, sometimes more all around town. Although I didn't feel at the time I was doing it because I was looking for some structure, in retrospect, my life was pretty screwed up then so maybe I needed Kendo as much as I need it now.

South dojo ?

2005-02-17T00:35:00.000-04:00

As if there wasn't enough places for me to spread the "good news" I
was offered a dance hall to teach into down south. The tapdancing lady
at ISPS (whose son is one of the best student I've ever had) suggested
I could use her facility. Another untapped market... Some of my
original guys come from time to time from Debe, a deep south village
and have been asking for a dojo down there. Maybe things could work
out...

Beuh...

2005-02-17T00:26:00.000-04:00

Fuck, nobody showed up today in the eastern dojo... I'm getting really
tired of going there when nobody shows up. On one hand, it's cheap but
on the other hand, it's far for most people registered. I got some
ex-student to advertise in the area, hoping fresh blood would join but
only the hardcores travel that far to get there. K called at 7:30
(taxi trouble) saying he'd be there at 8. But since the dojo is
available only until 8:30 I told him to stay home, it wasn't worth it.
Wow what a kendo maniac... Otherwise, all the other bums are a bunch
of losers...

2005-02-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

Other surprising practice today. Slow start but a big bunch eventually showed up. Beginners mostly. But it was good to review once more. A lot of basics this time. Sonkyo, rei-waza. Eventually had to give a speech about proper etiquette in dojo. I hate to do this but I felt I had to make a point...
In retrospect I think maybe the practice is too easy for them. They give me the feeling of "hanging out" when waiting in line. They should be exausted and savor every second of the pauses they have. Not chat with the boys on the sidelines. They should focus on the action, observe and learn... Man that bothers me like nothing else. I got so pissed when I saw some of them looking out the window at something while I was talking about something that I had to yell some crap at them like "if you're not interested, leave now". That cooled down the place... Explained later on after mokuso what was the point of my comment. 1- Follow the widely accepted rules and methods in place for centuries 2- Rules are also there for proper learning conditions and safety. Hopefully the message got through.

Carnival Holidays

2005-02-08T02:31:00.000-04:00

Didn't have class last week on Tuesday + Wednesday as I was in Tobago with the little family. Had given K the ok to take care of Tuesday's class but the caretaker of the hall left the place locked and so they had no way to get in. Bummer since he was so much looking forward to take care of the class. This week since it's Carnival on Tuesday (tomorrow) no class, and Wednesday is "Ash Wednesday" an excuse of a holiday to recuperate from the partying today and tomorrow. Was told in no uncertain terms that nobody would show up, so I canceled.

Record turnout !

2005-01-31T01:29:00.000-04:00

Wow! Today one of those days... I thought for a moment that we'd only
be 3 at class but suddenly everyone started arriving (in good trini
fashion, late of course). We ended up with me and K, and 10 newbies!
Half had 3 classes under their belt, half had none. It was quite an
interesting challenge to work on the really new ones while the others
practiced their basics. I had K give some advice when he saw obvious
problems. It worked out pretty well I think. At the end I mixed the
group to see how the 1day begs. did compared with the 3day begs. They
did great! Granted they were young (16) compared to the older folks
(30-35) that sure helps...
I just hope the younger ones (K's younger brother, a new guy's 2 sons)
stick to it. That's the age group I'm looking for. More on this
later...

Stick fighting - Kalenda

2005-01-30T02:26:00.000-04:00

Stick Fighting is an old African tradition, brought here by the slaves. Don't know to what extent it was practiced all through the years but it still remains today one of the traditional event during carnival season. It is practiced at yards around the country during the year otherwise. Nowadays, it's mostly an African affair, but many East Indians also take part in the fights.
The matches are played on an outside court (on a basketball field in yesterday's case) a circle of about 10 meters in circumference. Before every match called by the judges, the band of african drums starts playing some beats with lyrics. The court referee gives final instructions and checks the sticks for solidity. Then the guys start dancing around each other and posing to the crowd. The hits only start when the 2 fighters feel like engaging. Lots of negociating, lots of taunting but not much engagement. All along the music keeps going. The referee only gets involved when there's a melee or some grappling. Basically when the hits were given and no more are possible. Then the ref separates them and the dancing starts over.

I'll try to give my many impressions of the event over the next few weeks...

Beginners dilemma 2

2005-01-25T14:22:00.000-04:00

I'm sure it isn't easy for them but it certainly isn't a a piece of cake for me either... It's just that I've always hated teaching beginners. Hmmm... Wrong career choice then? I always tried to pass on the newbies and handle the intermediate instead. It's so more fun to deal with the one who've already experienced the bogu and shiai.

So here I am now "stuck" with a bunch of greens... I'm constantly forcing myself to be nice and encouraging. It's so not me! But I see it as an investment. Honestly I didn't expect to be rewarded so soon. I'm very satisfied with everyone's progress so far. And with hardly any effort the group is growing nicely since last month. Let's hope the growth is sustained.
One of the reasons I can't handle beginners so well is that their behavior and attitude is so odd to me. I'm more relaxed about it now since I'm here but I used to freak out when they'd behave unlike how a beginner should:- humility- involvement- devotion- respect- enthusiasm- gratefullnessOf course, they can't be expected to know all that but still... A little humility never hurts. So far I'm satisfied with most everyone's attitude. The pompous, pretentious ones have disappeared. I'm more concerned with two things:
1- attendance. Granted, some come from very far away and some work long hours. But it's still no reason for a less than 50 percent attendance ratio for most of them. Nothing I feel I can do about this as it's really not a function of the class itself. It can't be anymore interesting than this and if it turns out to be different than they expected well I can't do anything about that either.

2- attitude in the dojo: that's probably something I should work on and the only thing I can really influence. Things like:- timeliness- cleanliness- order- reiho- intensityI feel I didn't do as much as I could've maybe because we were beginning and informal for the first few months. And I do have a laid back attitude in the dojo. Maybe more than is common elsewhere... I guess I can keep that attitude but crank up the level from the time class is supposed to start. The risk here is that they won't handle or accept it. They are Trinis after all, they play hard but it takes a while to get them there. I guess I have no choice though... Things need to stay in order... If a ranking sensei visited tomorrow, he wouln't be shocked but wouldn't be impressed either by the general form. But I expect better than that (and my teachers would expect more from me) so gotta get the whip out! On the other hand, technically the level is quite high considering our history.

Beginners' dilemma

2005-01-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

Great class Friday. 4 beginners + K + E. Plus 2 more guys who handed in their registrations. They seemed to want to join on the spot, but they were 10-15 mins late for the class so I had them sit and watch. If I didn't have financial obligations (the rent) I'd force everyone to sit at least 2 classes before they join. That would eliminate the waste early on... I usually don't throw a newbie in the action right away on his first day. I have them do a lot if suriashi/tenouchi for as much as a class long before I integrate them in the group. But this time I felt like trying it. Gave him a 10 min primer before class. Started class and did a lot of suburi and suriashi. He hadn't practiced swings and almost no footwork so he had to learn quick. Not sure if the result was positive... He didn't show much progress after 2 hours, but maybe it would have been the same anyway. Maybe he's just not a natural. But it was a good experience and will try this again. I'll review basics for all this week so he can catch up and the others reinforce. I find that they don't get bored of these reviews and helps them solidify.

Once again it was a challenge to address all the levels present. I also want to make sure we suck all we can out of E while he's here. Sometimes I feel I slow down and become too casual, so it's nice to have him around keeping everyone on their toes.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the class: intense, varied, and something for everyone. I like to hear that... Sometimes I wonder if they realize I make the class as we go along.

2005-01-20T01:31:00.000-04:00

Better attendance today, with a couple of unexpected guys showed up. Talked about priorities, and trying to setup a dojo down south. I asked one of them who drives almost 2 hours each way to setup what's necessary (room, people, fees) to start a class down there once a week or so. Weekday evenings are out for me, too far, too late. But weekend mornings could work. We'll see.
Went through basics again today, to get them all on the same level. Did a lot of suburi, to the point where they were exhausted. Surprising considering they're all very athletic and consider themselves in great shape. Had to force them to think hard about proper technique and economy of movement. Next practice we'll crank up the level with more cardio (uchikomi geiko).

Also spent a good half hour doing kata ipponme. Finally, we did some uchikomi. Not much to report other than they progress well and attitude is good.

How to teach basic shomen suburi in 1 hour

2005-01-20T01:30:00.000-04:00

1- The traditional, Japanese way
pick up a shinai, do like me.
Jogeiburi for 10 mins.
Men suburi for 10 mins.

2- Suggestion for more adapted way
Using bokken
Explain proper bokken etiquette
Start with footwork (suriashi back + forth), bokken behind back - 15 mins
Bokken grip, proper chudan kamae
Kamae + footwork (back + forth)
Follow the leader
Stationary, rotate shoulders, bokken up (forehead) and down (chudan)
Stationary, extend arms as coming down, to reach imaginary opponent
Add TeNoUchi
Explain KiKenTai-Ichi
Men san kyodo (1 arms up, 2 forward, 3 hit, 4 back)
5 times forward, 5 times back
After comfortable, Men ni kyodo (1 up + forward, 2 hit)
Finally, add Kiai.

2 hours of this is what it takes and is enough to establish a strong basis. It also gives them a good overview of all the fun stuff (short of hitting a real target). And they get a ton of exercises for home.