I’m thinking that for the trip, I’ll be a) getting a larger bike and b) getting a small camping trailer. I found one that has 15 cu ft of storage that looks like it will hold what I need.

I think between the trailer and saddlebags / luggage containers I should be able to manage. That’s the plan at this stage anyway. Who knows?

I just got my M1 and will be taking the motorcycle course at Niagara College in May to get my M2. I’m riding an older Virago 535 and am looking into getting a custom luggage rack made to hold my bogu bag and shinai bag so I can commute to Kendo with my gear. With gas prices the way they are, that makes tons of sense to me.

When I have the M2 and the bogu rack, I’d be really interested in heading up to Collingwood for a practice. What club’s up that way? Definitely sounds like it warrants a visit : )

I’ll keep you posted when I’m properly licensed & racked ; )

If your opponent loses posture or zanshin, that is their problem. In Kendo, you should always maintain a strong zanshin. If you fall out of it, then it is your fault, and not your opponent’s fault. It is at that moment that your opponent should push to their advantage.

Remember, if the intent was to push your opponent around the entire court (I’ve witnessed this), then that is hansoku, and the judges will call it. If, however, your opponent is at the edge of the court and you are pushing to make an attack and THEY lose their posture or zanshin, then it is clear to ANY kendoka to make that push to put them out of boundaries and to cost them a point.

Just my 2 cents.

Abusing your size/strength against an opponent to exploit a rule present in sports detracts from the sports aspect of kendo. Unfortunately smaller players, usually women, tend to fall victim to this. Yes, size doesn’t matter and according a quote my wife relayed to me (source unknown): “All are equal under the sword.” Smaller players need to learn to deal with larger ones, and everybody needs to learn to deal with “pushers”.

But it really comes down to this: are you pushing to overwhelm your opponent with the intent to *just* push and overwhelm your opponent? Or are you pushing to create a suki (opening) through which you can hit (i.e. your intent with the push it to land a strike with your shinai) or taking advantage in a momentary lapse in your opponent’s posture, readiness, or zanshin (push out of bounds if they are unready and at the edge of the court).

The first reason is not good kendo, nor is it good sport. The others are.

Last up here’s a quote I’ve always liked re: pushing.

“Shiai represents a duel between gentlemen. If a person imagines real
swords are being used, an insightful appreciation of Kendo can be realized.
e rough style of Kendo, such as pushing and shoving your opponent aer
a hit in order to break zanshin, or charging into an opponent in an aempt
to intimidate him/her, is unrealistic in a real duel. ere could be none of the
shoving mentioned above as the man would be dead! Charging foolishly into
an opponents sword will produce the same results. We can continue to perpetu-
ate productive ladies and gentlemen or, we can produce competitive brutes who
intentionally hurt people and bend the rules […] under the pretense of Kendo.”

1) Distance – intentional on my part, at least. My opponent at least had good pressure on my shinai so we were connected, but he never capitalized on the distance.

Part of shiai is testing your opponent, looking for opportunities. The maai during what could be referred to as tsubazeriai was an opportunity for us both. I just happened to take advantage of it.

2)”alert and ready for potential counter attack”

From the video, we can’t assume “alert”, although I can say that I was watching my opponent who was really close to me at the time and, most importantly from my perspective – not able to strike and not intending to strike.

Let’s look at the position. Looks similar to jodan, does it not? Shinai up high, ready for another attack. If the opponent had done taiatari and backed up, I would have been ready to strike.

Is that zanshin in the practical sense? Can one ever truly have proper zanshin when you’re as close as you’d be in tsubazeriai after you both follow through with an attack?

3) On blocking…

During my keiko with Raymond Sensei later on (ni-to vs. ni-to), I thanked him for pointing out the “hole” in my defense. Later on we discussed it a bit more in depth. He said the hole gets bigger from time to time. Not because I physically moved my shinai apart, but because mentally I wasn’t ready. Eyes and body language can give that away, and that’s when the hits came.

To me, I block when I’m not fully in the moment. This was very apparent in the next match, which I lost after being up by 1 point and a penalty. It doesn’t get much better than that, and I should have won.

The things that go on inside the noggin are just as important to your success in Kendo as your physical ability. Perhaps even more so.

The refs & players both missed a few things and gave away a few things. Such is learning Kendo for both sides.

I’d like to make a few comments regarding the video, for our students, myself, and if you’re interested for you. I love talking “shop” and learning from stuff like this. So, just my $0.02

(1) Don’t know if this is intentional or on purpose, but either you or your opponent don’t actually connect your tsubas in tsubazeriai. That gives a prime opportunity for a kote. Maai issues aside, losing the physical connection to your opponent is very dangerous the result is the hiki waza attempts by Kawabe Sensei. Giving away these opportunities also gave Kawabe Sensei “free seme” as the opponent is now afraid of hiki waza. Notice that soon after he “turns on the juice”. Big mistake against a relaxed opponent.

(2) From a shinpan point of view, personally, I would not have given the kote point in round one @3:40. The hit was good, but IMO not enough Zanshin.

No I don’t mean you moving forward, etc., etc.. That wasn’t the issue. Zanshin must show intent (for completion) and posture, etc. all of which you did. However the third element, and IMO the most important element of Zanshin, is “alert and ready for potential counter attack” (IKF). Looking at the point with this in mind, were you ready for a counter attack? Hands up in the air (in a semi-blocking position), standing close to the opponent, all targets exposed. Can or should this ever be interpreted as zanshin?

Ok, so what would make it better? One step to the side, or continue moving into your opponent would have been enough. But the best would be as he “bounced off of you” (heh) step back as in the Kihon Bokuto Waza and assume kamae. (Strike–>Zanshin (throat) –> Kamae. No possible way anybody could deny that you had Zanshin.

(3) Blocking. I love your comment on that. Trying turning it into a kaeshi do, or do it the opposite way for gyaku do. At the point in the movie you circle your blocking is a great example. If you were still in “attacking mode” instead of blocking, that could have been a prime opportunity for almost any oji waza of your choice.

This ties in with the previous comment on “free seme”. The opponent, pressured by your attack attempts, turns on the juice. He may have felt he was being aggressive and taking a “good” chance to strike, but really this was all Kawabe Sensei’s doing. Deep down, Kawbe Sensei “forced” him to attack. Notice how desperate / off-balance the attack was. He wasn’t really “ready” to strike, he was desperate to do “something” to break free of the pressure. I bet if you had that same opponent perform uchi-komi men on you, it would look spectacular and nothing like the one done here. Why?

This was a great chance for sen sen no sen. Blocking just got in the way.