by Mark Kawabe | Jan 12, 2023 | Uncategorized
Happy 2023! We’re in the middle of our January new student intake session. Someone asked the other day what the atmosphere of the club is like. I enjoy questions like these because it makes me think about how the club has developed over the past 18 years and how...
by Mark Kawabe | Jun 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
I’ve had my fair share of kendo injuries. Sometimes they’ve been broken bones (one wrist from falling during drills, two toes from playing stupidly), but mostly they’ve been soft-tissue injuries. Think muscle sprains, strains, and tendonitis. Like...
by Mark Kawabe | May 24, 2022 | Uncategorized
Just wanted to remind folks that we are approaching the end of May, which means your chance to start your kendo training this summer is slipping away! Registration for the summer session of kendo closes on May 31. If you’re interested in joining after that,...
by Mark Kawabe | Dec 2, 2021 | Uncategorized
This is harder to write than I thought it would be. It occurs to me that some point while I’m writing this, Gill Sensei is heading home. When I went to visit him for the last time on Tuesday, he said he was going to hang out with Ip Man and the other masters...
by Mark Kawabe | Dec 1, 2021 | Uncategorized
Starting your kendo journey is easy: just get to the dojo regularly. Just as easy is the equipment you’ll need, because you really don’t need much. Here’s the equipment we suggest for new students. Bokuto Set (wooden swords) – long and short...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
In May 2021 I decided it might be beneficial to have more knowledge about physical training so I enrolled in a course to become a Personal Training Specialist (PTS) through the canfitpro organization. I passed the theory portion in May. In hindsight, I should have...
by Mark Kawabe | Jul 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
These have been challenging times for martial arts dojos, gyms, yoga studios, fitness studios, sports clubs, and all manner of businesses and organizations. As Ontario moves toward “Step 3” of its reopening plan, it seems we will be able to move indoors...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 26, 2020 | Uncategorized
We’ve now had our first practice working under the “Orange” level of Covid-19 restrictions that require us to have a 3m distance between students when training. Last week we didn’t have classes so this week was the first test of the system, so...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 16, 2020 | Uncategorized
Ontario has moved to a more restrictive level of its Covid-19 response framework. Niagara is now subject to the “orange” level of restrictions. It seemed another call to Niagara Region Public Health was in order. I spoke to the same person (Matt H.) as I...
by Mark Kawabe | Nov 10, 2020 | Uncategorized
So . . . the Ontario government has released a new Covid-19 Response Framework. For your reading pleasure, here’s the link: https://files.ontario.ca/moh-covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open-en-2020-11-08.pdf Niagara is in the yellow...
