Willpower and Kendo

Abul told me that, in order to be able to score an ippon at university level, the Kendoka must not only just strike, stamp and kiai at the same time, but must also take into consideration other factors as well.

One is zanshin. Zanshin means awareness to an opponent's movements. In other words, zanshin means to anticipate and always be ready for another attack by your opponent.

And the next, most important of all, is the spirit. Good spirit manifests in not only a loud kiai, but also in how you react after striking. The spirit of defeating your enemy without fear of being struck. Keiko must always be carried out in this type of mindset. I will try to manifest good spirit and the mentioned mindset this Sunday as I keiko one-on-one with Marcus.

During the little free time I have, I like to go on the internet to search for any Kendo related stuff so that I might improve myself. And while during my research for spirit, I stumbled across a very insightful video called "the Way of the Warrior". It's a forty-minute documentary made by the BBC, about Otaki-sensei leading the oldest surviving school of kenjutsu in Japan: Kashima Katori Ryu. I'll post the video whenever I can, now I have no time (sorry guys).

Otaki-sensei says that the cuts and strikes of his blade have to have strong willpower behind them in order to be effective. With willpower, spirit will naturally come.

There is an old story about a young couple who were lovers. The young girl was attacked by a man-eating tiger and seriously injured. No matter what her lover tried to do for her, it was hopeless, and she died. From the depths of his sorrow, he determined to seek revenge on this tiger for killing his beloved. So he took his bow and arrow and went into the jungle day after day, searching for the tiger.

He searched daily, until finally, he saw a sleeping tiger in the distance, and he thought that this was the tiger which had killed his love. He drew his bow, took careful aim and released the arrow, which pierced the tiger's body very deeply. He approached slowly to confirm the kill only to find his arrow stuck into a striped stone which happpened to ressemble the form of a sleeping tiger. 

After this event every was talking about how he was so strong that he could pierce a stone with an arrow. People were determined to test him. But though he tried again and again, the arrows just bounced off one by one. This was because he now realised it was a stone. Before, his wish for revenge was so strong that he was able to pierce even a stone with his arrow. This story is the basis of the saying: "A strong will can pierce a stone."

Basically, if there is a will, there is a way.

Goals:

1. During keiko, I must want to strike my opponent more than anything. I must want my shinai to land on my opponent more than anything else, in order to develop the willpower, spirit, and determination that Kendo requires of us.

Izzaz

Breaking in to new bogu

I just picked up my new bogu from my dad's office just now! I'm really excited! Marcus warned me to not get TOO excited though.... well, I'll try to NOT sleep in it tonight.... it's so beautiful....

So i upgraded from this

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THIS!!!!!

Can you guys spot the difference?

Everything is new except for the zekken (nameplate). Even the shinai is new.... my first one had a lot of splints, starting to get very dangerous already. So I also ordered a fighting shinai.... haha.

Let's start with the men. Very nice fit, and definitely less heavy than the school's one. A lot less dustier too. It's still hard, and feels somewhat starchy, so I need to break the men-dare (the flaps) after this. Tie them up with the flaps facing front and upwards, leave it in the bag until Saturday, and we're good to go.

nice, classy finish.

Check out the cute floral patterns on the inside.

Next up is the kote. It felt like heaven to put on kote that did not have holes in them!!! They're still hard, but overall, much better than what I'm used to wearing. I paid more for the kote, since I was told that kote are worth investing in, since they're the fastest to wear out. And plus, I don't wanna wear holed kote again.

See? No holes... FINALLY!!!

Right up is the tare. And my zekken that Abul ordered for me from Japan. The tare is very nice, longer than what I used to wear. Makes the wearer look more elegant.

The red sewn-lines are a nice touch.

And finally, we have the do. Frankly, this is the reason why I got the bogu set today. Because of the color :-)

Iridescent orange that flows into black. The embroidery on the mune reminds me of Abul.

I really cannot wait for Saturday to come...

Oh yeah, and Kendoshop.com includes a bag as well. Mine is exactly the same as Marcus'. 

Awesome. The front pocket can be used to put in your tenugi or other miscellaneous stuff.

I would recommend ANY KENDO ENTHUSIAST to order from Kendoshop.com. Not only they're cheap, the quality is quite good as well, and the service is fast. Everytime I order I get a free keychain, complimentary. The goods are shipped from Korea, which are cheaper than their Japanese counterparts, but the same thing nontheless. Plus, they give you "Mileage Points". Every time you purchase from them, they give you points that will result in discounts for your next order. A bit like Bonuslink.

Now I'm off to admire my (repeat, MY) bogu. Maybe I'll sleep in it tonight after all.

Hesitation part 2

I stand corrected. Last week wasn't the best ever training session in my whole life. This week was.

Not many people came because of the school holidays, and partially because Arif (the Club President) announced that there would be no practice. Frankly, Arif is such a lazy bum when it comes to practice, I wonder why I picked him as the President in the first place. When I was President I LIVED and BREATHED KENDO. Even if the school authorities didn't allow us to train, we did illegal practice sessions! We were that dedicated in those days!

There were only five of us this morning: Me, Christopher (a form 5 guy), a small Form One kid named Vincent, a Form Two named Viknes and finally the ever-truly-wonderful-and-sublime-Marcus-Tan Eng Soon. Marcus arrived quite late, around 9.00. So the three juniors were there, waiting for something to happen. To "entertain" them, I led them through several basic cuts that we did a couple of hundred times.

Alright. So that was the boring part of the day. After Marcus arrived and teached the juniors about stamping and ki-ken-tai-ichi, he gave us a small talk about the mindset of Kendo to us.

To summarize what he said, in Kendo, and also in real life, no one can actually change you besides yourself. Your sensei or senior might tell you that your kamae is wrong, ashisabaki not correct, etc... but in the end, YOU yourself must strive to erase those mistakes and emerge as a better Kendoka. Isn't this one of the most basic and fundamental principle of Kendo? To cultivate oneself and to attain self-perfection? In short, we must always improve on our mistakes, and this is how we gradually mature both physically and mentally.

Next up, bogu on. I learned a lot from Marcus today. A LOT. We started off with basic kirikaeshi-waza, men-uchi and kote-men-uchi. But when it came to jigeiko, it dawned upon me that in Kendo, we must not have hesitation. I read Marcus' post about the subject, and only now I really understood it to a deeper extent. In keiko, I learnt that I must not be afraid to get hit. I must just go do it. Like the Nike ad, JUST DO IT. Shut out any external distractions and just go for it. Kendo requires more of the mind rather than the body, and a perturbed mind leads to a haphazard Kendo. A clear mind leads to good quality Kendo.

Another thing I've learnt is to not think as we are sparring. Thinking, as we define it too be, only slows us down. The reason that technique is practiced so assiduously in Kendo is to make movements almost instinctive. Trying to plan a response to your opponent's action is as effective as carrying water over two hundred metres with jugs full of holes. If you anticipate acting in such a way against a technique and the opponent does not execute that technique, your plan has failed; leaving you wide open against a volley of attacks.

I have done slight research on this matter, and I found out that the famous Zen monk Takuan, wrote a famous essay about this state where the minds slows down due to excessive thinking. He calls the effect "sticking". His essay was addressed to the famous swordsman Yagyu Munenori on the relation between the sword and the mind. As a Zen priest, Takuan was interested in showinghow our mental processes sometime interfere with our direct perception of reality. Munenori, while interested in Zen, was also a master swordsman fascinated by the ways in which Zen could help his sword technique. He came to the conclusion that mizu-no-kokoro, or "mind like water", could assist swordsmen. Since in this state the mind is unfettered with fear or anticipation, it creates no advance plans of response and is not even consciously involved in the swordsman's actions. The opponent moves, and you respond. Much like water. When it is still, it is like a mirror, very calm. When you throw something at it, it reacts.

There is not intervening process, and therefore the technique has the celerity needed for free fighting.

So I let go of whatever that came to mind this morning. Actions were based on impulse. And I surprised myself that I could do a kote-men cut AND score ippon! My very first ippon in my whole life. Scored against Marcus when he was anticipating me to do a men strike. But I didn't. I did kote men. Marcus' mind was "sticking", therefore provided me with the oppurtunity to attack.

You know that feeling of accomplishment that comes after a sudden realisation? Well I achieved it today. I always thought that I needed to work harder on my strokes and cuts. Of course, that is important, but the most important thing in Kendo is the mindset, and the state of mind. Mind like water, remember. Only when we realize this can we truly progress.

Lessons learnt today:

1. Mizu-no-kokoro is the way to go in keiko and in everyday life.

2. The ability of the kote-men attack.

3. Basic thing in Kendo: IMPROVE YOURSELF.

Goals for next training:

1. Apply mizu-no-kokoro technique again.

2. Create less open areas of attack for opponent.

3. Work on IMPROVING ONESELF

4. Do more ki-ken-tai-ichi whenever got spare time and practice snap cuts.

5. Improve kote-men-uchi.

Thats all for today then. Ouch my legs hurt.... no pain no gain! I tell you, if this life were a video game, you'd see me "level up" already by a few levels.

Oh yeah, just now.... about the ippon thing..... I did it in less than five seconds! Awesome! Be confident in everything you do and you might surprise yourself at what you're truly capable of.

Why did you pick up Kendo amongst all other martial arts and sports in the world?

Why did you pick up Kendo instead of something else? Asked my uncle. "Why the sword, of all arts?"

It was just yesterday. He came over to have dinner at my place. Like me, he's a martial arts enthusiast. He goes to the local gym for bozing lessons and used to learn Muay Thai, the brutal art that was developed during Siam's tumultuous history.

That question really did stop to make me think. Why did I pick up Kendo in the first place?

The answer goes back to when I was thirteen, still in Form One. I was looking for a uniform body that didn't involve marching in line. I hated marching. So my only option was the martial arts groups in school. They were silat, Shito-Ryu Karate-do, taekwondo, fencing, and finally, Kendo. At that time the club was mainly composed of very very few people, and only a small percentage of the school knew about it's existence. I overheard my friend complaining that he had used up all of his energy after a Kendo practice in the dojo. Curious, I decided to check it out myself.

Mainly, I just joined the club because I wanted to fill in my co-curricular marks. Nevertheless, I bought myself a shinai, the very same shinai that I'm still using now, but I never was really serious about it. I was still very actively involved with the taekwondo club near my house. I was only a blue belt, but able to compete with the red and black belters. I thought that taekwondo was the art for me.

When I was in Form Two I only attended Kendo practices for like, once every two months like that. I began to lose interest. However cool and Star Wars-like Kendo may be, it proved to be very difficult for me to get up at 0630 on Saturdays just to go to school again

And the years passed by. In form Three I think in the whole year I attended prac only twice or thrice. My excuse: busy with PMR. My shinai lay in my room, begging to be used.

But it was also in Form Three that I stopped practicing taekwondo because of my PMR. And after PMR, I never bothered to continue again. Maybe it was my changing brain, or maturity, I don't know, but I lost interest totally i taekwondo. I found out that I no longer liked beating up people using techniques that people have died to pass on. So I didn't do any Kendo nor taekwondo.

No exercise results in a weak body. When I was in Form Four I realized I needed to do something to maintain my fitness level. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body after all. So on one night my gaze fel upon my shinai. So I decided; why not? Why not resume Kendo? My basics, like ashisabaki and kamae, are still somewhere in my subconscious. Alright. So with my friends, Danson and Weng Seng, later to become my best friends (my kanashimi brothers) went for Kendo practice every week.

My life changed. I met people who would become the closest people in my life, like Hakim and Davis and Zul. Every week I grew more and more in love with the art of Kendo. It is very interesting, how we must arrange our slippers facing outside; how we must bow before entering the dojo, how we must seiza to drink water... I started to enjoy Kendo. I began to covet it. Danson and Weng Seng and I came every week. And after that we went for makan. I did not just gain skills in Kendo, I gained valuable friends.

Towards the end of Form Four, Hakim nominated me as Club President. I was really honored. Everyone agreed to it, and the EXCOs were later chosen. That's when I really got obsessed with Kendo. I finally bought a hakama and gi, after four years of Kendo. I found out that I could manage a Club with the aid of good people. I got to learn lots of things and mature in the process.

Enter Form Five. My number one obsession was KENDO!!! My slogan became subete wa kendo no tameni: everything I do is for Kendo. Sometimes for no reason, I entered kamae in public. In class I would use my pen to mimic the movements of a shinai as the teachers were teaching in front. I accustomed myself to sitting in seiza posture for long periods. I saw Kendo in everything and I saw everything in Kendo. 

I went for my first grading in July 2008, and saw how awesome the Japan Club Kendoka were. I thought I could get 7th Kyu but  I only reached 8th. Never mind. Resolve burning brighter than ever, I trained even harder for my next one in January 2009 (I got 7th Kyu). Even one week before SPM I would go for training. Heck, DURING SPM ALSO I WENT!

And here I am now, waiting for my bogu to arrive after being ordered from Kendoshop.com, stronger, and wiser than before I took up Kendo.

So why did I pick up Kendo? It's because Kendo matures the body and mind at the same time. Because of Kendo's centuries old tradition. Because of its unique etiquette.

Irregardless of why all of you do Kendo in the first place, we should all strive to do our best in this art. We must be all that we can be, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Kendo changed my life. Has it changed yours?

Training.... and also a surprise party for my birthday. 14.03.09

That was the best training session I had in my entire life. Really. Two special guests came to train with us, and they were Aimi and Nurlin, both 2nd Dan. In addition to that, Abul also came; so that makes 4 2nd dans in one training session! I have never experienced this before.

On the left is Nurlin and the right is Aimi.

Oh yes, they are GOOD with a capital G. I'll upload the video I took about Aimi's match against Hakim. Vicious.

We did the usual cuts again and again and again. Well, practice makes perfect. Then we practiced in pairs, hitting and receiving strikes. We alternated partners, so we had a chance to practice with everyone else, and not just one person. I remember gawking at the speed and synchronization of Aimi and Nurlin's haya-suburi. Eye candy for me. Davis however, warned me not to try to copy their speed. Must always do at your own speed, and the speed will develop as you practice. Must always learn to walk first before u run.

Then came the best part. Bogu prac! I put on my tenegui the same time as Nurlin did, but once I finished wrapping it around my head, she had already finished tying the men....

Okay. Since my brand new bogu is expected to arrive next week, God's willing, this would be the last week I train with the school's crappy bogu. Bogu training starts. First we did three sets of continuous haya-suburi, sayu-men style, while going forwards and backwards. I still remember it was then that my super-huge blister on my foot burst, and leaked blood. But we had only started wearing the bogu for half a minute, so no time for complaining now.

Ouch.

Aimi taught me how to do taiatari-hiki-men. When in tsubazerai position, keep applying pressure on the opponent. When ready to strike, push the opponent UP. He or she will react instinctively by lowering shinai, giving you the oppurtunity to strike men. I need more practice for this one.

Next up was feinting. I'd have to say the four 2nd Dans are really good at feinting. I'd swear that they were gonna attack men, theen suddenly change to do. Aih. How they do that also I don't understand.

Foot stinging, I braced myself for the worst; whoever scores a point first ends the bout. I went up against Hakim and Aimi twice, and Nurlin once. I just lasted under a minute. No sweat. Must improve more.

Candid photo. Dunno why its senget.

Anyways, after training was over, Aimi went up against Hakim for a round of nippon shobu. Aimi scored two ippon, one nice gyakudo and the other was a bit hard to see cos it was a tad too fast. Seeing those two in action cemented my resolve to be better, and faster, and stronger than ever. Makes me love the world of Kendo even more.

Oh yeah and Michelle threw a surprise for me. She asked Foo Yen to give me something. It was a heart-shaped note telling me to go to the concourse. I limped to the concourse. There, some other girl gave me ANOTHER note. This time to go to the Form 3 corridor. Limped there again. Then met Peng Mun. Another note asking me to find Kevin and Hema at the guard house. Found Kevin and Hema, must go to canteen, find Ming Key. Found Ming Key, FINALLY must go to the Form 6 block. Arrived there, everyone from the previous stations jumped out and sang Happy Birthday!

What a nice surprise. Thanks a lot, love you......

So! Recap:

TRAIN HARDER AND WORK ON CONFIDENCE!!! Marcus says I don't have enough confidence. It's quite true really.

Aishite iru!!!!

HOMG!!!! I got 10A 2B!!!!

I can finally order bogu! In fact, i already did! 5 mm machine stitched bogu, do color is orange.....

NOOOOO!!!!!! I'M SO NERVOUS!!!!

TMRW SPM RESULTS COMING OUT AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! I'M SOO SCARED ALREADY!!!!!!!