As the old saying in kendo goes, “1. eyes, 2. footwork, 3. courage, and 4. strength” (一眼 二足 三膽 四力; ichi-gan ni-soku san-tan shi-riki), seeing is considered to be the most important. The act of seeing is divided into two aspects (観見の目) one that of sensing or perceiving [as mentally] (観; kan) the whole of your opponent, … [Read more…]
Recently, Shane posted a recovered letter by Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawkes of Cornwall (c.a. late 15th century) regarding 20 rules for a knight, which was written to his children. I found that in essence the virtues outlined here coincide with classical virtues of Confucianism, which the Japanese bushido (code of warriors) had adopted. Here’s a … [Read more…]
稽古 7-79 / Baca Center / 2016年 10月 19日 (水) Oikomi: men, men-kote, men-kote-dou. We usually don’t practice going forward that much so whenever I instruct the class I try to put in oikomi or other practices that help with this. We start with a kiai, and then go on for continuous uchi in fumikomi. Near … [Read more…]