Starting a Blog

Attending a Kendo Seminar

Recently, I took part in a kendo seminar held in Marseille. Three Japanese eighth-dan masters were invited, and the event drew as many as 110 practitioners.

About two years ago, I left my home country, Japan, and moved to Switzerland. Until then I trained in Tokyo and had reached third dan. Having experienced the depth of kendo, I had decided to devote many years to exploring it as fully as possible. However, when I had to leave Japan, I had to set that plan aside for a time. Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to part with my armor (bogu), so I brought it with me. That choice proved helpful, because through a connection I had the opportunity to attend this seminar.

After two years, I was finally able to feel again what it’s like to train with a partner. I also realized once more how essential kendo is to my path in the martial arts. My field of specialization is bare-hand budo, but more broadly, the theme I reflect on and train toward every day is the wish to realize, within bare-hand budo, the same worldview found in kendo.

But what do I mean by “the kendo worldview”? What should I learn from kendo in concrete terms? And what would an unarmed martial art that reflects these principles look like?

In this blog, I’d like to share my thoughts on these questions, along with the path and reflections that led me to them.