Dublin Kendo Kobukai

May the 4th Be With You!

Sadly, no training this evening. But do some mitori geiko with some Star Wars!

The final day of our training with Ueda Sensei had arrived. And Sensei had saved the best session for last.

Opening with an acknowledgement of our newly graded students, celebrating their success and highlighting their progress over a few short days, Ueda Sensei began with a review of the key points from the last 4 days of training.

Meanwhile, Elena Sensei spent some time personally coaching two of our beginners, which was an excellent experience for them.

The main group then progressed to working its way through the first 6 kata. Ueda Sensei's keen eyes picked up small mistakes and gently guided us to our best Jodo. Of particular interest was a small foot movement in kata number 6, Monomi, and a wonderful moment of shared laughter was brought about with some unexpected comic relief in the act of simply turning around during shi/uchi kotai.

Things were going great until one of our new Ikkyu reached the limit of their knowledge of the kata. This became an unexpected blessing, as Ueda Sensei excitedly decided to teach us a masterclass on Kata 7, Kasumi. This was invaluable, and our Ikkyu students were thrilled to be taught these important kata by Ueda Sensei.

Personally, I learned a ton - particularly key aspects of timing and subtle shifts in initiation and action that I had missed previously. All of this leading to a very different feeling and life in the kata.

Ueda Sensei decided to reward the hard-working students with a masterclass on Kata 8, Tachi Otoshi.

Sensei began by explaining the personal importance of this kata to her and encouraged us to try our best. After practising the basic jo-side movements, she had the seniors pair up as the tachi and help the newer students through the kata.

Finally, as a parting gift and to leave the correct impression and heart of the kata, she provided an embu of Tachi Otoshi, and I was honoured to serve as tachi. This was a very special moment for me, and I did my best to be a tachi that Ueda could demonstrate the highest level of Jodo with.

And then, we were done. :-)

You can learn more about Jodo here - https://dublinkendo.com/dublin-kendo-jodo/

Sunday 19th was the last day of the official seminar (but not the end of our training with Ueda Sensei!) While the day before had been info-heavy, now was the day we got to apply it. After a solid warm-up, the gradings began!

And this, this was stressful. Sure, those going for the grading, of course, would have nerves, but for John and me, this was dire!!! 🤣🤣 🤣Would our teachings hold up? Would our students be able to demonstrate what they had learned? We felt this was a judgment on us as much as it was on our students.

I was particularly invested as I had put forward two of the beginners from my most recent Jodo beginners course for Ikkyu. I felt confident putting them forward. I'd seen the work they'd put in, but exams are high-stress situations. You've never at your best. We all make mistakes under pressure, drop a kissaki, take the wrong kamae, drop a jo, forget a kata or part of one.

In addition to that, we had a student seeking Shodan, another Nidan, and my good friend Colin, challenging for Yondan.

Each challenger stepped out onto the floor amid a row of stern, unmoving judges. Each looked confident.

They gave it their all.

And all passed. :-)

Please join me in congratulating Dublin Kendo's new:
Ikkyu - Emmanuel Clarke and Markuss Zakss
Shodan - David Leonard
Nidan - Ilias Vrachnis

Well done all. I am extraordinarily proud. :-)

After the gradings, we had lunch and celebrated, before getting back to work implementing all the knowledge and changes through a very intense keiko. I was very lucky in that I got to work closely with Elena Sensei on the latter ZNKR kata and some koryu ahead of my 5th Dan examination later this year.

Then, John, Gavin and myself hoped on a train back to Dublin, to make preparations for the final training day...which I shall talk about tomorrow. :-)

In the meantime, if your interest is piqued, check out more info on Jodo here - https://dublinkendo.com/dublin-kendo-jodo/

We are now taking in new students to our Monday class - so shoot us an email or a message and arrange a free trial session today!

Breaking news! The head of our Jodo lineage, Ueda Sensei has just been awarded the prestigious title of HANSHI.

This is the highest title that can be awarded, and the FIRST time in history that a woman has recieve this title!

The first day of the official seminar was met by a wonderful turnout and well-justified enthusiasm. 12 members of Dublin Kendo Kobukai Jodo division had travelled up to attend the seminar.

Ueda Sensei treated us to a phenomenal lecture that helped clarify everyone's understanding of Jodo and then led everyone through an intense kihon practice building on the lessons of the previous two sessions she had led in our respective home dojo.

One super cool highlight was getting to tighten the angle of our hikkiotoshi and gyaku-te uchi through a 4-person practice, where one person takes tachi, and the other three jo. With a tight jo wall being placed in front of the tachi. As a result, the jo is forced to keep a narrow angle and strike from above. I can't describe how fun this one was, and then Ueda Sensei, ever resourceful, showed us how to set up a solo version of this practice.

This was an info-heavy day, resulting in page after page of notes being taken.

We concluded the day with another unique drill, observing and judging jodo, and learning how to prioritise a variety of categories across dan levels. There were some thrills, surprises, and plenty of action for the observers along the way, not to mention for the brave demonstrators. It is really rare and a wonderful opportunity for instruction of this kind, and I thought it was just fabulous. Importantly, at several points during this, I got to reflect deeply on what and how I teach jodo...and wondered what results the next day would bring as several of our students would be grading...

More on that tomorrow!

But if you're curious about Jodo now, check out https://dublinkendo.com/dublin-kendo-jodo/ where you can learn all about it. We're opening space for new students in our Monday class, so shoot us an email, and we'll arrange a trial session for you.

The second day of our Jodo journey began with a scenic train ride to Belfast, where we were met by the always reliable Jim Toman, head of our sister dojo Ojika NI Kendo Dojo and the man behind this epic seminar.

After getting settled into the accommodation, we headed off to a Friday evening session in Ojika NI Kendo Dojo and with some of the attendees of the seminar who had flown over from the UK for the event.

This was another amazing session, and I was very glad to represent Dublin Kendo at it.

Ueda Sensei worked again on the kihon, the foundational exercises needed to develop solid Jodo. This time, there was an intense focus on delivering a good hikkiotoshi. I had the opportunity and good fortune to work with one of Ojika NI Dojo's youngest members, Dean.

Dean was then chosen by Ueda Sensei to develop his hikkiotoshi further. A great honour and wonderful learning experience, I was honoured to be tachi and deliver the best cuts I could so that Dean could implement the advice Ueda Sensei was imparting. And this was great advice for everyone, me included. I also got to receive several hikkiotoshi from Ueda Sensei directly during this, which really helped me understand the problems in my own technique. Dean, doing a tremendous job, picked up the points and really improved his technique.

We then moved on to kata, and I was lucky enough to be able to work with my teacher Elena West-Vatolina Sensei on the first 5 kata, while Ueda Sensei and Andy Watson Sensei watched on. I got some fantastic points - particularly regarding opening my chest more and articulating the shoulders and hara. This was amazing. Such a simple and small change dramatically improved my power generation (not muscle strength) and appearance. The kata were feeling great.

Then, it was off to dinner and a delicious Ethiopian meal in a restaurant discovered by our own Anastasia. After stuffing ourselves and having many great laughs catching up with my friends from the UK, it was back to the house...where everyone took their beds, eager for the first day of the seminar.

More on that tomorrow!

If you're interested in learning more about Jodo now, check out - www.dublinkendo.com/dublin-kendo-jodo/

What an incredible week of Budo! It was a huge amount of work and effort from so many people to make it happen (chiefly our great friend Jim Toman and his dojo Ojika NI Kendo Dojo), but we had Ueda Sensei, Hachidan Kyoshi and Elena West-Vatolina Sensei, Nanadan Renshi over for nearly a full week of the best Jodo on the island of Ireland.

It was a spectacular week, kicking off with an amazing Thursday evening Jodo session in Dublin Kendo Kobukai. I have never seen so many Jodoka fit in that hall! Ueda Sensei, however, positioned everyone perfectly and held an absolute clinic on the Tandoka Dosa (the solo forms) of Jodo, before moving to focus on the initial three kata.

I had never seen so clearly the differences in the levels of understanding and ability of the various dan grades of Jodo until that session. We often speak of "depth of practice" as a consideration of judges, but I had never seen before the stark differences and contrasts.

It was a phenomenal practice and hinted at the transformation that awaited our students, following concentrated practice with such high-level teachers...

..More on that tomorrow! :-D

And if you want to try Jodo, the Art of Japanese Staff Fighting, classes are open on Mondays 6pm-7.10pm, in St. John Bosco Youth Centre, Davitt Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 12. Contact us today to arrange a trial session! https://dublinkendo.com/dublin-kendo-contact-us/

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