Training Kendo in Japan – The Kitamoto Experience

The 2014 Kitamoto Kendo Summer Camp for foreigners was held from 25 July to 1 August 2014 in Kitamoto, Japan, and was an event that I once again had the privilege to attend. It was a great reminder of why I started kendo a decade ago. In my quest for personal development, I wanted something that would cross geographical, religious, political and cultural borders. Kendo was one such martial art. 

Kenshi from 48 different countries descended upon the small town of Kitamoto, +-60 km outside of Tokyo, to participate in this week-long kendo seminar that focused more on the basics of kendo and the instruction thereof. We were also treated to an experience of Japanese culture and tradition, something that Kendo still prides itself in upholding, From the 3-times-a-day delicious meals, to just simple interactions with the Japanese sensei's and staff at the Gedatsu Renshin-kan Dojo and training centre, to the Japanese styled, open bath areas, all was a hint of the intricate Japanese culture and lifestyle. It was a rare opportunity to fully appreciate what life in Japan would be like. The training itself was not too bad. Being a past participant of the Kitamoto Camp some 6 years before, I was able to compare the training from then to what it is now. Furthermore, in speaking to my sensei's back home in SA, it would appear it has gotten a lot easier in the past 20 years. I discussed this with some of the past participants of Kitamoto too and it was in their opinion that the reason for this easing-up in training was largely due to the global rise in kendo standards. Gone are the days when the “gai-jin” (or foreigner) was an outsider and could not match the Japanese standard in kendo. Although not yet as good as them, many non-Japanese countries are catching up fast and adopting Japanese training methods to improve their Kendo. A good example would be from the 2008 World Kendo Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the USA beat the Japanese team in the semi-finals. In 2012, Novara, Italy, the Japanese team redeemed themselves and won the team event against the Koreans in the finals. However, the point is that the Americas, European and other Asian counties are starting to give the Japanese a good run for their money! The 2015 WKC in Tokyo, Japan will be an exciting event with many teams practising months, if not years before! South Africa will again be represented by the National Kendo Team, and it is my personal ambition to proudly represent my country one last time before I hang up my competition zekken (or name badge). A bit more about the Kitamoto camp - What can I say other than that this was probably the most enjoyable Kendo experience I have had in a long time. 

In my 1^st decade of kendo, I have been to a number of seminars and competitions around the world - Budapest & Debrechen (Hungary), Prague (Czech republic), London (UK), Helsinki (Finland), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Novora (Italy), Kitamoto (Japan). Most people say that I am really lucky to have been to so many different places, but honestly, most of the time, the time is so short and I mainly spend the time in the confines of the training area (dojo). This is why Kitamoto camp was so enjoyable - As much time I spent in training; I spend just as much time enjoying the Japanese culture and experiences. Furthermore, having 61 other participants from around the world doing the same camp, also made it more culturally diverse! My fellow roommates from Room 304 (Hoo-Ahh) hailed from Italy, Mexico, Uruguay, Columbia, Spain and (a fellow African) Mozambique. As much as we were different, we were all still the same in our passion for Kendo! Our room camaraderie superseded any past experience. I also had the “privilege” of being the group leader or manager (which I reluctantly accepted). However, with that said, the team spirit of Room 304, and the  brotherhood and camaraderie was so strong that at times, as a leader, I had very little to do other than to inform the members of the daily chores! I biggest and proudest task was perhaps coordinating the fighting line-ups in the inter-room shiai /competition (which we won)! A testament that with the correct mix of eager people, the right attitude, and a common objective, anything is possible! We did everything together from the daily chores, sitting together at every meal, and even the after-hours social activities! However, we also gave each other sufficient space to meet other people and do “other things” (……."what happens in 304, stays in 304"). I also had the privilege of meeting many other kenshi from other parts of the world: USA, Finland, Singapore, Indonesia, France, Sweden, Serbia, Brazil, Venezuela, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia,  Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan, Poland, Germany, UK, Turkey, Iran, Hawaii. More on the kendo itself: I mentioned that it was easier that my first experience at Kitamoto 6 years before, however, it was by no means an easy camp. Training formally started promptly at 6:30am each morning; however, for some eager-beavers who wanted to get some extra sparring (Keiko) in before the start of the day, there was an hour of keiko from 5:30am to 6:30 am each day. I managed one of these 5:30am sessions only. Anyway, the morning session from 6:30am lasted till 7:30am. Training resumed again from 9:30am after breakfast till 1pm. The mid-day session resumed again after lunch from 2:30 to 5:30pm. Each day ended off with more keiko either with each other, or with the sensei's.  On most evenings, there were also evening session. These sessions were from 8-9:30pm and included things like bogu-repair lectures and sessions. In total, it resulted in about 8 hrs of training each day -  a long day by any standard. The first 3 days I suffered badly from the jet-lag, heat and humidity. I did not sleep at all for the first night arriving due to the hard tatami mats on the floor, the freezing cold air conditioning in the room and the bright light of that stupid exit sign on the door (that did not switch off, even though there was an off-cord on it)! For the next 2 days I had about 4hrs sleep in total. Also, at temperatures of 30-35 degrees Celsius and +- 80% humidity each day, it was really difficult to breathe and adjust to the Japanese climate, especially since coming from the dry Highveld air of South Africa. Anyway, I eventually climatized and was able to put 100% into my training. Most of the training focused on the basics (or kihon) of kendo; and the proper forms and use both a bokken (wooden sword) and shinai (bamboo sword). I had learnt a fair amount of new information from the kihon kata using bokken that I hope to share with my fellow kendoka back home in South Africa. (A lot of shiai-orientated wazzas (techniques) can be derived from these kihon kata, as it is these shiai wazza's that we lack in international competitions). There was also a day of kata practise that we used real swords (unsharpened, but still pretty dangerous). This reminded me of a quote a work colleague once said to me: "nothing focuses the mind like the sound of a guillotine". There might not have been a guillotine anywhere near by, but my mind was indeed focused! We also had a daily session of shimpan (referee) training that entailed both understanding the rules and actually watching and refereeing matches for each other. The one day we were very privileged to have been the shimpans for the young school children of Gedatsu Renshin-kan Dojo. All I can say is that these little fighting machines could probably whip anyone of us foreigners a$$e$ with the speed and attitude of their kendo! 

Our shimpan training was also put to good use at the inter-room shiai / competition, where each room was to compete with each other in a team competition. Our room (304) was initially pitted against room 201, one of the girls room. Now, we had gotten quote close to the girls on this camp, and it pained us to send them packing in the first round, but it had to be done. Our next fight was against the "Asian" room, room 305 (so named because most of the participants were from the Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Macao, Chinese Taipei and China). We had a good match against them and took an early lead. My fight at the end was with a kenshi from Singapore, with whom I beat with a hikkimen and kote strike. The comment I got afterwards from one of the ladies was "wow, you can fight too!"-  I thought that was an interesting comment! Lastly, we were in the finals against the Room 302. We were lucky enough to get an early lead, a bit of a hiccup in the middle, and the eventual win at the end! The hiccup was my match against Mr Lee from New Zealand. I lost in 2 quick points (kote, men), even after being warned about them by my other more experienced team members (on a personal note, I am happy to say I lost to the only successful 6th dan candidate that passed the grading examination at the end of the camp). All in all, room 304, as loud and as boisterous as we were, were able to win a bag full of victory drinks (green tea) in good spirit! It was great fun and so many lessons can be taken from this experience that I can use for our South African kendo players back home. The only regret I have was that we didn't get to referee any other matches since we won all ours. 

Keiko (sparring) was also a much anticipated event after a hard days training as it allowed us to put into practise all that we had learnt from the sensei's. From applying the kihon wazza from the kata, to performing the proper yukododatsu (scoring point), it was time to apply all that we learnt. Admittedly, the 1st 3 days of jet-lag and non-climitisation left me rather lethargic and sluggish, but I gradually recovered my gusto by day 4. However, than was when injuries started to kick in, most painful was the skin on the soles of my feet. Being hot and humid, training bare-footed eventually left my feet riddles with blisters and split skin. I had to bind my feet most of the time with bandage and tape to secure my feet. One time I even tried to use a kendo sock, but since the floor was so slippery, I decided not to use it anymore (as I resembled a hamster on a wheel - I was moving my legs, but I wasn't going anywhere as I would just slide in the same position)! On the last few days, with painful split feet, I just said, "just get over it", took all the bandages off and just gave the hardest keiko I could against the sensei's. 

That is what kendo is about - pushing at your boundaries and when you feel you have had enough, to just keep on pushing harder. Kendo is about personal development and is by no means something that gives you a hard a fast rule as to how you go about developing yourself - It merely gives you the guidelines and parameters, The rest is up to you. Hard keiko taught me that - I had to face many of my own demons, which included my personal insecurities, laziness, unclear ambitions and fears of inadequacies. What I did learn was invaluable though for my own personal development - always try my hardest; give it my all; pain is just temporary; age is just an illusion; just keep on going; being a leader is a choice, but when I decide to do so, I must step up and take responsibility. 

In one of our sessions with the camp's head sensei, Sato sensei, he mentioned 5 characteristics of a great leader that he came across in some Italian literature: 1) Intelligence, 2) Power to persuade, 3) Healthy Body and Mind, 4) Self-Motivation 5)Self-Control. Apparently Julius Caesar was the only leader in history with all these qualities. 

Lastly, a special mention of our excursion Tokyo, and specifically to the Nippon Budokan (National Martial Arts Centre) to watch the national elementary school kaitai (competition). With 16 shiai-jo's in a hexagon-shaped building, I could not but be in awe of this massive arena and where the 16th World Kendo Championships will be held in 2015. For 2 days, over 4000 elementary school kids took part in this event. It was later explained to me by Chiba Sensei (one of the AJKF directors) is that children aged 7 to 10 years old did basic kirrikaiesh and judged based on their form and technique. The 11 and 12 year old did shiai. Unfortunately we were not able to stay to the end, but it was impressive to watch how the organization of over 2500 competitors for the day was conducted! Truly inspirational! 

All in all, the Kitamoto camp was a unique and wonderful experience. I would encourage any aspiring kendo players to attend the event at least once in their lifetime. However, as it is explicitly stated, this is a foreign leader’s camp, and the intension is that these leaders will take the teachings back with them and instruct the kendo community in their country in this age-old martial art's techniques and philosophy. I made that a very conscious decision when signing up for this camp this time round, and although I was steadfast in ensuring I was there for kendo exclusively, I met some wonderful people and shared with them some amazing experiences that have touched me deeply. For that, I am truly grateful and will cherish those memories for the rest of my life. Hoo-ahhh!   

How Are You Building Your Self-Defence Skills?

Self-defence training is a life-skill that is vital for any person to learn and practise continuously. Some might say that in this day and age of civilisation and technology, there is no longer a need for it. However, the reality is that we need it now more than ever. Never in the history of mankind have we been faced with the human threats that we have now. From terrorist organizations threatening global warfare;  to organised crimes such as shopping malls shootouts and cash-in-transit heists; to increases in home invasions, murders, rapes and other hideous and violent crimes. Combine this with the global recession that still looms in the air, forcing more and more once-decent people to descend to a more barbaric survival means of stealing and plundering, it only fuels this vicious circle of crime and fear.

Many people have also become frustrated of crime and have resorted to throwing their hands up in the air and remark that that their tax money is supposed to be paying those law enforcement official to protect them from criminal elements; or they have gone to the other extreme of becoming apathetic towards crime by just pretending that it does not matter anymore because there is nothing that can be done anyway and are just prepared to become victims.

The truth is, most victims of crime are victims because they let themselves to be. They have not prepared adequately or rely on others to protect them.  As a life-skill, self-defence educates the individual on how to minimise the possibility of an attack, as well as empower themselves with relevant and effective physical skills. Although the physical skills are important, they are but a mere drop in the ocean of mental skills and preparedness one must undergo - It is fundamentally about developing the correct self-defence attitude.

I read an enlightened quote recently that said, "Many victims are victims not because they lack the capacity to fight, but because they have never had any exposure to the violence, and training to deal with that violence". How true is that statement! In my many years of traditional martial arts training, nothing could have prepared me more than the combative training I have undergone. Some of the highlights include: being hit in the face, groins, legs, chest and arms, just to see what the most effective combinations would be to elicit an incapacitation; being shot at with paintballs, airsoft pellets, and blank bullets filled with play-dough, to feel the fear of when someone is shooting at me; having being stabbed at with FULL-FORCE with rubber knives, leaving behind bruised ribs, to see if I really could catch a knife that was moving at that speed and being wielded with that intent to stab me to death;  having had attack-dogs set on me, dealing with them, and still having to accessing my weapon to deal with another human opponent;  bare-knuckle sparring with bigger and stronger opponents who just want to knock-out the little Asian guy; grappling with someone twice my size to emulate what it would be like to ground-fight with someone who knew what they were doing and would be willing to choke me to death or break a few bones; to trying to free myself from my opponent’s grip, while being held under-water in the sea to see if I could still fight in this oxygen-deprived, fear-inducing environment.

I admit -  I do put myself through some rather extreme training methods.  And yes, some people might call me a sadist (as I do actually enjoy the training)! However, I will be the first one to admit that each time I do combative training, I am scared $h!tless! Not because of the training methods, but because of the pain that I might (and inevitably do) incur. It is this fear of pain that makes me train harder so that I can minimise the pain. This fear gives me the edge above many of my opponents, because I am willing to do WHATEVER it takes to not feel that pain. I manage that fear of pain by training as hard as I possibly can to ensure that I don't get hurt. This is my self-defence training.

To take it to a higher and broader level, there is also a greater pain than my own pain, which is the pain I will feel if anything bad were to ever happen to my loved ones. THAT alone makes me train even harder so that I, should I have the opportunity to, will be able to prevent those bad elements from reaching them. However, I do still insist that they also undergo some self-defence training. After all, there is only so much I can do.

At the end of the day, it’s all about the choices I make. As I have said to many of my students, there is no right or wrong choices when it comes to self-defence decisions. The only proviso is that you need to live with the consequences of those choices.

So let me ask you again, how are you building this essential life-skill?

Get EDUCATED and EMPOWERED. Live a positive and fully ENGAGED life. 

* Just random news clippings while paging through a newspaper yesterday.

Police Harassment – What To Do When The Protectors Becomes The Aggressors.

 A close friend of mine and his wife had an unfortunate incident with the SAPS (South African Police Service) last night.  

This is their story:

“I was returning home from a party last night when we got stopped by the SAPS on the freeway.  We were made to pull-off on the side of this busy freeway into the emergency lane. Two policemen then approached my car with loaded weapons and were extremely rude, screaming and shouting for me to get out of the car. My wife, who is 5 months pregnant and was sleeping at the time, was rudely woken up by their banging guns on the rear side windows. She was abruptly told to get out of the car too.

They then proceeded to search my wife’s vehicle’s boot and asked what the items in the boot were. This included my wife’s gym bag, some groceries we had purchased earlier, and the spare tire.

They also searched me. Before they did, I informed them that I carried a firearm for self-defence purposes and which I had a valid licence for. Upon searching me, he then pulled out my firearm from its holster, unloaded the firearm, and proceeded to dry-fire it at my feet!

He then asked why I carried hollow points as they were "illegal" - which I know isn't and I told him so. Furthermore, he also found my spare magazine and he asked why I had so many bullets, in which I replied, I can have up to 200 rounds of ammunition with me as a self-defence licence holder.

He then proceeded to ask me a series of sarcastic questions such as,  Why I was driving my wife's car? Why was my wife sleeping? Why is she tired (“uh...because she is pregnant”)? Why do I carry a weapon?  Why do I have groceries in my car? Why don't I protect my parents? (That last one caught me out of the blue).   

After about 20mins of this harassment, they eventually they let me leave, but I was extremely upset by the way they treated my wife and I. Unfortunately, I had tried to get some details from them at the end of the incident. When I asked for his name, he laughed at me and walked back to his car, muttering some inaudible grunt to me. Since I was on a busy freeway, and my wife was a bit traumatised, I just left it and headed off as soon as I could.

I am so pissed off right now, what could I have done better?"

My first response was that he did everything correctly. Being a hot-head normally, I was surprised by the way he kept himself contained for as long as he did. Using some personal contacts and various other means, I was able to quickly compile some further advice for my traumatised friends:

1. Remain calm and co-operative at all time.
2. Maintain constant dialogue in a respectful, non-sarcastic manner (even though you may be fuming on the inside).
3. Should you carry any firearm, inform the officer as such. BE SURE TO BE CARRYING BOTH YOUR DRIVER’S LICENCE and FIREARM LICENCE with you at all times when you are driving and/or carrying.
4. Keep your hands out of the pockets of jackets and jeans. It looks too suspicious.
5. Don’t make any sudden movements or gestures. REMEMBER, KEEP YOUR COOL!
6. When the officer is done, politely ask his name, station and the “CALL SIGN” of his vehicle.
7.  The CALL SIGN is marked on the side of the police vehicle and has 2 alpha letters & 2 numerals.  For example, “SD34”, indicates the station (SD = Sandton) and the vehicle number (34).  This CALL SIGN, together with the time of the incident, can be tracked on the AVL tracker system for future reference. It will also indicate the officers who were operating the vehicle at the time.
8. If you feel the incident was unjust or the service was not satisfactory, you can report the incident to the SAPS’s Centre for Service Excellence on the toll-free line, 0800 333 177 (refer to http://www.saps.gov.za/services/services.php).
9. Be sure to supply them with details of the incident, the CALL SIGN of the vehicle, the time of the incident, and the names of the officers and the station of where they are based (if you got them, else the call sign is suffice).  
10. Lastly, breathe and relax before heading back onto the road. Get your cool back before you get back on the road. You don’t want to be driving angry.

This is an unfortunate incident once again of our protectors abusing their powers.  It really makes my blood boil when I hear of such stories as I really do respect and admire the SAPS and its members for the good work they do in our country. Furthermore, having friends who are members of the SAPS, I understand the sacrifices they make to be able to protect us from the criminal elements out there and are truly grateful for them. However, it’s a few “bad apples” such as these two officers that really just tarnish the reputation of the SAPS, and undermine the good work they do.

Through my friends’ experience, I hope this EDUCATES and EMPOWERS you on how to handle such incidents in future, and to encourage you live a positive and fully-ENGAGED life.

Till next time. Be safe. Be vigilant. Just Be.