New Dojo

Lia told me recently that I haven't write anything here in a long time.

That's true!

So what happened lately at the Kendo club? So much.... First we moved out to a bigger Dojo in Panmure. Everyone helped, it was very nice. First, cleaning and then painting, painting, painting and a bit of cleaning, painting, some sort of cleaning as well and also..... painting! Once the cleaning and painting was kind of complete, the floor has been layered down: such a nice floor, all springy springy.

So time came to practice and try our new dojo/painted walls/cleaned and springy floor. It is a bit of a change. Funnily enough, the more space we have and the more we seem to need, haha. We could easily practice in the previous dojo, not caring about space and now, we always bump into each other for some reason. Foot work is easier now and Fumukomi doesn't hurt so much on this new floor. Trainings are starting at 7pm now, beginners and intermediates at the same time. Usually, both warm up together and then the class is splitted between beginners and intermediates. It is convenient for time as it can be difficult for people coming from the city to get to the new dojo which is in Panmure.

Let's move on to the grading. Many people graded, actually, most of the kendoists that evening graded, to their expectations or not, but it happened. If my memory is good, everyone who attempted shodan was successful. Two or three of us succeded why Ikyu and so on with Nikyu, Sankyu, etc...
There was two juges board and it all went quite quickly. Congratulations to everyone, that was a great evening.

Finally, we are now geting ready to host the first event in our new Dojo: Nationals 2008. It is exciting and many people will be there helping. As most of you probably know already, the nationals are open to New Zealand residents only, which puts quite a few AKC's members out of the competition. I am looking forward to it, I'll be helping at the board, a bit of pressure and a lot of excitment. It will be concluded, of course, by a meal with everyone in the evening.

Soon, I will write an article about my personal kendo practice, the mind practice. Here is a preview of it:

Ken to wa kokoro nari
Kokoro tadashi kariba sono ken tadashi
Kokoro tadashi karazariba
Sono ken mata tadashi karazu
Ken o monoban tu suru monowa subekaraku
Sono kokoro o manabe

The sword (fist) and the mind are one.
When the mind is right, the sword (fist) is right.
When the mind is not right, the sword (fist) is also not right.
To study the art of kendo, one must first study his mind.

I will also try to get pictures from the new Dojo's construction from Graham sensei, I think he has many.
Take care everyone....