Kendo Magazine

Last Practice with Esteban!

asukakondo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:53:27 +0000

Hello, this is Asuka.

Last Week was the last practice with Esteban. He left to Colombia.

Since it was the last practice with Esteban at BUTOKUDEN, I really wanted to beat him in Keiko, even though he is male and practices more than I do. I was sure we would have last Keiko with him. So I [...]

Practice Diary 02/12/2010

asukakondo — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:55:58 +0000

Hello, this is Asuka.

In January, we had many new students who joined our BUTOKUDEN Dojo. Sometimes, I teach the beginners the basics. For an adult, it is very important that they enjoy Kendo. Even though they are just starting up, we have to give a variety of practice menu, in order to keep them [...]

Female Kenshi

asukakondo — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:20:11 +0000

Hello, this is Asuka.

It was a great opportunity for me to meet these highly skilled for female Senseis. What was common among them was that they were all very humble. Watanabe Sensei told us that the secret to improve Kendo skills is that we should listen to what our Senseis say and try the lessons [...]

Practice Diary 12/26/2009 Birthday Keiko

asukakondo — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:09:45 +0000

Hello, this is Asuka.

Happy New Year! In our Dojo, we already started our practice from January 5.

We were very busy at the end of 2009. We had the Christmas party, Toshikoshi Keiko and my Birthday Keiko. My birthday is December 26th.

As for the Birthday Keiko, I was happy that everyone remembered my Birthday and decided [...]

Christmas Party!!

asukakondo — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:49:41 +0000

Hello, this is Asuka.

Last week, we had Christmas party in our Dojo. In the afternoon, we had the Butokuden Dojo tournament and in the evening we had the party.

This tournament is very memorable for everyone. In the Kids division, the smallest one, who would never be happy unless he is [...]

Kendo Baka

asukakondo — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:48:39 +0000

Hello. This is Asuka.

We now have one Kenshi from Columbia. He came to the USA in November, and he will be staying until February. He is crazy about Kendo. In Japanese we call these type of people “Kendo OTAKU” or “Kendo BAKA”.?Sometimes I carpool with him. Most of our conversation is about Marital Arts, Samurai [...]

Practice Diary 12/10/2009 Seo Sensei from Korea

asukakondo — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:36:58 +0000

Hello. This is Asuka.

Yesterday, Seo Sensei (Executive Vice President of Korean Kumdo Federation for Social Members ) visited our Dojo. He is Hanshi 8 dan. Thanks to Kim sensei, we were able to arrange Seo Sensei’s visit to our Dojo, during his busy schedule here in the USA. He was also one of the referees [...]

Promotion Test

asukakondo — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:43:45 +0000

On Sunday, we had the promotion exam for KYU to 4 Dan. There were around 60 people testing at the examination.

I got 3 Dan a year ago, therefore I did not have the qualification to take test this time. I went to the examination as a helper. I helped as a timer, so I was [...]

Practice Diary-11/13/2009 Jodo

asukakondo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:34:48 +0000

Hello, this is Asuka.

In our Butokuden Dojo, we practice Jodo before our Kendo practices, for about 30 minutes.

Jodo is often called ‘The way of the stick.’ This martial art uses a short wooden staff, called a ‘Jo’ or ‘Tsue’, to defend oneself against an attacker using a Japanese sword.

First Tsukidue Practice

We started Jodo a [...]

Practice Diary 10/20/2009 Last Practice with Someya Sensei

asukakondo — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:51:58 +0000

Hello. This is Asuka.

We had last Keiko with Someya Sensei on October 20. He went back to Brazil on October 21.

This day was only Jigeiko. Of course, I went practice with Someya Sensei. I got very good advices. He told me that I should initiate the attacks using the legs, and not arms. Also, he [...]