Kendo for LIFE

Kendo-Guide.Com Newsletter, Issue #003 - The Power of Degeiko

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What we have in this issue is shown below. Enjoy this Newsletter!

Table of Content

- Article and Video of the Month -

- Kendo-Guide.Com New Features -

- New Articles since the Last Issue -

- The Power of Degeiko -

- Comments or Questions -

There are links to change your email address for the newsletter or unsubscribe at the bottom of every newsletter. Thanks!

- Article and Video of the Month -

* "Shinai Adjustment" at Kendo Online Workshop

This video shows how to make a shinai shorter. Sometime you do not have a shorter shinai for new beginners if the beginners are 18 years old or younger (high school students or younger). But you do not have shorter shinai for them.

To watch Shinai Adjustment , click here...

At Kendo Video Download Section:

* "Zenshin Kotai Shomen Uchi & Niho Zenshin Niho Kotai Shomen Uchi"

This video shows two different kinds of men strike training methods with footwork. These methods are particularly important for synchronizing the cutting movement and footwork.

To watch a brief video of Zenshin Kotai Shomen Uchi & Niho Zenshin Niho Kotai Shomen Uchi, click here...

To read an article of Zenshin Kotai Shomen Uchi, click here...

To read an article of Niho Zenshin Niho Kotai Shomen Uchi, click here...

* "Kote Oyobi Men & Kote Oyobi Do"

This video shows the basic suburi (empty cut) for continuous cuts. Previously we learned each cut individually but now we put them together. It is harder than it looks. These need to be well-practiced.

To watch a brief video of Kote Oyobi Men & Kote Oyobi Do, click here...

To read an article of Kote Oyobi Men, click here...

To read an article of Kote Oyobi Do , click here...

* "Sayumen"

This video shows how to strike the left and right men of your opponent. These cuts should be angled. But it is very tricky to make these angled cuts. These need to be learned really well.

To watch a brief video of Sayumen, click here...

To read an article of Sayumen , click here...

- Kendo-Guide.Com New Features -

1. Share your story with others.

At the Benefit of Kendo page, I set up a "tell us your story" section. What benefits have you gotten from kendo? Tell the world your story .

Why?

We all know kendo is a great martial art. So we do not want people misunderstand kendo, do we? I want you to share your story with the world.

Please tell your friends to share their stories as well.

Let’s tell the world the benefits of kendo!

To share your story with the world, click here...

2. Interactive Kendo Q&A

If you have a question about kendo, now you can ask it online instead of emailing me personally.

It has a great function. Not only me but also others can answer your question. More excitingly, we can interact with the world kendoists too.

I am so excited about this!

To ask a kendo related question, click here...

If you know any great resources about samurai, please go and tell James where to get info...

3. Kendo-Guide.Com site Search and World Dojo Search

Now you can search within kendo-guide.com. If you have particular information to look for, just type it in the search box.

I placed a search box at the homepage, terminology page and wisdom page. But there is a kendo search page as well.

To try Kendo Search, click here...

World Dojo Search

I often receive a question about a location of dojo. But I don’t really know either. So I created a World Dojo Search.

If you enter a name of a city, you should get a dojo if there is one in that city. If not, don’t give up, State a state name, region name or country name. You should get some info about dojo.

However, unfortunately, I could not include some Asian countries, since they do not use English for their dojo lists.

To use World Dojo Search, click here...

- New Articles since the Last Issue -

Several articles were posted since the last Kendo-Guide.Com Newsletter.

Kendo Terminology: Degeiko

Not familiar with the word? But I am sure that you have done this before. If you have not, I suggest doing this.

To read more about the Kendo Terminology: Degeiko , click here...

Kachi Ni Fushigi no Kachi Ari

There are many wonders in kendo. This article tells you the meaning of this wisdom and also what we should learn from it.

To read more about Kachi ni Fushigi no Kachi Ari, click here...

- The Power Of Degeiko -

Degeiko means "to go out of your dojo and train with other people at their dojo". (more detailed explanation of degeiko). It is very important especially if you are sho-dan or above.

As mentioned in the article, degeiko and its benefits, it gives us a lot of benefits. One of the greatest benefits is to be able to challenge ourselves. You will have to fight frustration, anger and all other negative feelings it may appears inside you in degeiko.

Frustration and anger are caused by fighting different types of kendo. Some people have their own timing to strike. Sometimes you feel like you are fighting some other kinds of martial artists. It is amazing how different kendo can be.

It is frustrating to keep getting hit but not to be able to attack or counterattack at all. Sometimes you get angry with your opponent. But that is not your opponent’s fault. It is your fault.

I have experienced anger and frustration towards my opponents because I could not strike them but they kept hitting me. The more angry and frustrated I became, the more my opponents hit me.

It does not matter what grade you and your opponent hold. It does not matter how skilful and good you are. Once you get frustrated, there is a good chance for your opponent to beat you badly.

It is about the state of our mind. People say we should have a lot of fighting spirits. I could not agree more. But there is a very thing layer between anger and fighting spirits.

Fighting sprits do not contain anger or frustration. You may want to say anger can trigger pretty good fighting sprits. I have some experiences in that, too.

I was so angry at my team mates because we lost at the final in a team tournament before my turn. I was Taisho (the last guy to fight in the team fight). This anger triggered my fighting spirits and I won my fight. I was not angry at my opponent though.

If I was angry or frustrated with my opponent because he/she did not do kendo just like I did, I would lose pretty much any fights. I am sure you can tell when you are losing your temper in a fight. Your mind is not in the state of "heijoshin".

You will get frustrated because you fight new people and new kendo styles that you never fought. You have to keep your mind calm and peaceful but increase your fighting spirits.

You can learn to control your emotions and turn it into something positive such as fighting spirits. When we experience this over and over, we will be pretty good at controlling our emotions, I think.

If we can do great practice in degeiko with great fighting sprits, NOT anger, we can establish a great bond with many kendoists in the world!

This is the power of degeiko.

- Comments or Questions -

If you have a kendo related question, please go to Kendo Q&A and use a special form for that.

If you want to contact me personally, please use a contact form.

If you do not send me email through the form, my email system does not pass through your emails. That means I never get your email.

Please do not use the email address I used to use at The Cyber Dojo either. It will not be used for communication purpose. This is the main website.

Click here to contact us...

Thank you for reading the newsletter. I might make the newsletter twice a month; one is manily for article and video update and one is mainly for main newsletter article.

See you then!