I attended the AJKF Foreign Kendo Leaders’ Summer Seminar held at
Gedatsu-kai Training Center from July 26~ August 2, 2013
The main seminar leaders were:
佐藤成明 範士八段 Sato Nariyaki
香田郡秀 教士八段 Kouda Kunihide
船津晉治 教士八段 Funatsu Shinji
田中宏明 教士八段 Tanaka Hiroaki
Other sensei that visit for keiko and to help out with translation
included Toda, Tatsuo Hayashi, Alex Bennett and few other sensei.
The format was roughly 4 practice sessions a day, and each session
covered: Bokuto Kihon Keiko ho, Kendo no Kata, then basic suburi,
uchikomi, oikomi, kakari, jikeiko and short 指導稽古 with the sensei as
motodachi.
Bokuto kihon and kendo no kata was mainly led by Sato and Kouda
sensei, and keiko portion by Funatsu sensei.
There was shiai and refereeing sessions as well, and the general
format seems to be consistent with the previous few years.
I believe this is also an annual Kitamoto seminar event, but going to
see the 全日本少年少女武道（剣道）錬成大会 at the Budokan was a good experience. The
format of the tournament, where the teams compete in both kihon and
shiai was interesting, which gives equal weight to kihon and shiai.
For junior tournaments, I think it is a good thing. As well, the
opening ceremony and group warmups of the 2000 kids were and
impressive display of the Japanese ritual valuable for the kids to
feel part of a bigger whole. I would propose to have a more
significant junior division event at the national championships.
It is a 7 day seminar, but because of the amount of material that AJKF
wants to cover, it still seemed not long enough. However,
logistically, financially and physically, it would be demanding to do
more than 7 days for most people. I heard it was longer many years
back, but in today's world, not many working people can take that much
time off.
It is impressive that AJKF and its sponsor JKA & Autorace takes on the
entire cost of hosting ~60 people for 7 days including a token
transport fee. Funding is a challenge everywhere. It shows that
corporate sponsors are crucial for large costly events, even for AJKF.
This seminar also makes sure that AJKF's latest interpretation of
kata, terminology and keiko-ho is spread worldwide and standardized.
My take from this seminar:
1. The seminar accepts applicants 3 dan to 6 dan. I believe this is
because in some countries they don't have senior leaders so 3 dan is
high. However, I do not believe that some one who is 3 dan can absorb
all the fine points of the instruction during the seminar and bring it
back to share. Someone who already has a reasonable level of
understanding of kendo no kata and bokuto keiko would be able to pick
up the finer details and updates to bring back this info to be shared
here. I would suggest to send a minimum of 4 dan or higher from Canada
if possible.
2. We could do one day seminars for 3 dan and above after large
tournaments to update them on the latest changes and finer points of
kata, kihon keiko ho and other points to keep understanding consistent
across the country. It would be difficult to have multi-day events
like Kitamoto in Canada where many people travel to a one location
without significant financial support from external sources.
3. Many European kendoka were young and spending time training in
Japan. Some were on their national teams; it definitely shows how
European kendo level is getting higher and their training is at a high
level.
4. One of the Korean delegates was a former national team member (from
2006 Taiwan) and now a coach at one of the professional teams in
Korea. After getting to know him, I visited his team's training keiko
in Seoul the week after the Kitamoto seminar, while I was in Korea. I
believe we need future and young Team Canada members need to
experience training in Japan and Korea more with the elite level
players. We cannot do what they do day in day out, but having more
exchange will help open their eyes.
5. I personally benefited by being given advice on some of the things
that I should work on going forward. I am hoping that can also help
raise the level of people around me.
6. It is a great experience that I strongly recommend for anyone.
Meeting and networking with kendoka from around the world, as well as
receiving instruction from top level sensei in Japan was invaluable.
I would like to think about what we could do in Canada that would help
the instructors at the clubs here to raise their level and standardize
instruction. It is not easy since beyond Toronto, Vancouver and to
some extent Montreal, travel is costly and distances far. This is a
Canadian challenge of large distances and few people. Coming up with
unique and novel solutions to these problems is also Canadian, so
hopefully we can overcome this as well. An instructors seminar in
Canada held annually that goes around the country could be considered.
Hyun-June Choi