About

Welcome!

My name is Nicky. I’m a 27 year old Canadian citizen living, working and playing in Kyoto, Japan. Originally, I’m from Vancouver, Canada where I was born and raised before I moved to Japan with my partner in 2010. I’ve been here for over 2 years now and in that time I have met many wonderful people, seen some spectacular places and participated in some truly wonderful cultural events and activities. But you’re not here for that, are you?

You’re here for the kendo.

I’ve been practicing kendo for over 5 years. The past 2 years have been in Japan. I’ve received both shodan and nidan here in Kyoto. I’ve participated in tournaments and have practiced at several dojo throughout the city and have subsequently had the honor of practicing with and being instructed by some of the best players in the region. Unfortunately, language barrier still puts some of this instruction over my head, but it’s sinking in, slowly.

Practicing kendo in Kyoto has been the most rewarding experience in my kendo career. The people, the atmosphere, the instruction and the community here make practicing kendo in Kyoto exciting, insightful and above all else, enjoyable.

I started practicing kendo back in 2007 at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. It was then, and still is now a fairly large club that flourishes under great leadership, teachers, and a strong commitment to a solid foundation of basic techniques.

However, I think the most resonating message I took with me from my time at SFU was “kendo is for life”, the idea that, no matter where you are in the world or in life, once you’ve started kendo, it’s with you forever. There’s no ‘quitting’ kendo. You can take a break, or focus on something else for a while, but kendo will always be waiting.

Further, kendo is a lifelong pursuit. We practice kendo with the goal of perfecting ourselves as human beings. Not just in executing a flawless waza, but our character, our minds, our interactions and our relationships. The All Japan Kendo Federation gives this purpose for the study of kendo:

To mold the mind and body.

To cultivate a vigorous spirit,

And through correct and rigid training,

To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo.

To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor.

To associate with others with sincerity.

And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.

Thus will one be able:

To love one's country and society;

To contribute to the development of culture;

And to promote peace and prosperity among all peoples.

Kendo, like most martial arts, is difficult because mastery of it involves applying the principles of kendo to every aspect of our lives, to truly live the idea of kendo. This is not something that comes from a few years of practice, and it’s certainly not something I’ve come close to achieving yet.

That said, I’ve found that practicing kendo in the country where it and its ideology were born makes it a lot easier to understand the underlying concepts that make kendo a budou. I’m not trying to suggest that there is anything lacking about the instruction of kendo where I learned it in Canada. However, there is something to be said about the differences in where kendo is being practiced.

My expectations of kendo in Japan were that it was going to be difficult, strict and possibly unpleasant, what with the vast difference in climate. While at times it has been difficult, and at times it has been strict, and the climate has made kendo damn near impossible some days, I have come away from my time here with a much more positive opinion than what I started with. What’s more, the enriching environment of kendo in Kyoto has motivated me to strive much higher than I previously thought I would like to.

With this in mind, my goal of this blog is threefold:

1)    To most importantly, supply as accurate information as I can about dojo, practices and locations to make it easier for foreign practitioners to find and practice kendo in Kyoto.

2)    To explain the principles of kendo as I understand them on my own path through kendo.

3)    To inspire and motivate new generations of practitioners in Canada and abroad to continue their practice, and to broaden their understanding of what it means to practice kendo.

Of course, I don’t consider myself to be an expert in kendo or its principles. However if there is something that can be taken away from my experiences here, I hope that others might be able find some help through the same roadblocks that frustrated me early on. Maybe in another five years my opinions will completely change but for now I will try to give as accurate information as I possible can.

“Little by little, we can do it together.”

I hope you enjoy.

Nicky

2012, Kyoto, Japan