Blog: kilala.nl - Blog posts

• Kendo kyu exams at Renshinjuku Almere

  Ten months after our dojo's previous exams we held kyu-grade exams today. This time around the group of people was a lot smaller, but things were still just as chaotic as last year. First off I started putting on my bogu, while we were not supposed to wear it during the exam. Then I had my zekken on, which was supposed to be off. Then I'd forgotten to switch to my kendo glasses. And finally, minutes before my test, I discovered that I was still wearing my wedding ring! Messy =_=

  
  

  Today we had one person testing for fifth kyu, three for fourth (including myself) and three for third. The exams were as follows:

  
  
  
  
  • Fifth = men-uchi and a written test on kendo equipment
  
  
  • Fourth = men-uchi, kote-uchi, kote-men-uchi, ippon-me kata and a written test on kendo terms and safety
  
  
  • Third = men-uchi, kote-uchi, kote-men-uchi, kirikaeshi, ipponme and nihonme kata and a written test
  
  
  
  

  In general I thought my test didn't go badly and I was feeling more confident than during my first exam. However, there was plenty of stuff that wasn't great. Sensei tells me that I graded for fourth kyu, but that third kyu would require a lot of hard work.

  
  

  The biggest problems seen in my kendo today were:

  
  
  
  
  • A total lack of fumikomi. It wasn't even bad, it just wasn't there! There's a reason why my study goal for 2012 is fumikomi!
  
  
  • Unstable footwork. It's sloppy and I tip over too easily. 
  
  
  • Ton-sensei remarked that in kata my stance and base are weak. There's no strength.
  
  
  • My men strikes hit before I have my arm fully stretched. Thus I hit, then I stretch and flex my elbow upwards. This means, that I am at least 20cm too close to my opponent, which is detrimental.
  
  
  • When making a strike I still move backwards before moving forwards. This slows me down a lot. 
  
  
  
  

  Martijn also remarked that, while my kiai sounds good, it's not supported by focus or strong body language.

  
  
  
• Unseen inspiration: tenugui
  

  In kendo practitioners generally all look the same. With some exceptions, everyone wears a dark blue uniform and a mostly black bogu. Some people have a differently coloured do-dai, like red or blue or hot pink :p But overall one can say there's little to no space for personalization. 

  
  

  The only part of the whole uniform that expresses the individual is the tenugui: a cotton towel, wrapped around the head. In Japan, tenugui have dozens of uses, from dish rag to headband, to table cloth, to decoration. And us kendoka use it to catch sweat and to keep our helmets clean(er). ^_^

  
  

  Tenugui come in greatly varying designs. From very simple and plain, to colourful and intricately designed. Many tenugui are 100% meant for decoration and are sold at rather steep prices. There are shops specializing in the sale of these design concious towels.

  
  

  And it's through their tenugui that kendoka get the chance to express a little individualism, character if you will. Many wear cloth with inspiring words or phrases. Others have cloth with their dojo's logo, or tenugui that were gifted at special occasions. Personally I already have quite a few to choose from and there are more on their way.

  
  
  
  
  • Two plain ones, blue text on white, from a matsuri in Kyoto. Gifted by Niels-sama.
  
  
  • Two plain ones, blue volcano on white, from Sakurajima. Bought during our 2011 holiday.
  
  
  • One yellow, black and white tiger print. Made from a Hanshin Tigers happicoat. Gifted by Kaijuu.
  
  
  • Two dark colours ones, with a skeleton and flower design. Gifted by my lovely wife, together with my bogu.
  
  
  • One dark blue, orange and white, with various cats in period dress. Designed by Nagao Maru. Bought in Japan.
  
  
  • One dark blue, with some accents, with white rabbits. Bought in Osaka.
  
  
  
  

  Each of these has some special meaning to me, serving as inspiration for me. The ones from Niels and Kaijuu are reminders of friendship. The Tigers one is also for fighting spirit. The Sakurajima volcano ones are for slumbering violence. The white rabbit one is because of this :D 

  
  

  And of course the skeleton ones are as reminders of my loving wife and her never ending support in my kendo! They are named as follows:

  
  
  
  
  • 雨夜遊歩 (ameyoruyuuho), playing and walking in the night rain
  
  
  • 蛍狩り (hotarugari), firefly catching
  
  
  • 花酔骨 (hanasuihone), bones drunk with flowers
  
  
  
  

  With many thanks to JEDict for the help in translating ^_^

  
  
  
• Fsck! Our central heating's out!
  

  Wouldn't you know it?! Typical! 

  
  

  Of course, on the first day of real winter in the Netherlands our central heating dies. Yesterday, around 1700, our furnace gave out. A blocking service code of A04 was ominously blinking on the LED display, telling me that it wouldn't budge until a tech had come out to repair it. So we all went to bed early, after I tried to get a tech in around 1930. No dice.

  
  

  Phoned again this morning, but was given the runaround. First our service company refered to their local partner, then the local partner said they were on their way, then the local partner defered back to the original company and they said that we'd have to wait until late this afternoon. Fudge!

  
  

  After a -8 night the living room had cooled down to 14.5C, so thank $DEITY for decent insulation. Using our kerosene heater I got the temperature back up to 19C, a few candles extra pushed it to 20C. But wouldn't you know it?! I'm down to the last two liters of kerosene, which is roughly enough for six hours of burn time. Not enough to make it through the day. So, off to the DIY Marli and I go! With our sledge in tow (5cm of snow) we set out to get ten or twenty liters of kerosene. 

  
  

  Bad luck! Gamma had no less than ten kerosene heaters in stock, but zero cans of kerosene! Praxis hadn't sold it for over a year and Ranzijn never sold it to begin with! WTF? The middle of winter and none of the DIY stores stock fuel?! o_O

  
  

  *sigh* So we got an electric space heater from Gamma, which is only 2000W and which seems to give off a lot less heat than the kerosene heater. Fudge! So now the living room's stuck at 17.5 and I'm holding the other heater in reserve with the last of the fuel. 

  
  

  That'll teach me! I always have a big mouth about having backup plans, but then it's just plain stupid if my backup plan will only last a few hours. 

  
  

  Oh, the technician? Yeah, I'm told that he's on a job in Amsterdam and will then need to come down to Almere, through all that traffic and snow. I'm sure it'll be waaaaaay late before he's here >(

  
  
  
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