SHINKENDO.UK
Fred
East +44(0)1934 811523 or +44(0)7768 886599 fred.east@btconnect.com
Somerset
Budokai
Kenbukai dojo, Fred East 6th
Dan BSKA; Shoden Renshi Kaku, ISF, Shinkendo.UK,
Hutton Sports Centre, Wednesdays
9am sharp to
KENBUKAI dojo
Shinkendo
+ Shitoryu Karate Instructor:
Fred East sensei
Seminar
in
More images at Obata Sensei in
Amsterdam May 2008
For
the serious study of Shinkendo
Links
Other Shinkendo.UK dojo in
Somerset Budokai
Kizenkai…Run by Ben Gray sensei at Worle Community
Hall Weston super Mare.
Lostwithiel,
Martial Arts
register ..Our Club details
The core of any Japanese feudal warrior's martial education was that
of swordsmanship. Shinkendo is a comprehensive reunification of what the
Samurai once used and relied upon for survival, and can be classified as a
combination of the founder's own technical and structural innovations and an
amalgamation of several traditions of Japanese swordsmanship that have been
forced to evolve and splinter over time. Unified, Shinkendo is a historically
accurate and comprehensive style of Japanese Swordsmanship.
T. Obata Kaiso
says....
The Shinkendo school emphasizes very traditional and effective
swordsmanship, which with serious training, leads to both practical ability as
well as an understanding of classical martial arts. Shinkendo is steeped in the
traditions of the samurai, in such ways as Heiho (strategy), Reiho (proper Bushido
etiquette) and philosophy. Toshishiro Obata Soke is the founder, director and
chief instructor of The Kokusai Shinkendo Renmei (International Shinkendo
Federation), an organization dedicated to teaching authentic Japanese
swordsmanship.
Sword training includes Suburi (sword swinging drills), Tanrengata
(solo forms), Battoho (combative drawing and cutting methods), Tachiuchi
(sparring) and Tameshigiri (cutting straw and bamboo targets). Students always
train using a Bokuto (wooden sword), and later advance to training with Iaito
(non-sharpened sword) and finally Shinken, or 'live blade'. At more advanced
levels, the student begins to test their acquired skills through test cutting
practice on tatami omote makiwara (rolled up tatami mats, previously soaked in
water), and eventually Take (Japanese or Chinese bamboo).
While Shinkendo requires rigorous physical training, depth of
coordination, and intense focus, one of the most important aspects of Shinkendo
is the emphasis on spiritual forging, which inspires Bushi Damashii (the
Samurai/ warrior spirit), a quality that is as relevant now as it was hundreds
of years ago. Proper practice of Shinkendo should provide one with not only a
strong body and mind, but also a calm, clear and focused spirit. It's this
aspect of the training which can be carried into any one part of one's life and
thus makes Shinkendo as relevant now as it was a thousand years ago.
In traditional Budo, the art is passed by watching your instructor and
mimicking his movements. Techniques are not memorized, but ingrained in the
body through hard training, so as to become second nature. Your body should
react without thought in a real life-threatening situation. Your senses become
sharper and you create variations, to keep the mind and body alert. Training
without variation cannot create a dynamic and vital art, but encourages the art
to "stagnate", and can allow weak or incorrect technique to be passed
on to subsequent generations.
The dan/kyu system is not used in Shinkendo, but ranks are based upon
an older system that was used during the Samurai era. Practitioners are divided
into three groups; Seito, Deshi and Kyakubun. No honorary ranks are awarded.
"I would like people to learn practical techniques, safety,
correct cutting angles, proper gripping of the sword, and methods of stopping
the sword effectively. In addition, there is a need to master basic suburi,
kata and tachiuchi (sparring) , footwork and body movement. Test cutting alone
is not the ultimate goal. A full and complete integration of sword and practice
and its concepts should be achieved before one touches a real sword. I have
always been very concerned about the numerous incidents of injuries relating to
sword demonstrations. Accidents such as cut hands or sliced fingers, and
stabbing wounds inflicted by one's self should not be a part of normal
swordsmanship practice, or considered some kind of "badge of Shugyo",
but understood to be the result of inadequate instruction or practice. I
recently heard of an exhibition where a sword man used another person in the
performance (cutting radishes against his neck), and the man's assistant was
grievously injured. This kind of wanton and reckless display shows a total lack
of respect for the art of sword, and belongs in a circus performance or
sideshow. Swordsmanship is an art form, and should be treated with the utmost
dignity and respect.
Techniques take time to develop and mature, and one of the main
qualities I look for in students is their spirit of Jinsei Shinkendo (Life is Shinkendo).
In other words, apply the values and teachings found in Shinkendo training to
other areas of your life, as well as use life-experiences to better understand
Shinkendo. Those students who strive to improve themselves through self
reflection and are diligent in their pursuit of goals - they are the ones who I
would like to spread the art. "
