Three Effective Ways to Create a New Habit

This article is about three effective and fairly easy-to-remember ways to acquire a new habit.  When I was young, I remember reading an enlightening and empowering newspaper article.  It was by an author who claimed to have read most if not

A Neat Tip to Help Develop Debana Waza (出鼻技)

I recently came across a video on the topic of debana waza (出鼻技) in which the Sensei* describes a neat tip to help develop debana waza (出鼻技) [KendoStepUp_Debana].   The audio is in Japanese and captioning is in English.  For those unfamiliar with

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Striking with the Legs and Near-Instant Hikitsuke (引き付け) for Sharp Strikes – Yamauchi Sensei

This article expands on an earlier article “Synchronizing the Strike with the hikitsuke (引き付け) [KendoNotes_SynchHikitsuke].  It is based on the teachings of Yamauchi Masayuki (Kyoshi 8 Dan) 山内

Sequential Breakdown of the Small Men-Uchi (小さい面打ち)

This article looks into the sequential breakdown of the small men-uchi (small strike to the head) – also referred to as chiisai men-uchi (小さい面打ち) or a sharp, fast men (鋭く早い面) [Ichiki_MenUchi].  Visual

Games for Kids Big and Small Learning Kendo

Playful art by Mimi in 2021.

As described in the article “Resources for Teaching Children Kendo” [KendoNotes ResourcesKids], one of the best ways for kids big and small to learn kendo is to play games.  Not just any games but those that

A Story on Releasing Tension from the Shoulder to Produce Crisp Strikes

I saw first hand this week the potency of releasing the tension in the shoulders for striking.

A Reminder to Myself: Chew, Chew, Chew, . . .

This is a self-reflection and reminder for myself on the value of chewing.

A Story on the Transformational Power of Kirikaeshi (切り返し)

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to attend the early morning practices at the Tokyo Police keishicho (警視庁) tokuren (特練) dojo at Shinkiba (新木場) as a visitor.*  I remember the day that I first saw a new

Ten Habits for Health (健康十訓)

Here’s a set of ten habits (precepts, lessons, guidelines) for health from Japanese literature which also adorn tea mugs and posters [aretan_健康十訓].   The translation is provided first and followed by the