I thought I’d kick-start my Blog page with some thoughts aimed mainly at beginners.

Approach to Practice

When you come to practice, do so with the earnest intent of becoming better. What I mean by this is that it is very easy to meander though lessons waiting for improvement to magically manifest itself. If only it were so easy! Improvement comes primarily through three activities. Listening, Trying to do it Right and Being Courageous

Listening

When someone is teaching (either you directly or the whole group) please concentrate on what they are saying. Try not to become absorbed in you own thing. We are all guilty of this sometimes.

Trying to do it Right

When you first start, there will be a large gap between what you tell your body to do and what it decides to do. This is fine; everyone goes though this and can remember what it is like. Mainly because we are still going though it, the gap just gets smaller.
We can see that you are trying; so do not worry.
Conversely, we can see when you are not trying.
Although you should not concentrate so hard that actions become stilted as you check each movement nor should you be lackadaisical about things.

Being Courageous

It is all too easy to become a shrinking violet and stand mutely when asked if anybody has questions, or hang around on the sidelines during enjin-geiko. Part of improving at kendo means improving at putting yourself forward. If you approach a match in an apologetic manner, you will lose. Therefore you should train yourself to at every opportunity at coming forward and being counted. Even if you are not in armour you should have the courage to go into enjin-geiko and do some passing men cuts. This is part of what we mean by Spiritual Development.

Bogu

When you receive your bogu and have either been shown have to put it on in the club, or followed a guide in a book (like this one), then please practise in your own time! It sounds simple but I have seen many beginners struggle in front of a class when practise at home would have saved them.
Sit down with in the evenings and don your bogu 4 or 5 times in a relaxed manner. As you get better you can watch TV at the same time (this will also teach you to do it with you eyes forward). Time yourself. You will improve far more rapidly than someone who is only practising once a week (i.e. only at the Dojo). You should be able to tie you men in less than two minutes (including putting on your tenugui). If you neglect to practise at home you will be the one holding things up in the dojo.

DIY

I often tell people to do or not do something, and then reassure them with the phrase “It’s ok, you won’t know unless I tell you”. For all that this is true, it also isn’t!
Nowadays, there is a wealth of information regarding Kendo and other Japanese arts available, both printed and online. As a teacher it is certainly my job to give you the information you need, but there is nothing stopping you from reading up on Kendo for yourself. If you do not have at least one book on Kendo then you should seriously ask yourself why not! I personally own Ozawa Sensei’s “KENDO: The Definitive Guide” and Budden Sensei’s “Looking at a Far Mountain: A Study of Kendo Kata” and, after 5 years of kendo, I regularly re-read these text’s and gain new insights into kendo every time I do. I can also highly recommend Salmon Sensei’s Blog.
Looking at a Far Mountain is a really excellent example of why these resources are useful. This book contains footwork diagrams like this one from the first kata;

These can be followed, book in hand, at home. Once you have the footwork of the kata memorised, everything else in kata becomes so much easier. I personally followed this book like a bible in my first two years of Kendo, reading it once or time a week, until I was happy that I’d nailing the footwork of the kata.

Anyway

I hope these thoughts are useful to you in some form.