BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS - 26th November 2009

Ever since the blowout of info regarding the ASEAN Kendo Tournament next year, a few tidbits here and there have been flowing out and in particular several related and unrelated events. So I'll try slicing them up in pieces so you wont get confused:

29th November 2009 Inter-District Training:

Part II of the Inter-District Training will in fact take place at BSRC, Seria Mumong Sports Complex, KB on the 29th of November 2009 on Sunday. Anyone who intends join the Kendo bus to Belait should meet up at the Chancellor Hall Parking lot by 9am and bring $5 for the fare (and maybe spending money). We will be Departing from Seria at 5.30pm

5th December 2009 Annual Kendo Dinner:

The Annual Brunei Kendo Dinner will take place in Scout Building on 5th December 2009 at 7.30pm. The dinner will be $10 per person and will feature several performances, presentation and great food so be sure not to miss this one!

ASEAN Kendo Tournament 2010:

The ASEAN Kendo Tournament 2010 will take place in Singapore sometime in October. It looks certain that the Kendo Alliance will be representing Brunei for the first time and as of now no team has been announced. There will be several training sessions determine (see below for more) who will be attending the Tournament.

Brunei Kendo 2nd Tour of Japan 2010:

Many thought it wasn't going to happen, but it looks more and more likely that it will! Especially after the above mentioned event will be taking place, we will be in need of special trainings. The tour will be the 2nd of it's nature (The first one being back in 2008) and will be open to all Kendoka in Brunei. The fees will be discussed soon so please keep reading the blog if you're interested!

Extra training sessions to be held starting January!:

You've moaned and groaned every Sunday morning for more training sessions so we're planning to give it to you! The Kendo Alliance will be planning to add a 2ND(!) training session on Wednesdays and possible and added "Special" Training

Kendo Alliance Annual General Meeting December 12th 2009:

The Meeting will take place on the 12th of December 2009 at the Institut Perkhidmatan Awam, Rimba. All members are urged to attend the meeting.

That's all for now! Read this space for more soon!

Cheers~

Kendo Alliance set for ASEAN Kendo 2010?

Earlier today the Kendo Alliance confirms that Singapore Kendo Club has in fact, invited the Kendo Alliance of Brunei to participate in the 2010 edition of the ASEAN Kendo Tournament. Of course we are honoured at the invite and without hesitation accepted the invitation!

The tournament will take place on October 2010 in Singapore, and the Kendo Alliance will be trying their best to send their best team. All members of the Alliance are encouraged to train hard and get on the Alliance team. We will do our best to sponsor all members involved in the tournament next year and will be organising several intensive training sessions to prepare for the event.

More news to come so please stay tuned! Ganbarre Brunei!!

Cheers~

Inter-District Kendo Training PART 2 - 29th November

After an indeed awesome training yesterday, personally one of the best I've had in months, Its safe to say I'm looking forward to next weeks training. Are you?

Part 2 of the INTER-DISTRICT KENDO training will take place on the 29th of November 2009 in Kuala Belait. To all Bandar Kendoka who are planning to join us, there will be a bus to pick us up from the Parking lot of the "Chancellor Hall of University Brunei Darussalam ". Boarding time will be from 9am - 9.30am, and we will be departing from Kuala Belait at around 5.30pm so for those of you joining, please be on time.

Also there will be a small fee of $5 for those of you joining and we would like to thank Shiro for finding transport for us on such short notice.

In other news, the Annual Kendo Dinner committee had its first meeting yesterday and announced that it will indeed take place on the 5th of December 2009 and will have an entry fee of $10.

Cheers~

Inter-District Kendo Training PART 1 will be on 22nd November

Just a reminder to many that part 1 of the Inter-District Kendo Training will take place in Scout Building on the 22nd November 2009.

The training will take place around 2pm. And we invite ALL members to come and celebrate this momentous occasion as we're celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of Belait Kendo. Also there will be a surprise presentation and a special gift from The Alliance, to the KB-ians, to celebrate this event. Wanna know what it is? COME AND SEE xD.

Part 2 of the Inter-District Kendo Training will take place on the 29th November 2009. Although we've yet to confirm the location (more news on that soon)

And regarding news on the Kendo Dinner; As usual there will be a fee of $8 this time around, so for those joining in (which I do encourage you to come), please do RSVP your name in the Kendo Forums. It will be a fun night I guarantee you xP.

More Updates soon. Cheers~

The Inter District Kendo Training, and the Annual Kendo Dinner

Alright folks! While we've been crying over the loss of a major event this week, we're about to move on and keep you (the members) happy and active!

As mentioned before on the blog, we still have two major events to take place i.e. the Inter-District Kendo Training, and the Brunei Annual Kendo Dinner! To compensate for the loss of the Kendo Expo, the Inter District will be pushed right ahead to the 22nd of November 2009 at the Scout Building, Gadong. It will be a fullday training schedule and afterwards some food and entertainment for the KBians (and us!).

On the 29th of November 2009, All Bandar members are invited to join a bus ride to Belait Kendo Club to celebrate Belait Kendo's Birthday! (Which falls on the 2nd of December 2007). A special Sunday Training session will be held in conjunction with the celebration so let's help our fellow Kendoka celebrate this momentous occasion!

Finally our headline event of the year would have to be the Annual Kendo Dinner! For three years running we've been celebrating all things Kendo and we hope that this years edition will be as AWESOME as ever! The dinner will take place on the 5th of December 2009! Keep reading the blog for more info soon, and stay active in Kendo people! PMBs are over! Time to get back to training! you know who you are! >XD

Cheers!!!!

Hiroshi Watanabe 7th Dan of Suginami Kendo Federation on his passing 14th October 2009

Our Heartiest condolences to Mr Hiroshi Watanabe 7th dan of Suginami Kendo Federation on his passing on the 14th of October 2007

Watanabe sensei was the leader of the delegation of Suginami kendoka that came to Brunei on the 24th of March 2007. Some would argue that this was the eye opener for Brunei; a realisation that the world of Kendo was a big one, and that day will go down in history as one of the most important.

Watanabe sensei opened our eyes to waza techniques which can be utilised in shiai. Shiai was (perhaps is still not) a strong point of Brunei Kendo's training regime due to our lack of knowledge on the subject but Watanabe sensei showed us a whole other side of Kendo that we had not seen.

But more importantly, Watanabe was one of many influential sensei who had made his mark in Brunei, despite however many number of days he may have stayed here, his impression on us, was a lasting one. We will always remember him and appreciate his contribution to Kendo.

Cheers to Watanabe sensei. Arigatou Gozaimasu.

*rei*

June Kendo Workshop 2009 Date/Venue

Details regarding the upcoming June Kendo Workshop 2009 are as follow:

Date: 20th June - 22nd June, 2009 (Saturday - Monday)
Time: 8.00A.M - 5.30P.M
Venue: Pusat Tingkatan Enam Katok (PTE Katok) - Sports Hall
Payment: B$5.00

For directions to PTE Katok, go to this link:
http://tinyurl.com/PTEKdirections
Use "Satellite" mode and click one of the blue blobs.

Take note that the event is also open for general public viewing.

13th June: The exact date have been changed from 22-24 to 20-22.
Changes have been noted.

-Benc

Training at the Koubukan

Took me a while to write this one but better late than never!

Last December I made a trip with Zool, Noriko, Zurako and Kaza to none other than the land of the rising sun. We all made the trip last march (Except for Noriko) so we were pretty hyped up to get the trip on the go.

Around this time I was still nursing an injury from my past 6 months (Foot Injury) so I wasn't really sure of what to think. But it's not everyday you go to Japan so I thought I might as well do it! A visit to the Koubukan! The home of Hiroshi Ozawa!

It was 6pm, and it was decided that me, Zool and Noriko would go. Kaza had just bought her new guitar and Zura was feeling a little tired so they decided to stay back. But in the end, I'd be the only one training! >.<

So we took the station to Nakano and walked a few blocks only to go into this rural area (They're pretty quiet and hidden in Tokyo) and There it was this three storey house. I thought to myself, "This is it?" hahaha well when I went in... that mentality changed.

As small as it was I would stillbe glad to have a dojo like this. The flooring was pure heaven. It was prolly slippery because of two things; The winter cold, or They're extreme cleanliness and ability to wax a floor to the point where bare footed ice skating was not a dream anymore!

I met up with Ninomiya sensei and (bless him) he brought a Bogu Set with him for me so i didnt have to carry one from Brunei. I got changed upstairs and it was cool. I met some pretty tall kendoka from Australia, New Zealand, and this wickedly huge Dutch dude named Yuri san. I was scared stiffffff. (True fact, when i was in seiza, he was standing next to me, and my head was at his waist height. And I'M 6ft TALL!!!)

Practise was incredible and fast. And as expected from last time, my throat was dry again due to the weather I'm so not used to. But less sweat, which meant for me more energy. My foot was still holding me back but I was still okay. We did some Kirikaeshi and Kakari geiko followed by Jigeiko (Which I didnt participate in, sadly because my foot was at its limit).

Soon after Ozawa sensei walked in and we had so much fun. The Man is really a friendly guy and speaks great english. It was great finally being able to meet my first Kendo Celeberity! Should have  asked for an autograph! But hey a picture's worth a thousand words right?

He's done seminars all over the world and he'd be happy to come here to organise one as well! So planning for that one soon xP

After training, The four of us were joined by Zurako and Kaza, with Ninomiya sensei and his friend Ono sensei 5th dan and we had a blast at a Japanese (duh) restaurant. Real food!! XD

I had a blast. That experience was once in a lifetime and I wished that I could repeat it soon. Hopefully in December guys? hehe we'll see~

Ozawa Sensei wrote this book! It's world famous

Ninomiya sensei was kind enough to lend me a bogu >.<;

L to R Noriko! Me, Ozawa Sensei and Zool Shin Chan

Junbi Taisou with the Regulars. Damn,I was intimidated

Me doing the stretches. Thanks to Shin chan for always making me look good xP

Choosing the Right Shinai!

As it is the new year, and more Kendokas will be signing up in their School Clubs soon, the shinai, an important component of the martial art of Kendo is something one should consider getting as a beginner. 

Below is a short article on choosing the right one for you so please have a read. Please note, that this article may have some of my personal opnions on the subject so if you have a bone to pick, leave a comment!

Types of Shinai:

Generally, Shinai can be divided into two types: the Chokuto, and the Dobari shinai. This is one of the first questions you should be asking when choosing a shinai. The Chokuto shinai is a standard shinai in which the weight is evenly distributed along the shinai, whereas Dobari shinais are fatter slightly at the center and thinner at the tip (Kensen), distributing the weight to the center and making it well balanced and slightly lighter.

There are several pros and cons of Chokuto and Dobari. This can be in terms of starting as a beginner or durablility etc. For example, some Chokuto Shinais can feel heavy when applying shortcut techniques but tend to be more durable, while the Dobari may have an advantage in making speedy cuts, its durability factor is in question due to the way its built.

Some examples of Dobari Shinai are the "Kenshin" and "Ikken" Model from http://kendoshop.com

Sizes and Weight:

Your age, and height determines what kind of shinai you should be using. For instance, A kendoka from age 12 - 15 should consider using size 37 shinais that usually weigh around 440 -450g depending on the shinai brand or type,  while most uni students and above (aged 18 above) should consider using size 39. Again this depends on your size. below is a chart on shinai size as provided from E-bogu.com

Shinai Size

	Gender	Jr. High School (11 - 15 yrs)	High School (16 - 18 yrs)	University Adult (18yrs  above)
Length of Shinai	Male & Female	less than 114 cm	less than 117 cm	less than 120 cm
Weight of Shinai	Male	more than 440g   (Size 37)	more than 480g   (Size 38 for Men)	more than 510g   (Size 39 for Men)
	Female	more than 400g   (Size 37)	more than 420g   (Size 38 for women)	more than 440g   (Size 39 for Women or  Size 38 for Women)
Diameter at the tip pf the shinai	Male	more than 25 mm	more than 26 mm	more than 26 mm
	Female	more than 24 mm	more than 25 mm	more than 25 mm

Well I hope that helps. Again if you have any more questions, you should refer to the sempais in training as they'll have opinions about it and it'd be best to get as much of everyone's opinion as possible as shinais are just like choosing the right shoe; it may or may not fit everyone ;)

Cheers!