Hermit ([info]bimoku) wrote,
@ 2008-10-23 21:00:00
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Current music:KMFDM - Hau Ruck
Entry tags:aido, bushido, kendo, mishima, transformation

Kirijini

The fact that we are alive may mean that we have already been chosen for some purpose, and if life is not something we have chosen for ourselves, then maybe we are not ultimately free to die.
-The Way of the Samurai, Yukio Mishima on Hagakure in Modern Life


In the midst of looking for a Japanese language tutor, I drifted to martial arts instructors which lead me to a mixed martial class and then to a Kendo/Iaido class that is taught regularly here in little old Springfield. I attended tonight to watch and ask questions and am elated by what I saw and heard taking place. It's a small class, about six students and I recognized several things from the Iaido and Kendo reading I had done previously.

It also turns out that the head sensei drives to Bloomington for Kendo/Iaido practice every other Saturday with the same group of students. It's ironic that I've been driving to Bloomington every other weekend as well, though for the purpose of visiting a friend of mine. I watched sensei work with a student who asked about Musashi's Niten-ryū style, and sensei demonstrated some katas from it, which was pretty goddamn interesting to watch.

No flair, no bells and whistles, no "belt selling" just no-nonsense, friendly and open atmosphere. The head sensei is kind, but stern.

So this is the path I've been taken, back to the beginning really, back to bushido, back to the ideal I've been molding through bodybuilding alone until now. Now I am Sun and Steel, traditional and contemporary, a step closer to a warrior ethos I've been chasing after for years.

Here we are approaching November as well...

(4 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]aoitsukiko
2008-10-26 07:21 pm UTC (link)
i've been wanting to study a martial art for a long time now, but its pretty hard finding one suitable for me.
i'm pretty small,im only 5"2.
I dont think i'd be able to pass off a martial art with strength and im gonna have to focus on my speed, do you know of any martial arts that would be available to me?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]bimoku
2008-10-26 07:41 pm UTC (link)
First, don't set limits on yourself, for anything, because of your size and height. I can't stress that enough. Second, most martial arts cater to "everyone" - I can't think of a single one that limits its pool to certain physiques, you just adjust your approach accordingly.

Aikido and Jiu-Jitsu are both more about using the attacker's energy against them, lots of throws and locks and what not, based on what I've read. I was looking into this when I found Kendo/Iaido.

Kendo and more so Iaido, I've been told, are great because they don't rely on physical ability as much as other arts, more about technique. So as you get older you aren't impeded as much as you are in other arts.

In my personal opinion, if you aren't going the "tradition focused martial art" route, and are going more for the practical/self-defense route, I would suggest Krav Maga - teaches how to break holds, but it also teaches you how to deal with attackers using knives, and even guns - very cool.

Hope that gives you some direction...again, this is just my personal opinion on things.





(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]thefeen
2008-10-27 09:47 am UTC (link)
No flair, no bells and whistles, and no belt-selling? Sounds like real kendo to me.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]bimoku
2008-10-27 01:00 pm UTC (link)
Let's hope so.

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