tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133766742012-01-16T20:31:50.068-05:00Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.comBlogger1461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-55124604917748024632012-01-02T08:39:00.002-05:002012-01-02T14:51:32.810-05:00

To open up the new year, we held our annual Hatsugeiko practice.  It’s an opportunity for all participants to start the year off on a high note to make the current year better than the last with a high-spirited practice amongst friends and families.  For us in the ECUSKF, that involves having a dinner the night before, and then make it to the practice spot so that we can start at 6 AM on New

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-10542561779342670412011-12-12T22:55:00.001-05:002011-12-12T22:55:15.402-05:00

  The past few months have turned out to be the most stressful that I’ve been under in recent memory.  I won’t go into the boring details, but the short of it is that tight deadlines, coupled with a tough project, hasn’t made things easy on me.  Heck, things got to the point where my heart would race as I approach the doors of the building in anticipation for what would go wrong.  However,

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-63591389941657631832011-09-25T23:03:00.001-04:002011-09-25T23:03:36.107-04:00

I know I’m pretty late with making a post about this, but better late than never, I guess. Over the Labor Day weekend, I attended the American Kendo Leadership Seminar in Seattle, Washington, led by Jeff Marsten Sensei and Robert Stroud Sensei from the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation.  The purpose of the seminar was to present materials and resources to build the leadership ranks of Kendo

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-78918751222816977032011-08-18T21:11:00.003-04:002011-08-19T21:02:17.264-04:00

This past weekend, I participated in the US National Kendo Tournament in Atlanta, GA.  I might have elaborated on this in previous posts but, in short, it’s a Kendo tournament held once every three years in which each of the 15 regional federations in the United States send people to fight in various divisions (Youth, Senior, Men’s, Women’s Teams, etc.) on the national stage.  How you get on the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-76288473258304196922011-08-08T22:52:00.003-04:002011-08-19T21:01:09.933-04:00

There was a thread started on the Kendo World forums not too long ago that was discussing whether or not Kendo should be considered a hobby.  One thing that everyone can agree on is that there are various elements of Kendo that personally makes it enjoyable enough for use to continue.  However, the fact that it’s easy for Kendo to go from just an activity done outside of the home to something

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-32971151735258298892011-06-19T22:45:00.001-04:002011-06-19T22:45:13.392-04:00

First of all, I apologize for the long break in between posts.  It’s been a mix of lack of time, laziness and figuring out just what my next post would be about.  I’ll have to consider a better system for more frequent posting sometime. I attended the 2011 AUSKF Iaido Summer Camp at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.  The entire seminar lasted four days which included a seminar for the first

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-56008610334960802572011-04-27T22:57:00.001-04:002011-04-27T22:57:54.751-04:00

This coming August, I will be participating in the AUSKF Championship in Atlanta.  The tournament is a very big deal here in the United States.  Every three years, each regional federation chooses people in their area to represent them by participating in the tournament.  Naturally, that means that each federation will send what they consider their strongest Kenshi to vie for the top spot and

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-16926245035295373212011-03-10T21:55:00.000-05:002011-03-10T21:58:46.002-05:00

First of all, I apologize for the long delay in making a post.  I blame it partly on my own laziness (hey, I did hear about that two-year slump where bloggers tend to get blogging fatigue) and the fact that I made my plate a bit full with other things and interests.  Hopefully, I can try to be more frequent in the posts in the future. These past few weeks have been rife with various

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-19314589796005433682011-01-16T20:25:00.001-05:002011-01-16T20:27:15.173-05:00

One of the most common pieces of advice that we are given while we are fighting other people is to be aggressive.  It’s common to overthink the situation and start to play defensively, especially if we’re familiar with oji-waza.  The former case causes delayed reactions while the mind shifts back and forth between the internal consciousness and the fight at hand, while the latter case only

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-5875417267486410042011-01-02T21:24:00.001-05:002011-01-02T21:24:54.981-05:00

2011 is now here.  When the year is ending, I like to go back through the year and evaluate what happened and how I performed throughout the year and think about how I can improve myself the next year.  Since martial arts is such a goal-driven activity, it’s especially important to think about these things to give yet another frame of reference for where I want to go. The biggest achievements

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-11035704147227233122010-11-28T14:31:00.001-05:002010-11-28T14:31:12.256-05:00

I recently made it back from Milwaukee to visit the sister and see other family for Thanksgiving.  There was no Kendo or Iaido involved for the trip, but it was all worth it with the good food I ate and the cool things I saw in the area.  In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to take the opportunity to list the things I am thankful for when it comes to my martial arts circles:

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-61804643690129492082010-11-24T00:34:00.004-05:002010-11-28T14:35:26.640-05:00

I really, really want to improve in my Iaido… I’m very fortunate with Kendo because the three dojos that are in the area provide me with up to five days of practice per week, but I’m not so lucky when it comes to Iaido.  Usually, we have two days per week to practice, which is fine.  But due to some scheduling conflicts with the Corryville Rec Center for the fall/winter season, we only have

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-86942864357186800392010-09-21T21:05:00.000-04:002010-09-21T21:05:46.462-04:00

Originally, I wanted to give some advice about how to retain members in the club, based on my own personal experiences.  But as I keep pondering on how to go about doing that, I'm slowly beginning to realize that, in most cases, there's very little anyone can do to try to make people stick around. The biggest thing that gets in the way of retention is the sequence of progression.  People tend

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-3006445556114033912010-09-06T22:53:00.001-04:002010-09-06T22:55:09.986-04:00

The Northern Kentucky Kendo Club has grown a lot over the past year.  When I first arrived, there was only me and about three other people that regularly attended the practices each week.  Now, through the efforts of the dojo leader, Jim Atkins, the club has blossomed into a decent-sized club that has about 10 to 15 people that come on a regular basis. This wasn't an easy thing to do on his

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-13777386550918207282010-08-24T21:50:00.000-04:002010-08-24T21:50:03.541-04:00

There are many people who practice kendo that believe that they have completed their practice of the kendo fundamentals during the beginner stage and only attempt to relate to them theoretically thereafter.  However, this is a big misconception to the pursuit of true kendo. Until you are 50 years old, you must endeavor

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-22076481147867024372010-07-31T22:28:00.000-04:002010-07-31T22:28:48.387-04:00

I had a shinai bag that lasted me quite a few years.  But once a small tear at the top became a full-blown hole, I felt that it was time to get a new one.  The old shinai bag was one of the ballistic material ones from E-bogu and was about $30 or so.  It has lasted a while and had transported my shinai and bokken wherever I needed to go, so there are no complaints there.  Due to having a bit

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-6300938851409504282010-06-18T22:11:00.000-04:002010-06-18T22:11:31.980-04:00

I got to spend five days last week in San Antonio for the AUSKF Iaido Seminar.  While I have been to two Iaido seminars in Cleveland, this is the first time I've attended the national seminar.  To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect to experience and learn.  In the end, I was very pleased with the organization of the event, the people I met and the things I learned (minus some political

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-25101542273975075112010-06-02T01:21:00.000-04:002010-06-02T01:21:42.616-04:00

Every year, the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, Ohio has a butterfly show where they release many kinds of butterflies in a building for the visitors to look and interact with.  If you're lucky enough, you might even get one to rest on your head, like the one in the hokey picture on the left.  In addition to that, the Japanese and American Student Society has their own set of demos outside of

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-82259912747176057502010-05-15T17:13:00.000-04:002010-05-15T17:13:53.596-04:00

My application to attend the AUSKF Iaido seminar in San Antonio has been sent in.  Now I just need to do further preparations such as plane tickets and a possible stop in Houston before I leave.  There will be the general seminar, tournament and testing over four days of Iaido goodness.  This will be my first AUSKF Iaido seminar, so I honestly don't know what it will be like.  At this point, all

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-81746786651327084412010-04-28T23:00:00.000-04:002010-04-28T23:00:55.202-04:00

For the past few weeks, I have been skipping out on Kendo and Iaido practice due to a back injury.  Essentially, while doing things to take care of my stiff muscles in my back, my spine kind of just locked up.  I have been visiting the Chiropractor to get things fixed and things have been improving with each treatment so I should be able to return within the next few weeks.  According to the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-39783909313653168012010-04-03T01:07:00.000-04:002010-04-03T01:07:39.708-04:00

Anyone that does Kendo can understand that even the most basic themes can be difficult to understand or perform.  Someone might tell you over and over how to hit a better men or make better use of seme, which is something you possibly could perform given enough time.  You might be able to do it, but do you really understand what your instructor is talking about? Sometimes, whenever I am given

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-5266198876064098632010-02-27T00:15:00.000-05:002010-02-27T00:15:18.628-05:00

I have sent in my shinsa application, so now everything is set for me to take the nidan exam in a few weeks.  I had been thinking about this moment for the past year since I got my shodan, and doing what I could to make sure I was ready for it once the day finally arrived.  If I were taking this test tomorrow, I'm honestly not too sure how well I'd do.  On one hand, I feel like I've got a handle

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-19156986495787712912010-01-24T15:18:00.000-05:002010-01-24T15:18:36.530-05:00

I can admit, Kendo kata can be boring. But, no matter how I feel about the kata, they must be done anyways in order for us to advance through the rankings. I was one of those people that treated kata as a necessary thing to do before the promotional exams to make sure I don’t make any glaring mistakes come test time. Whenever I do them, it turns out to be no more than doing X, Y and Z in order

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-21107607226487414672010-01-15T22:06:00.008-05:002010-01-17T20:26:48.026-05:00

For the last few practices, I thought I would try out Jodan no kamae for a little bit. For those not in the know, Jodan no kamae is one of the three main kamae used in Kendo with the other two being Chudan (the most basic and widely used) and nito (using a shoto and daito simultaneously).I wanted to try it for three main reasons:Learning alternate kamae - Well, the stance is there, so why not

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-86716599859903457232009-12-14T22:42:00.007-05:002009-12-19T00:00:43.311-05:00

The final days of the year are approaching us. That means it's time for us to close out the year with reflection over how this year was spent and look ahead at the next year to see how we would like to approach it, given past events and lessons learned over all of our lives.I thought I would try to approach this differently than in the past. I choose a word or phrase that best summarizes my

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-81437454355112024452009-10-18T21:35:00.007-04:002009-10-24T18:58:28.381-04:00

Kendo practice last weekend was a special one. Some people from Indianapolis stopped by to have a joint practice that made the dojo very packed and very active. While the practice was tough and devoid of air circulation, it wasn't the most brutal practice I've had. Unfortunately, I made some poor choices and really paid for it when I got home and for the rest of the weekend.In the hours of the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-82590360129646086672009-10-11T16:46:00.005-04:002009-10-12T20:53:10.278-04:00

It's been a while since I have typed anything about Iaido, but now, I actually have something to type about (yay!). I also have something to say about my Kendo practice, but that should be a given by now.Iaido practice doesn't officially start until 8 AM on Sundays, but since I have a key to the dance studio where we practice, I like to get there at about 7 AM, if possible, to try and work on

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-49313033133002356712009-09-26T07:03:00.003-04:002009-09-26T08:27:23.265-04:00

The University of Cincinnati (UC) Kendo Club is now back in session. The first practice was actually on Tuesday but I missed that one out of my own stupidity but I did attend the Thursday practice. One thing I can say is that it's great to be back!Usually, there is the typical shrinkage over the summer months from the people that don't return after the summer break, but that didn't really

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-79828603419926027762009-09-05T00:26:00.003-04:002009-09-06T15:39:14.429-04:00

Time for a statement from Captain Obvious! Everyone has their own problems to fix in Kendo. Some problems may be easy to fix within a few practices and others might take a lifetime to work out. Unfortunately, the path to fix these issues come with a bit of frustration and last week was one of those times.The frustrating scenario happened this past Wednesday at the Corryville practice. For the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-30691890877829785722009-08-23T22:09:00.006-04:002009-08-26T23:30:29.927-04:00

Well, now that the Fall season is coming, certain things happen. Schools sessions begin (for those that have it anyways), the weather begins to cool down and, most importantly, the Kendo tournaments in the area tend to occur around this time as well.During the Fall/Winter season, there are tournaments held by the Midwestern Federation, Southeastern Federation and East Central Federation. At

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-41762994169115118142009-08-21T17:12:00.007-04:002009-08-22T11:08:55.313-04:00

There's nothing like being able to see yourself on camera to knock your pride down a few pegs.Last night, I took my video camera to the racquetball court at my apartment complex to record myself doing the seitei kata to see how I look with a different set of "eyes." Needless to say, there are a lot of things I need to work on, but for the sake of sanity, I'll only concentrate on a few of the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-50269095329233058132009-08-09T23:10:00.003-04:002010-06-01T17:09:54.911-04:00

This was an anime series that I have wanted to see for quite some time. After being barred from purchasing it due to it's prohibitively expensive $500 price tag for the whole series for several years, I finally was giving the opportunity to get it at 6% of the previous price at $30 for the entire series. Well, was it worth the wait? Should I have paid the original $500 for the series? Read

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-2998239057966879012009-08-02T15:38:00.005-04:002009-08-03T22:11:13.736-04:00

I only ask that question because today's class was larger than normal for a Sunday morning practice (Iaido starts at 8 AM). Usually, we have about three people show up for the Iaido portion on Sundays with another one that only shows up for Kendo at 9:30. But this time there was eight including two new people and three others that don't show up on a regular basis. It's really unusual to have

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-12078259709861763412009-07-20T23:08:00.009-04:002009-07-22T22:17:16.247-04:00

I had the great fortune of attending the All United States Kendo Federation Summer Camp this year in Millington, TN, which is just outside of Memphis. Before I begin, I would like to thank the Memphis Kendo Club for making this event a success with nice facilities and great organization. The practice place was very spacious yet provided enough ventilation so things never got too bad.The seminar

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-46799974031325186792009-06-28T22:14:00.000-04:002009-06-28T22:16:36.905-04:00

The main academic school year for the University of Cincinnati is over, so we can’t use the room we normally practice in, unless we plan on paying a large amount of money. The good news is that everyone will just assimilate with the Northern Kentucky Kendo Club (NKKC) for the time being until the year starts up again sometime in September. Earlier this year, the NKKC has been practicing at the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-56715221169865558592009-06-20T09:34:00.004-04:002010-08-02T20:09:21.894-04:00

For the past couple of months, Morikawa sensei has told me that I need to apply more seme to my fighting. He told me that whenever I fight him, he doesn’t feel any pressure coming from me. Throughout that time, I have been trying to apply what he has been telling me, but I still get the same piece of advice. Seeing as I obviously don’t quite get it, I decided to do a little research on what seme

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-30471695878547030932009-06-04T01:13:00.001-04:002009-06-04T01:17:07.571-04:00

The ECUSKF held their joint practice in Columbus this past Sunday. Unfortunately, this was a pretty small one compared to some of the others I’ve been to, but it was no less beneficial to my Kendo to train with people from all over the area (mainly Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia).There was a kata session added to the beginning of the practice. There isn’t anything too formal with it since we

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-66553742001214295212009-05-30T00:41:00.002-04:002010-06-01T17:14:37.378-04:00

Book Title: Kendo Author: Tim O'Shei ISBN 13: 978-1-4296-1964-6 ISBN 10: 1-4296-1964-3 Description as shown on the back of the book The sword skills of the samurai come to life as kendo fighters execute fast-acting blocks and strikes to win competitions. Learn how fighters practice their skills and see if you have what it takes to be a kendo champion. Review As many of you may already

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-18796858595716639012009-05-26T22:55:00.003-04:002009-05-26T23:05:18.761-04:00

It's been a minute since I typed something here, but I was on vacation over the past few days, which also gave me the time to think of something to type here upon my return.I'll admit it here that I did not get to use a shinken, but at Iaido practice last Wednesday, I was told to try to constantly imagine that I am using one in order to fix my noto. Upon doing so, my sensei told me that my noto

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-11758592650109994782009-05-15T22:59:00.005-04:002009-05-16T00:07:45.063-04:00

After a pretty crazy week with work last week, I was able to find the time to get some action on with Kendo and Iaido.Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do Iaido for long this week since I was stuck in traffic on my way there. All we did this week was spend some time over nukitsuke and noto. The problem with my nukitsuke is that I tend to try to cut before the iaito is out of the saya. For the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-10296471325531576002009-05-10T23:39:00.004-04:002009-05-11T00:07:06.524-04:00

I had to take a week off from Kendo to let my body heal and go through some hell at work. But I did my best to start up again as good as before. After Saturday practice in Dayton, I had a minor headache, experienced a small cramp in my left calf and some plantar fasciitis. Despite all that, I felt so alive after practice to where going through the pain during and after that was all worth

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-28462139851482794792009-05-03T22:03:00.004-04:002009-05-03T22:52:47.991-04:00

There was no Kendo for me this past weekend, though it wasn't really planned...I would probably say that it happened a little over a week ago. The practices the week after the tournament were tougher than normal due to the desire for improvement through harder work for the next tournament. It pretty much hit a climax after Saturday's practice since it was actually kind of warm. It was in the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-32760806329230535422009-04-25T21:14:00.003-04:002009-04-25T21:44:33.435-04:00

It's been over a week, but I thought I still talk about this while it's still fresh in my memory. For the first time, Cleveland was able to host an Iaido seminar given by Kato sensei (7th dan Kyoshi in both Kendo and Iaido) and Murakami sensei (AUSKF President) after the shinsa that followed the Kendo tournament the previous day. The intent here was to gauge the interest here to see if they

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-18405939384775809562009-04-21T01:58:00.003-04:002009-04-21T18:45:30.979-04:00

This past weekend was the Kendo tournament hosted by the Cleveland Kendo Club at Case Western Reserve. This is also the first time I was able to participate in the Shodan/Nidan division after over 5.5 years of practice.Unfortunately, I didn't get past the first match in individuals. This was a higher tournament bracket, so I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. Then there's the fact that I was

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-17248282179513350612009-04-17T21:44:00.003-04:002009-04-17T21:55:32.721-04:00

I should really be going to bed since I will be leaving for the Cleveland Kendo Tournament in a few hours, but I thought I shall post this before I go to bed.Tomorrow is the Cleveland tournament and will be my first in the Shodan-Nidan division. We had the final practice yesterday where a lot of it was focused on endurance and some shiai practice. Takano sensei told me that I have good enough

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-73112403618758713092009-04-06T21:13:00.003-04:002010-08-02T20:16:25.799-04:00

Over the past two practices, Morikawa sensei has been telling me that I need more seme. All I was doing when I go up with him is do various attacks, but not really doing much to gain control of the center before I go. This concept has been one of those harder things to grasp, so I thought I'd take a moment and do some research on it. A quick look at the Japanese-English Kendo dictionary

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-80744033463005394982009-03-30T17:24:00.002-04:002009-03-30T17:41:56.921-04:00

Iaido practice yesterday centered around refining our swinging technique. Jim was telling us that the best way to see if your swing is correct is to be able to hear the howl as you swing from your iaito, which shouldn't take much effort if the technique is good.He came up to me and made note that I needed to pay more attention to what the tip is doing. When thinking about swinging, I tend to

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-9800306221412436412009-03-24T21:20:00.003-04:002009-03-26T21:31:23.319-04:00

I was reading over the newsletter that is on Kendo Guide and there was an interesting article from Kendo Nippon from Sumi Masatake sensei about the attitudes we should have in fighting. He seemed to talk about quite a bit, but there are four things in the article that I'd like to talk about and reflect on how it compares to what I do now and how it could affect my Kendo later.Komei Seidai (公明正大)

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-27069712943874806622009-03-23T23:21:00.003-04:002009-03-23T23:41:27.610-04:00

From the beginning of learning Kendo, we are always told to distribute our weight so that the left leg is holding the most weight. This should allow the easiest movement and explosion capabilities, to put it shortly. While the overall footwork is generally worked on in terms of fumikomi, the overall balance tended to get put on the wayside in lieu of everything else. Now I am paying the price

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-31200842214796989352009-03-19T23:07:00.003-04:002009-03-19T23:33:04.436-04:00

The Japanese language can be a pretty difficult thing to get a grasp on. First, we have to get over the fact there are a lot of squiggly lines with the writing system. Once we do that, there's the 1,945 more complicated squiggly lines (kanji) that are necessary to learn to make reading much less frustrating.I have been going over Kanji for quite some time now and can read just enough of it to

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-64535798255860251132009-03-13T20:18:00.004-04:002009-03-15T03:31:59.053-04:00

It's been almost a week since I actually gained my Shodan rank, but the celebration was short lived by way of transitioning to one of the most hellish weeks of work I have ever been through. If you've ever worked a normal work week in half the time, you'd know what I mean.Getting a Shodan in Kendo is similar to getting a black belt in Karate or some other martial art. But just because I have

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-54829358660212928112009-03-02T21:39:00.003-05:002009-03-02T22:28:56.441-05:00

This coming Saturday will mark the third time that I will attempt the Shodan exam. Ever since I didn't make it in Detroit a few weeks ago, I have been doing all that I could to prepare myself for the testing to make sure that, truely, the third time's the charm. I would also like to thank everyone I have practiced with thus far with helping me out as the encouragement and practice is really

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-53249507480219794602009-02-22T20:44:00.003-05:002009-02-22T21:29:42.069-05:00

Yeah, it's been over a week, but it's only been just now that I am not too lazy to type anything.I participated at the Detroit Tournament for the first time about two weeks ago and, I must say, this had to be the most fun I've had at any tournament. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that I knew a large amount of people that were there through my Kendo travels over the past year. But

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-31852661970281423342009-02-01T17:13:00.002-05:002009-02-01T18:44:07.756-05:00

Because of being sick, license plate issues and recent weather problems, my Kendo/Iaido attendance has been a little sparse. But I was able to get some good practices in once everything calmed down and the city stopped panicking.Thursday's practice was really nice. Lately, we have been incorporating shiai geiko into the practices due to the Detroit tournament in about 2 weeks. I have been

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-21454227920964383902009-01-26T22:19:00.002-05:002009-01-26T22:50:41.282-05:00

Well, it's been about a year since I have started Iaido. It's amazing how fast the year went and all the things that have happened, but it's all been fun.I had an initial interest in trying Iaido back in college when I was hearing about how it can sometimes help with Kendo. Unfortunately, due to time and money constraints that usually plague the college life, I never had the chance to really

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-48316409537421190072009-01-16T13:52:00.002-05:002009-01-16T14:22:43.695-05:00

Well, I'm sitting here in bed waiting for that stupid Rhinovirus to die and let me get on with my life (the common cold). So I thought I'd take some of the copious amount of free time I now have since I can't really do much else and go over some things that I was taught in Kendo and Iaido class this week.In Iaido, we spent some time going over breathing techniques while doing the kata.

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-34801891976254997462009-01-09T17:30:00.004-05:002009-01-09T18:08:18.676-05:00

Someone on the Kendo World forums was asking about tips to learn the Japanese language. Having studied the language for a couple of years now, I thought I would offer some of the things that worked for me.One of the resources I gave was this television show called Irasshai that aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting back when I was in high school. At the time, I had just been starting out in

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-9197444508044059752009-01-02T07:33:00.003-05:002009-01-02T08:15:59.794-05:00

新年開けましておめでとうございます!We're beginning the hopefully wonderful year of 2009 and I wish everyone good luck and hope that the future works out for everyone, economy and all.We here in the Ohio/Kentucky area have been very fortunate to have Nagata Sensei teach us and pretty much beat the crap out of all of us while giving some very valuable instruction. Unfortunately, he's had to go back to Japan but

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-14525426838863055732008-12-16T21:58:00.004-05:002009-01-25T00:44:51.232-05:00

This year seemed to have gone by really quickly. A lot has changed from last year after graduating, moving to Ohio and starting a life of my own in the process. But the Kendo has only ramped up with the great opportunities of practicing. I have also been able to achieve my dream of starting up Iaido as well.As 2008 comes to a close, I would just like to go over some of the goals I have for

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-37775019329191794272008-12-14T20:26:00.003-05:002008-12-14T21:17:01.468-05:00

I had yet another hard practice out at Miami Valley this past Saturday. Beyond the usual keeping my back straight when I strike, there was one thing that he told me, then told the class afterward, that I would like to briefly talk about today.During Jigeiko, he stopped for a moment to tell me that I needed to try using shikake-waza more when I attack. For the uninitiated, shikake-waza are the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-60411635916638687852008-12-11T22:10:00.004-05:002008-12-11T22:55:58.874-05:00

I've had enough time to let this sink in and gather my thoughts. It's also the time when the planets align just right to where I'm not too lazy to write about this.Last week, I attended the ECUSKF Johnson Cup tournament that is held here every year around this time. The overall attendance was small, possibly due to the snow the area had earlier along with other commitments that conveniently

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-86543464951983051692008-12-02T06:42:00.000-05:002008-12-02T06:43:32.354-05:00

Okay, it's been about a few weeks since I last took my promotion exam, and now that I have nothing better to do, I thought I'd type this up. One thing I notice is that a lot of people don't really talk about the feelings of failing Kendo, so I think I'll do it here.I recently tried to go for Shodan, but didn't make it this time around. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed in myself for

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-14395316978402276592008-11-07T22:07:00.003-05:002008-11-07T22:26:39.060-05:00

Hmm, it's been a while since I posted. Well, I guess better late than never, except for those few "dedicated" readers that might be expecting something from me more often. I'll divide this post by days for organization purposes.Tuesday was a pretty light day as far as activity goes. But that doesn't mean that it was light on the information. Takano sensei went over various tips regarding

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-74237769865851516582008-10-14T00:36:00.003-04:002008-10-14T01:06:19.769-04:00

This past weekend marked the 1st anniversary of the East Central United States Kendo Federation (henceforth ECUSKF) Student Tournament. The purpose of this particular tournament is to better cultivate the Kendo of the younger people by allowing them to fight each other in an environment made just for them.Before I begin, I would like to congratulate all the participants. You fought very hard

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-70213605184553199772008-10-05T23:30:00.003-04:002008-10-11T01:03:27.019-04:00

This past week has been pretty crazy for Kendo and Iaido:Early in the week, the soreness in my left foot went from a dull soreness like it was overworked to a slight sharp pain. It wasn't a showstopper, but it really affected my Kendo to the point where it was kinda detrimental. I set up a doctors appointment for the following Wednesday (and skipped Tuesday practice just in case the pain is

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-32344556460504828022008-10-04T21:23:00.004-04:002008-10-04T21:54:58.088-04:00

It's been a while since I posted anything anime/manga related, so I'll post something about a manga that I have read over the past few days.The name of this manga is Getsumei Seiki: Sayonara Shinsengumi. The story follows the life of Hijitaka Toshizou as he follows his desires to become his definition of a samurai and eventually lead the famed Shinsengumi. The story takes place around the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-29696461921639225032008-09-29T20:11:00.004-04:002009-02-01T20:53:15.322-05:00

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Shinpan seminar in Lexington, KY, instructed by Ariga-Sensei.For those not in the know, a Shinpan is one of three people that judge any given Kendo match. The purpose of these seminars is to get people accustomed to all that is involved in judging a match.When we see someone judging matches, it's easy to complain about how they score whether

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-60480877984912817292008-09-09T22:45:00.004-04:002009-02-01T20:47:37.171-05:00

This past weekend was business as usual...if you call having to work on the weekend as being usual (overtime FTW!!!). It was a pretty productive weekend for Kendo and Iaido nonetheless.The Saturday Kendo was pretty intense as usual. I've did my best to keep my energy up despite it leaving really quickly. There really isn't much to say in particular about this practice, but I was left with a

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-36472675009614878312008-08-31T10:01:00.002-04:002008-08-31T10:43:41.234-04:00

Because of the Labor Day weekend, the Miami Valley dojo and Northern KY Dojo was closed. But that fact didn't matter because I am in Atlanta right now. Despite me being away, I still got to practice Kendo at Georgia Kendo Alliance.Today's practice was okay. It was pretty difficult to navigate the floor because my feet would slide. Because of the differences in footwork, it kinda threw off

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-54417692040068228542008-08-17T17:45:00.002-04:002008-08-17T22:38:39.746-04:00

What I want to write about today is something that has sort of getting under my skin for a while now. And since I want to actually do something with my blog, now's the time to do it. Keep in mind that this can be extrapolated to other aspects of life, but since this is a Kendo blog, I will be specifically talking about Kendo.People on the Kendo World forums should already be familiar with this

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-88333838715287951112008-08-09T00:42:00.003-04:002009-02-01T20:48:15.845-05:00

The month of August marks the 5th anniversary of when I started Kendo. It's hard to believe that I've been with this for all that time, considering the big changes that have happened in my life during the time span.As many of us know, it's hard for one to keep interested in one activity for so long and Kendo is definitely no exception. The plethora of options for things to do, work and school

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-86140161091261073852008-08-06T00:07:00.005-04:002008-08-18T23:11:34.447-04:00

In my latest attempt to get more self-practice in for Kendo and Iaido on those no practice days, I've been having some thoughts about my progress in Kendo and Iaido.For those not in the know, I participated in the AUSKF tournament in Las Vegas last month. I was knocked out of the first round, unfortunately, but it allowed me to really think about Kendo in a different kind of light.One of the

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-31735650272627068332008-06-08T08:20:00.008-04:002010-01-07T21:11:28.030-05:00

Sigh, my wrist has been kinda sore for the past week so I've been out of Kendo and Iaido for the time being. Since the tournament is coming up, I don't want to risk injuring it further and ruin my chances of going to Las Vegas.If you have been doing Kendo for a little while, you probably heard your sensei or sempai keep telling you of ways to improve your timing and how important that is. It's

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-26747558538433653422008-06-04T21:44:00.003-04:002008-06-04T22:16:07.520-04:00

There really isn't too much to report on the Kendo front in terms of lessons. I did learn Kata on Sunday, but it was from a book so I don't really consider myself knowing it until someone can physically bring me through the movements. After that, I went to UC and basically went through drills as I was told that I was either moving too early or too late (sigh, the many contradictions of Kendo...

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-28235470154242210412008-05-31T22:08:00.003-04:002008-08-18T23:15:27.418-04:00

This has been one hell of a week. Work has been pretty hectic, though Kendo really helped take me away from the stresses of it. Unfortunately, it kept me away from practice on Thursday as I pulled a 16 hour day.But it didn't keep me away for long since I was ready to practice again at Miami Valley today. As the weather warms up, my body has to acclimate itself to a new set of temperatures.

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-81682881526728063502008-05-26T08:19:00.004-04:002008-08-18T23:18:09.624-04:00

This past weekend was another one of the ECUSKF joint practices in Pittsburgh, PA. It was a nice, kendo-filled weekend full of fun and excitement as I do my best to improve my abilities whilst staying alive during these very tough practices.The first day was mainly for the senshu in preparation for the tournament in July. It started out like the general practice and then moved on to the practical

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-59859389053751230222008-05-23T20:19:00.004-04:002009-02-01T20:54:03.521-05:00

The practice last night was pretty intersting. Nagata-sensei came to visit us about halfway through practice to teach us quite a few basic points:1) When you are about to push off, do not move the left foot forward. It's something that's quite natural if you aren't confident in the power of your step, but all it does is telegraph your movements to your opponent.2) Pay great attention to your

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-13698026709482895422008-05-22T00:50:00.003-04:002008-05-22T01:36:25.052-04:00

It's been quite a while since I have updated the blog. I should really try to update more regularly to keep track of my progress and hopefully give others guidance on things they may be having trouble with.It's about 43 days until the national tournament in Las Vegas and I've been practicing hard to make sure I can get past the first round in the Mudansha division. I have been doing this mainly

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-39855733654202851232008-02-11T21:36:00.000-05:002008-02-11T22:38:08.310-05:00

Before I begin, I think things would make more sense if I provide an update to my Kendo life.I recently started a new job here in Cincinnati, OH doing heat transfer analysis on gas turbine engines. Over time, I have adjusted to the new area which includes joining in on the Kendo activity in the area. There are practices at the University of Cincinnati and in Covington, KY which is just across

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-62262523344937459272008-02-09T10:55:00.001-05:002008-02-09T23:19:08.654-05:00

There was a recent thread on the Kendo World forums that, admittedly, hasn't really been talked about too much. The thread was talking about why women tend to not stay too long in Kendo, but it can also be applied race as well. As a disclaimer, I'm not trying to incite any sort of racism. I'm just bringing up an issue that I have thought about for a bit and would like to bring to the masses and

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-6369261314684684262008-01-09T13:13:00.000-05:002008-01-09T13:47:36.421-05:00

The New Year is finally upon us. For most, it's a time to start over or change things about yourself to start the year on the right foot. This is where the New Year's Resolutions come in. We all make them, and most end up not working out in the end for a variety of reasons. But we keep making them anyways. Well, in the spirit of the new year, here are some resolutions that I am proposing to do

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-61710453663893899742007-12-13T08:31:00.000-05:002007-12-13T08:59:49.608-05:00

Don't worry, I'm not talking about my quitting Kendo. The situation is actually quite the opposite. I have already talked about how I felt about everything in my facebook profile, so I thought I'd use this time to talk specifically about my Kendo thoughts.When I'm talking about the end of an era, I am talking about the end of life as a college student. I have two great pieces of information to

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-36943668645213140012007-11-21T18:55:00.000-05:002007-11-21T18:56:12.653-05:00

This is something that was actually thought up of after Sunday's practice while I was helping a friend compile information for the Kendo club next semester. He was asking me about how I felt the club would be better run since I was in the club for longer than he was. Well, the subject of practing waza came up briefly, which set some sort of internal dialogue.This is mostly a reflection of my

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-15592754757825636462007-11-20T01:13:00.000-05:002007-11-20T01:34:51.968-05:00

Sunday's practice went a little better than on Thursday. If you read the previous entry, you already know of the problems associated with that so I won't go into detail.The main thing that was special about this practice was that there were several tests of endurance for the beginners (and the armored people as well to an extent). I didn't get to indulge in the extra 100-200 haya suburi that

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-65262550701156745482007-11-16T23:54:00.002-05:002009-01-26T22:08:42.489-05:00

Something happened at practice on Thursday that has never happened to me before. When I got home, I started feeling very weak, had dizzyness spells, pounding headache, fever (100.4 F), shivers and had a hard time moving. At the time, I had no clue what was going on. But, after a talk with a friend of mine, I learned that it was dehydration.What's really weird is that there wasn't anything

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-35316013667230508532007-11-06T08:19:00.000-05:002007-11-07T01:37:50.997-05:00

This was an anime series that I have wanted to see for quite some time. After being barred from purchasing it due to it's prohibitively expensive $500 price tag for the whole series for several years, I finally was giving the opportunity to get it at 94% of the previous price at $30 for the entire series. Well, was it worth the wait? Should I have paid the original $500 for the series? Read

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-31876684303411103502007-10-19T00:10:00.000-04:002007-10-19T00:54:40.848-04:00

It's been a while since the tournament, but I shall talk about it anyways. A few weeks ago was the MWKF Tournament in Chicago and I must say that it went really well this time around. I did my best to make sure I was prepared by doing suburi whenever I had the chance and arriving to practice early to get in some suburi that I otherwise wouldn't have a chance to do due to not having the head

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-25114076727226934292007-08-03T01:45:00.000-04:002007-08-03T08:38:20.542-04:00

Today's practice was okay. I was put in the intermediate section for a bit for some reason for a while. While there, I just made the best of my time there by concentrating on my basics and making clear strikes and not bending forward. After a while, I was able to join the advanced section but it didn't make the experience that much better. There were a lot of bad habits that surfaced today,

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-54822516204758690802007-07-30T01:12:00.001-04:002007-07-30T01:38:49.956-04:00

Okay, it's been a while since I posted something so I apologize for that. So here's a quick rundown of what's happened since the last posting (which really isn't much).- I took the ikkyu test, but I failed it again. Quite naturally, I was pretty disappointed in myself since I thought that I did a pretty good job this time around. I asked some of the judges what I did wrong, but they ended up

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-32461092916189217172007-07-01T00:14:00.000-04:002007-07-01T00:41:13.582-04:00

Today ends the second day of the summer camp. I must say that it was an extremely fulfilling experience as I learned a lot today about myself and my performance of the basics. What I did realize was that it is easy to just do the basic stuff any old way in lieu of the more advanced things and forget to think about doing them. It was a nice way to look at things in a whole new perspective.

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-85933463884941511292007-06-29T22:38:00.000-04:002007-06-29T22:48:47.898-04:00

Today was the first day of the Kendo Seminar. Today was just a godo-geiko with the Sensei from Japan.There were a lot of people there so it was a great opportunity to adjust to different styles of fighting. We were seperated by rank and put into groups and did mawari-geiko with sparring for about 20 minutes. It really took a lot out of me after the first few matches, but I made sure to not

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-60841386708820006302007-06-24T00:16:00.000-04:002007-06-24T00:45:28.716-04:00

With the seminar and test coming up in the next week, I am doing whatever I can to mentally prepare for this monumental event. Of course, things are going a little slow as my life has been getting busier lately. To top it all off, I pulled a muscle on my back so I have been in pain for the past couple of days. While Kendo is very important to me, it's even more important to take care of myself

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-18251436224157548962007-06-19T23:57:00.000-04:002007-06-20T00:06:56.314-04:00

I was able to negotiate with my superiors at Walmart, so not only am I able to working at Walmart, I am able to continue Kendo AND enjoy the seminar in its entirety!Well, I just got a letter in the mail saying that they have my testing application and that I need to answer the question about either the elements of Kirikaeshi or the types of footwork. So now, all that there is left to do is to

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-11758552408475732492007-05-31T23:56:00.000-04:002007-06-01T00:14:37.403-04:00

When I was hired by Walmart, I thought that it was the happiest day of the summer. I finally had a chance to make some extra money so I could have some freedom to spend. Later, after I had accepted the job and worked for a little bit, did I realize the mistake I made.This is the process of the snowballing effect that occured:1) When I filled out the application, I fixed my availability so that

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-10238462625989729972007-05-20T01:49:00.000-04:002007-05-20T02:21:52.990-04:00

I have been having some trouble sleeping lately. I wouldn't go to sleep till about 3 AM and wake up at 7:30 or 8 AM. And due to the phone ringing and other goings on during the day, I tend to not get that much sleep for the daytime duration. Despite me being tired with a headache, I took a Tylenol and went to Kendo anyways. It ended up being a good decision because I learned a lot today about

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-22934603624728593572007-05-17T23:29:00.000-04:002007-05-17T23:44:59.119-04:00

There really isn't much going on in the Kendo front right now. A trip to UPS took longer than expected to I was about a half-hour late. This resulted in me losing out on doing a few drills so I had to go straight into jigeiko. Needless to say, I at least made the most out of the little time I had there. This should make the notes relatively quick this time.- Kan Sensei from Detroit came to

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-23289765387674045502007-05-13T01:48:00.000-04:002007-05-13T02:11:45.040-04:00

Here are some notes that I gathered from GKA today...- I finally had the chance to practice some serious kata. I haven't done them in quite some time, so I was pretty rusty to start out. One thing that has been bothering me since I have been doing kata is that my body feels extremely stiff when I do them. I don't know why that happens or how to fix it, but it just happens. The end result is a

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-91213055778360079802007-05-11T08:59:00.000-04:002007-05-11T09:35:02.784-04:00

I went to GKA last night and was allowed to practice with them. It was a really great experience because I actually felt like I was doing something with my life instead of surfing on the internet, watching TV, playing videogames and running family errands. My life is a little balanced now so I am able to move on. It was great meeting up with the people I haven't seen for a while and getting in

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-12695706082022493812007-05-10T14:08:00.000-04:002007-05-10T14:29:52.132-04:00

It's two weeks into Summer vacation, so how are things going on so far?GradesFor the second time ever (how sad is this?), I got a 3.0 semester average on my report card. And I also didn't have any Ds on it either. There was one class, AAE 440 (Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics) that was giving me the most trouble with hard exams, long homework and a teacher who is too full of herself to be that

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13376674.post-2980121668464044342007-05-07T01:24:00.000-04:002007-05-07T01:51:30.561-04:00

As promised, I am posting an update to my training. So far, I haven't joined any dojos here since school didn't really end for me until Saturday due to a few projects that lingered on after my return home. But that hasn't kept me from doing some short practices by myself before I go to bed. Here are a few notes I've made.- This may sound a bit crazy, but I found a way to increase my speed a

Christopher Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11886883174852018121noreply@blogger.com0