[Kendō o shimashita yo]…

or “I did Kendo“.

Last Saturday, I went to watch some club regulars (those who’d been doing it from over 10 years, to a mere one and half) do their regular practice. This practice was for those with their own armour (called bōgu). Watching that session pretty much confirmed that I wanted to sign up to the six week newbies course.

So, that’s where I ended up yesterday evening after work. I’ve been issued with my bamboo sword (shinai), and if I want to start getting into it and practice kata [型] (formal set patterns) I’ll need to get a Bokken [木剣] as well.

Being the first lesson, it was pretty much etiquette, some basic footwork and how to hold the shinai correctly. All good stuff and I can’t wait to next week’s lesson (though I have to practice each night now, to get my ankles flexible enough for future lessons).

:)