Ippoippo

[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).

This week was all change, as I started work at my new job. All learning curve at the moment, getting to grips with the software that is being written (a very, very big system).
The good thing is, is that I get to come home a fair bit earlier in the evenings now (though, I still need to leave quite early in the morning).

So, hopefully that’s going to free up some spare time. Yuko is thinking of doing Yoga, and she’s deciding about whether to dive into classes straight away, or first buy a book, try it out at home, and then see if she wants to take it further.
Meanwhile, with my extra time, I’m looking at starting to do a bit of Kendo (in Cardiff as well).

The other part of me really wants to start doing some distance learning stuff, relating to Renewable Energy or Organic Farming. The former sounds interesting to me should I push to escape the IT industry. The thing is, I probably won’t have time to do both. Hmmm, Kendo vs Study.
Kendo sounds more fun, Study sounds more useful.
Perhaps I’ll start Kendo, see how it goes with the 6 week beginner class (I won’t have to commit to buying the kit until after that, if I decide to keep learning).

Talking of Japanese stuff

While it’s still rather crappy weather here in the UK, seems like it’s warming up in Japan.
In fact, it’ getting so hot, the girls are putting on their summer clothing… though this clothing seems to be rather shocking to young lads.

.
.
.
.

Oh, and one last thing

GRAND SLAM!!!!!!! :D

“Akira” is getting the live-action big screen treatment courtesy of Leonardo DiCaprio

Why, what is the point? Nothing against DiCaprio, I just can’t see why this needs to be turned into a live-action film.
It may well turn out to be OK, but it certainly won’t be a revelation of a film.

Meanwhile in China

Ahh, good old football rivals… looks like it was a bad-tempered game with China-Japan. (Japan won 0-1… woohoo).

How on earth did that happen??

England 19 - Wales 26

First win since 1988 for a Welsh team in Twickenham.

Woohooo.

Good old BBC commentry, nearly a fight between Brian Moore (England) and Eddie Butler (Wales) towards the end of the game. (Just like last year).

Now, I’m really looking forward to next week, as I have tickets for the Wales vs Scotland game… though knowing typical Wales, we’ll probably lose all the games during the rest of the 6 Nations.

UPDATE:
ROFL… there is even a ’special’ edition of Taff Wars now, to celebrate this.