Dojo news

Last week all NKR members received 2013’s first issue of “Zanshin“, the association’s magazine.

The annual report for 2012 is filled with a lot of interesting information and it also shows that our high ranking members have scored a lot of successes. In five out of the ten dutch competitions Renshinjuku ranked first place. In the sixth (Fumetsu Cup) one of our members was part of the winning team.

However, what should give some food for thought is our attendance at CTs (centrale training). Each year the NKR organizes five or six national level trainings that are visited by kendoka from all across the nation. CTs are tremendously fun and educational! Despite the fact that we claim to be one of the largest dojo, with ~70 active members, we only rank third in attendance numbers. Across five events, we only amounted to 28 participants (resp. 2, 4, 9, 3 and 10, the last being an exam day). Our friends from Museido (31) and Fumetsu (43) lead the pack.

All in all, the figures suggest that we could be much more active at CTs! At January’s training five folks from RSJ took part, which was better than last year. Let’s make the next training really count! On the 10th of March there’s the combined Kendo Kata training and ALV (annual members conference).

Speaking of the NKR: are you already a paying member? The NKR does so much for all of us kendoka and they can really use your help too! So if you’re not a member yet, please take the time to enroll. It’s only €60 a year.

Today we have updated the “news” page of our website, to be much more user friendly.

Previous articles can now be browsed by category, or by using an easy-to-use menu.

We would like to extend our congratulations to Kurogi-sensei, for ranking 7th dan at the EKF shimpan seminar.

With thanks to Serge Hendrickx for the photograph.

This morning were the (semi-)annual kyu grade exams at Renshinjuku kendo dojo. I’m told that we’re the only dojo in the Netherlands that actually do intermediate kyu exams, but personally I think they’re a good thing. These exams help prepare our students for the actual exam, making the real thing a lot less scary.

Today, thirteen students were testing: five for 5th, one for 4h, two for 3rd and five for 2nd. The way we test 2nd kyu is actually identical to the official 1st kyu exam, meaning that we’re getting a full prep for ikkyu.

The good news is that everyone testing up to 3rd kyu passed their grade. So congratulations to Ainar, Lukas, Dennis, vincenzo, Herman, Ramon, Aaron and Hugo! Good work everyone!

The group testing for 2nd kyu wasn’t as successful. Only Jeroen was deemed to be ready to take and pass the ikkyu exam, so many congrulations to him: you’ve worked hard for this Jeroen!

Bobby, Martijn, Tiamat and myself were all given valuable pointers on what we need to improve to be ready for the 1st kyu exam. Two pieces of advice were applicable to all of us:

1. In jitsugi, you need to be hungry! You need to really want to make those ippon! Don’t be passive and don’t do shiai kendo. Instead, have at it!
2. Stick to kihon. There’s no need for über-special techniques, because if you -do- try those they’d better be done right!

At this level you’re trying to prove that you fully understand and control the basics.

As promised I’ve gathered some details regarding a first aid course for our group. This is of course useful if you want to decide if you want to participate. So far we have three people who indicated interest.

• The course spans 17 lessons, starting in september of 2013.
• The official exam (you’ll get a certificate) is in february of 2014.
• Classes are on wednesday evenings, 20:00-22:00 in Amstelveen.
• (No class in december).
• Costs for the course would be €195 per person, all-inclusive.
  • Book(s)
  • Classes
  • Exam and certificate

While €195 is a lot of money, this is a valuable training providing you skills that you can apply anywhere. One day you may even help a friend or family member!

Also, many health insurers will actually pay part of, if not all, the costs of your EHBO training! Please check with your insurance company.

On the 17th of january eight of our kendoka were honored during the sportgala in Amstelveen, at the grand reopening of the Emergohal. Not all of them were present at the party, but the following people were congratulated on their championship.

• NK ladies: Kiwa van Riel
• NK juniors: Houdaifa Bediar, Mayuko Tanida
• NK Teams: Daisuke Fukuyama, Kiwa van Riel, Ran van Riel, Shinichi Tanida, Makoto van der Woude, Jouke van der Woude

Here are a few photographs from the evening.

Following Salmon-sensei’s example, we thought it would be a good idea to organize a first aid training for a number of Renshinjuku members. First up, we’re checking to see how many people would be interested in such a course. If you would like to follow an official EHBO course through our dojo, please inform Thomas Sluyter

Dear kenshi, the time has come to order zekken: aka name tags that go on your tare. As you know, these are used to identify both yourself and your affiliation to our dojo.

While they are not necessarily required in order to take part in competitions, a well made zekken sure looks a lot nicer than your name written on a piece of duct tape ;)

Traditionally, Heeren-sensei arranges for ordering of zekken through Furuya-sensei in Japan. If you would like to buy one, please contact Heeren-sensei. The deadline for ordering is february 1st.

Heeren-sensei will need to know your surname in both western alphabet and in katakana. Many of your sempai can help you, or you can give it a shot using Wikipedia’s handydandy table of katakana.

If you’re trying it yourself, remember that kana are a phonetic alphabet and that many of our western sounds are only approximated in Japanese. For example, Sluyter becomes su-ra-ta, or スラタ. Heeren becomes he-re-n, or ヘーレン. Of course, Davin-sempai will need a lot of space for マヘスパルシング (;^_^)