The Street Smart Samurai On Kendo and the Smell of Good Manners
May 16th, 2012 // 7:46 pm @ Dana Abbott
When kendo practice ceased the undergraduates would then go to the locker room which was below in the basement. Going down the narrow stairs you began to inhale testosterone at its peak. Those smells would rival any odors that gladiators in the coliseum exuded. Imagine being packed in the locker room like sardines and all [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai and the Land of the Rising Sun
May 8th, 2012 // 7:28 pm @ Dana Abbott
When you’re hot…you’re hot and when it gets hot in Japan you literally drip from the humidity. If you drink one cup of tea, you undoubtedly will sweat two and coupled with the torrential downpours from Japan’s natural rice growing climate means…I never saw the sun shine. One season there was only 68 hours of [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai Summits Mt. Fuji
April 30th, 2012 // 2:57 pm @ Dana Abbott
We began our ascent and over the next 5 hours switched back and forth on those trails that have been used for centuries even probably by samurai. At each tier on my upward climb a branding iron was used to mark my walking stick which denoted the tiers I had accomplished. Kendo Is Very Much [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai Summits Mt. Fuji
April 27th, 2012 // 2:09 pm @ Dana Abbott
There is an olde’ saying; ”if you can’t speak the lingo…you can’t stay in the loop”. For that reason, I aggressively learned the Japanese language. At the beginning, I never knew what was on the agenda because the Japanese culture is not known to be very open or communicative…it’s not their style. You are supposed [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai Visits the Ancient Kendo Dojo
April 25th, 2012 // 1:36 pm @ Dana Abbott
I remember my first road trip in Japan. There I was riding in a school bus while we winded our way through centuries old skinny back streets of Tokyo headed towards the South for a Kendo tournament. It took us a couple of hours to get to the tournament site driving through the dark early [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai and The Formal Ranks of Kendo
April 18th, 2012 // 4:20 pm @ Dana Abbott
Spending 6 days a week practicing your heart out one would think it’s time to grab some much needed R&R on Sunday. But no…the seventh day was created by the Masters for Kendo tournaments. I had already attended many home games and was now starting to make a name for myself. Perhaps my reputation was [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai A Foreigner In A Welcome Land
April 12th, 2012 // 1:28 pm @ Dana Abbott
Training in the Art of The Samurai Sword Many students at Ni Tai Dai were from small towns and cities. Some had never seen a foreigner in person let alone practice kendo against one. I soon discovered that I reluctantly was always going to be in the spot light and because of that I realized they [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai and the Symphony of Daily Practice
April 4th, 2012 // 2:49 pm @ Dana Abbott
Over the course of my daily kendo studies I was already warmed up and feeling pretty good about myself; I had a strong mindset. You could say I felt like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse. As I slowly stepped inwards eyeing my adversary, I saw an opening and began my frontal attack. [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai and the Early Days
March 26th, 2012 // 3:18 am @ Dana Abbott
Joining the Ranks At Ni Tai Dai, Underclassmen were always the first students to arrive for their daily training. Their job was to do all the grunt work like a plebe at West Point Academy. With time and experience they eventually would work their way up the ladder or maybe down depending upon their skill. The [...]
Category : Blog
The Street Smart Samurai Training in the Dojo at Ni Tai Dai
March 21st, 2012 // 3:14 am @ Dana Abbott
The Dojo Was An Example of Perfection The dojo at Ni Tai Dai where I was learning the trade of the swordsman was built decades earlier at a time when craftsmanship was premier and everything was built to last. The architecture was quite unique to me but most particularly interesting was the way the rows [...]
Category : Blog
