Kyusha Seminar and Grading, Dundee, 23 April 2005

Whether it is due to the increased marketing efforts of kendo dojo, or the increased appearance of kendo and samurai imagery in various media, recent years have seen a marked increase in the number of people wanting to "start" kendo. In response to this, many dojo have moved towards dedicated beginners’ classes and courses, and Kodokan and Edinburgh Kendo Club, have been at the forefront of the development of a more formal syllabus for beginners and kyusha (http://www.pabudden.com/kodokan/kyugrading.shtml).

Our interpretation and implementation of that syllabus ‘on the ground’ was put to the test when Paul Budden sensei (Rokudan Renshi) and Kazuyo Matsuda sensei (Godan) came from Kodokan to conduct a kyusha seminar and grading for Edinburgh Kendo Club and its affiliated east-coast-Scotland Clubs (Edinburgh University, Aberdeen and St Andrews).

St Andrews Kendo Club organised the three-hour event on behalf of EKC where Steve Bishop sensei (Godan) and Kazuo Yamazaki sensei (Sandan) completed the ‘grading panel’. The inverted commas refer to the fact that the grading was completely embedded within the seminar teaching and there was no requirement for candidates to perform individually in front of the panel.

The gymnasium at the Dundee International Sports Complex was again filled to capacity with a total of 37 people attending the seminar. Of these, 11 were St Andrews beginners who had just finished their course, and 20 kyusha were there to be assessed for grades up to second kyu. The others had made their way for the seminar only, and additionally there were a few graded kendoka along to help with organisation and to act as motodachi/shidachi when required.

In spite of the informal character of the grading, all candidates looked healthily nervous! They also needed to keep fully focused on the instruction as Paul Budden sensei ran them through a very demanding programme which covered all nine keiko-ho forms and the first three kata. A challenging task for beginners who had barely done kata before and were familiar with only two or three keiko-ho forms. The beginners did very well overall and the intermediate kyusha displayed excellent knowledge of keiko-ho.

Budden sensei pointed out some similarities between certain keiko-ho forms and sequences in kata which brought kata to life for the kyusha who might sometimes think of kata as a removed ritual. Sensei later broke down the boundaries between keiko-ho and kata further when he mixed and matched keiko-ho and kata forms and constantly changed the assigned roles of motodachi/uchidachi and kakari-te/shidachi. This was a true test of our concentration and kept everybody on their toes. None of the forms could be delivered ‘on auto-pilot’ and thus all forms were practised with full presence of mind and good spirit.

All in all, extensive work with the bokuto makes a lot of sense – especially in the early stages of the kyusha curriculum – as it is the closest thing we get to practising with a real sword. The bokuto speaks more clearly to the beginner than the shinai and tells them exactly how it wants to be held and swung. Teaching of bokuto forms also allows relatively junior kendoka to experience quite advanced sequences before they are in armour or before they are fully confident in armour.

In the second part of the seminar Budden sensei and Matsuda sensei put an emphasis on basic cuts and the dan-graded kendoka present were seen taking copious mental or written notes. In theory we all know that the upswing is equally as important as the downswing and cut ... but in the heat of ji-geiko many crucial details tend to be neglected – like cutting from the shoulders using the back muscles or extending the arms on both up and downswing in order to let the kensen travel the biggest possible arc.

When the grading results were announced every dojo leader had a reason to smile and to glow with pride:

• 7 Aberdonians passed including Yamazaki sensei’s wife and two of his sons
• Edinburgh University club captain Ruth Bolton was awarded a higher grade (2nd kyu) than she had aimed for which made the success of 4 other EU students all the sweeter
• 6 Edinburgh kendoka passed including 3 members of the Irvine clan
• all 11 St Andrews beginners were awarded 7th kyu and two St Andreans – the first home-grown kendoka in full armour – passed 4th kyu

Paul Budden sensei and Katsuyo Matsuda sensei complimented Edinburgh Kendo Club and its affiliate dojo on the high standard of instruction, the good spirit and friendly atmosphere at the event before many of us retired to a nearby pub for a genial wind-down.

Michael Gratzke, StAKC dojo leader