Kendo (FateNight Saber?)

I started practicing Kendo at the same time as I started at the University. They have a lot of asian sports going on in town which I'm happy about. I've allways wanted to try Kendo but the closest place have allways been 2 hours away. But now I had the chance to I took it since I also want something to keep me in shape.

So what is Kendo? Well, basicaly it's an old sword-technique that a lot of samurai' used in asia long ago. (Correct me if I'm wrong though).
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I've tried to practice twice a week, theusday and thursday, 1.5 hours each time, though school's been my priority so I've had to skip it to do assignments at times sadly. But even so I've practice for about 2 months now and I'm starting to get the hang of the basics. I've gotten to try a lot of more advanced techniques though, and I'd say I've managed pretty well, but there's obviously a lot to work on.

Two weeks ago my sensei commended me though for breaking one of the bamboo swords we practice with. I hit her on her armour so hard down by the waist (where one of the spots you get points from are) that one of the four bamboo blades split open which is apparently pretty good. It happens frequently for those who practice, but for beginners like me it's still quite a feat, because it means it was a solid hit with a lot of strenght behind it. 

I also got commended on my footwork last week when I managed to beat my sensei. You move a specific way in kendo so that you can keep your balance while being ready to strike at any moment. We were practicing this by moving forwards and backwards as fast as we could from one side of the arena to the other and I caught up to her while going backwards even after having a slow start and I got past her even if she looked at me and were like "arrg!" and tried to beat me to it. After the practice she said "By the way, nice footwork, I will be meddling over the fact that you beat me all week". :3


Oh, and the best thing?? I have two sensei, one older guy and the younger girl and the girl is basicaly, Saber, from the anime Fate Stay XD She's insanely similar and I can't stop thinking about it. She's also incredibly skilled, having practiced in Japan and participated in several international tournaments.

This is literally her - s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/2… / 3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q2OoqIITfDA…


Another cool thing is that you allways use Japanese terms and words in Kendo, so I'm learning some legit Japanese while I'm at it. "Ippon ni-giri san shin men" (something like that) is one way to practice hitting the head "Men" (as the helmet is called). So yeee, need to remember a lot too x)


Well, if you want to see more of what Kendo is then here's a video that shows some fighting.