This past week I was in Boise for work. It was a nice trip, made many times better by the fact that I was able to train with Stroud Sensei and the local members of the kendo club there. For anyone that doesn't know, Stroud Sensei is Kyoshi 7 dan in kendo and Renshi 6 dan in iaido. Since I don't practice iaido it was the kendo instruction I was most interested in. And instruction I got... Wednesday night was practice at BSU and there were about 6 of us there that night, ranging from brand new beginner up to 4 dan. After warm-ups, we worked a lot on footwork, doing various drills up and down the dojo floor while adding in lots of kiai. Afterward we went into basic striking drills, building on each one with lots of spirit, emphasis on good footwork and striking with our body, not just our hands (one of my weaknesses, as I found out). We then suited up in full bogu and continued our drills, doing a drill that involved striking various targets in...
One man's Kendo journey