Photo by G. Hoover Most of my kendo life I've been happy and content being a student. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very much a student and I don't think that will ever change. That's part of the beauty of kendo; there's always more to learn and more to improve. Three yeas ago, though, I started teaching the beginning class as their main instructor. That mantle has only recently been (mostly) passed onto another member. Here and there I would lead the other classes, as well, including our main class, where the bulk of our members come to train. I never thought much of it, though, and would either follow a set plan or I would run basic drills and our basic format. Most of the time I tried to follow a coherent plan of drills that would build on top of each other, i.e. kote, kote-men, then using kote-men as a counter to kote. I also liked to build drills around a theme, such as kote drills, or counters effective for men, or other things...
One man's Kendo journey