My first night of training was with the fine folks at Dallas Fort Worth. Ichimura Sensei and company were very friendly and accepted me in for training. I made some fast friends and enjoyed keiko with many students and teachers. Cooper Sensei struck me as very jovial, both inside and outside of practice, and I had a wonderful time exchanging attacks and conversation with him. I put forth my best efforts, and appreciated getting to see and experience kendo way outside of my comfort zone in the PNKF region. The two hour class went quick, but I had a couple more practices lined up there so I looked forward to visiting again.
My next training was at Plano Dojo, home of Chris Yang Sensei. While I didn't get to practice directly under him that night, as he was out of the dojo, he did stop in briefly and meet me before talking to the class a bit. It was a quick meeting, but an important one to me. I believe that anyone who has been in kendo for any amount of time has heard his name, and I've known about him and seen him compete for years, so to be able to finally meet him in person was quite an honor for me. I'm hoping I can come back through and cross swords with him next time. The class that night was run by Song Sensei and she ran a tight, effective class. Drills were done in groups, and after a few rounds of slight confusion on my part, I got the hang of it and let loose a bit, while keeping to the best kendo I had. Again, it was a wonderful time and I not only got to to train with a great group of people but I also made some new friends, as well as met a fellow internet kendo friend in person. The magic of kendo, I believe, is largely in part to the community that it fosters. I've known this guy online for quite a while and it was good to share a beer and conversation with him after practice. Looking forward to the next one when I come back through town!
The weekend held more training and kata with the DFW crew. We went over the bokuto kihon waza, which was a great opportunity for me to go over them with new partners, before jumping into training and keiko. I had a chance to grab a few of the members that I hadn't gotten to train with the first night, and enjoyed jigeiko with all of the teachers and many of the students again. They all have very strong kendo, so it was not only a challenge for me but a great learning opportunity. I was especially surprised to see the spryness in some of their senior members. I hope to have even half of that energy when I'm older!
As my week and work came to a close I had one last training with the Dallas Fort Worth Dojo. More drills, more keiko, and more wonderful experiences with everyone there. I was even invited this time to demonstrate a couple of the drills. Personally, it is both an honor and also kind of awkward to demonstrate in front of people, let alone at a dojo that is not my own, but I did my best and I hope I was able to show great kendo to everyone. I also came back with many ideas and drills to introduce at my home dojo and have been working to integrate them into our regular practices. The night ended with a few of us heading out for "second dojo" where we enjoyed good food, good drinks, and good company.
A week was definitely not enough to enjoy everything Dallas had to offer. I'm hoping to get back that way at some point to enjoy more of the local sites and the local kendo. They are very strong, very helpful and very friendly down there and I'm glad I had a chance to train with everyone and make some new friends. And if anyone from that area finds themselves up my way, please come and train with us, as well!
"Exchanging attacks and conversation". That's my favorite line here!
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