Interview: Il Soo and Tammy, Team New Zealand

Hello everyone! Here is an interview with two members of the New Zealand National team who went to Brazil: Il Soo and Tammy! They kindly accepted to answer my questions about their experience in Brazil. They will also be part of the next Rembuden Championship down in Wellington! Those are just machines!!!!!

Waki-no-kamae and Gedan-no-kamae

Following and ending the series about kamae, here is an explanation about the two last kamae under the All Japan Kendo Federation: waki-no-kamae and gedan-no-kamae. Also, I explain the 'circle exercise' which helps practicing all the kamae together. Finally, great news: Kendopod is now part of the Sunboo project! Check out the fan page on facebook: Sunboo fan page.

If you want your kendo events aired on kendopod, wherever you are in the world, send me an email at
kendopod@sunbudo.com.

Jodan-no-kamae and Hasso-no-kamae

Last week we talked about chudan-no-kamae, this week we'll follow the same train of thoughts with jodan-no-kamae and hasso-no-kamae. I do not go as deep as chudan, I just talk about the postures. I don't use jodan in fights and can't tell you what is the spirit linked to it and how to use it. I hope that'll help.

Kendo-pod: Chudan-no-kamae

Chudan-no-kamae is the first and most challenging kendo posture that we learn. We start and finish a fight in Chudan, it is where we all start learning kiai, projecting ki, projecting the body, defend, initiate waza and more... Let's see what chudan is made of:

Kendo-pod: Strengthening exercises

This week, I mean last week, I mean last week's podcast which comes one day late, is about Stregthening exercises. Yea, one day late, it seems that my computer was upset with me this week end and it still is. I am pushing it too much. But here it is anyway. There are some old news on it though. I announce some of the KWC results but now I'm sure that everybody knows.

Strengthening exercises to get the core muscles up and running, let's get into it then:

Kendo-pod: Special Edition - KWC

Here is a special edition of Kendo-pod with an interview of the New Zealand team just before they get on the plane to go the Kendo World Championship in Brazil. Some members of the team were missing such as Alex and Blake Bennett, leaving from Japan as well as few more team members leaving from Wellington. For those who were here, I was glad to get a bit of their feelings before they take off.

Kendo-pod: Pushing Down

We talked about pushing with your hara and now we'll talk about pushing down. That's a difficult concept to grasp sometimes: when we try to reach out, we tend to push upwards and not forwards. You'll find an easy exercise in this podcast that helps pushing forward and keep your feet close from the floor.