Bogu care

Just a bit of information to those members who have recently started to get into club armour. Please ensure that after practice you keep the bogu in a space at home that is warm, dry and ventilated. Ideally the armour should be out of the bag, at the least the bag should be rolled down. Failure to look after your bogu this way WILL result in mould growing, particularly if you can't attend practice for a couple of weeks, or over the holiday period when we are not training.

Due to having a new kitchen fitted I've not been able to attend to my bogu in the usual fashion and my spare kote have mould growth on them and that's been just a couple of weeks! It just goes to show it can happen to anyone and it can happen very quick, so please take care of the armour on loan to you.

Should the worst happen don't panic. I've used cleaning products such as Oxi Clean and an old toothbrush to remove any mould without any harm to the bogu. Don't use bleach cleaning products under any circumstances. Any questions or tips just ask us, either on practice night or the forum.

Club armour

Liverpool Kendo Club has long held the position that we should provide club armour to those that have shown progress and commitment to their training. This obligation was explored in the post about Giri 義理. However, we are beginning to notice that those that do loan armour are not showing the level of attendance expected to justify the use of bogu, when there are regular members of the club who could benefit more from it's use.

We have discussed a number of options, including a deposit but instead we have decided to limit the loan of club armour for three months unless a valid reason for extending the loan is agreed by either Sensei Ware or Sensei Carter. Ultimately if you currently have armour you are expected to attend practice on Wednesdays and kata every other Monday. If you cannot make this commitment then we expect you to return the bogu so that someone who fully participates in the club can progress.

If you cannot attend specific practices for valid reasons then please keep in contact with us so we know why, that is your duty in taking care of the bogu. It is disheartening that not only are we not seeing regular use of club armour we are also having to chase up those who have borrowed it and eventually recover it at club expense, this is totally unacceptable. Therefore we expect everyone with club armour to return it to the dojo next Wednesday so we can re-allocate it to those members who deserve use of it.

For those that want to continue to train irregularly then it will be your obligation to invest in your own bogu. That way you can come and go as you please and you will not be slowing the progress of other club members.

Attendance

Thanks once again for attending last nights practice, in particular our visitors from near and far, your efforts were appreciated. It's been a good week for kendo in that we've had two days of Intensive Training with the British Squad and two weeks where new practice partners have stretched our abilities and challenged our skills.

Summer is a time where many dojo find numbers slowly drop off as there seem to be far more interesting things to do on a warm evening than stand in a hall and sweat yourself stupid for two hours. Thankfully, for the most part, we have had relatively good numbers attending which is rewarding for us as we are seeing people week in, week out, improving through our efforts. Presumably it's also rewarding for those who attend regularly as they will be experiencing that progression first hand and not feel intimidated by the challenges ahead.

It's understandable that every day life can impact on training which may prevent attendance, therefore can you please make every effort to let us know if you cannot come to practice. If we know individuals are not coming we can aim to start practice sooner rather than later. Aside from that, it's part of dojo etiquette and common courtesy to those who do attend that they will not be benefiting from your presence. More importantly, if you have been loaned club armour you have taken on the responsibility of turning up regularly. If you cannot make that commitment it is only fair that you return the bogu so that someone else who can be at practice every week can benefit and progress. For greater understanding of this please refer to my post on Giri 義理

So, if you can't make it to practice please let someone know through the forum, facebook or email [use the link at the bottom of http://www.liverpoolkendo.co.uk/]. There's plenty of options so there's really no excuse. Thank you for your understanding and as a reminder there is NO kata on Monday, it's a bank holiday so please DO NOT turn up, you'll be disappointed!

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai tomorrow

After months of preparations 'the event', first revealed on the 26th November, is finally upon us. If you haven't registered yet [why not?] you can still pay on the day. For any beginners who wish to come along to watch and help out on Sunday they are more than welcome, you should know the address by now - Hope University Taggart Avenue. For everyone else - see you all tomorrow 9.30am for a prompt 10.00am start. Safe journey and don't forget bogu, shinai, tenegui, BKA book and your fighting spirit!

LAST REMINDER - British Kendo Association Membership

A LAST REMINDER that everybody should now be members of the British Kendo Association. Temporary membership is available to new starters in Kendo, Iaido and/or Jodo.  This is intended as a cheap entry to cover you while you are deciding if this martial art is for you.

Temporary membership lasts 3 months and covers you for practice in your local dojo. It does not allow you to participate in seminars, taikai or gradings. We expect everyone who is able to participate in the Kyusha Taikai to do so BUT the Kyusha Taikai rules state

All participants must be fully paid up members of the Association for a minimum of 3 months prior to the date of the Taikai and will be required to show their BKA membership at registration.

Which means you may have already missed the boat if you haven't joined up. You will definitely have had to have joined by the end of the month regardless as we expect everyone to be members of the BKA if they wish to continue practicing at the dojo.

Mike has a list of all registered BKA Members, and it isn't pretty. I would recommend everybody make a concerted effort between now and tomorrow to get their membership in order! Fundamentally, your membership is your insurance to train. In a full contact martial art the importance of insurance coverage cannot be understimated. We will NOT risk training with you if you are not fully covered.

You can find all the information regarding membership and online registration on the BKA's website here.

Giri 義理

According to wikipedia 'Giri 義理 is a Japanese value roughly corresponding to "duty", "obligation", or even "burden of obligation" in English. It is defined as "to serve one's superiors with a self-sacrificing devotion" by Namiko Abe.'

Joining a kendo club is very different to joining your local gym. We all come together to take part in an activity that is supposed to hone the mind, body and spirit, without this in mind we're just folks in a dance hall hitting each other with sticks. It's the duty of all to come with the intent to improve themselves, for those with experience to pass on that experience and help those newer to the art to advance. For those that are just beginning it's important to take on board the lessons and advice given and do your best to improve. It's often said that the most important people in a club are not necessarily the ones who are the best, it's the ones who come week in, week out regardless of their ability but in an effort to get better and support the club.

Another example of Giri 義理 exhibited by the club is how we 'subsidise' the members. Either through the additional 2 kata lessons a month, entrance fees for team competitions or more simply [but no less important] the use of club armour. We appreciate that kendo bogu is expensive and not everyone can invest in armour from day one, nor would we wish them to. Sometimes the getting into armour changes your view on kendo, some people enjoy it more, some people discover it is not what they thought it was after all. So having armour to loan to beginners is an important obligation that Liverpool Kendo Club is proud to perform.

We do not ask for payment or even a deposit, this again is our understanding that if we loan armour to you you will look after it and come to practice to make good use out of it, that is your obligation. If club armour is not being used but is in the possession of a member it stops another beginner, who is ready and willing to make the best use of it, from progressing. For all the beginners who have stuck it out since September we are extremely grateful for your continued efforts and hard work. We've seen considerable improvements and we hope you are feeling a sense of belonging within the club. For this reason we will be looking hard at who has club armour and how much commitment they have shown so we can ensure we have available kit for you once you are ready to take it up. In the mean time I suggest you speak to Sensei next week about whether he thinks you are ready to ask Santa to bring you hakama and keiko-gi.

Don't forget Joe is organising a Christmas meal at Etsu on Friday 10th December. I never usually go to these things but this year I'm making an exception so check out the details on the forum. Practice hard, play hard as they say.