Winter Training, week 2

Once again we threw ourselves into the fire of Winter Training with over 2000 suburi in some form or another. Numbers don't really matter, the effort in keeping together and giving your all does. Thanks to all who turned up and it's a sad farewell to Inaie Park who returns to Korea. Hopefully she'll come back and we'll see her again.

Next week is still winter training, of a sort. We will be back in hakama, keikogi and there will be bogu as well, but as Sensei said we will only use it late on in practice. Also, for all those wishing to be part of the 2012 club photograph this is your one chance to show your face. This was 2011, a veritable 'where are they now'...

Hopefully we'll see some returning faces and 2012's beginners can feature in next years photograph.

Winter training

Thanks to all those who braved the winds to take part in Winter Training last night. It's hard graft but a lot of fun also. One of the other benefits is building team spirit and bonding as a club. We all know we put in a lot of effort last night and came out the other side, whether we have many years under our belt or have only been practicing for a few months. It would be great to see more members next week to help with this process. Start 2012 as you mean to go on, next week will be harder and tougher but you will be stronger for it.

Winter Training

Just a reminder it is Winter Training tonight and next week. Tracksuit pants/shorts and T-shirts is sufficient [no bogu]. Shinai, bokken and suburi bokuto if you have one. Get ready for the New Year and bring plenty of spirit.

CLOSED - Monday 19th December, Kata

Just to let you know that the Kata night of 19th December has been cancelled, as the school will be closed. Here's a reminder of the training dates over the festive period and beyond:

Monday 19th December [kata] CLOSED
Wednesday 21st December, last practice of 2011
Wednesday 28th December CLOSED

2012
Wednesday 4th January, first practice of 2012 [Winter Training, tracksuits, no bogu required]Wednesday 11th January [Winter Training, tracksuits, no bogu required]
Monday 16th January [kata]
Wednesday 18th January [Club photograph]
Wednesday 25th January [beginner's night]

Christmas/New Year Training Dates

Some club dates for your diary, though I'll update the Calendar too. If the situation changes we'll let you know.

Wednesday 30th November CLOSED 

Monday 5th December [kata]
Monday 19th December [kata]
Wednesday 21st December, last practice of 2011
Wednesday 28th December CLOSED
2012
Wednesday 4th January, first practice of 2012 [Winter Training, tracksuits, no bogu required]Wednesday 11th January [Winter Training, tracksuits, no bogu required]
Monday 16th January [kata]
Wednesday 18th January [Club photograph]
Wednesday 25th January [beginner's night]

Winter Training part 2. is complete

Thanks once again for all those who made it to Winter Training, I trust you will all look forward [with dread] to the same next year. As always I injured myself, but hopefully not too severe to impact on proceedings next week.

Just so you know there was one point where Sensei revealed to us that we had passed the 2,000 suburi mark and we did a few more sets after this so you should all be very proud of the achievement. To put it into context we usually only do around 200 suburi per night so to lay down ten times as much is a good effort all round.

It was also really good to see some Liverpool 'old-boys' back in the fold, we hope you'll be able to make it regularly in the year I think Liverpool will 'come of age'. Your experience is much appreciated and a big support to the club, thanks for your renewed commitment

Winter Training part 1. is complete

For those who couldn't make it tonight you missed out on an awesome display of kendo stamina and whole lot of fun. Please make every effort to come next week as Winter Training not only prepares you after a few weeks of gorging on festive treats but it also builds team spirit and is a complete club bonding experience - it's the highlight of the year!

If you want to know what you missed perhaps some of the happy few who did attend may post a description on the forum. However I will describe it as like kendo sports day, with a bit of It's a Knockout thrown in, if that's not selling it I don't know what is [did I mention 1,000 suburi? erm better not]/

So we expect to see all those 'no shows' next week ;) where I will be preparing for my annual Winter Training injury, ha, ha! Sensei says he's bringing the bigger medicine ball as well.

Winter Training

Don't forget it's Winter training tonight - no bogu needed, just tracksuits, t-shirts and shinais/bokkens/suburi bokkens. Bring spares if you have them, just in case.

Dates for your diary [your new 2011 diary that is!]

We hope you all had a good Christmas and have managed to get the shrink wrap off new shinais, hakama and keiko-gi. If you need advice on how to prep your shinai Kodokan Kendo Club has a nice guide. Meanwhile be terrified, I finally got a set of refereeing flags!

Anyway, moving on to the new year here's a few dates for your diary

Friday, 31 December 2010 - Renew BKA membership [for us oldies who still renew in December]

Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Winter training [no bogu needed, just tracksuits, t-shirts and shinais/bokkens/suburi bokkens]

Monday, 18 January 2011 - kata [first kata of 2011]

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 - Winter training [bring bogu, just in case, but likele tracksuits, t-shirts and shinais/bokkens/suburi bokkens

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 - Club photograph, make yourselves presentable and turn up!

Wednesday, 26 January 2011 - Beginner's Night

Saturday, 2 April 2011 - Liverpool Kendo Club Seminar

Sunday, 3 April 2011 - Liverpool Kendo Club Seminar

See you in 2011!

Christmas traning dates

Apparently there is some confusion about training over the festive period. In particular Mark some think there will be practices on Christmas and New Years Eve. I'm not entirely sure where this is coming from but aside from it being a chronological impossibility - those dates are Fridays, if you recall we practice on Wednesdays, the calendar currently has training thus:

• Wednesday, 15 December
• Wednesday, 22 December
• Monday, 21 December - kata
• Wednesday, 29 December
• Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Winter training
• Monday, 18 January 2011 - kata
• Wednesday, 12 January 2011 - Winter training
• Wednesday, 19 January 2011
• Wednesday, 26 January 2011 - Beginner's Night

Some of these dates may change and as yet need to be confirmed but this is the current potential schedule. On top of this we have the current weather conditions that may or may not affect training, it did last year, so the only way to keep up-to-date is to subscribe to the Liverpool Kendo Calendar RSS feed. I will try my very best to keep it accurate, failing that you can check on the forum for contact details and email/message/ring one of us.

Back to the grind!

Now 'winter training' and it's fun and pulled muscles are out of the way it's back to normal practice, with full armour, kihon and ji-geiko.

If we can start as we mean to go on and try to be on time and ready to practice, with minimum chatter we will all learn more and get more out of the training. If you need any questions answered or wish to discuss anything about kendo or the club then sign up for our message board and we'll help you out.

This year we will be visited by a number of high grade sensei so we must show we are improving not just our kendo but our dojo etiquette as well. The next beginner's night is scheduled for Wednesday 28th January so we will also need to set a good example to them.

A reminder, there is still chance to apply to grade in Glasgow, 20th - 22nd February. Grading applications must be sent before the 21st January and you will have to discuss it with Billy on his return. All the information is on the British Kendo Association website.