Day 9 - Home.

The returners....

James, Andy, Nick (from Ireland) and I were up and out of the hotel at 07:00, we travelled to Nippori and changed onto the Keisei Skyliner train and arrived at the Airport at about 09:00. 

Nick was flying BA at 13:00, so we said goodbye, and then we checked in. We had 30 minutes to get breakfast etc, I had managed to blag a ticket to the executive lounge. Nice. 

The flight was long and un-eventful. There was loads of space on the plane. 

At Heathrow all three of us felt that England was dirty, rude and pretty nasty in comparison to Japan. Interesting thoughts.....

Andy and James had a lift back but there wasn't enough space for me, so I took the coach then a Taxi. I was home by about 17:30 (BST). Not bad.

What a trip...! 

The Kyoto Kendo watchers....

They travelled back to Kyoto, staying at the Za Zen guest house, with the most amazingly named website www.friendship-funhouse.com/index_e.html (no - not a brothel!)

Day 8 - Tokyo again

We were up and waiting at 0600, and travelled to Noma. We met Paul and proceeded up to the dojo itself. Awsome. Total immersion training..! Very hot and sweaty (remember this is May, not July so we can only imagine what the place must be like then!).

The people were all really great. 

After training we showered (japanese showers are sit down, and then you get in a HOT bath (42 degrees C), Alex looked like he had sunburned himself when he got out.

We then split up. Most people went to the graves of the 47 Ronin at Sengaku-ji, I went into Shinjuku for some people watching and shopping. 

The Ronin guys had a great time, and returned at about 18:00, I was back about 17:00. We were all due to go out for a meal and then the main group would return to Kyoto for the Kendo matches, and the rest of us would return home. It didn't work out like that, we ended splitting up. Davie, Phillipe and I went to Harajuku in the hopes of seeing some of the people there, but the rain which had been on/off most of the day finally came down solidly, so we returned. 

The other group returned at about 02:00

Day 7 - Tokyo

We are off to Tokyo today so I don't know if I can write the blog for the last two days. We expect to go to the Noma Dojo to train tomorrow morning. 

So... finally back in England and I can finish off the blog from my perspective. 

Thursday was mostly spent traveling, we caught the Shikensen from Kyoto up to Tokyo. We then travelled on the underground to Ikebukuro to our hotel there. 

Http://www.sakura-hotel-ikebukuro.com/hotel_location.php

We all had rooms, some twins, others dorms. We mooched about a bit, drank some beer and waited until David's contact arrived. Paul was a great help, he told us about Noma, and then took us out to an Indian restaurant. The food was good the service was rubbish!

Day 6 - Rensei Taikai

The usual early start, then over to the Budokoden. We all met up in the Budokoden then the Kendoka moved to the Budo centre to take part in a Kata competition.

In the Budo centre we were the only people on the floor. 6 pairs then performed Kendo Kata 1-7 in front of Sensei Takada (9 dan) and Sensei Fujii.

There were two American pairs who were not as well drilled as us.

Steve and I performed, but we didn't think that well. Once we had completed the Kata, we all moved back into the Budokoden.

During changes of demonstrations we popped out to have a look at the other buildings in the compound. There was a Kenbo (archery) centre, and one guy was amazing.

We returned to the Budokoden, and sat through a load more demos. Then Sensei Hamada called out Steve and me to perform the Kata as we had won the competition. So we went out and carried out the best Kata we have ever done. It was in front of 700 delegates, all the teachers (6-10th Dan) and the Emperor's brother-in-law. No pressure. The buzz of performing in that hall with that audience is one of the most intense experiences we have ever had. 

We finished with prize giving, - loads and loads of trophies (talk about excess baggage!), then back to the hotel to wash and off to a closing dinner.

More speeches and presents (wonderful but yet more excess baggage!!) and we then had the gradings and honors. Sensei David was made 7th Dan Iaido which was fantastic.

Finally we travelled back on the coach and met up in the hotel lobby at about 00:30 and Sensei David handed out the awards. In the Kendo Steve, Martha, James, and I received Shodan (1st Dan); Andy and Nick received Ne-dan (2nd Dan), and Alex and Nigel received San-Dan (3rd Dan). A top finish for the team!

Steve and I crashed at about 01:30, but the boys crawled back in at about 06:30.....!

Day 5 - The Botoku Sai

We had to be up at 05:30, breakfast at 0600, and in the Botokuden by 7:30 as we had to go to the Heian shrine for a blessing.

Interesting but baffling - lots of Japanese. The senior members of the DNBK then performed Kendo Kata which was awesome.

We then went back to the Budo centre for the Kendo competition.

Alex vs Marta -> Alex

Luke vs Andy -> Andy

Nick vs Nigel -> Nigel

James vs Steve -> James

Alex beat Andy, and James beat Nigel.

In the final in the Botukoden Alex beat James to win the tournament. The top four people also received trophies and a certificate. 

Fujii fought and get to the final but was knocked out.

After the fighting was over we were invited to fight 6th and 7th Dan Kendoka whilst being watched for our grades. This was the highlight of the day for me. They were brilliant, and taught me new things. I fought them all. Fantastic.

The afternoon was all about the Japanese Honbu showing their skills. It ran for 3.5 hours. Rather a long time for your legs when kneeling, but the skills were very varied. Lots of sword work. Fighting with pikes, and even with the tools from a paddy field. All very very sharp.... great afternoon. The wrap up was also pretty special. Great place the Butokuden.

The evening meal was great food and minimal booze.

Day 4 - build up

Crawling out of bed was tough - then there was a lot of mucking about with the key cards etc etc.... 

We went sightseeing  off to the Nijo castle. What an amazing place. It was built in the 17th Century, and the Nightingale floors are working still. beautiful.

The gardens were as beautiful.



In the afternoon we had the official opening of the Botoku Sai this went into the evening - we had drummers, singers and great food. Here is a picture of a few of us with Sensei Hamada

Day 3 - amazing.

We arrived at the Budo centre and were allocated our instructors. One was a Hanshi (a master teacher - just about the highest accolade you can have) - oh yes - he was a ninth dan  as well.

We spent the morning in the Butokoden (the old building). There are only eight of us, but the Greek contingent wanted to learn Kendo Kata too. We were joined by 30 or so high school kids - late teens. They trained with us, and were really helpful (I have the name of the school but Kyoshi David has the card).

Sensei Hamada (head of the DNBKID) had told us that we should expect a number of the Kendoka from the local school but during fighting they would be fast, but very light (tip tap was his description). He was absolutely right. They were very quick, but did not hit hard. We fought for about 2 minutes, then changed partners. The kids would line up to fight, so they were fresh and we were knackered(!) but it was fantastic.

In the afternoon we cleared the Budo centre, and received our certificates for the seminar. Now we have the competition and the demonstration.....! :-)

Supper was another traditional meal



This time Sushi. I love sushi, but like yesterday many people just were not happy with it. The restaurant was another amazing location. They had a garden which was calm and peaceful in downtown Keyoto. Lots of trees and water.... wow.

Here Alex just doesn't do the food.....


And later that evening.... they kept going until 0400

Here are the Kendoka in front of the Butokoden itself. This is the spiritual centre of our DNBK order. This is the oldest Dojo - the place where it all began.

From left to right.

James, Andy, Steve, Alex, Nigel, Luke, Nick

We spent a frustrating morning queueing for stuff, and then we started practicing in the Budo centre (where the 8th Dan Kendo grading - Kendo's Grueling Challenge was filmed). We worked on Kata and basic techniques.

After lunch we moved into the smaller training room and practiced how we will move into the Butokoden on the big days.

We returned to the main Budo centre, and each school of martial arts gave a performance to everyone else. There are 8 Kendoka. And 500+ delegates... it was a biiiig floor (about half a football field), but we gave a good demonstration and made a lot of noise. When we had finished all delegates mingled and loads of people were impressed - probably was we were still wearing armor..... so were recognisable!

This is Sensei Fujii and Ansell

Supper was a traditional Japanese To-Fu meal. Many people could not eat much, as it is rather bland. The location was absolutely amazing. So tranquil and old-looking. Water was everywhere. Very calm.

Day 2. The way in

We walked past this fantastic tori gate which is the official entrance to the Horen temple.

It is huge - about 100 feet high, bridging the road.

Dress rehearsal for the two BIG days

Up at 06:30, breakfast at 07:00... needed a lie-in...

Met up in the foyer with the other 180 people delegates in the hotel. We all walked (two by two) to the Botokuden centre, where we met up with all the other delegates about 700 people in total, from 30 countries.

We were walked through all the different bits of the two big days, the first is the World Botukusai (the formal meeting of the DNBK id) and the Rensei Tai Kai (Demonstrations with other clubs)

We paraded into the Botukuden and spent three hours with different groups entering and leaving the building by various doors. It was a loooong time spent sitting down. The real bugger for the Kendoka was that we weren't included, so Kyoshi David and Kyoshi Fujii are trying to negotiate.

The evening meal was a bit of a disaster..... but we all went to the pub afterwards. An English pub in Keyoto. Talk about coals to Newcastle.... anyway we played table football and had a drink of three. Great tail to the evening.

Wandering in Keyoto

Everyone arrived by about 6pm we all met up and arrange for the next day.

Steve and I had a great meal in a local (tiny) place just down the road. We both tried to watch a movie but were falling asleep by 2100.

Finally in Keyoto

That trip was a mission. Steve P gave me a lift to Heathrow, he was flying BA (as were most of the guys), but Andy, James and I flew Virgin.

Check-in and boarding were no problems, Andy and James were upgraded to business (lucky buggers), I was in cattle. 

Flight was uneventful, we landed on time. The BA guys were delayed about an hour.

We had a great meet-up, then went to the trains. We were told that the JR train into Tokyo was experiencing delays, so Steve, Andy, James and I took the Kaisen.... and everyone else took the JR. We were expecting to meet up in Tokyo station. I picked the slow Kaisen, not the Skyliner, so we stopped everywhere. 90 minutes later we arrived at Tokyo after changing at Nippori.

Tokyo station is a total rabbit warren. There was no chance in hell of finding the other guys. So we bought tickets for the Shinkensen (bullet) and caught the train. There were a lot of them - leaving at about 10 minute intervals. We found out later that the JR train from Narita was delayed, and that we picked the right line.

The trip was about 2.5 hrs and was pretty uneventful... after we managed to find the non-reserved coaches. The announcements were in Japanese and English - rather helpful!

We took a cab to the hotel as were were totally knackered.

Arrival time 1600 JST = UK+8, or put it in perspective 23.5 hours travelling.....

Zekken mark 2

Ninecircles have finally received my Zekken, and have expressed it to me.....

a few days to go...

Oh the joys of packing.... I'm flying Virgin and their customer services are not sure about anything.

Yes. The Kendo equipment is 'sports equipment', it can weigh 32kg, no sharp pointy bits, and can go as well as my luggage, but they are not sure if I can take it in the same bag as the luggage or not.

I'm not taking a chance, so have repacked it into two bags.

The badges have arrived (just in time) and my Hakama's are embroidered properly.

Nine circle have let me down on the Zekken, so I have had to have a second one made up.

I even have tee-shirts (the mon is a bit wonky)

Looking forward to Wednesday