Monash University Kendo Club

Hi all,

Below this bunch of text is information about the online seminars held by Nittaidai happening in the near future. If you would like to attend, please register before the 23rd May to get a special VKR discount!

You will have to register directly with the VKR (and not through the club)

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send an email or ask someone during trainings!

Thanks,
Samuel

—————————– Message from VKR President —————————–

Dear all,

The online Kendo magazine, Kendo Jidai, is holding a number of online seminars over the coming months in partnership with the Nippon Sports Science University (Nittaidai). (Further background material is at the bottom of this email.)

As many of you would know, the VKR has a long history with Nittaidai and Nittaidai Sensei have previously conducted seminars in Melbourne.

The first online seminar will be held on Saturday, 5 June 2021 at 10:00-11:30am (Melbourne time).

The seminar will be conducted by the following three Sensei, who have all previously visited Melbourne:

• Yagisawa Makoto, Kendo Kyoshi 8th Dan, head instructor of the Nippon Sport Science University Kendo Club, Vice President of the Nippon Sport Science University.
• Furusawa Nobuaki, Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan, Director and Men’s Manager of the Nippon Sport Science University Kendo Club.
• Shinzato Chikano, Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan, coach of the Nippon Sport Science University Kendo Club women’s team
  Further details regarding the seminar are available here: LINK

The ‘standard’ seminar price is 2000 Yen (~$25AUD) for members of the general public. However, to support VKR members attend this event, the VKR will be subsidising part of the seminar fee and offering a discounted price of $15AUD.

To access the special VKR member price, you must complete the following steps by 23 May 2021:

1. Register your details with Kendo Jidai and include “VKR” in your name (e.g. “Michael Dunn (VKR)”): LINK
2. Pay your registration fee to the VKR via the VKR online store: LINK

Do not pay Kendo Jidai directly. You only need to pay the VKR.

The VKR will then pay the full fees to Kendo Jidai on behalf of the VKR members. Once registered, you will receive the seminar Zoom link and a pre-Seminar video from Kendo Jidai directly.

Please contact the VKR if you have any questions.

—-

Background Articles

Examples of articles by these Sensei and that may be covered at the Seminar are available at Kendo Jidai:

“The Complete Shinai Manipulation Guide”  by Yagisawa Makoto
八木沢先生『完全なる竹刀操作』
English：LINK
日本語：LINK

“Seme Footwork (Ashi-sabaki)” by Furusawa Nobuaki
古澤先生『足さばき』
English ：LINK
日本語：LINK

Kendo Article by Shinzato Chikano
新里先生『剣道研究室』
English ：LINK
日本語：LINK

Michael Dunn
President
Victorian Kendo Renmei

http://www.kendovictoria.asn.au/main/
0438 745 735

—
Monash University Kendo Club

Beginner’s Graduation Night

The beginner’s graduation night is happening this Monday (17 May) after training, come for free pizza!

Yano-sensei visiting on Monday

Yano-sensei is visiting on Monday (17 May) with a calligraphy for MUKC.
This calligraphy will become the Shomen for our club. The Shomen is what we bow towards before, during and at the end of training.
This is an important milestone in our club’s history so please come if you would like to witness history in the making.

Nittaidai Seminar information

A recent email contains information about an online Kendo magazine, Kendo Jidai, which is partnering with Nippon Sports Science University (Nittaidai) to hold online seminars.
If you are interested to know more about this, please have a look through that email.

AKR/VKR Membership upcoming registration and price changes

Last Saturday (15 May), a VKR SGM was held where they discussed about price changes to membership fees. The 2021-2022 membership fees are now as follows in the image below. (Add AKR+VKR fees for the total membership fee for 2021-2022)
Registration for the membership will be opening soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Sleep and Performance Study

There is an ongoing study from the school of psychological sciences in Monash and they are searching for participants in their study about athlete’s sleep and performance. If you are interested in contributing to this study, you can have a look at their flyer attached in a pdf to this email.

Doc: “participant recruitment flyer.pdf”

Unigames [Students]

Exciting news, Uni Games is on for 2021!
Uni games is a national competition held in Queensland open to all university students, its during the mid semester break of semester 2 so don’t stress about missing classes.
We’ll be holding an information and trial session on Saturday 22nd of May during the beginners training slot (11am to 12pm).
Fill out the attached form to register your interest, if you have any questions or can’t make the session (for a good reason) please feel free to message Toney Evans.
Expression of Interest form

Come early to put on bogu [Beginners]

Please be ready early to put on your bogu!

30th Anniversary preparation! [Seniors]

We’re holding our 30th Anniversary at the end of the year! We need alot of volunteers to help plan and prepare for the event. If you are able to help out, please reply to this email or let one of the committee members know.

Training times/Events and location

Monday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall
• Beginner’s Graduation Night, 8pm – 10pm
  Location: Leader’s Room

Wednesday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Saturday

• Seniors Training, 9:30am – 11am
  Location: Stadium
• Beginners Training, 11am – 12pm
  Location: Stadium

A congratulations from Toney Evans to the beginners

Congratulations! You’ve made it through our 10-week beginner’s course. You may think this is insignificant, however, you’ve made a commitment and followed through which is to be commended. In reality, this is just the beginning of the rest of your kendo journey and there are many aspects of kendo that you are yet to take part in.
Some of it may be difficult, but as a club, we’ll pick each other up and keep pushing forward.

I look forward to training with you all,
Toney Evans
President

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions or anything, feel free to let us know!
If the formatting does not work on your device, please let us know so we can fix it in the next email 🙂
Some links:
Past photo/video storageOur website
Unione
@monashkendo
Facebook

Hi all,

This coming Monday (17 May) after training is the graduation night for all the beginners for completing their course 🙂

Please come if you are able to! There will be pizzas and drinks!

Thanks,
Samuel

—
Monash University Kendo Club

VKC Expression of Interest [Seniors]

If you would like to compete in the upcoming Victorian Kendo Championships, please reply to this email or send us an email at monashkendo@gmail.com by this Sunday (16 May 2021).

No training this Saturday!

Reminder that there is no training this Saturday due to the MUKEN Gasshuku

MUKEN Gasshuku and Bogu

Please be ready to wear bogu by 5:45pm on Monday and Wednesday so we’ll be able to start at 6pm sharp!

If you are going to the MUKEN Gasshuku, please make sure to come on either Monday or Wednesday so we can label it to bring to the camp.
If you haven’t received your info pack, please let one of the committee members know!

Unigames [Students only]

Exciting news, Uni Games is on for 2021!

Uni games is a national competition held in Queensland open to all university students, its during the mid semester break of semester 2 so don’t stress about missing classes.

We’ll be holding a information and trial session on saturday 22nd of May during the beginners training slot (11am to 12pm).

Fill out the attached form to register your interest, if you have any questions or can’t make the session (for a good reason) please feel free to message Toney Evans.

Expression of Interest form

Kendo Board AGM [Senior]

A reminder about the upcoming Kendo Board AGM happening this Saturday (15th May) at 1pm. Please refer to the “Kendo Board – Online Ballots” email on how to attend.

VKR Newsletter [Senior]

The May 2021 Newsletter has been issued and shared to your emails, please have a read through when you can! There is a VKR SGM (Special General Meeting) going to be held this Sunday (16 May) to discuss about changes to the VKR Rules of Association and VKR Fees. Please attend if you are able to.

30th Anniversary preparation! [Seniors only]

We’re holding our 30th Anniversary at the end of the year! We need a lot of volunteers to help plan and prepare for the event. If you are able to help out, please reply to this email or let one of the committee members know.

Training times/Events and location

Monday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Wednesday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Saturday

• MUKEN Gasshuku, 9:00am – 5pm
  Location: Melbourne University Kendo Club – West Stadium (Nona Lee Sports Centre)
• Kendo Board AGM, 1pm
  Location: Via Zoom

Sunday

• VKR SGM, 4pm
  Location: Via Google Meet

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions or anything, feel free to let us know!
If the formatting does not work on your device, please let us know so we can fix it in the next email 🙂
Some links:
Past photo/video storage
Our website
Unione
@monashkendo
Facebook

Wearing Do/Tare [Beginners only]

Please be ready by 5:45pm so we can help you get into Do/Tare!

MUKEN Gasshuku

The MUKEN Gasshuku registrations close this Wednesday, 5 May at 11:59pm! Don’t forget to register if you want to join!
This also means that there will be no Saturday training on the 15th May due to the MUKEN Gasshuku!

Date: 15 May, Saturday
When: 9am to 5pm
Where: Melbourne University Kendo Club – West Stadium (Nona Lee Sports Centre)

30th Anniversary preparation! [Seniors only]

We’re holding our 30th Anniversary at the end of the year! We need a lot of volunteers to help plan and prepare for the event. If you are able to help out, please reply to this email or let one of the committee members know.

Training times/Events and location

Monday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Wednesday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Saturday

• Seniors Training, 9:30am – 11am
  Location: Stadium
• Beginners Training, 11am – 12pm
  Location: Stadium

Waza that waza called?

There are many types of waza and unless you’re fluent in Japanese you may struggle to understand what’s what, so here is a nice article to help solve your predicament!
Kendo Techniques

P.S. Do you recall the beginner’s course handout sent earlier this semester? It contains loads of terms with their associated meanings which is a good reference if you’re a bit lost during training.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions or anything, feel free to let us know!
If the formatting does not work on your device, please let us know so we can fix it in the next email 🙂
Some links:
Our website
Unione
@monashkendo
Facebook

Hi all,

The MUKEN Gasshuku is happening on the 15th May! If you have not seen the Facebook post about this, then here you go! Below contains information regarding when, where, what, why, how and more. The registrations will close next Wednesday, 5 May at 11:59PM.

If you are a beginner, me and everyone in the club would strongly encourage you to register! This event is aimed at giving beginners a chance to meet kendokas from other clubs, and train with those not from our club. (You’ll also get to see a Shiai in-person)

You can register by heading over to the Unione site and either:

• Scrolling down to the bottom of the page and selecting “Kendo 2021 MUKEN Gasshuku”
• Clicking on “Store Page” on the right side of the page and selecting “Kendo 2021 MUKEN Gasshuku” on the page.

There are 3 options for registration and can be selected during purchase.

Thanks,
Samuel

—
Monash University Kendo Club

Dear Victorian Kendo Clubs,

MUKEN is pleased to announce that we will be holding a ‘Gasshuku’ this year at the Melbourne University Sports Centre on the 15th of May (9am – 5pm).

Date: Saturday 15 May 2021
Time: 9am to 5pm
Location: Melbourne University Kendo Club – West Stadium (Nona Lee Sports Centre)

The 2021 Gasshuku will be open to all kendoka from all clubs. The Gasshuku is designed to foster the basics of kendo in a challenging yet achievable environment. You will be able to participate in an intensive training environment, while also engaging with your fellow practitioners and make friends along the way!

In particular, beginners who started kendo in 2020 or 2021 will learn a lot and their kendo will progress greatly in this camp. We encourage beginners from all clubs to attend, as this will also foster a stronger connection to the wider kendo community outside of our individual clubs.

We will also be conducting an informal East v West shiai event at the end.

There will be a CovidSafe plan in place, and the club will continually monitor the situation in Victoria and update you all as necessary. However due to venue restrictions, there will be a maximum cap of 80 registered participants. Thank you for your understanding.

The following options are available:

• > Training only: $15
• > Training + Lunch: $25
• > Training + Lunch + Dinner: $45

The lunch is a bento box catered by Sushimon restaurant in Bentleigh and delivered to the dojo.

The dinner will be held at Shanghai Flower restaurant in the Melbourne CBD after training.

An information pack will be sent out to participants at a later date, however in the meantime, please feel free to reply to this email or text/call Richard T’en on 0417 220 726 if you have any further enquiries.

Kind regards,

Richard T’en
Club President
—

AKR Kendo Board AGM

The AKR Kendo Board AGM will be held on the 15th May 2021 (Saturday) at 1:00pm AEST via Zoom.

What you need to know before joining:
1. please change your name to the format (STATE – NAME) e.g. (NSW – John Smith) to identify yourself to other participants in the meeting.
2. Please keep your microphone on mute unless speaking.
3. Agenda of the meeting:

Welcome
Closing of online ballot of the Kendo Board election
Short wrap up of Kendo Board’s activities 2018-2021 & Thank you
Welcome to new Kendo Board members 2021-2024 (TBC)
The Zoom link to join the meeting (will open 15 minutes before scheduled start):
[ Mony – See your email for link ]

MUKEN Gasshuku

There will be an email coming out shortly today about how to register and what its about.

National Council’s decision on issue of nomination for the 2021-2024 Board

By now there should be an online ballot sent to you via the email you provided to the club, below is an email from Stylianos (Stilts) Polichroniadis, the current President of the AKR:

“Dear AKR members,

Thank you for your patience.
As previously communicated, there was an objection raised to the validity of one of the nominations for the Kendo Board positions which became vacant this year. The National Executive made a decision which was appealed and the matter was referred to the National Council upon request by the complainant.
The National Council agreed with the decision of the National Executive and voted in favour of upholding the National Executive’s decision.
As a result all nominations will stand and a new date for the election of the Kendo Board will be set.

The AKR secretary will be delivering the online ballot this week to Kendo members who have provided their email addresses to AKR. State secretaries will be instructed to deliver a postal ballot form to eligible voters who did not provide their email addresses.”

Report on discussions with Sports Integrity Australia

In this email is attached a document of the discussion between Dr. Kevin Humphrey, the AKR Anti-Doping Officer on the discussions between AKR and Sports Integrity Australia.

You can find it attached as 21-04 anti-doping discussion with SIA report.pdf

30th Anniversary preparation! [Seniors only]

We’re holding our 30th Anniversary at the end of the year! We need alot of volunteers to help plan and prepare for the event. If you are able to help out, please reply to this email or let one of the committee members know.

Storage of past photos

We are creating a storage to store all past photos to document as much of the past (almost) 30 years of history of MUKC! If you have any photos you would not mind sharing, you can upload it here.

Training times/Events and location

Monday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Wednesday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Saturday

• Seniors Training, 9:30am – 11am
  Location: Stadium
• Beginners Training, 11am – 12pm
  Location: Stadium

How do you wear your bogu?

A how-to on wearing Kendo bogu (Specifically up till 6:55 for Do and Tare)!
Kendo Basics : How to Wear Kendo Bogu (Armor) – The Kendo Show

Fun fact shared in a newsletter from last year:
Kendogu used to be made of bamboo, which you can still get (but at a steep price compared to the plastic ones).

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions or anything, feel free to let us know!
If the formatting does not work on your device, please let us know so we can fix it in the next email 🙂
Some links:
Our website
Unione
@monashkendo
Facebook

Uniform orders

Uniform orders are open till this Thursday make sure to order before the store closes!
You can order them via our Unione store page.

Note: You don’t need to worry about sizing as we already recorded your sizes a few weeks ago!
To seniors: If you wish to purchase a uniform as well, you can order from the store then send in an email with your sizing info too!

Victorian Kendo Championships 2021 Update!

A message from Michael Dunn, President of the VKR:
“Dear all,

The VKR is pleased to confirm that it has commenced planning for the Victorian Kendo Championships 2021.
We are intending to hold the event on the weekend of either 14-15 August or 21-22 August at Victoria University, Footscray Campus.
We will confirm the date and relevant details once available. As always, this VKR event will be held in line with COVID guidelines and will be subject to the conditions and any restrictions that may be in place at the time.
To support planning for this year’s event, the VKR will conduct an expression of interest survey to gauge the number of likely competitors and teams from each club. A link to the survey will be sent out in the coming weeks.
The VKR will then provide further information regarding tournament details in due course.
In the meantime, please keep the weekends free and we look forward to seeing many of you at the taikai.”

Updated PPE Guidelines

Our club’s PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) requirements have been updated to follow the current guidelines. A basic summary of the changes:

– Our club’s QR code will be updated to remove the Emergency Contact details, but will be staying. We will not be using the Victorian government’s QR code as Monash Sport already provides this service at the entrances to the buildings. So you still need to bring a phone to trainings!
– You are still required to obtain approval prior to visiting other clubs. Ask Sensei prior to visiting.
– If you are using a half face shield, you have to use a mask.
– If you are using a full face shield, you don’t need a mask.
– Full body contact is allowed now, along with maximum kiai 😀

You can find the updated document attached in this email as “210401 Covid Risk Control and PPE requirement – MUKC.xlsx“

30th Anniversary preparation! [Seniors only]

We’re holding our 30th Anniversary at the end of the year! We need alot of volunteers to help plan and prepare for the event. If you are able to help out, please reply to this email or let one of the committee members know.

Storage of past photos

We are creating a storage to store all past photos to document as much of the past (almost) 30 years of history of MUKC! If you have any photos you would not mind sharing, you can upload it here.

Training times/Events and location

Monday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Wednesday

• Seniors, Kids and Beginners Training, 6pm – 8pm
  Location: Games Hall

Saturday

• Seniors Training, 9:30am – 11am
  Location: Stadium
• Beginners Training, 11am – 12pm
  Location: Stadium

Some cute drawings

Note: Please don’t actually do this or else you’re gonna get a big bop on your head.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions or anything, feel free to let us know!
If the formatting does not work on your device, please let us know so we can fix it in the next email 🙂
Some links:
Our website
Unione
@monashkendo
Facebook

Dear AKR members,

Team-lobbying in the Kendo Board Election

The National Executive (NE) is aware that there is a ‘team’ being proposed for the Kendo Board. We were approached by the ‘leader’ of the ‘team’ to have this advertised/promoted as such, and while it is not expressly prohibited in either the AKR Constitution or in the MoDs, the NE decided it would be unfair and prejudicial to the other candidates to use official channels to promote the group.

Having said that the NE did not and does not have the authority to dictate how individuals decide to run their election campaign. While the AKR could not stop them using their own communication resources to lobby the membership, we did stipulate that it should be made clear that:

1. While the group may share a common goal, they must be considered as individuals in this election;

2. They could not use official communication channels of the AKR to lobby

The AKR does not endorse any documents distributed by the group. We maintain that there should be fair and equal opportunities for all the nominees to stand in this election, and encourage the State/Territory Affiliates to follow this lead.

We stress that all members be made aware of this position and that the votes will be counted on an individual  basis and the majority votes will determine the five members of the new Kendo Board.

The NE also regards this matter as independent to the reason the election has been temporarily put on hold, as communicated to the membership in an AKR email dated 2 April 2021.

Regards,

Stylianos (Stilts) Polichroniadis

President
Australian Kendo Renmei Inc.

Post:     11 Princess Street
Coburg North, VIC 3058
Email:   akrpresident@kendoaustralia.asn.au
Web:     www.kendoaustralia.asn.au