5 Dan written test 7/30/89

Kendo Shinsa

Jeff Marsten 7/30/89

Question “A” 5th Dan exam

The attitude required for instructing kendo.

The attitude of the sensei encompasses many facets of the student-teacher relationship all at once.  The sensei must be a leader and an example of correct thinking and correct behavior both inside and outside the dojo.  He must always demonstrate that he is trying hard to do his best.  If you are doing the best you can then no one can expect more from you but it is always necessary to reach deeper and keep learning.  The sensei continues to learn because the students will teach him as he teaches them.  Just as it takes 2 people to practice kendo the teaching is a shared experience.  Ken & Michi, it is through constantly striving to improve your michi that the sensei will learn and lead.  If you teach kendo you are responsible for how your students turn out, you must bring out the best in each student through hard training and a good example of life.  If a student’s behavior is poor than the sensei is responsible to correct him and change his behavior.

Kendo is not a sport in which you try to beat someone and win a trophy.  Kendo is a way of life to try and develop yourself.   When you have a match you are responsible whether you win or lose because you are your opponent.  When you lose it is because you need more training but should never consider your partner as someone to beat,  you must constantly test yourself to strive to be better and continue progress throughout your kendo life.

J.Marsten

I found this the other day in the book The Sword of No-Sword which I had pulled out to re-read a couple parts.  I shared it with my students who thought I should publish it here.

2015 Shinsa Seminar

American Kendo Seminar, ,

On July 11th, 2015 there was seminar on taking the promotion examination for 3rd through 5th Dan.

A total of 34 individuals attended and the feedback was extremely positive.  Because of this another seminar will be planned that will include the material from the March seminar on being an examiner.  The next evolution will be multiple days with a lot more emphasis on drills and preparation.  Participants received blank Root Cause Analyse forms and Pyramid of Objective forms to help work on their problem areas and goal setting.

 

7-11-15 shinsa seminar

 

 

Instructors: Robert Stroud, Kyoshi Nanadan, Tatsuhiko Konno, Kyoshi Nanadan and Jeff Marsten, Kyoshi Nanadan.
Location: Sno-King Kendo Club (Bitter Lake Community Center Annex at Broadview Thompson Elementary School)
13052 Greenwood Ave N Seattle, WA 98133
Date/Time: TBD
Cost: TBD

Email: jmarsten@comcast.net for any questions regarding the seminar.
DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM HERE
Payment instructions are on the form.

There is practice available on Friday night at Bellevue Kendo Club: 14224 Bell-Red Road, Bellevue WA

For location maps see the Sno-King and Bellevue Kendo Club sites

The Path to Excellence

Instructors,

In kendo there is an old maxim that states 1,000 practices to temper and 10,000 practices to polish. Research has shown that to become an expert requires 10,000 hours of practice. So let’s look at the numbers to get there. In general we have about 45 practices per year. So if by some miracle you attend all these practices we have a baseline to go by.

First by number of practices: Continue reading The Path to Excellence →