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IKET 2006 22-25 June 2006 University of Edinburgh Centre for Sport and Exercise  Sensei from: Japan: Sumi Masatake Hachidan Hanshi France: Inoue Yoshinori Rokudan Renshi UK: Yanai Norimitsu Nanadan Kyoshi BKA Representatives: President: John Howell Nanadan Kiyoshi IKET 2006 had its ups and downs this year…but the ups far outweighed the downs for the eighty-five participants who gathered once more in Edinburgh for this flagship British Kendo Association event, which promotes the 3 BKA arts of Kendo, Iaido and Jodo. Two of our high level guests from Japan were unable to attend due to circumstances far beyond their control and at the very last minute, which of course was a disappointment but we carried on regardless with our preparations for the event by firstly taking the visiting sensei to the smallest malt whisky distillery in Scotland: “The Edradour” which only produces in one year what the large international distillers produce in one week! After tasting some very excellent whiskies, the sensei were taken to visit “Heather Hills Honey Farm” in Perthshire where owner Mark Noonan took us all on a highly interesting tour of his honey and jam producing enterprise-imagine being a boss with some 60,000,000 workers! All in all, it was tour of just some of the smallest yet most highly prized producers of speciality goods in Scotland. The next morning (Thursday) was dedicated to fishing. Sumi sensei cast in his baited line and put his rod down to light up a cigarette; almost immediately the rod was pulled into the water by a fish that had taken the bait. After casting with another rod to retrieve the first one, Sumi sensei caught a rod and the fish which he brought back proudly to eat! As one of the organisers of this annual event, I don’t often have the chance to take part in the kendo training, so rely on the feedback of others for what goes on. This year from the start, the sensei made suburi a tough conditioning session with lunges and other challenging movements. The feedback the next day from some participants was how sore their legs were. However as a strength and conditioning coach myself, I understand that any high intensity activity (which is what kendo is) requires elements of strength and conditioning for optimising performance in any scenario: training, grading or shiai. (This needs to be done in addition to Kendo training to create an appropriate training overload.) One point that everyone mentioned was the superb opportunity to practice kihon, kata etc and feel that the sensei were really enthusiastic in helping and supporting on a one to one basis-there was never the feeling of being “just part of the crowd”. Herein lies the strength of IKET. Sensei, who give up their precious time to support this event, their willingness to mix, talk and exchange ideas with all levels, creates a real camaraderie that springs up over the few days spent together. This is of course hard to explain if you do not attend IKET but suffice it to say, in Japan you might never get the chance to rub shoulders with such esteemed teachers. What was nice to see, was that clearly, some clubs had come as groups to the event and also we had visitors from Italy, France, Eire, Canada (The Wookie’s second visit) and Germany-many have been to all three IKET to date. It is worth noting that many of the participants were kyu and junior dan grades- I call that budo development! As part of the syllabus this year, there were several opportunities for attendees to sample each other’s arts and it was very pleasing to see so many kendoka (as they were in the majority) attempting both Iaido and Jodo for the first time and on at least three occasions. This is the only event in the BKA calendar that actively brings together the three arts; I believe it is a much-needed initiative that can harmonise and rationalise our different approaches to martial ways training to create better links and understanding within the British Kendo Association. A kendo grading (ikkyu to sandan) was held on Friday afternoon; the level of performance was (in my opinion) high for the level of applicants. I remember only too well when I started kendo the number of “hackers” there used to be, but everyone seemed to have a very nice cutting action and it is also noticeable these days that the standard of dogi and bogu is high. (Could do with some brushing up on basic Japanese though!) On the Saturday, for the Enbu itself, we had 300 paying spectators at the peak of the afternoon (please put that in to a perspective other national events where participants plus family are the spectators). Enbu is neither a grading nor a competition-it just brings out the best in you and your art. Among our special guests were Mr Robert Rigby from JAL and Kathy Reynolds from the Edinburgh City Council FutureSport initiative, both of whom are of great assistance to the BKA in supporting IKET; as well as Emaishop and Bonsai Japanese Restaurant. There were some changes from the usual programme but this was refreshing. The event is usually opened my Mike Pretsell (EKC member) and his pipes and drums. This year they could not attend as the UK Band Championships was being held that weekend. (Sorry to keep going on about the high quality that is associated with IKET, but Mike’s band won first place!) Nevertheless our opening ceremony was a festival dance performed beautifully by Yoshie Asano-Campbell. The other major change was the addition of Okinawan Ryukyu Kobujutsu presented by Julian Mead sensei, Phil Snewin sensei and members of Edinburgh Kobujutsu. Mead sensei studied his art in Japan as “deshi” or “live-in” student with its headmaster the late Motokatsu Inoue sensei for some years. It was a dynamic and highly skilled performance from the group that had us all riveted while watching sai, bo, tekko (knuckleduster) tinbe-rochin (turtle shell and short spear) and their applications. During the afternoon there was a break in proceedings to allow “try out” sessions in the dojo. At first people were shy but after the first few stepped onto the dancefloor, we were mobbed with around 200 people trying every martial art-including some amazing nanchucka action from sensei Mead. My thanks go to all those who gave their time and skills to IKET 2006, but especially to the Iaido and Jodo sensei from the UK: Keith Rose, William Smart, Hugh Darby and Steve Boyes who made a great contribution to the whole week of training as well as with high level enbu that were enjoyed by the Consul General of Japan Takahashi Shuhei, whose closing words appreciated the art and beauty of both the cultural and martial ways on display and the manner in which the IKET event seeks to combine the two. “…You can say that Japanese martial arts developed in to the search for the heart of Japan and transcended beyond the notions of victory and defeat. These views moved closer towards the Asian belief of natural harmony as advocated in the philosophies such as Buddhism and Confucianism. Unfortunately, these ideals are missing and dying in modern Japanese society. In this context, I am very encouraged to see martial arts and cultural arts taking place today at the same time. You should be very proud that you are more Japanese than ordinary Japanese people! Through these arts you can draw inspiration to increase your knowledge of Japanese history and the links between Scotland and Japan.” After a wonderful Sayonara Party, the Sunday practice was packed with juniors and beginners from EKC joining in. Many said: “It was so unusual to see young kids in the line for keiko”…I asked “Why? This is the ethos of budo development in action!” Once more, we had to say “Sayonara” to all our friends from all over the UK, Europe and of course Japan. We will meet again though. Don’t miss out on the next IKET experience…don’t wait to be invited-you invite you! Steve Bishop |
