Spot the Difference!

Jun 2005

5 Months relocated from London back to Hong Kong (my home town).

Having started kendo in London, doing it for 3 years there (plus 1/2 year of blank period filled up by Iaido in Brighton instead)... Kendo-wise, I am actually having a new experience back home.

The following are personal observations about the kendo in these two cities. I am trying my best to include everything I can think of...

******************
Differences Between Kendo Training in Hong Kong and in London

1. No Pub - Sorry this comes up first. I am not an alcoholic, but not having the second keiko means the time for club social is reduced to the time for changing after keiko only. Therefore I still haven't talk to 90% of the people I train with.

2. Too Far Away - This is my constant complain (I know I shouldn't!)... Having spent 2.5 hours of travel time to get to a 1.5-2 hour keiko really makes me have deep thoughts about it. In London it will be like having Mumeishi as your home dojo. Do I really have nothing else to do? Will I improve today? Besides, the travel cost bothers me too (as I don't really have a stable source of income right now...)

3. Monthly Charge - Because Squad Training has its open-door policy for HKKA affilated clubs, there is no extra charge attending it (apart from HK$100/ GBP 7.5/ US$12 extra for insurance). So training once a week to 4 times a week costs the same...

4. A Lot More Girls - Probably due to the presence of Eda-sensei, at my home dojo most of the time has 40-60% female members at keiko. There are also a nuber of kendo wives in high levels (eg. Mrs Tanaka, Mrs Horibe, etc.) In the squad this is also the case, especially Eda/Agnes/J are the most attentive and senior members of the squad, with Agnes being the leader of warm-ups etc.

5. Japanese Sensei - Never lack the supply of them. There are a few 6-7 Dan resident sensei doing business here, some even married HK-nese wives and have families in HK. Same goes for 3-5 Dan senpai businessmen. Though we do lack the younger (my age) generation because there are no university student coming from Japan, unlike London.

6. Kihon:Keiko proportion - For every 1.5-2 hours I went, only the last 30 mins or so are for Jikeiko (queuing for sensei type). So the ratio is about 2 kihon :1 keiko... In London this seem to be the reverse. At nenriki we had a ratio of 1:2, but at Wakaba/Mumeishi was ALL jikeiko. I think my posture etc. has been slightly better with more kihon, but in terms of seeing openings or practising waza (in a non-controlled manner) I am going worst without the jikeiko...

7. Practice with Peers - This mostly occurs in kihon, while in jikeiko people tends to queue for sensei (and there no lack of supply!!). So a week about 2-3 times kendo there is at most 3 keiko done against a 3dan or below person...

8. Girls vs Girls - Partly due to the fact that I attend the squad more than the normal club one... Girls are most of the time paired with a girl for yokusoku keiko. Besides, my club has a 40-60% female attendance, so even if it was mawari-keiko I happen to be against a girl more than a guy..!

9. Instruction - At the kihon session, there is always someone (with no men on) overseeing all the pairs and give advice from the outside. In London the overall instruction comes from a senior within the group.

10. Age - The most hard-working kendoka seems to be the very seniors 6-7Dan, Japanese businessmen, and my age group in the early 20s. People slightly older are most of the time working overtime... So the weekday sessions are relatively empty...

11. Teaching others - I don't need to teach anyone verbally anymore, because there is always someone else watching behind...

12. Taikai - Pretty much lack of it, honestly... Jan: team shiai; Feb: Asian Tournament (Squad members only); May: HK/Macau individuals shiai... Then that's it!!! In the squad there is shiai day held monthly. Not sure if that helps anything...

13. Visiting Sensei - Hong Kong is one of the favourite "country" for Japanese tourists, so once every few months there got to be some high grades (if not hachidan) dropping by. "HK members are too lucky - in the UK they have to pay 200 pounds for a 3-day seminar with Sumi sensei." That's the comment from Yung-sensei (via email list) when he read about Sumi Sensei's Seminar in the UK(SSS)...