The seminar was led by Hiroshi Ozawa Sensei (7th Dan Kyoshi). Translation was provided by Sotaro Honda. Ozawa sensei’s book is one of the most widely owned kendo manuals in English and this meant that interest in the seminar was widespread.

The venue for the seminar was the Dukeries centre in Ollerton. This is the Kashi No Ki club’s regular venue. The facilities are excellent. Organisation and planning for the event was led by Trevor Chapman and Denis Smith. Also in attendance in his role as Kendo Bucho was Mr. Paul Budden. Attendance was about 60 with all standards and levels being represented.

Opening Ceremony
The seminar began with a civic reception for the local mayor and other officials. Ozawa sensei and Budden sensei gave a demonstration of the Nihon Kendo No Kata with kata swords. There then followed two Kendo matches, firstly between two of the younger members of Trevor’s club. The two youngsters performed an excellent demonstration of kihon, particularly the Do cuts. The second match was between myself and Darren Cutting.

The dignitaries seemed suitably impressed and the mayor made a short speech to declare the seminar open.

Nihon Kendo No Kata
Sensei emphasised the importance of studying the kata, as all of kendo’s concepts and skills are contained within it.
The katas were worked through individually with each being analysed and explained after we had had a chance to practice (and for sensei to see any problems).
“Do, Say, Do” Bob Yorke.

Key points were:
1. You must complete a kata in one breath.
2. Treat each form as one thought/action.
3. Maintain Seme mind throughout the whole of the kata (Even 1~10 when making a demonstration).
4. When using the kodachi the sound of the deflections should be high pitched not dull.

The first kata session ended with two pairs being selected to demonstrate for everyone the correct way to perform the 10 kata (no pressure then). Afterwards sensei said that the performance was 90% ok. He then offered anyone who wanted it the chance to do better (there were no takers).

Kihon, Uchikomi and Keiko
We began by warming up and then splitting into three groups: there were two small motodachi groups and then a larger group containing everyone else (kakari Te).
All the motodachi were placed at specific points along the hall and then the remainder of those present lined up in front of them with about 4 to a line. This was a free choice but once established became fixed for the remainder of the seminar. It seemed a very complicated way to set up the hall in order to practice kiri kaeshi but the reasoning behind the arrangements soon became apparent.
Sensei asked everyone especially motodachi to strive to do their very best and then for 20 minites or so we practised kiri kaeshi. The practice was then halted the second motodachi group was then asked to cross over and stand in front of the first motodachi group and we then did kiri kaeshi 4 times moving round between each. Sensei then moved everyone back to their original position and asked the kakari te to repeat kiri kaeshi but only once each. At the completion of the exercise he made three points:
1. After seeing the seniors do kiri kaeshi the quality of practice done by everyone else was drastically improved. Why? This is the importance of Miru geiko (watching). Everyone sees something different. In any practice there is a contrast of styles and approaches
2. He stressed the importance of having a senior (sempai) to model yourself on. Someone with similar attributes ie size, age, weight. Someone who has kendo that you aspire to.
3. Acting as motodachi is also a learning process. Motodachi will make or break kakari te’s practice by the quality of movement, form and spirit shown

Sensei gave some basic rules to follow in the remainder of the practice:
- When doing kihon or uchikomi cuts must be big and powerful.
- You must move through very quickly and finish the technique by turning at toi maai ready to do the next waza.
- When practising a series of waza it is essential to maintain breath control and seme mind throughout the whole series (exactly like when doing the kata).

The format for all of the kihon and uchikomi was:
The main group would start a practice e.g.shomen and then the motodachi groups would practice the same waza together (physical example).
A new waza was then introduced which the motodachi group would practice/show together first and then the large group would undertake this practice.
The main group would then start the next waza.
This went on through all the basic cuts, ni san dan no waza and kakari geiko.
There was then a short break. When we resumed the emphasis changed to oji waza and we practised doing and receiving men kaeshi do, then men nuki do (sensei described this waza as almost debana do). We went on to practice men debana kote, kote suriage men, kote nuki men and men uchiotoshi men (the basic tool box).
The practical sessions all ended with motodachi geiko. Sensei asked us all to show our very best kendo to each other and promised to try and fence everyone at least once during the seminar.

Lecture
Ozawa sensei wanted to speak to us about the nature of kendo. He has written a small book on the essence of training in Japanese culture and he used anecdotes and some personal information to illustrate his points.
Ozawa sensei is now 55 years old and stressed that it had taken all of his life experience to gather together the information contained within this short book. He told us that the motivation for writing the book had been as a way back into kendo after a serious back injury had prevented him from training for two years (from 50 to 52). He publicly thanked Trevor Chapman, Denis Smith and all of his other friends who had written to him in support during this difficult time. He stressed that now he is back.
He wanted to share with us the idea that the kendo world is a family. And that the members of that family are all striving in their own way to improve themselves and develop high ideals. The foundations of all kendo’s activities are truth/honesty and simple justice (sensei had seen, and been most impressed by the statue outside the high court in London. The combination of scales, sword and blindfold seemed to him to sum up the essence of a truly just system).
He spoke about the system of master and student that has evolved in Japan. The key element of this system is trust. The student trusts his chosen master to lead her/him along the correct path. The master trusts the student to give his/her all and be faithful to the teachings, until they are able to revise them in their own unique way and reach a higher state. This is how the art being studied/taught will develop and progress.
He also spoke to us about the Yagyu style of learning “Sanma no kurai”. This involves integration of three elements: learning, training, revising into a continuous cycle. It is important not to question what is being taught or to feel that it is wrong because it does not work for you. This attitude shows a lack of trust in the teacher
Students can acquire waza in this system without the use of logic or reasoning. They simply copy and repeat the actions over and over until they become like second nature. For this process to succeed a physical example is needed, hence the importance of seeking out and following a “good teacher”(the right one for you).

Conclusion
This was a great seminar and I for one was very pleased to see Ozawa sensi back in the UK. As a teacher he has great presence and this makes everyone strive to do better and show their very best. His organisation was excellent as was what was taught. I think that everyone thoroughly enjoyed the two days training and left inspired to train harder in the coming months.

G. O'Donnell.

Do Shin Kenyu Kai