Shinai practice
Shinai practice Learning Kendo Through Sewing (Part 1)
It’s been a little while — Kendo Cat Haru-chan here.Many years ago, after I moved to Hawaii, I ran into a problem. I had...
Kata practice Two Roles in One: The Chopstick Method
One of the things I aim for, both in Nippon Kendo Kata and in shinai kendo, is “to feel the opponent.”The person standin...
Mental Adult Method / Child Method
At last, I’ve started to even have nightmares about achieving ki-ken-tai no icchi in my dreams. This is Haru-chan, also ...
Shinai practice Ki-ken-tai no icchi from Beginning to End
Hello, it’s Haru-chan, your ever-familiar self-proclaimed “ki-ken-tai no icchi neurosis” cat.Today, while continuing my ...
Shinai practice Rain or Shine, One beat!
Today, after practicing basic Ippon uchi no waza (one-strike techniques) for men, kote, and dō, I moved on to jigeiko.It...
Others Waaaaah! I can’t take this anymore!
Sometimes during keiko, I just want to claw at my head and scream:“Waaaaah! I can’t take this anymore!”Even though my se...
Shinai practice The role of jigeiko
I went to practice again today, full of energy as always.I mentioned this in another blog entry before, but when I do je...
Mental The difficulty of letting go of past success
Wow—five days have passed since I made this blog public to the whole world.Even though the number of readers is still sm...
Mental What I can gain from Degeiko
Wow… yesterday I finally launched the Kendo Cat Blog ♡ to the whole world! My heart was pounding like crazy!But when I t...
Mental The Day I Thanked Kendo
Before I knew it, I had written 30 posts on the Kendo Cat Blog, even though I update it only irregularly.I had told myse...
Shinai practice Big men and Small men
I suspect that for most kendo practitioners, the very first technique they learned when they started kendo was probably ...
Mental Is my kendo really mine?
At our dojo, every morning, after finishing Seiza -quiet sitting- while hearing the birds chirping, we bow to the Sho-me...
Others What Is the Beauty of Kendo?
From time to time in everyday life, I find myself reacting to something I see with, “Wow—so beautiful,” or “Ah, this mus...
Mental New Year’s Eve Kakari-Keiko Cooking
The last practice of 2025 had safely concluded.And just as I was finally able to take a deep breath and relax, I began m...
Shinai practice For Myself vs. For Each Other
While I was doing mitori-keiko, I found myself thinking about so many different things that I’ve had no shortage of blog...
Shinai practice Seeing the trees, Missing the Forest
Last week, my lower back finally felt good again, and I was just so happy to be able to practice normally that I was sec...