Thanks for the opportunity to share what we’ve been doing as a dojo. We’ve enjoyed the outreach and support from Kendo Ontario and the CKF, so hopefully our activity will help inspire other dojos too.
Members from our iaido and jodo group have been meeting and practicing over zoom with the Sei Do Kai as well as some visits to Meishinkan Kenjutsu.
The kendo group has been active as well. In March, Sempai Zac Mercer initiated conditioning & suburi sessions over Zoom. Zac has some experience in this area and his workouts have been thoughtfully designed to target muscle groups used in kendo. We all miss the dojo, but these sessions have encouraged a culture of physical fitness outside our normal practice. We plan to continue these in tandem with our eventual return to the dojo.
Zoom has also inspired some great Mitori-Geiko sessions where each member is asked to bring a kendo video that we breakdown & discuss.
At the end of July, we began outdoor, socially distanced, surburi & kihon practices in a local park. We plan to continue these as long as it’s practical to do so.
In addition to Kendo Ontario and CKF events, we’ve interacted with members from regional clubs (Carleton University Kendo, Ottawa Kendo Club and Kingston Kendo Club). Recently Sempai-John Chū introduced us to Michigan State University Kendo Club. The day we participated with their Zoom practice, Alex Bennet-Sensei from Kyoto University was a guest instructor.
Regarding the dojo re-opening, our region has been at Stage 3 since July. We have remained cautious, but our local health authorities have allowed fitness clubs to reopen. With that news, the Ottawa JKA (our landlord) has resumed karate practice. Their protocols are very close to the CKF’s so we are considering re-opening in a limited capacity next month. However, we’re keeping an eye on conditions with the return to school, etc.
Take care and stay safe.
Best regards,
David Badour
Tateyama Dojo