2023 Australia Seminar by Okada sensei
October 13 (Fri), 16 (Mon), 17 (Tue) at Melbourne Kenshikan
October 14 (Sat) , 15 (Sun) at Monash University

Written by Kei Ito

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Due to the worldwide outbreak of covid-19 starting in the spring of 2020, travel and practice were greatly restricted. It was indeed the first time in four years that Okada Sensei had traveled to Australia for a training session.

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The Melbourne Kenshikan, where the first day's training was held, was a dojo established in the city with the donation of the late Kenshiro Otsuka, and was spacious enough to accommodate a full match court. More than 20 kendoka of all ages, genders, and ethnicities participated in the event, led by Mr. Yoichi Yano (7th dan Kendo Kyoshi) and Mr. Peter Schwarzbord (7th dan Kendo Kyoshi, 6th dan Iaido Renshi), who were very kind in helping us with interpretation and transportation.
At the beginning of the lecture, Okada Sensei taught the Iaido students at the Kenshikan about "Ken-i-ittai" (Kendo and Iaido are one and the same). He warned the participants not to make Kendo Tachiai only for Tachiai and Iai only for Iai, and explained about striking/slashing "Men" as a specific example. He also warned against the modern Kendo which tends to focus on striking the top of the head and the modern Iaido which is all about making wind sounds, and recommended practicing both Kendo Tachiai and Iai as two wheels of a cart.
The temperature was about 10 degrees Celsius lower than the previous week's high of 25 degrees Celsius, and it was very chilly in Melbourne, but the participants remained focused and the training was full of enthusiasm.

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On the second day, a six-hour morning and afternoon training session was held at the Monash University athletic facilities in Clayton, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia (about 20 minutes by car from the city). The venue was a dojo as large as a basketball court. Over 60 participants came from all over the country, including Victoria and Queensland in the northeast, and included not only players from university club teams, but also Japanese Kendo-ka living in Australia and local parents and their children.
The course began with a lecture in which Okada Sensei answered some of the questions that had been gathered in advance with various episodes, specific examples, and sometimes jokes. In response to a question about his teacher, the topic of Kunio Shizawa Sensei, his mentor since his days at Nippon Sport Science University raised, and he mentioned his annual visits to Australia and his dedication to the development of Kendo. He also explained the distinction between "master" and "teacher," and from there, the topic expanded to "Ryuha," "Isshi Soden," "Shuhari" and "From competition to co-creation (by master and disciple).
The participants performed a wooden sword strike with three steps, a leaping strike with a Men-nuki men, and a swing of the eleventh Sogiri-shiki Kiri-kaeshi (cutting back and forth) of Seite Iai, and then did the same with their men on. Advanced students practiced (Tori-) Sashi-men with one right hand, as described in "Kenpo Shigoku" by Jutoku Kinoshita, to improve their left-right balance and to become more aware of hand relaxation.
A female kendo player, Hinano Tominaga (a member of the 17th World Kendo Championships winning team and a four-time participant in the All Japan Women's Kendo Championships), and six local female kendo players played against in matches. The matches were a good opportunity to see Tominaga's spirit as she tried to push back the Australian kendoka who were coming at her with all their might, with the intention of emulating and learning from a skilled person.
During the practice, we could see the participants' strikes gradually becoming light and more relaxed as Sensei called on them to be aware of their shoulder blades, and we could feel the joy and excitement of their progress.

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To begin the third day of the seminar at Monash University, Okada Sensei gave alecture of the interpretation and practical use of the word "Jiri-icchi" (unity of truth and reason). He used various idioms with the Chinese character for "reason" as examples and compared the national characteristics of Australia, France, and Japan, and also referred to the title of the tenugui (hand towel) named "Ichi" written by Shizawa sensei.
He then began to explain Kendo-kata (Seiho) as a means of conveying this "Ri" to the modern world. He also talked about "Ki" and "Komatai" with a demonstration of Koma-mawashi (spinning a top). In the practice of Kendo-kata, he reminded the students to strike the correct position and to keep Ki in sync (Aiki), and he went back to the topic of misalignment of Ki in Reiho (etiquette).
When the final Rei was performed, we caught a glimpse of the spectacular movement of more than 60 heads falling and rising in perfect harmony, which had been unsynchronized at the beginning of the course.

The first day of the course, I was back in Melbourne for the fourth day of the training.

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On the fourth day, Toho (the sword training) was held again at the Melbourne Kenshikan. The training began with a Kashiwade, a move adapted from Sumo wrestling, and then the students were taught to cut straight down with the Iai-goshi. He also explained the first and fourth moves of Seite Iai, such as "Mae" and "Tsuka-ate" and encouraged the students to perform Nohto/Batto with the left hand in a circular motion.
At the end of the course, Sensei introduced a photo of his grandfather, Morihiro Okada Sensei, from a collection of Iai photos in the Kenshikan Shihan's office. He pointed out that the photo was a rare one, as it showed his grandfather, who was a Kendo master unlike the other teachers, with his devilish eyes and toes.
The participants looked at the photo with great impression.

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On the fifth day, a kendo practice session was held at Kenshikan as the last part of the tour. Okada Sensei encouraged the participants to take it slow during the first practice session in order to apply what they had learned in the previous sessions. When it came time for Jigeiko with bogu on, a long line of people lined up in front of Sensei. It was impressive to see how the kenshi were all trying their best to keep up with Sensei's Ki, and how exhausted they were by the time they had finished their turns.
At the end of the session, the members from Japan had keiko practice with Sensei, and Sensei showed the Kenshikan members a lesson that both 7th dan teachers such as Mika Hirokawa (Kyoshi 7th dan) and Kohei Nunozawa (Renshi 7th dan) and a young elite player like Tominaga have something to learn for themselves. The participants who were exhausted from the practice lined up to greet their teachers with fresh expressions on their faces after taking off their bogu, and expressed their gratitude.

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I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the Australian kendoka (especially the Melbourne Kenshikan members), and the fact that many of them were practicing Iai at the same time, and it also made me reflect on my own lack of study. A lot of them are learning Japanese, and I was impressed by their high motivation and their enthusiastic attitude.
As an assistant instructor, I was given the opportunity to assist with interpretation. I learned a lot from the Japanese expressions such as "making an axis" and "stepping through," but in order to translate them into English, I had to step away from the Japanese words and truly think about what they mean in the form of images. This was a great learning experience for me. I was also able to deepen my understanding of the teachings that I usually hear from my sensei in a different environment, Australia, and in a different context of a seminar for overseas kendoka
I felt that our relationship with the sword has expanded as we were able to participate in this tour that Okada Sensei took over from his former teacher Kunio Shizawa Sensei. I would also like to thank everyone in Melbourne for the transportation, meals, sightseeing, etc. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people of Melbourne.

This special training session was also live-streamed on Haku Un's BAND. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the equipment. We sincerely apologize for that. Thank you very much for watching.

We hope that the number of overseas kendoka with the same aspirations who came into contact with Sensei's teachings at this seminar will increase, that Haku Un's activities will become more active, and that the relationships continue to expand.

（Thank you very much.)