Using their long holidays, some kendo enthusiasts come to Japan to train. Among them are young kendo practitioners. We spoke with Hungarian kendo players and their coach, who came to Japan with their sights set on the All Japan Kendo Championship.
Maria Bober
– How long are you staying in Japan?
We have been staying in Japan for 10 days. During this time we were lucky to visit Kumamoto, Fukuoka and Tokyo. All our trip was planned and organized mainly to see the All Japan Championships .
I would like to thanks all my Japanese friends who help me with that trip:
Takuo Hojo (6 dan Kendo) and Fumi Hojo(2 dan Kendo ) ,
Shizuka Takahashi( 7 dan Kendo Renshi), Fuminori Honda (7th dan Kyoshi),
Tetsuyuki Okuzono (7 Dan Kendo Renshi),
Mariko Sato (5 Dan Kendo),
Yusuke Kimura (6 Dan Kendo ),
Takuya Nakamura (6 dan Kendo).
– How many people did you come with?
I came to Japan with 4 juniors from Budapest Főnix Kendo és Iaido Klub.
– I believe bringing high school students to Japan for an extended period was a big decision. What was the process behind it?
Actually this is the second edition of a Japanese trip for Budapest Fonix Juniors members. Main coach of our club,Tibor Bárány(7 dan, kyoshi ), has a dream to spread and promote kendo as a long life passion. As a club we organize one of the biggest junior Taikai in Central Europe ( Sakura Cup) and International Senior Taikai dedicated to kendoka from 40 years old and older ( Momiji Cup). Based on this dream, Bárány sensei came up with the idea of a Japanese trip dedicated for our young kenshi.
Goal of this trip is to give those juniors experience which will make them more likely to stay in kendo.
The basis of this experience is sightseeing and kendo training.
We believe that aspects which are decisive for young generations to stay in kendo are : development, success, friendship and fun.
– When and how did you start kendo?
I was lucky to start kendo at the age of 14. I was a very active girl and my parents thought that Japanese Martial Art would be a good choice for me. It looks like they were right. I joined Junior Kendo Camp in Poland and from that moment I fell in love with Kendo and Kendo society.
Next year I am going to celebrate 20 years of practicing Kendo.
– What is the appeal of kendo for you?
Most appealing ,for me, in kendo is that you have to be smart like in chess and at the same time you have to be physically skilled . As a person who works as a sport psychologist I admire the balance of mental and physical aspects in kendo. Thanks to this balance everyone has a chance to reach their own greatness in kendo. No matter your age , economic situation or event place of your origin. There are no obstacles to develop in Kendo.
– Why did you start teaching kendo to children, and what motivates you to continue?
This is a long story. Actually I work with kids thanks to my fiance , Marcell Lukács, who is also a national team competitor. When Bárány sensei opened junior trainings in our club, my fiance immediately wanted to help. Marcell always says that one of the best times in kendo which he had was when he was junior ( he started to train at age of 5), and he wants to help to grow another generation of young kenshi in Europe. Before I was very focused on my own development as a Polish National Team member. Thanks to my fiance I also started to help with junior training. I have to say that I really like to work with Juniors. Teachers’ (sensei) role is very important in physical, mental and character development of youngsters but I think that we overlook the aspect of how kids and juniors help us , adults, to develop. In my opinion junior pure dedication and happiness teach us, adults, what is most important in life. Kids’ curiosity teaches us, adults, to open for new possibilities . Generational differences teach us, adults, to be curious about how the modern world works and how we can develop our communications skills . And last but not least, Kids always want to challenge their teacher, so thanks to them we have to work on our own kendo skills to be challengers for them. When our kendo is stronger, junior kendo grows stronger. When junior kendo is stronger, our own kendo grows stronger. This is what motivated me and brings happiness for me from working with kids.
Zsigmond Erdélyi
Age: 17
Kendo experiences: 5 years , 1 Dan
– Why did you start kendo?
My friends recommended it to me, so I joined them for one training. I have done other sports in the past but kendo is the only one that stuck with me.
-What motivates you to keep practicing kendo?
I really enjoy doing it.
There is a nice community around kendo. It helps to improve physical and mental health. In my opinion one can learn about many things through kendo.
-How do you feel when you’re practicing kendo?
I can only focus on doing the exercise and my thoughts about my day to day life don’t distract me. Overall a good feeling.
-How has your experience been training in Japan this time?
It has been amazing training here. It has always been a dream of mine to come to Japan, I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to come here. We have attended trainings in 5 different dojos, and we have met a lot of wonderful people. I hope I’ll have the chance to come here again.
-If you have any goals, could you share them with us?
Winning the 2024 Hungarian National Championship. This is my last national championship under 18 so also my last chance to be a junior champion.
Ezra Béky
Age: 14
Kendo experiences: 6 years , 1 Dan
-Why did you start kendo?
My grandfather used to practice kendo and does suburi from time to time. I was fascinated with the shinai and bokuto and that’s how I started. I wanted to start kendo earlier, but I couldn’t take care of my belongings so my mom didn’t let me start until I finally learned to take care of my own things.
– What motivates you to keep practicing kendo?
I like the feeling that no matter how much you practice that there is no end to kendo. I always push myself to get better and to seek a better version of me. People around me motivate me to correct my mistakes and pursue a beautiful kendo.
It’s hard to imagine my life without kendo, it’s truly a big part of my life. – How do you feel when you’re practicing kendo?
I feel responsible for my own kendo that I have to show example to the younger kenshi’s. I always feel like when I practice kendo that I’m doing something for the better. I like to challenge myself and be competitive that helps me keep focus during practises.
– How has your experience been training in Japan this time?
It was very good that I could practice with a lot of different age groups and see different dojo’s with different teaching methods. I definitely gained more experience. I train in Japan regularly but I don’t go around to so many different dojo’s. That was something new.
– If you have any goals, could you share them with us?
I want to compete in Japan. I’m 14 now so many things may change but my goal is to participate in the All Japan championship as the first foreigner. Who knows, maybe I can win it if I put in my effort and train as hard as the Japanese kenshi do.
Maximilan Beleznay -Tóth
Age: 17
Kendo experiences: 3 years , 1 Dan
– Why did you start kendo?
A friend told me about a relative of his who practices Kendo. I managed to talk to this relative of his who recommended some dojo’s for me to check out. After doing some independent research on the martial arts/sport I checked out 2 of the dojo’s he recommended. I first went to see the Hungarian Japanese Kendo club but since that was too far away from where I live I ended up choosing the second dojo which was the Budapest Phoenix Kendo club.
– What motivates you to keep practicing kendo?
I would say that my main motivation as of writing this is simply to try my best to improve my kendo. I find it satisfying to understand waza and to properly apply them. Another thing that tends to motivate me from time to time is seeing exceptional kendoka doing keiko and wanting to be as good as them.
– How do you feel when you’re practicing kendo?
For me it depends on what it is we are practicing. If we are doing kihon or Jigeiko I tend to have a lot more fun than if we were doing Oikomi (although I still find it enjoyable) but that is just my personal opinion. But overall I would say that I feel amazing during most keiko but once the keiko is over it’s as if all of the energy is drained from my body at once.
– How has your experience been training in Japan this time?
I had a great time and I found so much variety between the different dojo’s that we had the opportunity of practicing with. With some dojo’s focusing more on jigeiko and kihon while others focused more on oikomi and endurance. Also the opportunity to train with different age groups was very enlightening because they all focused on other aspects of kendo.
– If you have any goals, could you share them with us?
For now my main goal is to improve my kendo to the best of my abilities and to try and get on the national team. But I have to prioritize my studies for now meaning that I can’t train as much as I would like to.
Barnabás Horváth
Age: 17
Kendo experiences: 3 years, 1 Dan
– Why did you start kendo?
I was always interested in traditional japanese things, but actually I found it in a tv show, where people tried to quess what kendo is. I did some research and I found it interesting. I also found clubs near to my home. In addition, that time I was lacking of any physical exercise or freetime activities, so it was the perfect opportunity.
– What motivates you to keep practicing kendo?
I am motivated because I believe kendo is not just a sport. Of course I really like taking part on competitions but I enjoy the spiritual side of it too. I know that it can be useful and maybe healing even when I will be old, because it’s always holding something new.
– How do you feel when you’re practicing kendo?
I like keeping myself fit, so I always enjoy the phisical exercises of kendo, on the other hand, while I am practicing I can feel that doing so is a good opportunity for building relationships too. I would call myself lucky because I already managed to make new friendships. That’s how I feel during a practice.
– How has your experience been training in Japan this time?
That was always one of my dreams to come to japan, and finally it happened because it is my first time here. I think I can say that I am lucky now because I had the opportunity to visit the japanese countryside, and experience kendo there. We were in Kumamoto and Fukuoka during the first half of the trip. Now we spend the second half in the capital, and we train every day. I am also grateful because my sensei organised really good opportunities: we went to both clubs for children and clubs for adults and older people. All in all it is a really good chance to gather experience, and bring some knowledge back home
– If you have any goals, could you share them with us?
I believe my main goal is to keep practicing kendo until I can. Of course, competing is really fun and that could be one of my golas to win a competition or someting like that, but if I got older, probably the balance of my life with kendo and the fact that I can enjoy it even when l’lI be old would be the most important for me
