Sayonara

This is going to be my last post on Kyoto Budogu Blog, because from September 3rd I will be back in Europe and someone else will take my place as blogger and store manager (who, you will find out soon! ).

This year in Japan has passed so quickly, that it even feels weird to think that I arrived in Kyoto in September 2013.
It has been a journey of discovery, although I hardly ever left Kyoto (apart from two quick trips to Europe at Christmas and for the European Kendo Championships). I learned a lot about bogu and shinai,  but also about Japanese work ethos, about life in the Old Capital and of course about people, being they colleagues or customers.

One additional, very precious knowledge I developed is a good (albeit surely partial) picture of the local Kendo scene.
I have been able to practice fairly regulary with four different groups: Yuubukan, Fucho, Fukei and the Wednesday keikokai at Butokuden. I occasionally practiced in Kumatori at Osaka Taiiku Daigaku and at Nichiyokai in Osaka. The Ladies Keikokai at the Butokuden takes place once a month and I managed to take part, too. Some occasional Taikai offered me the opportunity for shiai and for shinpanning, too. I also visited Myokaku-ji dojo.
It has been very interesting meeting the "normal" kenshi of Japan - meaning not only the professionals or the students. Ordinary people like me, who would train after work whenever they could (it has to be said, mainly one or two times per week, not four or five like me: clear sign of an obsessive personality), for the sheer pleasure of keiko.
I found a welcoming environment, although I am sure some must have been rather puzzled by my presence at the beginning (in spite of all the introductions!). I hope I managed to learn something from all the sensei I met - although the time devoted to kihon practice is always very limited in Japan, as I also discovered.

Some of you may already know that living (and working) in Japan does not automatically mean you can train with all the ease every day. If you end your working day at 18,00, like myself, you only have a hour to reach the dojo, wherever it may be, change and join keiko. For some strange reason, most evening trainings start at 19.00 and they are over by 20.00. Only the weekends are left to tread a bit further away - and that of course if there is some keiko on the weekend!
What I mean to say is that you really MUST WANT to have keiko and you will have a lot of rushing with your bogu on the shoulder to be able to do it. Nothing drops on your lap, to be clear. I considered this as part of the experience, too.

Of course I will be back in Kyoto again and again, so this does not feel so sad at all. I simply have many more places to visit and many more friends to meet.

Housen Step Two: Showing Off

I told you about the little expedition to visit our supplier Housen

Well, time has come for me to show off my 3-shinai bag (actually this is my second one by Housen, after a gray/black Ichimatsu one...) - I am so proud of it, that I am flaunting it without any shame.

The colour: GREEN

The fabrics pattern: MUJI

The main embroidery: the character DŌ (which, I shamelessly admit, stands for the initial of my name!) in Yuu no Sho calligraphy style.

The embroidered decoration: TONBO AND SAKURA in two different tones of green.

On the back: my name in katakana.

I simply love it!

Inno-what?

I have dreams. Fantasies that become particularly insistent after training in high temperatures, as it happens now in Kyoto. Kyoto summer is renown for being fierce - and justly so.
I go for asa-geiko on my bike to the Prefecture Police at 7 o`clock, before work. It is already hot then, try to imagine after one hour of non-stop keiko.
Then is the time for me to dream: shape memory hakama - you take them off, you throw them in the air and the moment they touch the floor they are already perfectly folded. No more struggling with stubborn erratic creases, on floors on which some ugly guy has been dripping sweat like a stranded jellyfish: operation instantly completed in a neat and orderly fashion.
I dream of spray bogu. All in one bottle: you get into your (shape memory) hakama and kendogi and then you spray it onto yourself. It solidifies in a second - I still have to fantasise on how to remove it without too much hassle. Maybe it could melt in the shower?
Till I figure how to solve this little issue, I could be happy with mag-lev bogu bags, that follow you wherever you go.

None of this is going to happen soon, alas.

So we keep taking care of our hakama, folding them neatly, while spotting the cleanest section of the floor (I wear usually white or kinari). We remember the virtues of each fold and carry on. Far di necessita` virtu`, we say in Italy: make a virtue out of  necessity - very appropriately, we make seven, in fact.
Trolley bags have brought already a notable improvement in bogu-carrying - a bit late maybe for my right shoulder that has strangely retained the mark of all the bogu bags of my life - shape memory shoulder?

Nevertheless, it is right to think of innovation in Kendo equipment. Maybe without going to the extremes (it would not be tolerated anyway, both by the governing bodies of Kendo and by kenshi themselves - who are, let me say, a pretty conservative bunch, as far as tradition and Japanness are concerned (I am in that bunch myself) - a degree of innovation though is necessary and welcome, also to make equipment safer and more accessible.

I can surely mention the Tornado-stitch® Kote, which are the new thing of the moment: I love the sturdiness of the futon and I like the spiralling of the stitching.

Still, although really new, they are still made of cotton, with a recognisable traditional look. Then how far can we go with innovation, in Kendo equipment, with Kote, to start with? We asked a number of inspired and willing kenshi to put their experience and their creativity together and see what would emerge.
We loved the results:

THE TURTLE KOTE, by Nathalie, Jeroen and Oliver

Top focus on maximum protection and perfect fit: (Jeroen has very big hands, Nathalie very petite ones):

• removable padding (in purpose built pockets) 
• titanium thread hexagonal pattern stitches (hence, the Turtle)
• Sorbothane padding in specific areas of the atama (Sorbothane is the brand name of a synthetic viscoelastic urethane polymer used as a shock absorber and vibration damper. It is manufactured by Sorbothane, Inc., based in Kent, Ohio.) See Wikipedia for further details

KOTETSU, by Xiaoxu, Ghaïs, Yiwen

Innovation comes in a bit more timidly in this Kote: very high quality, but traditional materials (from 10000 thread cotton, to deer hair for padding)

• anti bacterial treatment (Bioclean)
• diagonal stitching pattern
• striking contrast between indigo (in two tones) and yellow
• improved shape of the futon for extra comfort and ease of movement
• enhanced flexibility of the wrist joint
• reinforcement in the palm leather, in the traditionally hole-prone spots

Possibly, apart from the look, which I find truly attractive, the real innovation is the combination of all the top quality features available today. Not exactly a cheap pair, this one.

WILD SPIRIT KOTE, by Maria, Giorgio, Jose and Tetsuro

Well, here we are treading on a completely new ground. That was the task of the Gone Wild Team, in fact.
Gone is the stitching.
Gone are the himo.
Gone is the traditional padding.
The purpose of this aggressive Kote is to be as unobtrusive as possible for hand movements, while being protective through completely innovative methods.
However, a longer futon seems to be a priority also in the 22nd century, where these Kote belong to.
The look is projected in the future, for authentic Bad Ass Kenshi - this is what your grandchildren will wear, put yourself at peace.

Wow, I cannot wait to see these beauties being made - the future has to start somewhere, and here we are.