Why do you continue kendo? And the All Japan Championship

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I left my girlfriend on the morning of the 3rd of November and headed for Tokyo to see the All Japan Championships live for the first time.

I arrived just in time at the budokan and Etsuko-san lead me to our place. I thought I was going to sit a little bit farther away, but the seats were amazing. I could nearly smell the participants 😉. Next to me set Denise who did kendo but stopped and is in Japan for an internship. He didn't speak any japanese so I think he was happy to have somebody he could talk to in german.

The All Japan Championships was watched by a very silent audience except for two instances, that were significant. The first "japanese uproaor" happened when Utchimura lost. Not because of a shimpan mistake, simply because nobody was expecting such an early loose from him. The second was in the first quaterfinal, when a men-ippon was awarded instead of kote, which everybody thought was wrong. But I there were not the typical songs of soccer games like:"Shimpan we know where your car is parked".

After the tournament I went to an Isakaya with Kamemoto Etsuko, Honda Fuminori and another friend of them. We had japanese dinner, beer and sake. Honda-san asked me why I started Kendo and I gave my usual answer, which is by accident. Then I asked him why he likes Kendo, which surprised him a lot. Now I am in Fukuoka and I asked Murakami-sans father if this is a strange question to ask. He explained to me that everybody who does kendo knows why you like it and the more interesting story is why you did start, especially as a foreigner. But for me it is more interesting to know why do you continue? There must be a reason why kendoka are like Dory from "Finding Nemo" (See Meme). Lets try to collect some reason? Either post it on facebook under the link or in the comments. Anybody who writes because of the smell can't be taken serious and should consult a psychologist.

Soon I'm going for my first keiko in Fukuoka.

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