this was pretty cool

Well here at school, every now and then a teacher is asked to give a demo class. Usually this is nothing special, at least as far as I can tell becuase I usually can't understand the entire lecture of the class. Well it was different with 野村先生(Nomura Sensei) gave his demo class (He is the guy in the background in dark blue). Before I go on, I should also mention that 野村先生　was the champion for the Matsumoto area.

So what is he doing in the picture and what was he champion of??? KENDO. Yep, Kendo; it is sort of like fencing except for pratice they use bambo swords. These swords weigh a good amount and I would image hurt a little more than the thin metal blades used in fencing, although I have never tried.

Any who, it was quite fun to watch this demo class. The Kendo pratice begain by a short meditation period followed by a short lecture. I knew that they were trying to clear their minds before the Kendo pratice matches, but I am not sure the exact instructions during the lecture. If I had a guess, it might be don't get hurt as these large and heavy bambo poles are being swung at your face, or something similar.

And so it begain. Students put on all the gear: a helmet with a metal face guard, a plastic torso/chest guard, some padded gloves, and their own swords. Putting on all the gear took a little time, as there were plenty of things to be tied, and straps to be straped.

The fighting began. Although this was my first expereince with Kendo, I think I would know how to beat a Junior High School Samurai if I was forced to fight one on my walk home from school. (I do live in the mountains, so there are some traditional Samurai that have seemed to survive through the ages. The trick to not confronting them in a death match is to give off loud grunts to show you status. The louder and deeper the grunt, the better.)

Back to the strategy. In all the matches, it went like this. The two would face off for a couple of seconds. "A" would make the first move. "B" would block the move. "B" would deliver the fatal blow to the top of the skull or to the side of the neck and yell "Huggghhh," or "haaaaiiii." And repeat.

Yep, that's the trick. Just wait for the other guy to make the first attack, then block, kill, yell. Quite easy.