European Kendo Championships
One of the main reasons why the Finnish Kendo Association requests Japanese instructors each year is to assist it in preparation for the European Kendo Championships. The 2005 championships were held from April 15 to 17 in Berne, Switzerland. A total of 29 countries attended and the events included men’s and women’s team matches and individual matches. The results were as follows:
- Men’s Individual: 1. Herve Blanchard (France)/2. Jan Ulmer (Germany)
- Women’s Individual: 1. Clemence Garcia (France)/2. Aurelia Destobbeleer (France)
- Men’s Team: 1. Spain/2. France 3. Italy/Germany
- Women’s Team: 1. Germany/2. Hungary 3. Poland/France
The Finnish team was unable to win any medals this time. However, they fought very well to make the quarter-finals. In particular, Mia Raitanen fought extremely well and won the Fighting Spirit Award. Since the Finnish team had won these championships the year before, I must take some responsibility for the decline in results. However, I thought that in fact the team did very well. Mikko Salonen, who had been team captain for a number of years, officially retired from competition at these championships. I would like to express my respect for his years of hard work and success.
These championships provided me with an opportunity to catch up with many old friends and make new friends. By pure chance, I ran into an old high school friend who happens to be the coach of the Norwegian team. Over drinks I also caught up with Abe Tetsushi (resident instructor and leader of the Hungarian kendo delegation), who is an old colleague of mine from my post graduate days. In fact, many hours were spent in the hotel lobby drinking with Japanese instructors based all over Europe, and it thus proved to be a fruitful time for networking.
There were some unseasonable snowfalls, which caused electrical blackouts; however, the tournament concluded successfully and was followed by a raucous farewell party prior to our departure from Berne.
Lecture on Japanese Culture
During my stay in Finland, the activity which put me under the greatest pressure was the lecture that I was asked to deliver on April 10 (Japan Day), an event which was sponsored by the Japanese embassy. I was to give a one hour lecture entitled “The Japanese Spirit and the Japanese Sword”, in English and without translation. In all honesty, the preparation for this lecture was most hectic. Once I had arrived in Finland, I spent every spare moment preparing the lecture’s content, the English translation, and the PowerPoint slides, and practicing my delivery. The outline of my lecture was as follows:
- What is Budo?
- What is the Concept of the Sword?
- Kendo and the Concept of the Sword
- The Concept of the Sword in the Edo Period
- The Concept of the Sword in the Middle Ages
- Ancient Japan’s Concept of the Sword
- Ancient Korea’s Concept of the Sword
- Ancient China’s Concept of the Sword
- Epilogue: The Japanese Spirit and Budo
There was great excitement on the appointed day and 144 people squeezed into the culture centre, which was only designed to seat 70 people. As people filed into the lecture theatre, there was standing room only. The room soon reached full capacity and the lecture commenced slightly earlier than originally scheduled. I was very relieved once I had finished, and the room erupted in applause. It was an experience I shall never forget and I felt a great surge of satisfaction. It was hard work, yet completely worth every ounce of the effort that I had put into it. In fact, the experience has given me a lot of confidence, and I am grateful to have been given this opportunity. At some stage I would like to re use the English script.
Conclusion
The final month passed very quickly. After returning to Finland from the European Championships, it was not long before I was making preparations to go home to Japan. When I first arrived in Finland, the daylight was always subdued, the temperature remained below freezing, and the landscape was covered in a white sheet of snow. However, while I was getting ready to return home at the end of April, the sun shone brightly, it was much warmer outside, and people were buzzing with activity. On the way home I diffidently asked myself “What did I manage to do for them?”
When I teach kendo in Japan, I consider it socially significant and ultimately a vehicle for character development. Historically speaking, it is for this purpose that kendo has been developed in Japan. However, does this idea hold true outside Japan? In many cultures character development or moral education has traditionally been left to religion, and this remains the case today. I thought that it might be difficult for people overseas to connect the idea of character development with the process of learning how to hit people with bamboo swords. Due to religion, kendo may not be necessary, and pushing the issue may be construed as a gross intrusion. In fact, my aforementioned colleague, Abe Tetsushi (who lives in Hungary), was once strongly reprimanded when he tried to explain that the objective of kendo was character development. In fact, a student told him “I want to learn kendo, but that doesn’t mean that I want to become Japanese.” This suggests that the student did not want to be instructed in how he should live. I have also had similar experiences in the places to which I have travelled. At the same time, it is true that the people I have met through kendo have been determined and pure in their approach to learning. What was it that they wanted to learn from kendo? I think that a clue to the answer to this lies in the fact that I was not only asked to teach the techniques of kendo, but also to give a lecture about Japanese culture. The truth is, I am still quite confused. What are other cultures seeking in Japanese kendo?
I do not think I will be able to answer this question for a while yet. However, one thing I can say now, based on my experience, is that there is a gap between what they are seeking and the content that we Japanese regard as gospel and try to pass on. It is thus important that we first try to ascertain what it is that the recipients of our instruction are looking for.
The day before I left Finland, I was treated to a huge farewell party. Showered with alcohol and still puzzling over many things, I realised what an incredible experience I had just been through and how grateful I was for the opportunity. I left Helsinki on a direct Finn Air flight to Narita and was happy once more to feel the humidity of Japan against my face upon arrival. Since my return to Japan, five delegations and nine individuals have come from Finland to Japan to train in kendo at Tsukuba University. This has been the greatest prize of all.