Meeting of New and Old

The Nihon Budokan was built for the Japanese Olympics to house the martial arts. It is a much more modest effort than the Big O and was paid for a long time ago. I understand that cigarette smokers and Montreal taxpayers are still on the hook.

It also had its scandals. The Beatles had the first rock concert bringing shock to the traditional community of Tokyo. It is now a regular home to both, modest concerts (10,000 and less) and martial arts training dojos.

Last night, thousands lined up for a local rock band. Yes they also have scalpers here. How do you say, "got any spare tickets in Japanese"? We were granted access to the training area. In fact, the foreign visitors signup sheet was pristine. As Piki and our friend Akiyo watched patiently, I pulled out my Nikon and clicked at my first Kendo experience. This is Japanese sword fighting, although in this age of pacifism, bamboo has replaced the real thing. We first watched youngsters as they went through their paces with the sensei. Next we were enthralled as over 30 adults, men and women, old and young, big and small went through their moves.

I can only imagine what it must like under all that gear. I could see the sweat, even through the face shield. Adrenalin was rushing fast and furious with a fascinating combination of passion and control. I thought of this in light of the constant griping from hockey and football that they are emotional sports and therefore aggressive behaviour is normal and acceptable. Bull-swaggle.

At the end of the session of beating each other relentlessly, calm broke out. All took off their head-gear, sat  several meditative moments, bowed ritually on the ground and proceeded to clean the dojo hardwood floor.  Many sweaty bare feet. No trash talking. The shouting during the training was all part of Kendo, as much as the breathing, posture, footwork and other techniques. Wow.

We stayed for the full hour and 30 minute session, thanked sensei, and went off for a traditional pizza and beer.

Marcel