Roald Knutsen, Author at British Kendo Renmei

Chris Fox 1943 – 2020

It is with great sadness that we inform kendoka and iai-ka of the death of Chris Fox who was an excellent swordsman, student of Roald Knutsen in the Butokukan Dojo in Brighton and Lewes for the best part of forty years.

Restarting Training – continued

From the Chairman of the British Kendo Renmei

Continued from part one.

There is no point in beating about the bush over the dangers of COVID-19 to our kendo and we are not fools. We are quite sensitive to the government’s concern with the problem and considered response to find a solution. These solutions may not seem to reflect our particular aims but nonetheless they must be taken into account and followed.

Restarting Kendo/Iai training

Knutsen-sensei has set out some guidance below on how we might address the return to practice, when this becomes possible. At the moment, of course, the Government guidelines don’t allow normal dojo practice, but we hope there will be some relaxation in the coming weeks.

Bob Hicks

It is always difficult to be asked to write a few words on the passing of an old friend so I shall be brief.

My wife and I knew Bob from a distance through his interest in ‘Things Japanese’ more or less all his adult life. It was about forty years ago that we first invited him to contribute an intermittent book review to the Journal of the British Kendo Renmei on cultural publications on Japanese subjects that would interest our Members. About this time he began practice in these arts and many of our older students remember him. I should add ‘from a distance’ because Peterborough lies a long way from our centre here in the South so it was not so easy to meet on any sort of regular basis. But, thanks to the invention of email we kept up our correspondence until a couple of months ago.

His erudite understanding was always great help to us all and deeply appreciated. It is such a pity that he never achieved his ambition to visit that country.

Our sincere condolences go out to Sara and his family.

Roald Knutsen and The British Kendo Renmei

Beginners Instruction Guidance – part two

Continued from part one

In writing this article, we have been fortunate to have a number of translations from the wisdom of several very senior kodansha in both Kendo and Iai-jutsu All these masters and many others over the years, emphasise teaching the basics in a sympathetic and stimulating manner. These key skills are particularly important when we are introducing novices to what is exclusively a secretive Japanese culture, one deriving from the warrior tradition over the past fifteen hundred years. The teaching skill is not based on finding fault with early errors but encouraging newcomers to absorb the principles naturally without the fear of harsh correction.