From 29 to 31 May, at the invitation of the Minsk kendo club “Shichiken” and the “Memory of Afghanistan” Foundation, 11 Japanese sword masters led by Sensei Masahito Yumura visited the Belarusian capital.
The visa-free entry regime introduced in Belarus that year also played a significant part in making the visit possible.
Background:
Kendo (the way of the sword) is the Japanese art of fencing. It is one of Japan’s oldest martial arts and among those most closely associated with the samurai. It originated from kenjutsu, the traditional samurai art of swordsmanship. Its aim is to develop a well-rounded personality and strong character by tempering the practitioner’s body and will. The art and philosophy of samurai swordsmanship often prove highly valuable in the modern world as well.
The Japanese sensei held several seminars, giving participants an opportunity to learn swordsmanship techniques from highly accomplished masters and even take part in practice bouts with them using shinai (bamboo swords).
Anyone who thought that a kendo seminar meant sitting through a lecture was mistaken. A kendo seminar involves between two and six hours of continuous sword practice, requiring total mental concentration and considerable physical exertion.
After one of the training sessions, Sensei Masahito Yumura observed that a recurring mistake among many of our athletes was wasting too much energy on movement and on feints and inaccurate strikes. Energy should be conserved for a single effective strike: one delivered with the correct part of the sword, against the correct target and at the correct angle.
Despite being well beyond his youth, the master himself showed no sign of fatigue and looked far fresher than many of the seminar’s younger participants. This was despite completing the same training as everyone else — and even doing more.
The Japanese delegation had a very full programme in Minsk, including daily seminars, sparring sessions, guided tours and meetings. On the second day of their visit, following a training session lasting several hours, they visited the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex near Minsk.
Alexander Metla, Executive Director of the “Memory of Afghanistan” Foundation — himself an active fencer and participant in the kendo seminars — gave the Japanese masters a guided tour of the complex, which included an opportunity to fire live weapons.
That day, the Stalin Line was hosting a historical reenactment of a 1941 battle from the Great Patriotic War. Most of the sensei expressed a desire to take part in the reenactment on the battlefield itself.
The kendo masters were given an opportunity to change into Red Army uniforms of the period, received a safety briefing, and the battle began.
No one doubted who would win if it came to hand-to-hand combat.
Each was assigned an assistant drawn from experienced participants in similar battle reenactments. The Red Army troops attacked the fortified positions of the German forces. The assault took place across rough terrain with numerous obstacles. To everyone’s surprise, the Japanese ‘Red Army soldiers’ — none of them young men — negotiated the obstacles with ease, leaping over trenches and ditches and leaving their experienced assistants behind. The assistants had to pick up the pace to keep the attack moving.
The final day was devoted to kendo kata: prescribed forms simulating real combat strikes and combinations, performed in a strictly defined sequence. For spectators unfamiliar with the finer points of kendo, this was probably the most spectacular part.
The Japanese masters received a warm farewell. At the farewell meal, they were served Belarusian dishes, drank tea and sang ‘Katyusha’.
Arigatou gozaimashita, Sensei! Until we meet again.
Delegation of sensei (Japan):
Masahito Yumura, born 1941 – 8th dan, hanshi
Koetsu Sone, born 1948 – 8th dan, kyoshi
Fumio Mori, born 1954 – 8th dan, kyoshi
Shigeru Yonekura, born 1955 — 8th dan, kyoshi
Yorihiko Maeno, born 1939 – 7th dan, renshi
Sinichiro Shimodaira, born 1946 – 7th dan, kyoshi
Kazuhisa Inoue, born 1947 – 7th dan, kyoshi
Kazuo Ueno, born 1949 – 7th dan, kyoshi
Sakaji Aida, born 1950 – 7th dan, kyoshi
Midori Kikuchihara, born 1949 – 7th dan, kyoshi
Kiyoko Inui, born 1954 – 6th dan, renshi
Seminar participants:
Minsk Kendo Club ‘SHICHIKEN’, Minsk Kendo Club ‘SHUBUKAN’, Zhlobin Kendo Club ‘KioShoKan’
Seminar organisers:
“Memory of Afghanistan” Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Internationalist Veterans, Minsk Kendo Club “Shichiken”, Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex
Based on material from otzyv.by
Report by Vitaly Dorosh
Photo: Vitaly Dorosh
Boris Prokazov
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