Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Japanese Experience...Kendo

One of my friends recommended that I join the College Women's Association of Japan, so I decided to go to their information session and the luncheon that followed. It is really a great organization, so I went ahead and joined. I am missing the volunteering that I used to do with the kiddos at the hospital, so I'm hoping this group will help me find a way to get involved in the Tokyo community a little more.

The group meets for lunch once a month and after each meal, they have some sort of speaker or cultural lesson, etc. Today's topic was Kendo, which is one of Japanese martial arts that involves the use of swords (made of wood or bamboo in this day and age). It was a really interesting speech and demonstration, but one key thing that the speaker told us was about zanshin, which in it's simplest form means a state of constant alertness. The speaker mentioned that while this is a very important aspect of Kendo, this is also something that we should try to achieve in our lives....constantly being aware of our surroundings and ourselves, which I think is a very good idea.

We are off to Hong Kong tomorrow, so until next time....Jenn

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to hear about Hong Kong!

Pink Ice Princess said...

Because I like your blog so much I made a blogger thing too haha you will have to help me though I fear, lol I dunno I might catch on to it quick though!