Japanese Martial Arts Demonstration Day

Embassy of Japan in South Africa - Kendo demonstration

Held every year at the Embassy of Japan in Pretoria, the Martial Arts demonstration day brings together Dojo (martial art schools) from all over Gauteng. The event turned out much larger than I expected, the hall was filled up to the doors. Here's a bit more about the martial arts performed and what to expect when attending this event.

When we got there early we found the first Dojo, Katsujinken Kai, had already arrived. The members were standing around in their black Hakama and Gi with katana. Iaido, a less known martial art, is simply put, katana (sword) training. There are a few sword-style martial arts but Iaido is much more about the technique of drawing the sword and cutting than facing an opponent. Beautiful to see because of the seemingly simple and fluid techniques it's reminiscent more of a dance than a act of violence.

Soon after Kendo was up. In contrast to Iaido, Kendo is all about facing an opponent. They use bamboo practice swords, and wear armor as shown above. In the World Kendo Championships, a single strike/slash can be made in a split second and the match will be over based on who hit who first and where. In Kendo you not only learn techniques but you learn to apply them vigorously. 

Ryu Kyu Kobujutsu was next. The name refers to the weapon traditions of Okinawan martial art. Among the weapons they used were nunchucks, kama, knuckle dusters, jo staff and more. Different members demonstrated different weapons but over all it really looked like a pretty interesting martial arts because of the variety of techniques learned.

Then Aikido started out with the usual practiced throws but were it got really impressive was when the sensei threw two opponents simultaneously without any apparent effort. Of course however, Aikido is practiced in a way that will not harm your practicing opponent and the main way of moving your opponent is by using gravity and their weight against them.

Judo, somewhat similar to Aikido, is also performed with throws. The difference is however that Judo much more resembles wrestling, as the idea is to get the opponent immobilized on the floor with holds and throws. It is also recognized as an Olympic sport and the demonstrators at the martial arts day were 16-17 year old being trained for the 2016 Olympics. 

Last but not least, a beautiful martial art, Kyudo, meaning “the way of the bow” was performed outside. With a lot of more preparation ritual than the other martial arts, but with the result are that of a focused mind, they rarely miss, and didn't in their demonstration.

If you're considering doing martial arts, I'd recommend taking a look at the next event first. It's quite different and really informative to see martial arts for real, all in one place, which makes it easier to decide which one would suite you best.

There is a strong correlation between Japanese culture and martial arts, as would be expected, but seeing one martial art after another made me realize just how similar their principals are and how much they are part of a way of life, namely, the cultivation of body and mind.

Links to all the Dojo mentioned here and other martial arts offered all over SA can be found in my Martial Art Dojo Directory post.

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