KENDOOOOOO

Kendo pretty much took over this weekend. I started my weekend on Saturday with Kendo practice at the high school early in the morning. They were preparing for the match on Sunday and practice was mostly just packing for the next day. After that, I went to a Kendo demonstration set up by the Rotary clubs of Isahaya City for the exchange students at Nagasaki Wesleyan University.

They had one of the top 100 Kendo fighters in the entire nation there helping out with the demonstration, as well as three guys trained in actual swordfighting. They set up a wooden post with a bundle of tightly packed straw strapped to the top, and this is what one of the dudes did to it.

BASBDBASDBASDB
I GUESS YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT HE DID TO IT IF THE INTERNET WASNT BROKEN AND TOOK A YEAR TO NEVER UPLOAD A VIDEO
HE CUT IT A LOT
REALLY EASY
THAT IS WHAT HE DID

Then they asked for volunteers to try it out. Did Jer go up? Yes he did. Did he fail terribly? Yes he did.
Holding the katana was ridiculously scary. I was shaking a little the entire time. It was heavy, and I was really afraid I was gonna let go of it and it would fly into some guy's head and they would be all DUDE WE GOTTA CUT YOU NOW THAT WAS NOT COOL. So when it came time to cut the bundle, I made it about halfway through, and knocked the post to the ground. Oops. One of the other exchange students had better luck than me, but he also wasn't able to cut through the whole thing. TOUGH.

Also, there was a camera crew there and they interviewed me about the katana stuff. I still don't really know Japanese all too well so I just sort of stumbled through a bunch of words and then smiled. This is the second time I've been interviewed on camera here in Japan and pretty much my strategy has remained the same.

A little while later after a performance by two of the swordfighter dudes, somebody said something in Japanese and a ton of people in the audience started calling my name and pointing to me. Then the big Kendo dude called me over and told me to put on the Kendo armor because I was going to be fighting a match. I tried telling them that I haven't ever played a match before ever, but they didn't understand English so they were just YEAH ALRIGHT PUT THINGS ON HIM AND GIVE HIM A STICK. LET'S SEE WHAT THIS DUDE CAN DO.

Normally the Kendo participants have traditional dress on and all that, but I just had jeans on and the armor over it. Like I said, I was completely unprepared. One of the rotarians had just given me my own shinai (kendo bamboo sword) so I used that. I actually didn't do too bad for my first fight. I went up against a girl, and I'm pretty sure the judges went super easy on me, but I won the fight.

Afterwards we had sushi.
It was delicious.

VOOOOOOM NEXT DAY
Woke up at six today. Well, six-thirty, but the alarms started at six. I biked over to the school to meet the other Kendo guys at 7, and we left in their cars for the Kendo meet. On the drive over, the car we were in had a TV in it. I'm not talking one of those hang-over-the-back-of-the-driver's-seat TVs that plays DVDs, but an actual TV that got real TV channels. The audio was playing constantly, but the video only came on whenever the GPS wasn't being used (they used the same screen), like at a stoplight or something.

The Kendo meet was pretty huge. It was at some sort of sports complex with a baseball field and tennis courts outside. We went into the Basketball court building where they outlined the Kendo areas on the courts with tape. Then they started practicing before the match. There were a MILLION people there. It was redonk. Also, the girl who I had fought yesterday was there too, along with all the other people from the demonstration. They all recognized me and waved, which was nice the first time, but after passing them by for the seventh time I started looking for alternate routes around them because it was really awkward passing by and having absolutely nothing to say, but still trying to share the same enthusiasm they had.

The matches were fun to watch, and I got a bunch of cool photos in. However, for some reason sports gatherings always make me feel kinda sick. I don't know what it is, but I just start to feel like shit after a while at any sports gathering. After a few hours at the meet, I got a headache and fell asleep, hoping it would go away because I forgot my excedrin at home. I woke up to a bunch of the kendo kids and their parents saying "good morning" in Japanese to me but I wasn't fooled; it was still around noon, and I still had a headache. Luckily I was able to communicate that I had a headache and one of the parents happened to have some ibuprofen or tylenol and gave it to me. A bunch of water and another nap later, I was doing alright.

When we got back to school from the meet, we went inside to see the coach and he didn't really seem pleased with the club's performance. We had to sit on our legs for a huge speech from him which I didn't really understand, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. I guess the first-years weren't acting like he wanted them to and they didn't do so hot during the competition. The speech must have really sucked for them, because it sucked for me and it was neither directed towards me (can't participate in competitions, too old) nor did I understand any of it. It was terrible because sitting on our legs for so long hurt like a motherfucker, especially on the hardwood floor of the Kendo room. We have to do it every day for practice, but usually only for a minute or so. I'm not sure how long the lecture was, but I do know that when we went into the room the sun was out, and when it was over, it wasn't anymore. After the lecture everyone had pins and needles like WTF. Most of the Kendodudes couldn't stand up, and the team captain almost fell over trying to walk. I guess seeing that made sitting through that whole speech worth it.
seriously dude he was all whooooaaWHOAAA and had to grab onto one of the other guys to keep from falling and almost everyone else was going around on their knees because their legs were so dead