End of the Academic Year~

Wow, a whole year of poly is gonna come to an end soon. Whether you're Year One or Year Two, I'm sure now's a good time to reflect on the ups and downs of AY2011-2012, to take a look at how far you've come, and plan how much further do you intend to go this coming year, be it in studies or cca.


By the end of this week, we can officially begin our much deserved holiday break~ ^^. I trust that all of you guys are satisfied with your performance the past two weeks of exams, cause I'm very sure you've all been putting in a lot of effort in studying for this last stretch. Honestly, here in my course I don't have examinations. So I've more or less been slacking at home/chalets for the past fortnight... yeah, you can beat me up next session if you'd like. >.<


Personally, I'm looking forward to resuming our training sessions- one month without kenjutsu has gotten me all fidgety inside. Let's all make sure we let loose this coming March and have a great time in future sessions to come! :DD

See you guys soon,
Afiq - Webmaster

Exam stress

Its the exam week and everyone is having their fair amout of stress. Some praying more than usual. Some hoping to get A while others study hard just to try and pass. It is a war for all of us and we all want to win. It is a bit too late to say good luck to everyone but I am still wishing you all the best for your other exams. I was busy studying myself. ><

Oh and I am really really really missing the usual training. Three weeks of no training is like umm...well I am a gamer so I would say like 3 weeks of no gaming which is very very sad. Oh and extra trainings on holiday? Hahaha.

Keep moving forward,
Ezan - Asst. Webmaster

Close range combat

We had an interesting kind of training for the latest one. It is called the shadow kihon i think or shadow sparring. For those who missed it, it is the same as shadow boxing which means you imagine fighting an opponent. It is not just random swinging of your sword though. You imagine what your opponent is doing or will be doing and you do what you must to attack or defend. It is a practice for sparring or even in a real fight. Just like during sparring without fighting a real person. Other than that, our seniors which are black belt and above, did a few stuff for us to see what our mistakes are. One of it was making sure we move back fast enough after attacking. Another one is making sure our balance is still correct after moving back quickly.

The more interesting part though is having our senior Bryan pushing us backwards after we move back. Its good that none of us lost balance but we later learn that it was for us for us to resist and not continue moving backwards which some of us did. It was explained to us by Master Dav to why we have to stop the person from pushing us backwards. The reason is because if we do so, our opponent will have an opportunity to attack us. We will learn more of this in Combative Kenjutsu. I actually got kinda shocked by him coming to me and accidentally putting my bokken forward which might have actually hurt him. ><

Anyway, something I would like to emphasise that was said by Master Dav. The long sword is a long range weapon which means it is useless when your opponent comes very close to you which Master Dav have demonstrated to us. Which Senior Bryan also did to some of us but without the sword. This is where close range combat is important. It is important even with other other form of martial arts too. Someone might have the advantage when attacking you with the naginata or spear when you are using the sword but it will be your advantage when you come very close to that person as he cannot use the spear anymore. So do not be complacent just because you have a longer weapon. Skill and fundamentals play a very important part too and do not forget about brains. Knowing what to do is most important.

Anyone learning how to use the stomach to ki-ai?

Fight on,
Ezan (Assistant Webmaster)