Waseda University Martial Arts

The guest house where I am staying is located just a stone's throw from Waseda University, one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan.  Bryn and I were poking around on campus yesterday looking for a place where we could get business cards done when we heard an absolute cacophony of male and female voices shrieking and stomping around.  It sounded like a bar full of drunken, rowdy Ohio State Buckeye fans watching the last five minutes of a close game against Michigan.  After concluding our inquiry regarding the business cards (we want to get work as English tutors) Bryn had to go, but I was simply unable to resist investigating the cause of this relentless racket. 


I cautiously made my way into one of the buildings and then proceeded up a flight of stairs toward the sound.  I removed my shoes and very gradually peered into the door of an enormous gymnasium  which was filled with about 40 men and women practicing Kendo.

The first thing I noticed even before I entered the practice hall was the smell.  I was immediately transported back in time to the age of about 10, at which point I announced to my parents that I wanted to play ice hockey.  Ice hockey pads and Kendo pads are very similar, and the smell of wear and sweat is exactly the same. 


I was quickly approached by a young man and graciously redirected (I had inadvertantly entered from the side where head teachers stand.)  The beauty of being an obvious gaijin is that you can get away with all kinds of gaffes like that because you are simply treated as a societal anomaly.  Their reaction to my finding my way into the wrong side of the dojo was similar to what the reaction might be to a bird alighting on the rim of a basketball hoop during an NBA game.  You don't feel hostility toward it, it just needs to be gently waved away.  The other thing is that people don't know who you are, so to be safe they assume that you might be a person of some importance; after being shown the correct entrance I was brought a chair so that I might observe more comfortably.


Now, I have seen pictures and videos of Kendo before, but the experience of seeing it live and only a few feet away from the practitioners is a different story.  The ferocity of these attacks is really startling.  And these were very strong, athletic people who scream at the top of their lungs when they pounce.  It was clear that the power of these attacks was devastating.  It's an amazing thing because you can begin to imagine what it would be like for samurai on the battlefield using real swords.  With a fine katana these guys could cut right down the top of a helmet and through the crown of an opponent's skull. 


After watching about 30 minutes of Kendo I proceeded to dojo #2, where they were doing judo. 

Again, a very eye-opening experience to see it in real life.  These guys were built like mules with enormous, dense upper bodies and very slender hips.  They were mashing each other into the mat with great force, and these guys did a lot of hollering too, but their style was different.  Whereas the Kendo people would let out a death screech as they lunged at an opponent, the people in the Judo area would just bellow out nonsense sounds at random times.  Even people not physically engaged in the training, including one woman who was attending to injuries on the sidelines, would do their share of yelling.  I was utterly baffled at this yelling because it did not seem to convey any meaning or be connected with any particular event.  I finally asked this young (but huge) fellow from Singapore who spoke English.  He said that they do this to keep the spirit up, and to help realease the emotions associated with this difficult practice.  I realized that there are emotions involved in Kendo and Judo that result from the competitive nature of these sports that we do not have as much in Aikido.