It was maybe a year or two ago that my daughter who is working overseas told me and her mom that she was interested to join a Kendo club for her physical exercise. I thought it was a good idea and we were happy to support her desire. I have never really understood what Kendo was all about but that it was some kind of martial arts or a sport that has something to do with a sword—a samurai sword. But of course my understanding was only based on what I saw in pictures or in movies. The samurai sword has been replaced by a wooden sword. I now know that it’s made of bamboo. And it can be quite expensive. They have a Japanese word for this bamboo sword but I forgot what it’s called. They use a lot of Japanese words in this kind of sport. I also now know that a samurai is a person. It’s not the sword haha!

A few weeks ago, my daughter was on vacation and she visited a local Kendo club in Quezon City and the whole family went there too. It was our first time to see our daughter wearing a Kendo outfit and practicing with the rest of the local club members. It was interesting to observe what they were doing. One of the leaders of the club invited her to join their practice and it was interesting to see our daughter being taught by the Japanese Kendo master of the club on how to improve her skills. After the 4 hours or so practice, the Kendo master thanked our daughter before the club members for attending that day.

It was great to see something like this after the passing of many decades. It reminded me of my younger days. When I was about 14, my brother and I joined a Judo-Karate club and it was fun. When I came to Manila for college, I was again learning Karate from relatives for about a year or so. Thankfully, I have never used it to hurt anyone until now that I am 60. It was good physical exercise. Here are more photos.