勝負 – Winning and losing
勝負 shobu refers to a match. It is also what the shushin calls out before the deciding point of a match. The word shobu is made up of the two characters sho 勝 (victory) and fu 負 (defeat).
In term 3 our focus will be on shiai, or competition. We will practice various waza, as well as how to enter and leave the shiaijo correctly.
We will also think about what winning and losing means in kendo. Often we are told that competition is not the main point of practising kendo, and this is true. But we still need a drive to win in order for there to be some point to our training. This is called a paradox, a situation where two opposites are true at the same time.
What is the difference between wanting to win and not wanting to lose? They are sort of similar aren't they?
This is what we will be investigating through practice in the coming term.
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