Kyoto, 1997. C.M watched the World Kendo Championships and something changed.
Way of Life #5, “My Limits Are Farther Away”, is a portrait of C.M (Renshi 6-dan) at Budokan Zürich. What follows is transcribed from the subtitles of the film — C.M’s own words, in the order they are spoken, under the chapters of the film.
The hard and painful moments of kendo taught me. My limits are much farther away than I used to think.
Kyoto, 1997
The World Kendo Championships, 1997 — in Kyoto. I was seven, visiting Kyoto — and saw the posters. I told my parents I wanted to go. Inside the Butokuden I heard the kiai — "that's what I want to do".
What kendo shaped
Hard to say, after so many years. What I learned from kendo and my senseis shaped my work and my life. When I do something — do it properly, as best I can. Kendo has shaped me as a whole.
Change
If I look at my life without kendo. I'd be less confident — less able to go beyond my limits. The hard and painful moments of kendo taught me. My limits are much farther away than I used to think.
In a dojo 9,000km away
People here are truly driven to do reiho correctly. At the same time, to most people here it's still a bit alien. Show kendo to a general crowd, and the kiai and all the bowing aren't easily understood.
Explaining why we scream and bow so much — that can be a challenge. But for us here, it blends in well.
To the next generation
Kendo is worth doing.
It can do great things for one's life — if you take the path seriously.
About this series
Way of Life is a series of short portraits of people who live the way, filmed by KAIDO Inc. in dojos across Europe and Japan. One person, one word, a few minutes.