1. Why did you decide to join the online lessons?

Since my childhood, I have been interested in the Japanese culture and tradition. I always admired the Samurai who were loyal to their master till death. Additionally the beauty of the skills with which they used their sword far surpasses the use of longswords by europeans.　Therefore I always wanted to train kobudo under a Japanese teacher, and in the region of my home country, there aren’t any dojos that offer such direct teaching of budo art. When I heard of online lessons from a Japanese teacher, I couldn’t hold my excitement and directly submitted a subscription.

2. Why will you train here and not at any other online lessons?

I have followed Seki sensei for some time. And his attitude towards teaching is something you must experience for yourself. Other lessons are only recorded videos with translated explanations. In this online lesson, everyone is training together and sensei is live checking the forms of everyone, and his explanations are translated immediately. I’ve experienced other senseis who only explained in broken English. I honor their effort but the translation of this online class is something else.

3. What changed before and after you joined?

I practiced another ryuha and integrated a little of the movements from asayama ichiden kai which really advanced my skills. I got to know different people from all over the world and had the possibility to train with them and discuss with them the different aspects of the ryuha, which wouldn’t be possible by myself.

4. What is the best part about joining?

I got to know Seki sensei, who has a very generous and bright personality. He finds the little details you don’t think of, which greatly impact your performance. Additionally, I can talk to other people who have the same motivation. Personally, I can practice my Japanese because hearing sensei talking is very good practice. With the immediate translation, I have to check if I understood correctly what sensei said directly.

5. What future goals would you like to achieve through the training?

I want to get Sensei to know me better and build long-lasting friendships with him and the other Japanese dojo members. In the long term, I want to get to a master’s level in Asayama Ichiden Kai to get permission to open a club. The ultimate goal of mine would be to get a visit from Seki sensei to my hometown.