1. Why did you decide to join the online lessons?
I had the chance to attend a similar school twenty years ago but I had to move away for college. Even though I only got to sit in for a few classes, I regretted that choice many times. Fast forward to early in 2023, I started looking for local or online classes (as I had done many times before), and found the Let’s Ask Shogo YouTube channel. I was considering training Iaido because of its beautiful movements demonstrated by Shogo, but I also hoped for more practical techniques. Before I looked much further, I saw the announcement of the Let’s Ask Seki-Sensei channel, and when I saw Seki-sensei explaining their reasoning for their unique drawing technique, it was so enlightening – It was exactly what I’d hoped for all along: beautiful techniques as well as applied historical tactics. I ordered the basic starting gear and joined at once.
2. Why will you train here and not at any other online lessons?
Seki-sensei is a wonderful teacher. He’s patient, kind, extremely talented, and he’s very funny. He can find the root cause of an incorrect move, and explain exactly how to resolve it – even in the online lessons, he can discern the areas where students need the most practice. I didn’t think that was possible over an online video call. The rest of the crew are a delight: Shogo-san’s excellent live translations, Tsukada-san’s demonstrations (and entertaining stuntman skills), and Kurosawa-san’s precise comments and camera work are a once-in-a-lifetime combination. I am eternally grateful for the gift of Seki-sensei and his team. The search for a school is over!
3. What changed before and after you joined?
Besides finding a walkable path back to my childhood dreams, I find that these lessons are helping me learn about how my mind and body work, and in doing so, I see new ways I in which I can master myself. Practicing one detail of one move out of an entire kata until I’ve begun to understand it seems small, but it opens up a method to taking control over a larger part of myself, or at least learning to harness it. Acceptance of my mistakes, eagerness to correct them, evidence of my own potential… all of these sensations are surprising, and it feels amazing.
4. What is the best part about joining?
Learning from a master of so many things. It’s unbelievable how Seki-sensei can pick up ordinary objects in the room and find a way to teach with them (from regular dish towels to eggs to what looked like a giant ribbon), and then you can hand him any number of fantasy weapons or styles from anime characters and he’ll provide a practical application for it in real scenarios. It’s inspiring, to say the least.
5. What future goals would you like to achieve through the training?
- The short answer for this would be to keep training and making Seki-sensei proud, because a smile from him, and him saying that he feels like a good teacher when one of us students has a breakthrough… makes us all proud as a whole.
The true answer is that Seki-sensei’s energy is contagious, and now I also want to do whatever I can to help Seki-sensei fulfill his dream of growing the school to its ancient heights. I can think of no nobler pursuit than to make those who came before us proud of their continued legacy, and no effort to obtain that is too much. To have even a small part in validating the predecessor’s trust in Seki-sensei, and every predecessor before him, would be a huge honor for any of us.
- Dan Rank
- Katana 2nd Dan / Jō 2nd Dan
- Course
- Katana (Sat & Sun) and Jō
- Training Duration
- Since April 2023
- Camera
- I use the Logitech BRIO UHD 4K Webcam. It sits on top of a generic microphone stand. I don't have a link for my specific one, but this one is close. And the threading/screw to attach the camera, if it doesn't fit the Webcam's 1/4" threading, you can get adapters like these, or something similar, and you should be fine.
- Screen
- For my screen, I just use a regular laptop on my kitchen counter. I do use the Screen Share/Cast Screen/Screen Mirroring options in an old Roku web player, but any Smart TV should have those options, and that's a quick Google search away. Using this, I have more opportunity to watch the instructors and face different directions so they can more easily provide feedback.
- Any tips for taking lessons?
- The main barrier to taking the lessons for me (and it's likely the same for most students) was having enough space and time to practice. To solve my space issue, I bought these furniture coasters and cut them to size for each piece of furniture. Now I move my couches out of the way before bed and back again after morning classes - they make it very easy to push furniture around safely and quickly on wood flooring. To solve my time issue, I had to make sure my family knew how important this training was to me, I made some compromises and promises to them, and in return, I was able to carve out time for myself in the mornings. (It wasn't as difficult as it sounds, but that was an important step. My next project is trying to build a utopia for my pets to keep them out of the training area without me having to lock them up in my laundry room.)
