I couldn't find the person I wanted to find today, because I got lost, and by the time I found myself at the conservatory (I heard orchestral music! I felt so much like I was in the Nodame universe. *____*) it was near dark, and obviously most of the people had gone home, so I'll try again tomorrow.

Also I couldn't find the Fencing Club today D:

I went to the sports expo, and their table was completely empty.

I asked the Kendo Club people, and they said the fencing club was there two minutes ago. Oh well.

Today I got some insight into the wonderful world of Kendo ^_______^

They have the kendo weapon, which is basically a bamboo sword held with two hands. I thought it was sheathed with an actual weapon, but apparently that's only a figment of my imagination. XD

Me: "How heavy is the kendo sword anyway?"

(I think his name was Richard): "I'm carrying the female kendo sword, which is lighter than the one for males."

Me: *looks intently*

Richard (I think): "By competition standards, the female kendo sword is 490g, and the male kendo sword is 510g."

Me: "...That's easy! In fencing, foil is 500g, one hand."

(And now I know why during the demonstration I was told that it wasn't supposed to hurt unless your opponent hit really hard.)

They have their non-armour uniforms, which are basically the shirt part of kimonos, and then they have their hakama (skirt pants. Not skirts.) (Did I mention I really like hakama? They look really pretty ^^.)

And then...the armour. They have the waist guards, which look fine and usually bear the name of the association they're from, and sometimes their names too. And they have the chest protector, which in essence isn't too far off from the fencing ones, except they cover the stomach too, and they're black, shiny, and have interesting designs. (They're the outermost layer though, unlike in fencing, where you have the plastron, jacket and lame over it.) And then they have the mask, which is this rather showy thing as compared to the fencing mask. Quite pretty, but you have to use a bandana or something of the sort to cover the top of your head before you use it. They also have these mittens, which don't seem too far off from fencing gloves, because the forearms are targets too.

You have to stand with your right leg a little way in front of your left leg, regardless of handedness. It's apparently better for you if you travel on your toes, because it's faster. The demonstration was on concrete flooring though, so they had to keep their shoes on and I didn't see the speed at which they could travel on foot. Kendo matches are always conducted barefoot, I heard.

And you have to have battle cries to show the strength of your spirit. It's terribly entertaining to watch people when they do this because it sounds exactly like anime. The first thing that came into my head when I watched them do it was Reno attempting to attack Cloud during FFVII: AC (Reno: "URYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" *misses*). Apparently to score points you must not only hit cleanly, but at the same time, you must yell along with your hit, and only then will you receive one point.

It looked really embarrassing to do out in the open in front of so many people, but at the same time it looked like a lot of fun.

Well. I'll be joining that then. :D

And the name of my kendo sword... it shall be Celeste Anima (Blue Soul/Blue Spirit). Because I named my foil in Japanese, my kendo sword shall be done in Italian. ^_____^