by José Antonio Delgado Hernández
On Friday 23 November at 7 o’clock in the morning, the neighbours of the small village where I live east of Paris were observing me leaving the house with that strange, narrow and tremendously long blue case. With a cup of coffee between their lips they would try, once again, to guess what it might be, a fishing rod perhaps? In any case, the time was unusual.
The plan was as follows: go to work and then meet the members of the Maisons-Alfort Naginata Club in front of the dojo to go to Rotterdam (Netherlands), where we would spend the weekend of the 24th and 25th November for the seminar organised by the European Naginata Federation (ENF) seminar with the special participation of Narita sensei and Yamane sensei coming directly from Japan.
Before leaving the house, I kissed my wife and children who were still sleepy and wished me good luck for the short trip. A strange feeling surrounded me throughout the morning. Sometimes a classmate or a student at the school where I work would catch me performing tai-sabaki or fanning the air with my hands with some uchi in my mind.
On the way to the dojo, I didn’t think I was capable of such an action. For more than 15 years my nervous system had been playing tricks on me. My life had been a constant struggle to be able to undertake the most banal actions for other people, which were a torment for me. So, during this long period I stayed away from the dojos, the big halls, the crowds…
But last year in February I was already there, in Rotterdam, during my first year of naginata practice. I can’t say it wasn’t hard at times, but the conclusion was a great positive evolution in my state of health and in the practice of this wonderful martial art. This year I already knew what my weapons were: my friends, the big naginata family were there and I couldn’t miss it.
While I was lost in these thoughts, I arrived at the dojo almost without realising it, and there I joined my colleagues for an adventure under the night sky. The main theme of the seminar would be kihon and up to 3 Dan grade examination was being organised. Many colleagues from France were travelling or had already travelled to the Dutch city during the day.
The journey could not have been different: during the five hours we talked about our passion, the naginata, and more precisely my senpais questioned each other about the aspects of the written test that would take place the next day. We arrived at the hotel at 1 a.m. and went straight to bed to get ready for the exciting weekend.
In the morning, during breakfast at the hotel and at the reception, we met a lot of old acquaintances, mainly French. They greeted us with joy and introduced us to new members who had decided to attend the seminar during their first year of practice. It is definitely the passion that moves us.
I was particularly happy to meet some practitioners from Spain. Although I have been living in France for many years, I am actually Spanish. So, I was delighted to meet those brave practitioners from Spain who are making such an effort to develop naginata in my country of origin, despite the obstacles that may be encountered along the way. I would like to take this opportunity to greet them and congratulate them for the work they are doing.
I confess that when I arrived at the imposing hall of the Erasmus Universiteit Sport Centrum, I hesitated a little, but now that I found so many colleagues from other countries, in the presence of so many friends, I could not feel abandoned. After the greeting in front of the smiling Narita sensei and Yamane sensei, accompanied by D’Hose sensei, Berghaan sensei and F. Dermine sensei, we launched into a kihon of around 70 participants.
Throughout the weekend we were split into 5 different groups according to our grades: the first group was made up of beginners and 5 kyu, the second of 4, 3 and 2 kyu, the third of 1 kyu, the fourth of 1 and 2 dan and the last of 3 to 5 dan. The technical programme was specially designed as a final preparation before the grade examination.
At first all the groups worked on the shikake oji with their respective sensei. All except for the last group, who I saw them working Zen Nihon Kata at the back of the room.
In the second group, where I was, we were able to work with F. Dermine sensei who allowed us to deepen and work on important details of the 8 shikake oji, focusing especially on the first 5. His natural way of explaining, always listening and his corrections were a great help in our learning.
Soon it was time for lunch and time to pass the written test for my classmates. We fussed over them during lunch and at the end we saw them coming down the stairs of the cafeteria making different grimaces to express their feelings during the test.
With our bellies full, we arrived back at the gymnasium where my group had the honour of enjoying Narita sensei’s teaching. His good humour won us over from the very first moment and his unquestionable and natural skill with the naginata surprised us. It was time to work on the basics: khion, posture, tai-sabaki, ten.ouchi, etc.).
We finished the day’s work ushi kaesi and bogu, with Berghaan sensei and Yamane sensei. While group 4 performed gokaku-geiko and group 5 performed shinpan activity with them.
That night, the theme was the same, together with my senpai with whom I shared the hotel room, we talked and talked about naginata till late.
The next morning, the good news came early, and we learned that our dear friends had passed their written exam. Now the practical part was missing, and nerves were in the air. In the morning my group worked with D’hose sensei on kihon and shikake oji. It was very interesting to work on the different furi waza using the partner’s naginata to visually guide our path.
After lunch, it was our turn to work with Nording Cronsten sensei. The posture, relaxation and fluidity of movement came in handy. Often, I can show myself to be tense or unduly exchange the strength in my hands. By boning the shikake oji movements we gained an understanding of the movement and its fluidity. This was a great help to me; it is something I need to work on constantly.
Good news began to arrive from colleagues who had managed to get their first dan, but also bad news: some had not made it this time. As the big family that we are, the joys and sorrows are shared. We are sure that next time they will make it, there is no doubt about that.
At last, we could enjoy the teachings of Delalande sensei with the bogu while other colleagues took the 2nd and 3rd dan exam. At the beginning a more technical work on the correct execution of furi waza and ushi in bogu and then we focused on attack and counterattack techniques.
The adventure was drawing to an end and little by little the gymnasium was emptying after the greeting. It was time to thank and wish to see each other soon. I stared in disbelief at the room that had hosted us for two days and so many hours. At another time in my life 5 minutes would have seemed like an eternity and now I stood there firmly and proudly surrounded by friends.
This was my modest chronicle of the European seminar in November 2024. Perhaps you have been wondering for a moment whether I claim that naginata has a particularly therapeutic effect on its practitioners. No, I don’t think it has a greater effect than any other martial art or sport. But don’t be disappointed if you are looking for a solution like mine: find a passion. One where your ambitions are equal to or greater than the fear you feel. Be lucky enough to find the right people to accompany you on the journey. Then all you need to do is close your eyes and jump. Practice and practice with your new family and create good times, memories that will overshadow and help you fight the negative experiences of life. We cannot choose what will happen to us, but we can choose how to deal with it.
