Unfortunately, no regular Naginata training is possible in Germany at the moment. And so we need a good head for improvisation. That’s why some naginata-ka use video meetings to train together on a regular basis. Of course, not everyone has a large living room, so most people need to adapt. It turned out: you can use an ebu without a habu in a room at home.
Other naginata-ka make use of the time rehearsing theory together in online conferences. It’s just perfect if you want to have a look into some workings of the Japanese language, or if you want to know what you are shouting during a practical training session.
Aside from all these changes, work for the German Naginata Federation never stops. All of us are longing for normal training sessions, seminars and tournaments. But as long as there’s a pause, we invest our time in a lot of background work. One of the current projects is the redesign of our kyu exam questions and the compilation of a list of possible answers. And maybe in summer we will be able to meet again in person and practice Naginata together. At the very least, this is what we all are hoping for.
Ines Klose