Demonstrations

[Will]

So I was asked by one of my friends to do a Kendo demonstration for our college for some Asian/Pacific Islander cultural demo stuff. We have a 5-15 minute time slot for the demonstration, I need some advice though. How can we make it, how my friend put it, "the tightest demonstration out of all of them." We're up against traditional dances and other performances and stuff.

But yeah, I need some recommendations on how to make our kendo demonstration interesting, fun etc. I was thinking kakarikeiko cause that's tight stuff when you do it against someone, but it's really tiring (haha, that's the point right).

all suggestions/comments/etc is welcomed

[Shiro]

yeah, kakarigeiko and a jigeiko after that, I think that should do it

[Hongsermeier]

Will,

Give Yoon or Arthur from Palo Alto a call. They put on pretty informative demos. They can be reached through the dojo web site. :croee_eye:

[Anjin-san]

wouldn't it be cool to do kata for five minutes, then put on your armour and bust into kakarigeiko + jigeiko, one minute everyones thinking, 'oh look, its another slow traditional type thing' and then the next you come out with your kiai blasting...

[Neil Gendzwill]

Here's our schedule, honed down over years of fine tuning. Make sure the transitions are smooth between the sections. Have a narrator but not an overly wordy one. History lessons and so forth over the mike go over like a lead balloon.

1. Kata - 3 or 4 pieces only, we usually do #1, #4, #7. 3 or 6 are good too. If you are confident doing this with iaito, use them rather than bokken. If you do more than 4 kata, you start to lose the crowd.
2. Point demonstration - with narration, two people demonstrate the 4 basic points plus a couple of combinations. Have one person do the basic, big version and the other do the small, competition version. Narrator should explain what judges are looking for in a point, otherwise the later demonstrations are very confusing. eg "And now Fred does big men, basic point to the head. Note how his foot and sword coordinate with the kiai, the shout - judges look for this when awarding a point."
3. Kiri-kaeshi (optional) - if you have a big group, have them all come out and do kiri-kaeshi at once - make sure to make a lot of noise.
4. Shiai - 2 pairs (3 at most), ippon-shobu, keep it short. Start with the least experienced, work up to the most experienced. Encourage the demonstrators to be as aggressive and loud as possible.
5. Kids (optional) - if you have some kids, get a couple of them out there with the biggest guy you've got and let them do 3 or 4 against one. This will be the most popular part of the demo - the smaller the kids and the bigger the motodachi, the better. Don't get rough with the kids at all - the crowd doesn't have the context to understand that.
6. Demonstration - your two most senior people should finish with a demonstration match. We usually go for a short period of time (30-60 sec) with a serious match, then let it degenerate into aigakari-keiko. Aigakari is the crowd pleaser, but if there are any budoka in the crowd they will appreciate the first part. If one of the pair can fight from jodan, bust that kamae out sometime during the demo.
7. Group bow - line up at the end and standing bow to the crowd. Narrator plugs the dojo at this time, giving quick contact details. Have pamphlets available.

[Old Warrior]

Neil

Great format. Well conceived and I intend to keep it for future use.

[Hongsermeier]

Neil, That sounds just like the Palo Alto demos. The only thing we changed was to drop off the Kata. :

[Neil Gendzwill]

I like doing the kata at a start. It shows another aspect of kendo, gives a real sword frame of reference to the upcoming shinai kendo, and provides a dramatic start. #1 never fails to get their attention. "He's not really going to swing at his head, is he?" <audible gasp>

[Hai_hai]

1. Don't bore the audience.
2. Preplan the entire demo. Write down an outline of the entire demo. Write down what the speaker is going to say, i.e. narration or at least an outline. No narrative or outline makes the speaker stumble for words and stutter ("ummm" is considered stuttering by professional speech therapists) unless they've done it before often.
3. Practice the demo after you plan it. Practice the narration. Read through your narration word for word with the demo. Time how long everything takes.
4. Make any changes that slow down the demo. Make any changes to the narration.
5. Keep it simple.

A boring narrative or boring part of the demo sucks from an audience point of view. That's leaves a bad impression... kendo is boring.

This goes for any demo.

If you will be showing free sparring, time it. Yell "yame" to end it. Try 30 seconds. That's how long a TV commercial is. A over-long kakari-keiko will start boring the audience.

[Old Warrior]

I may know very little about Kendo, but I have been a public speaker for over 30 years. Written narrative comes out stilted and mechanical unless you are a trained and practiced actor. Even then, someone else's words don't always fit the speaker. I have given 6 hour lectures from an outline. Anyone who has trained and loves Kendo and who can speak from the heart, with an earnest enthusiasm, will win over most crowds. And, Neil's format is well thought out and a great way to go.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've never scripted a speech or a presentation for myself as an adult. Point form notes are the way to go for presenting something complex, but for a kendo demonstration how hard can it be? Our usual narrator is a lawyer, so public speaking is like breathing to him, but the few times he hasn't been there and I've had to sub haven't been a problem.

[chidokan]

mine's pretty close to Neil's but I also do a niten piece, one on one and then start adding in a few more... its good fun as well as sharpening up your zanshin for those packed dojo nights...

also add in some iaido, where one does the waza, and a pair or more simulate same with bokken. I think its the only way to keep peoples attention for iaido....

[rainmaker]

Is this real Hai Hai ?? He sounds like intelligent men.... nahhh, it can't be..

1. Don't bore the audience.
2. Preplan the entire demo. Write down an outline of the entire demo. Write down what the speaker is going to say, i.e. narration or at least an outline. No narrative or outline makes the speaker stumble for words and stutter ("ummm" is considered stuttering by professional speech therapists) unless they've done it before often.
3. Practice the demo after you plan it. Practice the narration. Read through your narration word for word with the demo. Time how long everything takes.
4. Make any changes that slow down the demo. Make any changes to the narration.
5. Keep it simple.

A boring narrative or boring part of the demo sucks from an audience point of view. That's leaves a bad impression... kendo is boring.

This goes for any demo.

If you will be showing free sparring, time it. Yell "yame" to end it. Try 30 seconds. That's how long a TV commercial is. A over-long kakari-keiko will start boring the audience.