「Private or Group Lesson (Sports)」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Elise Nishii-Kim: Yin Yoga

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Me with my yoga teacher, Asako-sensei!

For my Community Involvement Project, I attended weekly Yin Yoga sessions at Tamisa Yoga Studio’s Teramachi-dori location. Our classes focused on breathing and slow pose transitions, which created an amazingly relaxed and centered environment. The instructor, Asako-sensei, was a kind and supportive presence for me throughout the semester and I always looked forward to attending her class. Studying abroad can be overwhelming and stressful at times, and going to Yin Yoga was a great way for me to practice mindfulness and calm while also learning about Japanese culture, communication styles, and social expectations.  I loved my class and my teacher, and was able to build a lot of meaningful connections with my classmates during our post-class tea time. I highly recommend Tamisa Yoga studio to incoming students, whether they have experience with yoga or not!

Sam Kirkconnell: Kyudo at the Kyoto City Budo Center

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Kyudo is a Japanese martial art of longbow archery, which incorporates rhythmic movement with fluid marksmanship, achieving the spiritual state of inner peace and the mindful act of shooting its target. In Kyudo, there are eight essential steps you perform before you shoot the target, and there is a heavy emphasis in taking time in learning each step as masterfully as you can before you can even pick up a bow.  A lot of patience is required in order to not only achieve a well-rehearsed performance but to also see the merit and enjoyment of Kyudo. As stated before, a large part in practicing Kyudo is being able to observe the instructions the Kyudo sensei is able to give and being able to apply the correct techniques in order to have a smooth performance with a zen mindset.

Colin Dunn: Futur Boxing Gym

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For my CIP activity I elected to join the Futur Boxing Gym by Muratamachi Station. By signing up, you get access to all the gyms facilities throughout the week, with instructors on standby to adjust your form, give you tips, help you run drills (like pad work), and assist you in getting acquainted with the training area. I had a great time not only training with the coaches, who were always enthusiastic and eager to help, but also using the sport to bond with others over a shared admiration. If you watch combat sports, it can be a fantastic way to break the ice with some of the other people training there. My advice for anyone interested in boxing gyms is to be confident when approaching someone to practice Japanese. Because of the nature of the gym, people probably won’t just come up to you to talk, it’s up to you to make the first move. However, if you do overcome some of the awkwardness, it can be an extremely rewarding experience both physically and linguistically.

Andrew Feenstra: Kyudo

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For my CIP, I decided to do Kyudo at the Kyoto City Budo Center. There are a lot of things to remember each week, such as proper etiquette, proper form, etc., but once you get it down it feels insanely rewarding. The sensei at the dojo was super friendly and was very accommodating despite the language barrier. At the end, I felt extremely comfortable using the huge bow and was able to hit the target almost in the center! My advice to incoming students would be that you should not hesitate to make more friends at the dojo! It can be intimidating, but it can make your experience a lot more meaningful and improve your Japanese tenfold.

Charlie Carpenter: Jiu Jitsu

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For my CIP this semester, I chose to practice Jiu Jitsu at Ground Core. Ground Core is a dojo run by Morimoto Sensei and includes many other skilled masters at Jiu Jitsu that come to practice. The people there are fun to train with and are very kind to new members. Although Jiu Jitsu was a new sport for me I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Ground Core, it is one I will never forget.

Malia Marinchak: Yoga at Tamisa Studio

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This semester I attended weekly classes at the Tamisa Yoga studio in Sanjo Teramachi as part of my CIP. Throughout my classes I was able to experience what Yoga practice looks like in Japan as well as join as forge connections with the other students and have meaningful conversations with the variety of instructors on ways to improve and deepen my practice. The studio offers classes taught in Japanese only or dual taught in English and Japanese, and while I mainly attended the Japanese only ones, both were incredibly helpful as listening practice.

Since I had attended a different study abroad program in Japan for 8 weeks before the semester started, where I got to study Japanese traditional dance (本舞踊), this fall I was interested in returning to something that I do back in the US, that allowed me to prioritize mindfullness and exercise while I studied abroad. This kind of CIP worked for me since I also volunteered at a teahouse throughout the semester, so the project was more like a supplement, rather than the main way I interacted with my community.

While this worked for me, my circumstances were a bit unique, so If you haven’t experienced a traditional Japanese art, I would definitely recommend trying that, or volunteering with local organizations. 

Kailey Garcia: Hip Hop at FlyDanceStudio

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For my CIP, I took weekly hip-hop classes at FlyDanceStudio, located in Kawaramachi. I attended three classes led by Ruka先生、Nana先生、and Neo先生 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Nana’s class was beginner dance, and Ruka and Neo’s classes were taught at the intermediate/advanced level. Regardless of the indicated level, I think every class challenged me each time I attended. Over time, I began to notice gradual improvements in both areas, especially in dance retention and overall confidence. The studio didn’t really foster an environment where I could always talk freely in Japanese since the classes were structured so that the instructor could teach a whole choreo within the set time, but in the moments I did exchange conversation with my classmates and instructors, it was always encouraging. Not just with dance, but also when trying to apply language skills in real life, you’re put in situations where hesitation can hold you back from reaching your full potential. Taking classes in a language that, although I’m learning, I didn’t know the proper dance terminology, I had to learn to not be afraid to make mistakes in order to accurately measure growth. Despite the limited communication in class, every time I walked out of class with more motivation to continue studying Japanese in order to preserve the relationship I had with my instructors. Whether it’s taking a dance class for the first time or when you’re put in flight-or-fight mode, I think the most memorable moments I had in Kyoto were when I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone even if I wasn’t fully confident I could.

Daniel Kryzhanovsky: Dance

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While here in Kyoto, I did dance lessons at Fly Dance Studio near Teramachi. While here, I specifically focused on hip-hop dance lessons, slowly and surely improving my skills one class at a time. For those interested, they offer a variety of dance lessons other than hip-hop, like K-pop and jazz.

Although I wasn’t super good at it at first, I gradually improved and learned several dance moves and movements I wasn’t sure I could pull off, isolation in particular being one of the techniques that challenged me in a good way. I also met some cool people along the way who ended up chatting with me from time to time in between lessons.

If you want to do something that makes you feel a little intimidated or out of your comfort zone, don’t worry about those feelings and do what’s calling to you. You’ll end up regretting that decision–do whatever is calling to you and you’ll have the time of your life!

Ann Zhao: 弓道 with 古屋先生 at Kyoto City Budo Center

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For my CIP, I went to the Kyoto City Budo Center once or twice every week for two hours each practice and tried Kyudo under 古屋先生! Kyudo is not quite like the competitive sports I have tried in the States. It is kind of like archery, but more focused on the presentation and the process of drawing the bow rather than aiming and hitting the target. I picked this CIP in the first place because I wanted to do some sort of exercises, and I also wanted to build more upper body strength. This CIP works perfectly for my personal goals!

Connecting with the local community at the Budo Center can be a bit challenging. Communicating with 古屋先生 gets challenging at times, but he is really sweet and very funny (i hope my Japanese is good enough to understand all of his jokes). As clumsy as I am, I still really enjoyed Kyudo! I think the repetition of the same movements and focusing entirely on my body is a new and meditative experience for me. It was also very rewarding (especially when I actually hit the target) and relaxing.

I recommend this CIP to anyone looking for a new experience and wanting to move their bodies a bit! To put it simply, Kyudo is just really cool-looking. 🙂

Noah Bell: Kyūdo Lessons

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A picture of me about to fire an arrow

For my CIP this semester, I had the opportunity to learn Kyūdo under Furuya Sensei at the Kyoto Budo center. For about 2 hours each week, we worked hard to learn the forms and etiquettes of Japanese traditional archery. Our lessons were conducted entirely in Japanese.

The experience was quite challenging at times, but super rewarding since you could see steady progress each week. On top of that, Furuya Sensei was super kind and had a good sense of humor. He was hard to understand at times, but he knew we were trying our best and would show how proud he was of our effort which made me feel super happy and grateful.

If you’re looking to learn Kyūdo, my advice would be to let yourself make mistakes because you are going to make a lot of them. There are so many practices that everyone around you will already know, so don’t feel embarrassed if you mess up or get corrected as it’s all part of the learning experience. Also, I would say to try not to worry too much about your success in hitting the target. KyÅ«do, like many Japanese traditional arts, is about form above all else. If you get the forms correct, accuracy will follow, not the other way around.