Agnieszka Krawczyk

When and where did you start Jodo training?
I started practicing Jodo in October 2013 at the Wrocław Kendo Association in Wrocław.

Why did you start practicing Jodo?
At my first Iaido training, I was invited to also come to the Jodo class and give it a try. I came, it clicked, and I’ve stayed ever since. More generally speaking, I joined the club because I was looking for some kind of physical activity and at the same time wanted to meet new people. I had already been interested in Japan for quite some time. In the past, I had also seen a Kendo demonstration, so I knew there was a club in my city that combined sports with Japan. I found it on the internet, and that’s how it all began.

Describe your typical Jodo training.
The main instructor in the club is Michał Szczepański, and for the past few years I’ve been his assistant, helping with classes. Michał teaches according to how his teacher in Japan taught him. We almost always start with kihon—tandoku dosa or sotai dosa—and then move on to kata. Sometimes, in a rotational system, we practice all 12 ZNKR forms, and other times we focus on selected ones and dedicate the whole training to them.

Describe the first European Jodo Championships you took part in. Tell us about your impressions of the event.
Espresso, pizza, an Italian villa, narrow streets, and a bus full of great people—that’s what comes to mind when I think of my first European Jodo Championships. Oh, and of course Michał as the crazy bus driver on Italian roads. The championships took place in Turin, Italy, in 2014. The whole trip was an extraordinary experience for me. I had been practicing Jodo for just a year, and it was beyond me to imagine that I could actually go to the European Championships. I was nervous, excited, and at the same time deeply grateful that I could be there. I remember I didn’t even have a complete uniform. I bought a kendogi right before the trip, and I borrowed a hakama from Michał. In the actual tournament I didn’t get very far, spectacularly stuffing my jo into my hakama during a match.

Which moment from the championships has stayed with you the most?
It’s hard for me to point to just one moment. I’ve taken part in many European Jodo and Iaido Championships, and the memories from all of them tend to blend together. Strangely enough, I don’t really remember the matches themselves at all—except for the major slip-ups that stuck in my memory, like the jo in my hakama I mentioned earlier, or missing the end of the jo in kaeshi tsuki. The memories that keep coming back are just snapshots of the time spent with other people. Like the entire team sleeping in a friendly dojo during the EJCs in Sweden and the evenings we spent together there, my first trip on a ferry, or the motivational song Niemiłość (alternative title: W dupie to mam) by Mikromusic, given to the whole team by our then-national coach Łukasz Machura, or tasting my first real Italian coffee at a gas station right after crossing the border into Italy, or celebrating the gold medal in Heidelberg—I don’t actually remember the celebration itself, but the next morning told me I must have celebrated loudly and without restraint ;)

Do you have any tried-and-true methods for dealing with stress during competitions?
Every competition stresses me out, and that hasn’t changed over the years. The most noticeable symptoms for me—such as rapid breathing, trembling hands, or sometimes a stomachache—appear right before my start, and the first match is always the hardest. Standing and waiting for my turn, I try to focus solely on my breathing. Sometimes I manage to calm it down. In recent years, between matches I’ve often been busy keeping track of others’ starts, taking photos, or helping as tachi, so I don’t really have time to think about my own matches, which limits the stress to the moments right before stepping onto the shiai floor.

What is the most demanding aspect of Jodo for you?
Working with a partner and maintaining control. Of course, there are many technical aspects in Jodo that give me a lot of trouble and that I still haven’t mastered. But the hardest part for me is the relationship with my partner during kata—responding to the signals they give, so that Jodo becomes a dialogue rather than just a repetition of forms. Unfortunately, I’m still far from fully understanding that part of Jodo. The same goes for controlling my own technique—ensuring that techniques don’t just “happen,” but are the conscious result of what I want to do. Reaching the point where I can truly trust my technique still feels beyond my grasp.

Present your competitive achievements in Jodo at the European Championships and other tournaments.
I am a three-time gold medalist in the Individual Tournament at the European Jodo Championships, as well as a gold medalist in the Team Tournament in 2023. At the Polish Championships, I’ve also won gold three times in the Individual Tournament.

What goals do you set for yourself today?
Not to lose the joy that Jodo gives me in the future, to pass the next grade, to develop the ability to train consciously, to improve my tachi side, and to learn the entire koryu jodo ;)