Łukasz Machura

When and where did you start Jodo training?
In 2002 I went to Germany on a scholarship. At that time, I was practicing Aikido, and I was very lucky to be able to train regularly at Sensei Nagano Hiromichi’s dojo in Munich. There, the Saturday Jodo training was mandatory for future instructors. It was usually led by Marie-Luise Tomasek, then a 3rd dan in Jodo, but sometimes Sensei Nagano himself took over—he was 1st dan in Jodo at the time. So, I guess my first encounter with Jodo must have been in September 2002.

Why did you start practicing Jodo?
Part of the answer is already above—by taking part in the instructor training, I had to also attend Jodo practice. My real, conscious Jodo training began in February 2004, when I met Sensei Henry Schubert. In Augsburg, where I was living at the time, I was looking for an Iaido dojo. The dojo where Henry was teaching Iaido was the only place that offered Iaido training. But once again, one of the rules of the group he ran was also mandatory Jodo practice. So I began training Jodo alongside Iaido—because that’s what Henry required. The atmosphere at those trainings was completely different from the Aikido dojo, and the approach to weapons was more—how should I put it—serious. Henry’s teaching was also much more comprehensive. And the training itself was much harder. I really liked that approach.

Describe your typical Jodo training.
These days, I usually lead the training, and I tend to plan it in a classic way. We start with tandoku dosa and sotai dosa, where I focus on one technique—or more often, on a specific technical problem. Then we usually move on to kata. Right now, everyone in the dojo has the chance to train the kata that interests them most, since the group is nicely diverse. As you can see—nothing extraordinary.
When I train on my own, at seminars, I usually work on a single point I want to understand in Jodo.

Describe the first European Jodo Championships you took part in. Tell us about your impressions of the event.
My first competition was Brighton in 2006. That was still the time when the Iaido and Jodo Championships were combined, so we spent almost a week in England. Honestly, I don’t remember much from the championships themselves—maybe just a few moments. I remember Shiya Sensei shouting at us during the seminar “use your brain”, and how he kept mixing Japanese, English, German, and Italian. I remember long hours spent talking over beers with Sensei Jock and Sensei Momiyama. I also remember that during the tournament I badly bruised Michał Nowakowski’s left forearm, because one of the kata was Tsuki Zue. I remember my first training with Sida, who later became my nemesis in Jodo. And of course, I remember the joy of winning my first gold medal at the European Jodo Championships.