Beginners - What Can I Expect?

A ‘typical’ lesson goes like this, although there are all sorts of variations of course!
Those who arrive first sweep or clean the dojo. This is done by everyone, and shows our willingness to keep our training place tidy. Some people use it for extra warm-up!

Then, everyone lines up and we have a regular warm-up, taiso in Japanese. This lasts anything between around five and fifteen minutes and we’ll usually run around a bit, or jump up and down to get the blood flowing. We’ll rotate things that need rotating and generally try and prepare ourselves for the coming session.

Next up is kihon – basics. If it’s your first class, you get taken to the back by one of the senior grades and taken through these one-on-one. The others practice basic punches, kicks and blocks. This is an opportunity for everyone to make sure their basic movements – the basis for pretty much all techniques – are correct and improving. At first, this is done alone, but usually we’ll do stuff with a partner for a while too.

This over, it’s time for chinkon, meditation. Everyone sits cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, and they breathe slowly in and out. This is zazen meditation.

Next up is howa – philosophy. Usually sensei will talk about one of Shorinji Kempo’s many topics and we’ll discuss what it means. Check out the philosophy section of this site for more details.

After this we split up into our different grades to learn techniques. Usually the senior grades will teach juniors.

And then, sometimes after a warm-down, it’s all over – don’t forget to pay your dojo fees!

Please note that different dojos do this in a different order, for longer or shorter time periods, and that described above is an ‘average’ lesson description only.