How to overcome my nervousness when I start shiai?

by umme
(Bandar Seri Begawan)

Even though I have been doing kendo since 2006, I still haven't figured out how to overcome my nervousness in shiai. I started owning a bogu this year and enjoyed my shiais. Any suggestions?

Answer: I am sure people have their own way to get over nervousness in shiai.

For example, when I was 14 or 15, I walked around before shiai applying the mokuso breathing. Breathing out as long as possible helped me a lot to calm down.

When you get nervous, you can't breathe deeply. So it makes sense to me that deep breath helps us to calm down. This is probably one of the easiest methods that you can try.