Anyone here take Kendo lessons? If so, what did you like/dislike about it?
I'm interested in taking up martial arts again (did a little bit of Karate, Kungfu, kickboxing when I was younger) and to me Kendo seems like one that would be interesting and perhaps keep me interested more than the others.
I once practiced with a Japanese high school Kendo team and got my ass kicked. But it was fun! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
Seriously, it is a great workout and you'll learn alot about timing, footwork, and the importance of distance, not to mention improve your speed and coordination.
Great for developing discipline too, as it takes patience and thousands of painful hits on the head and wrists to get anywhere. And believe me, even though you have the headgear and gloves on those shinai strikes sting!
Maybe Marykaa can chime in here as she's our resident fencing expert.
There was a Kendo club at the sports center where I fenced.. I never did Kendo, but talked with the guys a couple of times and it seems to have alot in common with fencing.. just that the mouvements are huge, where in fencing we do all that in a few inches... It must be alot of fun and very interesting tactics-wise. I consider learning it someday if there was a club close.
Actually, Kuri gave a very good summary. Kumdo is tremendous for developing speed, timing, accuracy, distance, concentration and, perhaps most importantly, spirit. A good training session can get you pretty gassed, as well as leaving various muscles feeling well used. I consider my sword training to be the epitome of martial arts training, and perhaps the highest form of the arts. Some schools/clubs might simply practice for the competition. We practice for that, but also practice with the mokum (wooden sword), which simulates a sharp sword: drawing, arranged sparring techniques, and patterns. Also, some of those can be done with a sharp sword at black belt ranks, including cutting.
Practice is done with a sense that a mistake could very well mean death, if it had been done with a sharp sword. Concentration and accuracy are demanded (and maybe will come someday LOL ) to the precision of the sharp edge of a blade, as opposed to simply a big 'ol foot to the ribs.
And the strikes to the head aren't really that bad. A good one can ring the ears a bit. The ones to the wrist, however, CAN really sting. And if the opponent misses your side protector and hits high under the armpit: OUCH! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Well, first, I'll use different terminology since I study Korean arts. But. . .
Kumdo (Kendo) is the practice with the jukdo (bamboo sword) for the purposes of training for competition.
Kumbup (sword technique) is the practice with the mokum (wooden sword) which encompases (1) patterns, (2) arranged sparring with a partner (opponent attacks with prearranged attack and defender counters with the prearranged technique) and (3) Baldo-Napdo (drawing and putting away), which I imagine is the equivalent of Iaido. We also have a couple of other practice forms with partners of which I am not sure were they fit in comparison to the Japanese arts.
Within our family/system, all of these components are part of our study. I saw a demonstration by some other black belts within one of our cousin associations that used a very short sword, which I think was about the size of a tanto. So, I guess that might pop up at some point in time, but I've not used one yet.
Just as there are taekwondo schools that only train for sport fighting, I believe that there are also kendo schools that only train for the sport competition, with no practice of traditional sword arts. We, I feel, are very fortunate to practice the combination of Kumdo and Kumbup.
I hope that is clear and helps. Feel free to ask more.
[ QUOTE ]
Anyone here take Kendo lessons? If so, what did you like/dislike about it?
I'm interested in taking up martial arts again (did a little bit of Karate, Kungfu, kickboxing when I was younger) and to me Kendo seems like one that would be interesting and perhaps keep me interested more than the others.
Hi, David! Good to hear from you again. Thanks for the link, but I can't get to it. I signed up, but I either get a blank page, or it tells me no access/doesn't exhist.
HI Chris, how are you?
Sorry about the pic, ive never been great at posting pictures on the forum, I will learn how though.
I had a busy year in Kendo last year, fought in Steveston, Toronto and England. I graded for sandan (3rd dan) as well and was successful. This year (06) has started equally busy with a tournament and seminar in Saskatoon, its been very motivating thats for sure.
I have some action shots somewhere ill do my best to post them.
Kendo
Linear Mode
