Ladies' Info? Post up!

[GreenArrow]

Welcome ladies, and also any gents who want to see things from a different perspective ;)

OK, we've had a few posts recently concerning womens' perspectives:

Shinai- Who uses a 38 shinai?

Bogu- Replacing my Men and Do for short torso (ladies)


How do people feel about shifting these over to the Women's Forum and sticky them up so there's some starting info?


C'mon ladies, let's post up!

GreenArrow.

[Commander]

Hey, great to see a women's forum :D

Keep up the good work!

[GreenArrow]

Thanks Commander.

I've put a few groundrules up, so all know where they stand. Any ideas on them, drop me a PM.

Any other threads form the past you'd like see transferred to here, drop me a note too.

Welcome on board!

[Cool Cat]

Dear Green Arrow,

I think the ladies section is a great idea. I will try to support you from a males perspective when needed. Good luck with your training.

Cheers

[Solinde]

Great idea, now it's a lot easier to find this kind of discussions. At first I thought "what a stupid idea", but when I started looking at the kind of issues being raised I realised I was the stupid one. A big yay! for this forum.

[runsyi]

Okay, I found it. I don't feel like such an idiot anymore.

Here's a link (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hawkinfo/) to the Hawaii Association of Women Kendoists (HAWK) if anyone is interested in taking a look.

[WolfofMibu]

Well i think it is a good idea having a ladies forum so all the lady kendoka out their can get their problems solved by other women who have expireinced it.


I am a guy so i probably shouldnt be in here but all you ladies have my support!!!!!

[Bailee]

This is a good idea. It makes me feel like I can post instead of just browsing. Plus it'd be nice to communicate with other women who practice kendo and iai.

[GreenArrow]

This is a good idea. It makes me feel like I can post instead of just browsing. Plus it'd be nice to communicate with other women who practice kendo and iai.

Welcome on board Bailee.

The idea of this forum is a friendly place where us ladies can have a natter about all the things we wouldn't want to discuss with the guys... or that they wouldn't necessarily understand or be interested in.

It can be very daunting coming into the male-dominated Kendo world, even for those of us who work in male-dominated professional spheres. As I'm still very new to Kendo, the memories are fresh too...!

Be nice to see you posting up on the topics, please do feel free to add or to start new threads if you've any other questions.

TTFN.

[Miyu]

Oh Wow! A forum dedicated to women's kendo. Great to see this!

:D

[Mugu]

Wow! It actually happened! Nice! Now GreenArrow, we need a private thread-login-only to talk stuff about guys, hehehe JUST KIDDING!

Hey seriously, I heard there was a kendo women organization a while back that was in California area. They have meeting every month or something. But there are none in my region. Don't know if they're still active. I think that's something we female Kendoka can help to expand on. I mean, a lot of Women think Kendo is just violent. We need to introduce the philosophical side of Kendo to women to get more women to practice Kendo. And also promote something like by taking their kids to practice Kendo with them can influent their kids in a more positive way. I don't know, I just type whatever comes into mind.

Just babbling... bleh

P.S. - Should we introduce ourselves a bit. Maybe we can get together one day to start the World Women Kendo Association or something?:D

Name: Man (mon) Lu
I practice at Minnehaha Kendo Club - Minneapolis, MN
# of women there: 3 (we used to have 6!)
Been practicing a year: started May 2005 and in bogu for about 4 months now.
No rank yet though.

[GreenArrow]

Hi Mugu,

Wow! It actually happened! Nice! Now GreenArrow, we need a private thread-login-only to talk stuff about guys, hehehe JUST KIDDING!

Don't worry, if the guys Troll the GreenArrow'll get them!:devious: :ogre: :ogre: :devious:

Hey seriously, I heard there was a kendo women organization a while back that was in California area. They have meeting every month or something. But there are none in my region. Don't know if they're still active.

Sounds cool... I'm told that the BKA in the UK do ladies' seminars, but I don't think they've noticed I'm female yet... :rolleyes: But I have found that they advertise on the BKA website so at least I'll know to take a look in future.

I think that's something we female Kendoka can help to expand on. I mean, a lot of Women think Kendo is just violent. We need to introduce the philosophical side of Kendo to women to get more women to practice Kendo.

Interesting one that. In my dojo, the "be and end all" that the whole evening seems to lead up to is to fight each other. Yes the starting with Kata is good- but I don't think we've yet had a night when the big boys didn't have a fight, even though they also have a Saturday purely for this to which those of us not in armour are not allowed, even though we do pay the same fees.

Now OK, I'm not as yet in armour, goodness knows when I will be... nor am I worried about that in that I would like to get my basics right first. But I do reckon that if you over emphasise the hitting each other bit then you could undervalue the aspects that lead to good form and also good character- thinking kata for example. I also like to do kata with the other (one) woman in our dojo- it's much more co-operative I notice.

And also promote something like by taking their kids to practice Kendo with them can influent their kids in a more positive way. I don't know, I just type whatever comes into mind.

OK, so I'm new to this, but I do think you have a point about the philosophical side. But that is a personal view.

Just babbling... bleh

P.S. - Should we introduce ourselves a bit. Maybe we can get together one day to start the World Women Kendo Association or something?:D

I'll put an intro thread up...

[tantadi]

OT comment: Some women might need a very gentle, philosophical introduction to the art. But not all. Especially those who are used to any sort of contact sports or other martial arts seem to have little problem with "the violence" of kendo. Keiko and bogu practise is my favorite part of kendo, and I'm grateful towards the guys who have taken me seriously enough to "beat the crap" out of me at every training so that I could learn something.

[Alison2805]

Yeah, me too. Maybe Im just crap at kata, but nothing beats running around hitting people :P The philosophical side is great, but we are doing a sport too.

[Alison2805]

Mugu - Ill follow your example!

Name: Ali Craven
I train at the Murdoch University Kendo Club
# of women: I seem to be the only one who turns up to training weekly... There are 2 others, plus one fresh out of beginners.
I started roughly a year ago, now 5th kyu.

[GreenArrow]

OT comment: Some women might need a very gentle, philosophical introduction to the art. But not all. Especially those who are used to any sort of contact sports or other martial arts seem to have little problem with "the violence" of kendo. Keiko and bogu practise is my favorite part of kendo, and I'm grateful towards the guys who have taken me seriously enough to "beat the crap" out of me at every training so that I could learn something.

Agreed.

But I think the thing is, if you emphasise any one aspect at the expense of the others you may well lose people who otherwise would stay.

Maybe "taking you seriously enough" is the key thing to all the aspects of Kendo?

[tantadi]

The curriculum of kata in kendo and what it demands performance wise at is quite meager compared to some other arts. So it is only natural that about every training has quite a bit of training in bogu. People should stay because they want to do kendo, not a accomodated version of it. Maybe iaido or kenjutsu would suit them better.

[Lone Kitten]

many thanks to GreenArrow for getting this all sorted. It's definitley an amazing idea! KWF is an ace forum, made even better by this forum!

[Mugu]

OT comment: Some women might need a very gentle, philosophical introduction to the art. But not all. Especially those who are used to any sort of contact sports or other martial arts seem to have little problem with "the violence" of kendo. Keiko and bogu practise is my favorite part of kendo, and I'm grateful towards the guys who have taken me seriously enough to "beat the crap" out of me at every training so that I could learn something.

I completely agree. I'm one of those who has no problem with violence... I think my boyfriend loves going to movies with me because I have no problem watching gore/action movies. Violence makes me laugh sometimes... such as Kill Bill... sick but what the hell. When I first started Kendo, I used Kendo as a stress release sport. Then slowly I discovered it is more than that. But how many women actually love violent and can get pass the stage of "It is not about whacking each other. But learn self-discipline." I guess that's what I mean the "philosophical side".

And yes, I thank everyone in my dojo who beat the crap out of me. Boy, last night I got some good beating done. Sensei versus me all night because there were only two of us.

[tantadi]

he-he I did use the acclamation (?) marks "" when I spoke about violence. I don't want to inflict injury on anyone, but at the same time I don't see bruises from the occasional missed hit as injury. I guess you agree.

The "whacking" in kendo can also have its philosophical and character building aspects, for those who want to see it. The emotional and spiritual challenge is there. :)