Best US kendo

[Hai_hai]

What part of the US has the best kendo?

[AlexM]

I voted for the West Coast, however I would have liked to include the NYC area in the "best places" for kendo in the US.

Of course, I'm only going on reputation (the West Coast of the US is reputed to have the best kendo in the country... just look at how many members of the US team are from California alone).

It's interesting that this somewhat mimics the situation in Canada where you have 2 centers for the best kendo: the West Coast (Vancouver, etc.) + Toronto (keep staying away, they're lying about being SARS free). In other words, the West Coast plus the largest City/Metropolitan area in the country.

This is not to say that kendo everywhere else sucks (alright, the kendo in Moose Jaw sucks), it's just that you'll find more "higher quality" kendoka in those areas and more experienced sensei. For instance I've heard good things about the guy who won the last Detroit tournament. He's from, of all places, Miami Valley (Ohio).

Just my 2¢...

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by AlexM
alright, the kendo in Moose Jaw sucks

Bad example, the guy who teaches in Moose Jaw is sandan. Which admittedly sucks compared to Vancouver or TO but I think you were shooting for a completely kendo-less town there...

[AlexM]

THERE'S KENDO IN MOOSE JAW!?!?!?!?!?

Neil, you've stunned me.... I mean: IT'S MOOSE JAW! For the love of God!

Fine, I take it back.

The kendo in Medicine Hat sucks.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Yeah, Mike Underwood works at the air force base there. His dad, Jim, is fairly well known in Ontario kendo.

There's nothing in the Hat, you're safe. For western provinces you've got Victoria, Vancouver (and suburbs), Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. And Moose Jaw.

[Hongsermeier]

Moose Jaw...Medicine Hat where in the hell do you Canadiens come up with names?

No offense but Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary those I can understand.

[AlexM]

That's just in English Canada. There all plenty of normal names in Quebec like Chibougamau, Chicoutimi, Saguenay, St-Michel-Des-Saints, Latuque, St-Alphonse-de-Rodriguez, St-Zénon, Mascouche, Maskinongé, Les Escoumins, etc...

See, perfectly normal.

I would like to apologize to the entire kendo community of Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. I had no idea you existed.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Hongsermeier
Moose Jaw...Medicine Hat where in the hell do you Canadiens come up with names?

Some of them come from the building of the CPR (the coast to coast railway). They had to build a little town every 30 miles or so to support the effort and name it something, so they did it alphabetically. That's how you end up with names like "Zealandia".

No offense but Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary those I can understand.

Well Victoria is after Queen Victoria but the other two don't make any more sense to me than Moose Jaw. Or "Walla Walla" for that matter. It's a matter of familiarity.

[dorkusxmaximus]

i say the Westcoast.

[Hai_hai]

Although this thread has nothing to do with Canada, the names of Canadian cities, towns, rivers, and provinces are based on French names, English names, Native American (Indian or Inuit) names, or the English version of the Native American names.

[Tato]

Same thing in USA, + lot's of spanish names...

places like California, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Florida....

Rei

[m_french]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill

Or "Walla Walla" for that matter.

Hey now Neil, don't start messin' with Warshington....it's eastern Warshington but it's still Warshington.:beard:

[Hai_hai]

I guess it's the West Coast.

[hammock]

The name Calgary supposedly came from "Clear Running Water" for the Bow River that runs through it. You can tell a visitor to Calgary by the way they pronounce the city name, even people from Edmonton call it "Cal-Ga-Rie", whereas the locals say "Cal-Grie" (2 syllables)

I think thats the same with Vancouver as well. Most people not from the Lower Mainland would say "Van-Coo-Ver", but my friend told me the locals refer to their city as "Van-Cuever"

Same goes for "To-Ron-To" and "Tarranna"

[m_french]

Thanks for the lesson in Canadian, but why on earth do you call a couch a chesterfeild......................eh?:beard:

[Neil Gendzwill]

Chesterfield was a brand name of a particular kind of couch. I thought that was more mid-western US than Canadian.

Here's a Canadianism for you - we take off our shoes when entering someones house, unless instructed otherwise. Americans tend to leave theirs on.

[Inouye02]

Chesterfiels was a name for ciggaretts also

[Raiza]

Originally posted by hammock
I think thats the same with Vancouver as well. Most people not from the Lower Mainland would say "Van-Coo-Ver", but my friend told me the locals refer to their city as "Van-Cuever"

Nope. Vancouverites refer to their city as "Vang-coo-ver" and sometimes derisively call it Hongcouver, due to the massive influx of people from Hong Kong this past decade before the Chinese took over the former British colony. This amazingly pretty city, where I happen to come from, was named after British captain George Vancouver.

I guess this thread goes to show that if you want to bash a town for its bad or nonexistent kendo, you better be familiar with that town.

The kendo in Spuzzum SUCKS.