Kendo vs Gym

[MACSTA]

ok this question is more directed at people who have done kendo for a while and do it consistently, but anyone can have a stab.
Do you guys think that kendo is replacement or substitute for going to the gym, or rather going to the gym complements kendo??

[Hongsermeier]

I would have to say going to the gym complements kendo. Cross training is very helpfull. I know doing some areobic workout helped my stamina. :cross_eye

[Neil Gendzwill]

If your intent is to get physically fit, hit the gym. Kendo is not the most efficient way towards fitness. If you're doing kendo and you're not hitting the gym, get thee hence. Amazing how much easier it is to concentrate on your kendo when you're not sucking wind.

[Atama]

I do do both kendo and the gym, mainly for the reason that kendo strengthens the left leg more than the right leg which has left my right knee surseptable to injury and caused an in balance in my quads.
Weather you choose to cross train is preference I personally enjoy a hard work out in the gym.

[Sir Percy]

Kendo is taxing and a mixed aerobic/anaerobic workout. Similar to raquet sports and western fencing. Best method of conditioning for these is gym with resistance and aerobic training, polymetrics and the sport itself.

[Karaken]

Here's what happened to me - in sequence.

- I was involved in many martial arts and team sports when I was young and active.
- Having family and job ( and kids ) left me with little chance of team sport or physical activities.
- As we get older, I was urged by my spouse to join a health club and do threadmil and bikes and weight etc..
- It was boring so I started to skip them more and more
- When I needed more physical exercise that can interest me, I chose Kendo ( Exposed to it by accident )
- I rarely skip once or twice Kendo session - afterall, it's a matter of priority. It's been seven years since.
- Now that I'm getting a bit more serious about Kendo, I'm thinking about resuming some running or extra exercise FOR KENDO

Oh, the circle of life and Center!

[junkyman]

yeah, you need the gym and kendo to get in shape. Kendo itself won't really do it i would suspect from the abundance of beer bellies I see among my fellow kenshi (myself included).

[ben]

Macsta - this question ahs been asked before many times in different guises. Try trawling through old threads related to cross-training, anaerobic vs aerobic, weight-training, etc, etc, etc.

b

[kendomushi]

As with any activity, once you do it for a long time, it provides less benefit in terms of exercise.
For example, after over 10 years of kendo, once a week provides little exercise benefit. However, if I increase that to 3 or 4 times a week, or even just add one other activity once a week, I will get much greater benefit from the combination.
Long story short, you need both to be your best.

[samurai999]

Originally posted by MACSTA
ok this question is more directed at people who have done kendo for a while and do it consistently, but anyone can have a stab.
Do you guys think that kendo is replacement or substitute for going to the gym, or rather going to the gym complements kendo??

If you already go to the gym regularly, there is no reason to quit because you start kendo. Frequent exercise outside of kendo will make you better suited to the high-impact cardiovascular workout you get doing kakari-geiko or continuous kiri-kaeshi or long uchikomi. In addition, it might help prevent injuries.

Tim

[dorkusxmaximus]

Going to the gym tremendously improved my endurance for kendo. I was able to focus more on what I was doing, instead of thinking how exhausted I was. That was last summer though =X. Currently, I'm running about 2 miles whenever there is free time to make up for not going to the gym =).

[MACSTA]

thanks all for the replies so far...
yeah my question arose cause i decided to take up kendo while my friends headed in the gyming direction. anyways they all seem to be building up and stuff while i haven't noticed any real change, just wanted to know if kendo will help you build up thats all...

[dorkusxmaximus]

nope, that's what the gym is for.

[Pokie]

hey macsta ! how's things mate ? so u must be wondering a bit if going to kendo can be a substitute of going to the gym ? this wednesday/saturday, wen we train next, il make sure you come out like you went to kendo and gym at the same time, cruisin for a bruisin with this thread...hahah see you soon

[Ares2907]

Kendo training will generally not cause hypertrophy. Unless you're completely emaciated.
As Ben said, this sort of thing has been answered several times before. Try a search. You may find it very informative.

[Yellow Savage]

On the subject of Kendo vs Gym, how does weight training affect kendo? Some people I've heard say that it makes you stronger but slower???

I thought lifting lighter weights and executing higher reps gives muscle density without sacrificing speed?

Should you just stick to doing lots of suburi with a suburito or double shinai???

Your thoughts and opnions would be great

Thanks

[Ares2907]

Did you try using the search function?
My thoughts and opinion are that you should give the search function a go.

[Atama]

Yellow......there are a few guys at my dojo who wieght train and they seem to have more of a problem with the fitness side of kendo than thoes who do not, they have also been surseptable to more muscle injuries.
Apparently lifting heavy wieghts (like body builders and wieght lifters) causes muscle tissue to become tighter increasing the risk of injury...............I ain't a doctor I was just watching the summer sumo bi show last week and they were speaking on this topic as more and more sumo guys are lifting wieghts these days.

I would surgest light wieghts high reps for toning purposes and some good cardio

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Atama
I would surgest light wieghts high reps for toning purposes and some good cardio
Skip the "toning" weights, you're wasting your time. If you don't want to build strength, just do the cardio - it's the single best thing you can do for your kendo anyways. If you want to build strength, you have to lift reasonably heavy. Here's a good starting point: http://www.trygve.com/mfw_faq.html

[Hai_hai]

Originally posted by Atama
... Apparently lifting heavy wieghts (like body builders and wieght lifters) causes muscle tissue to become tighter increasing the risk of injury...

That is not true for multiple reasons.

[Atama]

Fair enough hai hai ....as I said I was just conveying what I heard on the tv.

But it still stands that out of the 4 guys at my dojo who are into wieght lifting 3 of them have had serious muscle injuries in kendo class, we all do the same set stretches and no one else has had this problem.

[Ares2907]

Could be any number of non-gym related reasons for this.
Even if what they were doing at the gym was conducive to their injuries (poor form as just one example), it's still a long bow to draw that lifting weights will make you injury prone in kendo. It's just not true

[hamish]

All the top level Japanese cops weight train in addition to their regular kendo schedule, doesn't slow them down!

[alexpollijr]

Hear hear.

Maybe Ares and the other guys who also do weight lifting and kendo have noticed this, but when I lift weights ( usually 12:00 - 13:15 ) and have kendo practice ( 19:00 - 21:00 ) the peformance of the muscles worked out on that session seem to tire very very quickly. My solution to this was to coordenate the gym training days with kendo practice, so in the kendo days I don't do weight training for the forearms, shoulders, triceps and back.

- Alexandre

[Ares2907]

I do a full-body workout on non-kendo days. If I work out and then do kendo I find I get jelly-legs syndrome or I start flagging before the end of the session. It just means I haven't allowed enough recovery time in between sessions.
All in all though, hitting the gym has done nothing but good for my kendo.

[MACSTA]

thanks for posting that link neil. what can i say... its very informative but bloody long. have to make some time to read it properly. :)

[Tashaki Nakata]

Geez. Kendo is not a therapy for keeping fit... You people make me sick.

Gym has no physical value whatsoever. It just makes your muscles look bigger just like proteins do, wears out your joints and screws up your nerve system. You'd get the same therapeutic result if you jog once a week. IMHO buffing up is for people who can't attract girls any other way.

[Pokie]

hey man...dusnt the kendo arms do enough for u ? i seen our sensei's leg..i mean..neck..i mean arms and all he did was suburi...but nice answer tashaki

[Hai_hai]

Originally posted by Tashaki Nakata
Geez. Kendo is not a therapy for keeping fit... You people make me sick.

Gym has no physical value whatsoever. It just makes your muscles look bigger just like proteins do, wears out your joints and screws up your nerve system. You'd get the same therapeutic result if you jog once a week. IMHO buffing up is for people who can't attract girls any other way.

Kendo is not a therapy for keeping fit. I don't think anyone is saying that it is. I think you are misunderstanding messages here in that people want to improve their kendo via weight lifting.

Weight lifting, or gym as you call it, does have physical value. Workouts increase the heart rate, thus increasing physical fitness, thus improving one's immune system.

[Ares2907]

Tashaki, if I were a less temperate individual I might be tempted to call you an uneducated git who likes to stir up shit. Luckily that isn't the case.
I do have to pose the question tho.
Why in so many situations do people who know nothing about a subject feel the need to evangelise their opinion on the matter as though it were law?

[m_french]

Originally posted by Tashaki Nakata
Geez. Kendo is not a therapy for keeping fit... You people make me sick.

Gym has no physical value whatsoever. It just makes your muscles look bigger just like proteins do, wears out your joints and screws up your nerve system. You'd get the same therapeutic result if you jog once a week. IMHO buffing up is for people who can't attract girls any other way.

Get stuffed in your locker alot in High School? Glad to see that jogging once a week keeps you in peak physical condition. Do you honestly believe that resistance training offers no physical benefit? My aren't you the perfect human.:beard:

[igarashi]

No Mr. Tashaki Nakata you make me sick. Actually you're bogus...I'm not one for complaining but I don't think you're Japanese either but hiding behind some bogus Japanese name.
What kind of name is Tashaki anyway? Did you make that pathetic name up thinking that is sounds like Japanese then you selected a plain last name? You're a genius! BTW...In Japanese there are no combination of sounds that make "tahsha". If you were to come close it would be "TaJa" instead. But that still doesn't even exist. You're full of it.

[Inouye02]

my , my , aren't we all V-shaped here ...

[Tashaki Nakata]

Ares2907, if you were a less stupid person, i'd probably reply to you.
m_french it may come as a surprise, but only Americans get stuffed in lockers. I'm pretty satisfied with my physical condition, trust me.
igarashi, stop being a junior detective and settle down. My name is TashIaki, but it doesn't fit in the registration form.

summarized: the name of the topic says it all. Some people are idiots.

[Ares2907]

Okay, so your position appears to be
1 'kendo is not a therapy for keeping fit'
Kendo means different things to differnet people. You're entitled to your opinion, but it doesn't necessarily make it 'right'.

2 'gym has no physical value whatsoever'
- how did you arrive at this stunning conclusion? power-lifters, olympic lifters, bodybuilders, most professional athletes (etc, etc) would tend to disagree. Come on genius, enlighten me.

3 'it just makes your muscles look bigger like proteins do' - er okay. you are truly clueless. Do you think before you speak, or is it just an open pipeline between your lower intestine and your mouth?

'you'd get the same theraputic result if you jog once a week'
okay, I get it. You're trolling. It's a pretty average troll attempt really, but better than I've seen on the board in a little while.
Given that there is absolutely no evidence to support the flimsy uneducated opinions you spout (I challenge you to provide unequivocal proof of anything you opined), you cannot be anything but a troll.

Three more words for you.
Pot.
Kettle.
Black.

[Tashaki Nakata]

aah. too long. Tired of reading.

[samurai999]

Originally posted by Tashaki Nakata

Gym has no physical value whatsoever. It just makes your muscles look bigger just like proteins do, wears out your joints and screws up your nerve system. You'd get the same therapeutic result if you jog once a week. IMHO buffing up is for people who can't attract girls any other way.

Have you any idea what is in a gym? If you think it is just weights and barbellsand not looking like a "girlie-man" , you really do have another thing coming. And don't even get the stereotype that gym is all about being like the Terminator. Have you ever heard of cardio-vascular workout or endurance? Maybe you need to read about it a bit more before making assumptions about what goes down in a gym.

I jog EVERY day a couple of miles. Once a week is doing ABSOLUTELY diddly squat if you don't do any other exercise. And lastly, I might think that M_french has a better chance stuffing you into a high school locker.

Tim

[igarashi]

TashIaki,
No doubt a troll. If your name is real or not I don't care, but after seeing your other posts you're an embarrassment to Japan and to those who do kendo there.

[samurai999]

Well if his name is REALLY "TashIaki", then at least he would've had the smarts to use it in his sig. I'm sure that there is plenty of space to include 1 extra character if he wanted to use it.

Tim

[Hai_hai]

Busted.

[igarashi]

Just "inchiki." Again an embarrassment to Japanese kendo. Sorry to apologize for him. I'm just wondering what his kanji is for TASHIAKI???

[igarashi]

Originally posted by samurai999
Well if his name is REALLY "TashIaki", then at least he would've had the smarts to use it in his sig. I'm sure that there is plenty of space to include 1 extra character if he wanted to use it.

Tim


That's my question too? Why is your sign name Tashaki? You can certainly sign it all in at the bottom of your messages.

[sminki]

Well, although one can in fact fit "TashIaki" in its entirety plus 7 more letters on the registration statement, I believe that you guys are being pretty harsh on Hanshi 2 dan, new founder and head of "nito is not kendo" Nakada ryu, Tashaki Nakada. Cut him a little slack.

Anyway, for me, the gym compliments kendo as I find that doing regular weight exercises for my legs and strengthening my abs make my kendo more stable and balanced than when I don't do such exercises.

[samurai999]

For me, stamina stamina stamina.. Cardiovascular is big time where I practice. If i get the chance, bikes, treadmills, stairmaster or I just run up and down the hill I live on.

Tim

[ALI G]

m_french it may come as a surprise, but only Americans get stuffed in lockers. I'm pretty satisfied with my physical condition, trust me.

Joggingz onlyz huh??????????????????????? 4 Chrizzzzmazzz Iz getz youz da swimming flipperz to keepz youz from getting washed down da drainz when youz takez a showerz............................

[Koushinkuma]

Ares2907,
m_french it may come as a surprise, but only Americans get stuffed in lockers. I'm pretty satisfied with my physical condition, trust me.

If you want to get all nationalist, we Americans have done plenty of locker stuffing. :grin:

Stuffing...mmm. With turkey and cranberry sauce, oh my! :D