Best...kata...ever

[Anime12478]

Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN9J5MAp7Iw) yet another video of some people doing kata. I need to find these people to teach me how to do their version :happy:

[Nanbanjin]

Dats a funny one.

[Ralutin]

Aw, man, I know those kids! :p

[misterkurukuru]

i think the norwalk kids would kick the crap out of most of you.

[ne0r]

Hm. I don't really know... They obviously do kendo and obviously just fool around... Hm... Strange one...

[ScottUK]

Idiots need to learn some self-control (and some control of their bokuto wouldn't hurt either).

[satsumaruma]

Yeah but they look very young, it seems from the vid that they were 'playing'. Maybe they shouldn't but at that age it is to be expected to some degree.

He got him good though. When I am lord of everything I will put that in my own Ryu

[Sirsmokesalot]

Hello!

Guys, Guys these are just 2 Kid´s who have a bit Fun after or between a Kendo Lesson nothing less and nothing more.

For me it is funny because it is verry verry different from what we know as Nihonme and more funnier makes it that some People seem to have no understanding of Jokes..

Regards
Sirsmokesalot

[Newbie]

Don't worry, Smokey-boy. That seems to be the opinion of everyone who's posted to it :) Hella funny though.

[Sirsmokesalot]

Hello!

Guess you´re right, i should stop posting Stuff at one and a half Hour after Midnight ;)

Regards
Sirsmokesalot

[Kingofmyrrh]

Those guys are quite clearly much better at kendo than 95% of the people who post in this forum. If that's not immediately obvious from watching the way they move then perhaps it might be better to restrain your typing fingers...
sure, they're messing around, but it's not like they're in the middle of a formal practice or anything - I'm all in favour of having a bit of fun instead of being grumpy old men.

[I_am_Cthulhu]

I dunno guys. I love pissing about/playing practical jokes/irritating the hell out of my friends etc etc, but when I am in my keikogi I am there to practice, not to make a dog's arse out of something I take serious. If I saw one of my guys doing that I would have a fit.

[Kenshi]

I laugh a lot in the dojo. Its because ive lost all my pretentions about what it is I am doing. Plus, I enjoy it. Koryu dojo are often the ones where I laugh most. Would you like to call me Not Serious or an Idiot?

Most people dont know me of-course, as most people dont know the people in this video. Maybe we are Idiots. But, I say you have little or no right to say so... because - as you dont know us - we dont know who you are to make that judgement.

Im betting that most people who readily criticize are the ones with little or no qualifications nor experience. The term "armchair samurai" comes to mind. Id like to see some positive comments for a change.

If you want to, please feel free to post video of yourself on youtube for us all to have a look and comment on.

(this isnt aimed at anyone in particular, so take a deep breath, have a cup of tea or whatever, think for a bit, then decide if you have a positive reply or not. if you think its aimed at you, well, then youve got to wonder why you feel that way)

[ReKru]

If you want to, please feel free to post video of yourself on youtube for us all to have a look and comment on.


I'd like to see some Karaoke videos. :D It's a very japanese thing after all - I think it should be a mandatory after-practice institution (but if we ever end up in a karaoke bar, I don't get more than 2-3 of my dojomates to 'risk embarassment' and perform with me :( .. really sad).
No wonder those japanese guys blow us away when it comes to karaoke!

[ScottUK]

I'll reply to you George, as I am one of the naysayers.

I don't think this video shows very appropriate behaviour to be honest. I love to have fun and often make light of what we are doing in order to get a point across etc. - but to make a little nonsensical video of something that is generally practiced formally? I'm not sure I agree with it.

I absolutely love Jackass/CKY and enjoy watching what they get up to - but I would not do anything Jackass-like in the dojo no more than I would at work.

[Fred27]

I'll reply to you George, as I am one of the naysayers.

I don't think this video shows very appropriate behaviour to be honest. I love to have fun and often make light of what we are doing in order to get a point across etc. - but to make a little nonsensical video of something that is generally practiced formally? I'm not sure I agree with it.

I absolutely love Jackass/CKY and enjoy watching what they get up to - but I would not do anything Jackass-like in the dojo no more than I would at work.

Jackass-stunts should only be performed when drunk... (and if you have a chance of scoring). ;)

[JSchmidt]

As long as it takes place outside the practice, I can't see anything wrong with that...and anyone who's been at a competition, knows how mind-numbingly boring the waiting around-thing can be..

[hyuna]

but to make a little nonsensical video of something that is generally practiced formally? I'm not sure I agree with it.
I find myself thinking something along those lines whenever I look at what is going on on youtube or google video. I have to remind myself that these days a lot of people have a camcorder in their pocket (on their digicam or cell phone), so actually it is not really anything special to make a video of something anymore. Unlike when I was a kid, where it was a Big Deal...

However, I have to admit that, when I first started practicing kendo, it was hammered into my head that our gear are not toys, and you don't play or goof around with them. So, I still tend to wince whenever I see any kind of fooling around. But a lot of dojo seem to be pretty casual and playful these days, so (*shrug*). If their sensei allows it, I guess it can't be all that bad.

[David]

Just let them be. It's all in good fun, and it's not like they're doing anything too outragous or anything. Though, that did look like it hurt a bit.

[Mudansha]

I'd like to clarify that that's not a formal practice space - its the changing room at Wilson Park, where most Socal tournaments and gradings are held.

Secondly, I know those guys and they practice their asses off. They are serious in the dojo and are a source of inspiration.

[pgsmith]

I have to agree a bit with both sides here. While Scott's position seems to be a bit overly strict (geez, you British!), I think George's view is a bit too lenient. I have no problem at all with occassional fooling around in the dojo. Too many people take the whole thing entirely too seriously. However, propriety is a large part of the Japanese arts. What is done in jest inside the dojo is one thing. What you post in public on the internet for all to see is another thing entirely. Any time you make a post, or put up a picture or video, you are representing your dojo. Is this an appropriate way to represent your dojo? I don't think so. I have no problem with them fooling around as they did. I think it was highly inappropriate to publicly display a video of it.

[ScottUK]

Excellently summed up, sir.

[James]

the day kids stop larking around in changing rooms is probably a portent of the apocalypse. It is no indication that they don't take their art or sport seriously.

There are plenty of dojos where you can still get your leg swept, dou grabbed ,tskui'd into a pillar or otherwise put on your arse by old skool sensei - what these kids are doing is not the end of the world - it is also pretty obvious that they are not even in the dojo with all those bogu bags littered around.

ScottUK if you are in the UK and do kendo I suggest that you go to the next Sumi Seminar and ask some of the (most) senior senseis there to do the 'rude' kata. Which they will be glad to demonstrate after a few of pints.

I have known several occaisions where senior sensei asked students to invent a kata with a partner, usually in 10 minutes and perform them as an excercise to try to think about what may or may not work and why and the difficulties involved in developing effecient movement.

Main point coming up...
.. how do you think the people that developed kata in the first place. And before some one tells that *everything was developed on the battlefield*, I venture to suggest that as with most learning, techniques were developed through experimentation and, yes, play beforehand.

In my lifetime the internationaly recognised kata for both kendo and iaido have been changed, added-to and are developed in line with those discipline's purpose of education, they are not sacred, they are instructional.

If you think that kata is a precious religous ceremony then I guess this is sacrilege; if you think that it is a living instructional thing then it can be had fun with in a wider context.

What this video shows me, is that these kids are enjoying thinking about using swords, check out the way the kid on the right cares to adjust his starting position and checks his space before he starts.
The kid on the left ... well he has learnt an important lesson about protecting the family jewels.

I laugh when people get anally protective about what they think are the stone-cast teachings of Musashi, Kano, Ueshiba etc. perhaps forgetting that we only remember the names of these budoka precisely because they railed against tradition, did things their way and creatively developed their own style/system. No one remembers noble Tanaka, 3rd yari carrier on the right who followed orders.

As for them representing their dojo on youTube, I doubt anyone with experience would confuse two kids having a good time in a changing area with their ability to be disciplined and focus on their art seriously when required.

[jediado]

Nicely summed up James. I like that way you think.

[Newbie]

Don't forget - these kids are in the vid, not the ones filming it. They may not even know it made its way onto the net.

[Masahiro]

i thought the sequence was really creative and eloquent to a certain point. (until one of them got hurt accidently.. :puzzled: )

i agree with james, dont' be such stiffs guys. now if they were in the dojo using salamies as swords doing this kata, then i'd have a fit. hahahahaha

[Alan Molstad]

i thought the sequence was really creative and eloquent to a certain point. (until one of them got hurt accidently.. :puzzled: )



I see two things I dont fully understand in this video clip.

now at 17 seconds clearly there is a mistake...or is there?
The mistake might also be a part of the joke..

the other thing I dont understand is the way the two guys act after the whole thing falls apart...
They put their arm on the other guys shoulder?...then the one guy points to his other arm,,,then they go back to this arm-to-the-shoulder thing?

Then this this other guy walks past them totally oblivious to the fact that a moment before one guy appeared to have been clobbered?

I think the so-called mistake is actually a "pratfall"....it was a movement carefully planned out to simulate injury.
The reaction of the other people to what had just happend seems to suggest that this was merely a practiice of a comedy routine....

The one thing that is very clear in the short clip, is that the guys clearly enjoy each other's company...

[xvikingx]

This is just two guys just messing around in the changing area (bathroom at wilson park perhaps?). This isn't some big joke or a serious attempt at establishing new 'moves', they are just having fun. Why does this have to be dissected, analyzed, and discussed to death?

What did that Jesus dude say about sinners throwing rocks at each other? Meh, who cares...

*EDIT: I guess James already drove this one home. Nevermind.

[KhawMengLee]

Wow...talk about making a mountain out of a molehill...come on, they're horsing around in the changeroom not the dojo. And in all honesty, they looked pretty good. I mean their posture was good, cuts were straight and we didn't see any of the last sammyrye a la dex posing.