kendo jidai and kendo nippon magazines

[burger boy]

Hello,
Just wondering if any non-Japanese speakers check out these magazines on a regular basis and whether or not they hold any real value if one can't understand Japanese? If there were lots of step by step waza articles with pictures and DVDs I'm thinking that it might be worth the very steep price for an overseas subscription.

Appreciate everyone's comments.

Thanks.

burger boy

[bullet08]

i only read those things for the pictures. who cares about articles?

pete

[Halcyon]

i only read those things for the pictures. who cares about articles?
Kendo Nippon + Kendo Jidai = kendo porn?:)

[nysamurai]

Here in New York we are fortunate enough to have a Kinokuniya Book Store in mid-town Manhattan. In my opinion it is THE (local) resource on all things Japanese that are printed in English. The kendo and judo magazines (and most other magazines), however, are offerend exclusively in Japanese and it drives me a bit nuts that they do not exist in an English language format (Alex, Hamish, are you listening? Can you say, Distribution?). I occasionally buy one just out of curiosity and then pass it along to several different native Japanese kendo and judo acquaintences I know here in the city. So basically, I get nothing out of it (with the possible exception of some brownie points).

[Hisham]

Hello,
Just wondering if any non-Japanese speakers check out these magazines on a regular basis and whether or not they hold any real value if one can't understand Japanese? If there were lots of step by step waza articles with pictures and DVDs I'm thinking that it might be worth the very steep price for an overseas subscription.

Appreciate everyone's comments.

Thanks.

burger boy

Why not subscribe to Kendo World magazine?

[burger boy]

Hi Hisham,
I've been a KW subscriber since issue #2, just want more info!

Thx.

bb.

[ben]

They are a great incentive to learn Japanese. Even a basic knowledge of kanji can help understand the captions of pics, family names, competition results, grading results etc.

And to the poster who said why don't they have an English language version... why don't you step outside the square in which you live and learn another language!

b

[crabbi]

Hi Hisham,
I've been a KW subscriber since issue #2, just want more info!

Thx.

bb.
Has anyone out there got a copy of issue #1 that they would be willing to part with?

Please PM me if you do...

Cheers

[nysamurai]

Dear Ben,

"The square in which I live"? What the hell do you know about me... or anything else for that matter? The existance of Kendo World Magazine obviosuly points out a particular need for the English speaking world which, for your information, is most of the planet. And Alex, Hamish and company do a fine job of filling that need. But it doesn't necessarily follow that KW should be the only (English) game in town. I was simply pointing out that for the magazines coming out of Japan it would be nice to see an English language version, much the same as there are Japanese versions of most of the major English language publications. But I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that, seeing as you seem to squander your time insulting people you don't know. I would have hoped for a bit more class from a "Senior Member". But, Ben, maybe you're right. Maybe I'll take you up on your helpful "advice" and try and add a bit of Kanji to my English... and Spanish... and German... and just enough French to usually humiliate myself, but STILL manage to get a beer when in Paris. A------

[Alex]

Who do you think can translate this stuff? How long do you think it takes to translate an article? As long as it takes to read it? How much of a market do you think there really is? How much money do you think can be made to cover the time it takes? Oh it's all so easy isn't it. Subscribe to KW or learn Japanese. They are your only options.

[runsyi]

Dear Ben,

"The square in which I live"? What the hell do you know about me... or anything else for that matter? The existance of Kendo World Magazine obviosuly points out a particular need for the English speaking world which, for your information, is most of the planet. And Alex, Hamish and company do a fine job of filling that need. But it doesn't necessarily follow that KW should be the only (English) game in town. I was simply pointing out that for the magazines coming out of Japan it would be nice to see an English language version, much the same as there are Japanese versions of most of the major English language publications. But I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that, seeing as you seem to squander your time insulting people you don't know. I would have hoped for a bit more class from a "Senior Member". But, Ben, maybe you're right. Maybe I'll take you up on your helpful "advice" and try and add a bit of Kanji to my English... and Spanish... and German... and just enough French to usually humiliate myself, but STILL manage to get a beer when in Paris. A------

It's my New Year's resolution not to jump uninvited into other people's tiffs but I didn't see the "learn another language" comment as an insult. It's a simple fact that Americans are behind the curve when it comes to foreign language skills. Nearly 200 million Chinese elementary school students are studying English as compared to 24,000 American students (out of 54 million) studying Chinese. I think learning Japanese is very important to doing Kendo, not only so you can read the available literature, but so you can foster relationships with other kendoists. In Hawaii we get a lot of visiting sensei from Japan because of the relationships the senior sensei (who speak Japanese) have made. In fact, that's another resolution of mine, to improve my conversational Japanese.

[Masahiro]

what do you call a person who speaks 3 languages? ..........a "trilingual"

what do you call a person who speaks 2 languages? ..........a "bilingual"

what do you call a person who speaks 1 language? ...........an "American".


lol, :cheerful: :silly:

hey now, you've gotta admit pretty funny!

[ben]

Dear Ben... [snip] A------

My mistake. I should have said "learn Japanese".

b

[cesarekim]

It's my New Year's resolution not to jump uninvited into other people's tiffs but I didn't see the "learn another language" comment as an insult. It's a simple fact that Americans are behind the curve when it comes to foreign language skills. Nearly 200 million Chinese elementary school students are studying English as compared to 24,000 American students (out of 54 million) studying Chinese. I think learning Japanese is very important to doing Kendo, not only so you can read the available literature, but so you can foster relationships with other kendoists. In Hawaii we get a lot of visiting sensei from Japan because of the relationships the senior sensei (who speak Japanese) have made. In fact, that's another resolution of mine, to improve my conversational Japanese.

You could also learn Korean. :D

My sensei is a Korean hachidan. He speaks Japanese and is urging us to learn it as well. His opinion is that the top ranking sensei are in Japan and Korea and we should be at a point where we can learn from either.

Koreans from my grandmother's generation all speak Japanese and she has tried to teach me a couple of times. The grammar is actually the same as Korean. I'll pick it up eventually but no luck in the last 10 years or so. All I can do is curse and list all the waza in judo and kendo...

[nysamurai]

Who do you think can translate this stuff? How long do you think it takes to translate an article? As long as it takes to read it? How much of a market do you think there really is? How much money do you think can be made to cover the time it takes? Oh it's all so easy isn't it. Subscribe to KW or learn Japanese. They are your only options.

I already DO subscribe to KW, and have for a couple of years now. I have a great appreciation and respect for your work and said so in an earlier message. I never said or suggested that anything was "so easy", and in an earlier message I suggested (apparently not very clearly) that the distribution of KW onto magazines shelves in the U.S., such as Kinokuniya Book Store, for example, would be something that I would welcome, along with the possibility of an English language version of some of the Japanese magazines. That simple suggestion, offered in an allegedly open forum, was apparently a mortal sin, as was my decision to reply directly to someone who insulted me personally (whether or not anyone else thinks it was insulting is beside the point). I'm very well aware of what my options are, but thank you too for pointing them out. Happy New Year to you, Alex. Hopefully 2007 will find you a little less cranky.

[bullet08]

You could also learn Korean. :D...

funny thing is, i do speak and read korean. but after not having read much of anything in korean for last 26 yrs or so, reading korean doesn't make much sense to me unless it's something simple.

my lil sis brought me a kumdo book from korea when she was there last. i went through first few chapter, and i had to read them over 10 times just to make any sense out of them.

pete

[Alex]

I already DO subscribe to KW, and have for a couple of years now. I have a great appreciation and respect for your work and said so in an earlier message. I never said or suggested that anything was "so easy", and in an earlier message I suggested (apparently not very clearly) that the distribution of KW onto magazines shelves in the U.S., such as Kinokuniya Book Store, for example, would be something that I would welcome, along with the possibility of an English language version of some of the Japanese magazines. That simple suggestion, offered in an allegedly open forum, was apparently a mortal sin, as was my decision to reply directly to someone who insulted me personally (whether or not anyone else thinks it was insulting is beside the point). I'm very well aware of what my options are, but thank you too for pointing them out. Happy New Year to you, Alex. Hopefully 2007 will find you a little less cranky.

The amount of people who would buy KW off the shelf does not make it worth even considering. Why bother when you can get it through the internet?? Your simple suggestion of English language versions of Japanese mags, as I said, is not an easy thing to achieve, and financially absolutely not viable. In an ideal world...Unfortunately many people think that translating is just a matter of replacing words from one language with words from another (not necessarliy you, just the hundreds of other people who keep asking me to translate things for them, as if I haven't got better things to do.) I wasn't actually intending to insult you, actually. But I promise to be less cranky if you keep buying the magazing.

[JBouch]

When I was working in San Francisco, I checked out Japan town there and found a bookstore that sold both of these mags. I've had a lot of fun reading them. If you can read Japanese, they're well worth it. Most of it is not what I'd call light reading, though. I've spent a couple of weeks mulling over one article about seme. If you only speak a little Japanese, this probably isn't an easy thing to read; the way people talk when they talk about kendo is not what you learn in a typical Japanese language course. I have to take it kind of slow, and that's after having done some undergrad work in Japan.

A lot of stuff in the magazines is about things like tournaments happening in Japan, or strong teams or dojos; that may not be usual, as I've only seen one issue of each, but if it is indeed indicative of what you'd find in each issue, then the mags would not be of complete relevance to a world audience. In my opinion, it may be in KW's interest to try to establish a sort of partnership with KJ or KN, insofar as having one or two articles written for KJ or KN translated and printed (with credit) after being translated to English.

[kurisu]

When I was in Nagoya, I stumbled into a used book store, I found a bunch of Kendo Jedai mags, more than I could carry back with me. I grabbed a stack and have had my wife read and translate articles that looked interesting which has given me a lot of information you can't find in the States and it also has given my wife a new found appreciation for Kendo.

One of the mags was dedicated to foot work, the depth in which the subject is covered is amazing.

[ben]

...it may be in KW's interest to try to establish a sort of partnership with KJ or KN, insofar as having one or two articles written for KJ or KN translated and printed (with credit) after being translated to English.

JBouch: I'm not sure if you've been reading KW mag, but a great deal of its content is articles translated (by Alex) with permission from Kendo Nippon or Kendo Jidai, e.g. all the "Hanshi says" articles. There is simply no way a gaijin would be able to have direct access to many of these sensei. Maybe that day is not far off however...

You're spot on when you say that kendo Japanese is very different to "everyday" Japanese. This is another reason why it is so hard to find people to translate this stuff. I know plenty of expats who live in Japan, who are kenkichi (kendo nuts) and have great Japanese. But none of them has any spare time. They're all worked so hard by their Japanese bosses that they (paradoxically) rarely have enough time for kendo. Let alone anything else.

Anyone who has being doing kendo for a while knows how hard it was until very, very recently to come by information in English on kendo. Even as recently as the early 90s, maybe you could get a translation of a bogu catalogue price list. Apart from that there was Sasamori and Warner's "This is Kendo", "A Book of Five Rings" and that was about it. No Kendo World, no Koryu Books. We knew there was a heap of info we were missing out on, but there was simply no-one to bridge the gap. Few people even knew what a dobari shinai was.

That's why I saw red when an nysamurai suggested, in a way that implied perhaps no-one had had the idea already, that wouldn't it be a good idea to get some more stuff happening in English.

Of course people had had the idea already. People have been banging their heads against a brick wall to get this kind of info out of the Japanese for years. Which brings up the whole thing about what an achievement it is to be able to have access to Kendo Nippon/Kendo Jidai at all. A lot of shmoozing, reigi tadashii, and a pretty impeccable academic and kendo history were required to pull that off I'm sure.

I can imagine a New Yorker, lately come to this whole kendo conversation, used to having the world banging on his door, so to speak, assuming that it was a simple lack of will or resources that has lead to this situation where we don't have complete access to all the info on kendo that exists in the world. My apologies if this is not you sir. It is easy to stereotype others over the internet. OTOH your belligerent response does conform to a New Yorker stereotype: quick to take offence.

b

[cesarekim]

funny thing is, i do speak and read korean. but after not having read much of anything in korean for last 26 yrs or so, reading korean doesn't make much sense to me unless it's something simple.

my lil sis brought me a kumdo book from korea when she was there last. i went through first few chapter, and i had to read them over 10 times just to make any sense out of them.

pete

Sadly, I spent a couple of years in Korea consulting and getting an MBA. I say sadly in that I learned a lot of technical jargon and business stuff and not much of anything else. I read the Korean magazines and books on kumdo but I usually have to go talk to my sensei or my wife for clarification. The former for kumdo specific stuff, the latter for the everyday colloquialisms that I missed growing up in Italy...

As others have said in this thread, these books or mags use specific language that is not necessary the same as what you learn in a language class. My wife is Korean and lived there up to college and she still gives me puzzled looks on some things I don't understand in these mags... The funny thing is that the Korean books and mags often quote or even completely translate, with credit and authorization, the Japanese books and magazine articles....

[namabiru]

Neither magazine is offered in translation in Japan either. I looked when I lived there. I sure wish I could go to the store and pick up Japanese stuff still at all.

It would be cool, though, to see KW on distribution. I was only made aware recently that such a publication (kendo in English) existed. I'd love to see an issue, though, before I paid to subscribe, which is why it would be cool to be able to thumb through one at B&N.

[bullet08]

the other day i went home and found my 2.5 yr old pouring through my kendo nippon mag. he was keep saying 'kendo, kendo.. daddy kendo..'

pete