First Day Of Kendo

[Kendo15]

Hello,

Ahh my first day of kendo, glad to get it out of the way and get onto my training. Yes i know i have a long period ahead of me, and i am glad to have started.

But my question is that my sensei told me that when doing ashisabaki (spelling) that your weight should be 50%-50% and that you should pretend there is a rubberband around your ankels snapping your back foot forward as soon and u take a front step, also vice versa going backwards. I was just wondering is it taught the same when you started ashisabaki.

Any Information would be great, thanks!!

[ben]

"But my question is that my sensei told me that when doing ashisabaki (spelling: <tick> or perhaps <maru> :D) that your weight should be 50%-50% and that you should pretend there is a rubberband around your ankels snapping your back foot forward as soon and u take a front step, also vice versa going backwards. I was just wondering is it taught the same when you started ashisabaki?"

Yep.

b

[kendokamax]

I don't remember my first practice too well,

Hey but good luck dude and have fun.

One thing i would like to do with beginers at my dojo is take them on video camera.. just for fun. And....show them the tape 1-2 year after.

Only advice i can give you is.....KEEP THE CENTER!!

[dr_evil]

They taught us the same thing down here.

Anyway, good luck and I do hope you will enjoy kendo. :D

[Kendoka]

"But my question is that my sensei told me that when doing ashisabaki (spelling: <tick> or perhaps <maru> ) that your weight should be 50%-50% and that you should pretend there is a rubberband around your ankels snapping your back foot forward as soon and u take a front step, also vice versa going backwards. I was just wondering is it taught the same when you started ashisabaki?"

Yes, me too!

[lewis]

Same here.

BTW, Kendokamax that is about the most brutal thing I have heard of in Kendo. I love it. Have you considered showing it to them right before they test for Shodan as a test of their calmness?

[Achilles]

I ascribe to what's called the "1 in 10 rule".

For every 10 kenshi who start kendo/kumdo, only 1 is left after a year.

I hope you're still in the game in one year's time.

[KENSHIN]

don't remember anything like that on my first session....but then again i can never remember half the names i am taught...so i have probably come across it but just can't remember the darn name..:confused:

[ben]

"I ascribe to what's called the "1 in 10 rule".
For every 10 kenshi who start kendo/kumdo, only 1 is left after a year."

Sounds about right to me.

Read somewhere that the ratio in other martial arts ( I think based on a study done in the US) was for every 300 people who start an art, only one makes it to first dan.

I wonder what the ratio is for kendo?

b

[Kendo15]

Hey everybody thanks for all of the replies,

I plan to stay in kendo for a long time, i want to learn more about the history and tradition, of something that was used for life and death.

Yes i have heard of the other facts in other martial arts about ratio's like that, really interesting!

Thanks again for all of the replies,

[inner_cent]

Originally posted by Achilles
I ascribe to what's called the "1 in 10 rule".

For every 10 kenshi who start kendo/kumdo, only 1 is left after a year.

I hope you're still in the game in one year's time.


haahaa .. well, More or less, I agree with you.... but i have seen the ration of 1 in 20 or 30 rule before. .....

Also refering to Ben, I think achieving to 1st Dan is not exactly difficult for most. But somehow, I'm more concern beyond shodan dan. I have seen like 4 in 5 shodan suddenly gone missing after they achieve shodan...... makes you wonder..... what happen there :P

[James]

Hmmm...... questioning your sensei's instructions on your first day.... interesting ;-)

It seems that rubber band analogy is common, but bear in mind when you are comparing how other people have been taught that your sensei may often tell you things so that you overcompensate and therefore correct something about your own footwork, he can see your footwork, we can't.
Often we won't understand something until we have done it repeatedly for a long time. It can be explained to us verbally, but you don't 'really get it' until you have it down.
I am assuming that you have chosen a good sensei, so you should follow what he tells you; as you progress, if you ask, you will find everyone has an opinion, and you may find that later at a seminar you are told to do something two different ways by different sensei (how often does that happen?). IMHO too much different information may be interference when you are starting out. Follow your sensei until you have the technical understanding to appreciate and compare styles.

This isn't a criticism of you asking a question, and I am sure you are following your sensei, just something to bear in mind.
Good luck, it's a long road
J

[tetsuoxb]

I am reminded of an interview I read with I believe sato sensei on midwestkendo.com.

He said something along the lines that most sensei are trying to say the same thing in different ways.

It is also important to remember what I have been told from day one over and over and over again in kendo.. Do your kendo. Listen to your sensei. Put forth hard effort.

I firmly believe that if you understand your abilities and faults, take every piece of advice, no matter where it comes from with honesty and sincere thought, and use those suggestions with hard effort, you will improve faster, play harder, and become a better kenshi and person.

What James brings up is an interesting thing though: When being told two diametrically opposed things by two senpai, it takes real grace to try to do both things without pissing them off.

[Kendoka]

"But my question is that my sensei told me that when doing ashisabaki (spelling: <tick> or perhaps <maru> ) that your weight should be 50%-50% and that you should pretend there is a rubberband around your ankels snapping your back foot forward as soon and u take a front step, also vice versa going backwards. I was just wondering is it taught the same when you started ashisabaki?"

Maybe not in the first session, but yes as to the message.

...and the spelling is OK.

Richard