A college kendo promo video

[MemphisKendoGuy]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DrCS_ctYe_w
i found this and thought it was kinda interesting

[Kapplow]

I enjoyed it. Especially the slo-mo stuff. The ai-men was nice.

[Kent Enfield]

There's some nice stuff in there, but I wouldn't use to promote kendo at all. "The Final Battle"? "A Hero Will Rise"? All the cuts implying that if you do kendo you get to be either a samurai or your favorite anime character and the insertions of koryu practice would give a false idea of kendo is, I think.

Kendo is kendo, not any of the above. For the people who want to play make-believe, screwing around in their backyard or going to a renfair is probably a better choice. For people who want to do koryu, well, they should do koryu. And with all the stuff that isn't kendo in a "kendo" video, why no kendo kata? (Okay, we got a partial second of kamae o toku, probably from kendo kata geiko.)

[shred_lord]

I agree with Kent to be honest. Kendo is kendo, and does not need to be embellished beyond what it is. It's plenty interesting enough already.

Oh, and I really misread the title of the thread at first! :)

[JSchmidt]

There's some nice stuff in there, but I wouldn't use to promote kendo at all. "The Final Battle"? "A Hero Will Rise"? All the cuts implying that if you do kendo you get to be either a samurai or your favorite anime character and the insertions of koryu practice would give a false idea of kendo is, I think.

Kendo is kendo, not any of the above. For the people who want to play make-believe, screwing around in their backyard or going to a renfair is probably a better choice. For people who want to do koryu, well, they should do koryu. And with all the stuff that isn't kendo in a "kendo" video, why no kendo kata? (Okay, we got a partial second of kamae o toku, probably from kendo kata geiko.)

Sheesh,you guys are harsh. It was done as an editing assignment for a media course.
It's nice. It touches on some of the ideas, fantasies and images I'm sure we all have about Japanese Sword arts.
Take it for what it is!.

[Kenshi]

I think its great.

If it was done by some 45yr old 7dan rather than some non-Japanese university student, then I might be concerned.

If it interests people in kendo and taps into their fantasies, then cool.

If it matters, I think it would work well if you showed it to Japanese kids/teenagers too.

[Charlie]

I liked it! I liked this one, too.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0_Dk_QtWDMI

Personally, I have always wanted to see a kendo vid that referenced chanbara movies and manga with the sort of suggestion that if you like those, you may find kendo fulfilling.

[shred_lord]

Now that one I really like.

[Charles Lockhar]

Oh, and I really misread the title of the thread at first! :)

ditto. It sounded a lot more exciting until I got that sorted out. Need to get my eyes checked pronto.

-Charles