Kendo is not a real do acoording to this guy

[Davey]

http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/28008109.html

pretty damn naive if you ask me.

[Kenzan]

"“I did judo as a kid then I started playing with kendo which is a sport rather than a true do (way of life),” said Gunstone noting there are similarities but iaido doesn’t involve direct competition with an opponent."


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[JSchmidt]

He's from the Canadian Iaido Association
http://www.iaido.ca/

Unfortunately not the first time I hear that from iaido people...

[tango]

Sometimes I'm of the opinion that *some* iaidoka who think "kendo isn't a real do" are probably folks who didn't enjoy kendo, didn't like the idea of getting hit, simply couldn't hack it [no pun intended], wasn't any good at it, or something along those lines.

[hl1978]

Budo is like a religion: the practitioner takes some mental construct, a set of principles, and keeps those in mind as an ideal, and then goes through stylized moves that allow him or her to feel as though they are putting those ideals into physical motion and instilling discipline in themselves (budo is intended for social benefit). With that there is some exercise for the body. However, no great development of the body ever happens, nor detailed understanding of it; ergo, the understanding people find from doing budo is really not very deep at all. This is Shin(mind) gi (technique) tai (body) in the order expressed in the phrase.

Someone could take on kendo as a form of gyo, or asthetic exercise, but I haven't seen much explicit instruction of that nature in any dojo I have trained.

On the other hand, studying kendo along the lines of bujutsu follows tai(body) gi (technique) shin(mind), exactly the opposite: the practitioner forces his or her body to undergo specific exercises that change the body and give him or her some deep understanding of the body, to great detail. This leads to an understanding of the principles. As that understanding develops, the body can be used to perform so-called techniques (which are not really special movements, but only the body in motion according with the understanding given the practitioner), and finally, when the practitioner is really powerful, he or she may decide to no hurt or harm an opponent and use the training as a kind of ascetic exercise.

Different strokes for different folks, but I haven't seen too many enlightened or socially improved people who got there solely from training in budo.

[Masahiro]

he's a wanker, and so is anyone else who tries to deny or belittle someone else's beliefs. So long as they don't belittle yours first, hahahaha

the phrase, "it's not what you do, but how you do it" comes to mind when I read the article.

[ahmed61086]

I still fail to realise how competition automatically makes something less of a Martial art or automatically turns it into a sport.

If you dont compete, you will never know how ur skills would stand up to others.

[Kenzan]

I still fail to realise how competition automatically makes something less of a Martial art or automatically turns it into a sport.

If you dont compete, you will never know how ur skills would stand up to others.

Right on.
It smells of sour grapes as well.

[sirius1906]

pay no attention to narrow minded assholes. :)

[NoNameKleenex]

Let's not forget that it seems the majority of "journalists" these days do not know how to write, let alone effectively pull together several sources of information into one complete, coherent package.

Not defending Mr. Gunstone (or attacking for that matter), but unless the author is quoting verbatim, I always have my reservations on the validity/research of local newspaper articles.

Case in point, the author does mention that Mr. Gunstone noted similarities betwen Kendo and Iaido but does not elaborate on what was noted.

[pgsmith]

Gotta agree with the general concensus. However, I would just label him narrow minded and naive. He sounds to me like he has no experience outside of his own narrow world, and so doesn't really understand how anything else works.

Sorta like how he says that iaido has no competitive aspect when I'm trying to save up money to go to the Mugai ryu iai taikai in Japan next summer. :)

[sirius1906]

However, I would just label him narrow minded and naive.


The word "asshole" stopped be an insult when I joined the League of Extraordinary Assholes (LXA). :)

[Fred27]

http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/28008109.html

pretty damn naive if you ask me.

Oh boo hoo! Who gives a rats anus what those assmonkeys think?

[yoda-waza]

“I did judo as a kid then I started playing with kendo which is a sport rather than a true do (way of life),” said Gunstone...

I don't see how someone who "did judo as a kid then started playing with kendo" can understand any kind of do at that age. Then again, there are adults who don't get it either. Gunstone was probably only exposed to the sport aspect and never got beyond that.

[Kenzan]

Oh boo hoo! Who gives a rats anus what those assmonkeys think?

I imagined some Trenchcoat wearing guy standing on a street-corner
selling Rat anuses by the pound out of the back of his car.

[Martch]

I imagined some Trenchcoat wearing guy standing on a street-corner
selling Rat anuses by the pound out of the back of his car.

Rat's anus...get yer rat's anus...two for a pound. Go on missus try some they go lovely on toast with a bit of cheese...

[Bogu Headache]

I started playing with kendo which is a sport rather than a true do

"Started"

Taking bets that he didn't like being hit and pussied out.

[sirius1906]

problem is he was "playing" with kendo, instead of doing kendo. :)

[Tsunemori]

A friend of mine joined a Karate class once. They taught him the first kata, and told him to "yell out whatever you want on the last punch". So he did and yelled "DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The teacher wasn't very approving of that, and the other little kids laughed at my friend, so he left and decided that Karate is crap.

Oh well

[Moose]

http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/28008109.html

pretty damn naive if you ask me.

Not so much naive ... more like snobbery.


And for his comment..... “There is an unbroken student teacher relationship that dates back 400 odd years,” he said. “What we are studying now is a direct transmission that has not been broken.”

Isn't that the way with most things? You know ... Teacher teaches student .. student becomes teacher.. teaches student etc, etc etc.

[Charles Lockhar]

And for his comment..... “There is an unbroken student teacher relationship that dates back 400 odd years,” he said. “What we are studying now is a direct transmission that has not been broken.”

Isn't that the way with most things? You know ... Teacher teaches student .. student becomes teacher.. teaches student etc, etc etc.

My take on iaido is, well, you pretty much gotta be proud of whatever you can. Killing imaginary friends doesn't leave you a lot of room for many showy highlights. People see you whip out your sword, swing it, and then put it back, not much to show off.

As for this 5th dan iaido guy, Gunstone, well, I think I can find a few hachidan hanshi that would disagree with his opinions.

-Charles

[Kenshi]

Guys, I think you are all over reacting a bit. He seems to be a 5th dan running a proper dojo under the Canadian Iaido Association, hardly some backyard samurai/ninja guy. Its possible hes got a lot more years under his hakama than many people on these forums.

Perhaps hes not to fond of kendo, but who cares. Its his right to have an opinion. And - as has been pointed out - we dont even know if that were his exact words or not.

Of-course, I could be completely wrong, but id rather give someone the benefit of the doubt before criticising them openly and publicly.

[Kagerou]

...he may even be reading this RIGHT NOW!.....dun dun dun duuuunnnnn!

This is an old discussion anyways which obviously has no clear winner as it's come up AGAIN

[Nokori 3byo]

My take on iaido is, well, you pretty much gotta be proud of whatever you can. Killing imaginary friends doesn't leave you a lot of room for many showy highlights. People see you whip out your sword, swing it, and then put it back, not much to show off.
-Charles

One narrow-minded remark deserves another, I suppose. Way to fight fire with fire.

[James]

I'm with NoNameKleenex and Kenshi on this one.
I have seen too many people's opinions completely misunderstood or misrepresented by journalists that my first reaction is to always give the benefit of the doubt.

You can put lispstick on a pig...

apparently .. but it must be hellishly difficult..

[Charles Lockhar]

One narrow-minded remark deserves another, I suppose. Way to fight fire with fire.

Thanks!

-Charles

[Nokori 3byo]

Ha ha. Too bad there's no such thing as sarcastic rep points.

[Charles Lockhar]

Ha ha. Too bad there's no such thing as sarcastic rep points.

Sorry, it's genetic. Like a genetic combo of Aspbergers and Tourette's. I'm so lucky.

But it's true. You've got to have something to impress the rubes, because for most of them, you're whipping out a sword, cutting through the air, and then putting it back again. They don't know what's going on. So out comes the lineage device, a way for drawing in the folks.

As compared to something really worth watching, like kendo. You can always tell people really get what kendo's all about by listening to the comments they make:
"Wow, that sure does look like good exercise."
"Wow, it sure is loud."
"Jesus, what is that smell?"
"Luke, I am your father."

We don't need lineage, because we have reek.

-Charles

[Paburo]

I still fail to realise how competition automatically makes something less of a Martial art or automatically turns it into a sport.

If you dont compete, you will never know how ur skills would stand up to others.
but i thought iaido DOES have competition....? :D

[Nokori 3byo]

Sorry, it's genetic. Like a genetic combo of Aspbergers and Tourette's. I'm so lucky.


As compared to something really worth watching, like kendo. You can always tell people really get what kendo's all about by listening to the comments they make:
"Wow, that sure does look like good exercise."
"Wow, it sure is loud."
"Jesus, what is that smell?"
"Luke, I am your father."

We don't need lineage, because we have reek.

-Charles


Go on. Nobody understands what's actually happening in a kendo shiai the first time they see one. It takes a while to develop a sense of who's winning and, more importantly, why. Beyond simply looking at the flags, that is.

As for iaidoka killing "imaginary friends", pehaps you'd like to see us renew the old custom of practicing cuts on dead bodies...or living ones.

[KendoBen]

Hmm. The fact that he 'played with' with kendo might indicate he only did it for a little while and didn't either fully enjoy it or the competition in kendo. Testing the water so to speak. It seems maybe he prefers the 'kata' side ( if that's the right choice of wording) of it and maybe that's why he chose Iaido as his preferred martial art?

And I have to agree with previous posts, the media tend to take sound bytes...and not the statement in its entirety. That part about mentioning the similarities seems like a whole piece of dialogue was edited to make the story a little more spikey.

I think the reporter has just made this a little too much of a jab at kendo than it needed to be. But, to each their own.

[Charles Lockhar]

As for iaidoka killing "imaginary friends", pehaps you'd like to see us renew the old custom of practicing cuts on dead bodies...or living ones.

Too "Faces of Death." And think of the kind of people you'd start attracting.

-Charles

[rfoxmich]

Come on guys.. everyone is entitled to their opinion....
even if it is wrong.