New Guy

[baimengxian]

Hello everybody?
How is everyone! About me then. I am have been interested in Kendo every since I was a kid watching thoses old Wolf and Cub and many other samurai, movies not to mention tons of anime, but I have only recently started to look in to studing this art as an adult. I love the martial arts but when I was younger my family didnt approve of me studing a Japanese art like kendo, judo, ect. They being Chinese and filipino both my grandparents remember what it was like under japanese occupation. So I was pushed into studing kung fu and fma. Not that I am complaining I love wing chun and fma and have had alot of great experiences , but now I want to try something new and for me exotic, so I thaught I would give Kendo a try. Only problem I have is finding a school or club. I know next to nothing about kendo that is why I am here.
Thanks

[ShinKenshi]

Hello everybody?
How is everyone! About me then. I am have been interested in Kendo every since I was a kid watching thoses old Wolf and Cub and many other samurai, movies not to mention tons of anime, but I have only recently started to look in to studing this art as an adult. I love the martial arts but when I was younger my family didnt approve of me studing a Japanese art like kendo, judo, ect. They being Chinese and filipino both my grandparents remember what it was like under japanese occupation. So I was pushed into studing kung fu and fma. Not that I am complaining I love wing chun and fma and have had alot of great experiences , but now I want to try something new and for me exotic, so I thaught I would give Kendo a try. Only problem I have is finding a school or club. I know next to nothing about kendo that is why I am here.
ThanksHi, and welcome to the forums.

Glad to hear you're interested in taking up kendo. The best thing you can do is find your nearest dojo (http://www.auskf.info/dojo/sc.htm) (assuming you're only interested in South Carolina) but unfortunately, your closest ones are in Charleston and Columbia. You could also try ones in North Carolina (http://www.auskf.info/dojo/nc.htm) but not sure how much closer any of them would be, if any. A word of caution, don't fall prey to the easy route. Make sure that any dojo you visit has ties to the All US Kendo Federation through one of it's regional federations (in your area it would be the South Eastern US Kendo Federation). Hope this helps and best of luck to you.

Edit: Sorry for the repeat information, just saw the other thread you posted.

[Ryuu_Shade]

Welcome to the site! Perhaps you should look into Kumdo as well. From what I understand it is roughly the same, except it is Korean. (I don't know much about the Chinese history so perhaps Korean arts aren't much better) That way you can study very similar material without offending your parents. It might also allow for more options for you dojo search.
Good luck, I hope you love it as much as I am starting to!

Edit: fixed typos

[stealth_monkey]

Welcome to the site! Perhaps you should look into Kumdo as well. From what I understand it is roughly the same, except it is Korean. (I don't know much about the Chinese history so perhaps Korean arts aren't much better) That way you can study very similar material without offending your parents. It might also allow for more options for you dojo search.
Good luck, I hope you love it as much as I am starting to!

Edit: fixed typos

Ryuu shade brings up an excellent point. Kumdo is korean. The koreans are even more anti-japanese than the chinese. Kumdo is exactly the same as kendo, it's just that depending on who the instructor is, they might claim that koreans invented it. One thing to keep in mind- what you want is standard kumdo or "Daehan" Kumdo. There's also a style called Haedong Kumdo that is breathtaking in its failure as a sword art. To further muddle the waters, some Haedong Kumdo drops the Haedong from its name so that people confuse it with the more common style. An easy way to tell: If you go to a dojo and it looks like you've accidently walked into a kendo class, you're good to go. If you walk in and the students are doing backflips and talking about "Samurang" then run for the hills

[ender84567]

The GF is chinese, her grandmother was in malaysia during the japanese occupation and had to dress as a boy to avoid being raped and killed (at 12 years old). She still does kendo and the family has no problems with it. Your parents need to get over it.

[Fuyudo]

The GF is chinese, her grandmother was in malaysia during the japanese occupation and had to dress as a boy to avoid being raped and killed (at 12 years old). She still does kendo and the family has no problems with it. Your parents need to get over it.

Everyone has different reactions to the whole japanese occupation thing, i know many chinese in Japan and also know of many people who are dead against Japan (especially my great grandmother but she also thinks im going to get nuked by north korea, lol). Its my opinion that if they want to hold a grudge, they have every right to. (im not saying its beneficial in any way though).