Article: The Official Guide for Kendo Instruction

[Alex]

You can view the page at http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/content.php/174-The-Kendo-Bible!-It’s-Here-Now!

[ben]

Fantastic. Bought it.

b

[b8amack]

Just ordered it. Looking forward to reading it!

[0746]

nice. Ordered one as well.

[Shinsengumi77]

Methinks I've found a suitable birthday gift...

[verissimus]

Was having some difficulty getting a hold of the book, since I could not see it on the KW 'books' page. Did not see the link to the AJKF page. Dense moment there.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Ordered, and thanks for all the hard work in making this available!

[yoda-waza]

Thanks for this. Mine is on its way.

[Hisham]

This comes at the nick of time, with our sensei just going back to his home country. Thank you very much.

[Santiman]

Hello Alex!
What paperwork does it take for me to produce a Spanish translation version for the AJKF?
Regards,

Santiago

[Alex]

Lots and lots probably... Let me talk about it with the powers that be and see what they say.

[neanderthal]

my book has just arrived and its by far the best kendo book on the market!!! i highly advise everyone to get a copy.

[neanderthal]

my book has just arrived and its by far the best kendo book on the market!!! i highly advise everyone to get a copy.

[Alex]

Dear Santiago-san,

I just got off the phone to the AJKF. They have no intention at this stage of publishing the book in any other language. However, they did say that people from non-English speaking countries want to use the content for seminars and the like, are allowed to translate sections for this purpose. However, the text cannot be reproduced for sale or any other money-making purposes, and any translation that is done must clearly state what it is a translation of. i.e., no pirated copies or translations for retail are permitted... This basically menas that if you want to make some translations for teaching materials, as long as it is referenced properly and not sold for profit, then it is okay.

[b8amack]

My copy came in the mail this afternoon. Leafing through it now. It's nice to have such well-lit colour photographs in there.

[b8amack]

My copy came in the mail this afternoon. Leafing through it now. It's nice to have such well-lit colour photographs in there.

[neanderthal]

best kendo book ever!!!

[Black Knight]

Extremely well done book! Superb English translation. Hooray for Alex and Blake! This really is a wonderful resource.

[ジャン]

I just bought the 'Kendo Fundamentals I+II' book which was produced together with Nariaki Sato.. is this the same?

They have removed the other one from their shop, I guess this is a revised version?

[Alex]

No, it is completely different.

[turboyoshi]

For those of us who are still a long way from being instructors, would this book still be useful? Also, will this be made available in an electronic version?

[Alex]

I think it is valuable for all people, not just instructors, because of the simple explanations for the techniques, and outline of what kendo is supposed to be.

As it is an AJKF publication, I doubt if they have any plans to make an electronic version in the immediate future, but I will bounce the idea off them. They have a group of young tech-heads doing the HP, live-streaming, and other "revolutionary" things in the federation, so it could be possible with a little bit of gentle persuasion. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

[0746]

I am far far away from being an instructor and I am loving this book. It explains all the basics with pictures and has a lot of text explaining the important points. I think its a must have unless you are at an instructor level and know everything already.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Received mine, excellent book. Thanks again for all your hard work in putting this together, Alex!

[joshuak314]

Hi. I was going to order the text but had a question. do you choose order from outside japan to outside japan? or is the book coming from japan?

[Alex]

It will come from the AJKF's office in Tokyo.

[ecmatic]

wow! I just received this book today in the mail. It's very definitive and answers a lot of questions that i'm too shy to ask my sensei.

[ジャン]

digital version pretty please, the shipping costs are equivalent to the costs of the book itself =(

If I could read japanese, I'd order those tons of books too so the shipping costs would be nil, however I don't think I'd be able to decipher ancient japanese writings..

[ben]

I just went to post a link to the order page on my blog for my students and realised that I could only find a Japanese order page. Is there an English one? I'm sure I used one to order mine but now cannot find it! :s b

[b8amack]

There is an English one, because I used it. I think you have to go back to the home or store home page to find it, though.

[b8amack]

http://zenkenren-shop.com/en/eigo/index.html

[ben]

Thanks! I feel like such a noob... b

[yoda-waza]

After having spent a little time perusing my copy of this book, I must say this is a consummate English language kendo instructional aid as well as a valuable resource for all things kendo related. Every English-literate federation should acquire a large stack of these for sale to their members in order to reduce the exorbitant shipping cost of individual copies from Japan. Someday this book will hopefully be available other languages besides Japanese and English. Hats off to Alex and Blake for their splendid English translation, though. We Nihongo-challenged kenshi owe them a great debt.

[ジャン]

I ordered it finally and I must say this book is huge. Hopefully I'll have time to read it soon.

[Dervish]

Does this book have an ISBN number or other way of identification?

I'm curious to know whether I can get Kinokuniya Bookstore to order it for me and I can simply pick it up at their New York store.

[Chaby]

I tried to order it unsuccessfully from Serbia...
Simply I can't log in with my current place and address. It's to the AJKF site, but the fact that the country is is poorly connected with on-line ordering and postal delivering.
Is there any way to solve this or an alternative service to order from?

p.s.
I left a question on the official site , but so far no answer.

[turboyoshi]

OK, I broke down and ordered it despite that shipping costs more than the book. Argh. Now the wait begins...

[Curtis]

Anyone else have trouble with it coming apart? After just a few times of reading it the pages are coming out. Guess I'll have to punch it and put it in a binder.

Great resource.

[turboyoshi]

Anyone else have trouble with it coming apart?


I only received mine a few days ago and I tend to be extra careful with my books so I don't have a problem yet. I hope this isn't common...

[Dervish]

How long did it take from day of ordering to receiving it in the continental United States?


Anyone else have trouble with it coming apart? After just a few times of reading it the pages are coming out. Guess I'll have to punch it and put it in a binder.

You could also try storing it in a plastic storage bag from a comic book store.

[Curtis]

How long did it take from day of ordering to receiving it in the continental United States?



You could also try storing it in a plastic storage bag from a comic book store.

The middle pages started coming loose almost immediately. Pretty common for books bound like this.

Kind of hard to read in a storage bag. I'll just punch it and bind it. I may scan it into a PDF so I can just read it on my computer.

[Shmur]

How long did it take from day of ordering to receiving it in the continental United States?


Mine arrived in a little more than a week.

[turboyoshi]

I was pleasantly surprised at the speedy delivery. I placed the order on may 25 and had it in my grubby paws on june 1.

[neko]

this is a great book. it's organized nicely, pictures are clear. i wish it was shipped in a envelope lined with bubble wrap as the spine was torn during shipping. considering the shipping costs, this would have been nice.

[Dervish]

I ordered mine on a Monday and it arrived on a Friday. WOW!

[Hisham]

Same here, ordered it Saturday, got it on a Monday.Alex thanks again for the translation.

[rfoxmich]

US readers... I orderded mine from e-bogu arrived quite quickly then:
http://www.e-bogu.com/The_Official_Guide_for_Kendo_Instruction_p/kok-pub-boo-kendo-isrtn.htm

[Nykola]

I WAN'T THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!:angry:

[Gilligan]

Very happy with the book, but poorly made. Mine has pages already falling out with just reading the bits I am interested in for a grading. And I am careful with books. Have to treat it like a book that indie jones dug out of the ground. boo hoo.

[b8amack]

It is poorly bound, but come on, the AJKF is not a printing house. Cut it some slack.

[Gilligan]

I have other AJKF books, and they have all been great, the JP/ENG dictionary for example is 10 years old, and there is only wear on the cover where the title has rubbed off, very well made.Now a book like this which is aimed at those teaching, but suitable for all. I`d expect it to be read often, I`d also expect it to hold together more than a few reads. I have pages in mine taped in. So I think it is of poor quality. No the AJKF is not a printing house, but they did choose and ok one to print it. Or they went with cheaper methods to keep cost down at the expence of quality?? "cut it some slack" I am just telling it like it is, not having an unfair dig at it. Maybe someone might like to hear that before they buy it? I like to keep books, I like to re-read them and the way this one is bound is nothing short of a shame.

[Alex]

I also have acopy, funnily enough. I open it almost every day and treat it pretty badly (because I have another 3 on my bookshelf). So far I have had no problems at all. Pages still there solid and sound. The nature of the book compared to the dictionary (revised version out now BTW) is completey different because of the layout and size. I guess some books may suffer in the mass production process. Actually, the Japanese version I own came to pieces pretty quickly, but I just put it in a folder. The printing companies are different. I am here at the summer kendo seminar for foreigners in Kitamoto at the moment, so I will mention your concerns to the AJKF. I know what they will prbably say, but still.