Why isn't Kendo and Olympic sport?

[Mr. Loki]

Could someone here explain it to me?

[AlexM]

Did you check the archives first?

There are at least two or three threads that deal with the "Olympic debate". Check those out first and if you have any other questions I'm sure people will want to debate it.

[Khabbi]

Like Mr AlexM said , search the forum , ppl never search , make a effort ppl ! :angry:

[R A Sosnowski]

Like Mr AlexM said , search the forum , ppl never search , make a effort ppl ! :angry:

Do a web-search while you're at it. :D

I recall engaging in this debate on Iaido-L in 1997. ;)

[mystic_kendoka]

i think it is a bother to look through the archives...

my answer is
mostly because people consider kendo a martial art, and making it an olympic sport, will make it less of a martial art and more of a sport... thats it in general

[takashijarosu]

judo, karate,taikwondo(cant spell that right)lol. are olympic and martial arts.
iado...??? thats way off i think kendo would be cool but we know who would win alot
korea and japan.

[AlexM]

i think it is a bother to look through the archives...


Yeah... typing "Olympic" into the search engine is such a bother. May as well start a whole new thread on it huh?

What's with all this lazyness? Just check the f***ing archives... or scroll down a bit to see the "Should kendo be in the Olympics?" thread. You'll get way more answers in the archives than you will by simply asking common questions that have already been answered ad nauseum. Ever wonder why some questions of import don't get many posts? It's because those subjects have been debated already. Find those threads and add to them, there's no rule against restarting a debate (or starting useless threads).

Sometimes it's tough to find a specific answer, but you should try anyway because you don't want to look like an idiot when someone pulls out another thread that was specifically talking about what you want to hear.

[R A Sosnowski]

judo, karate,taikwondo(cant spell that right)lol. are olympic and martial arts.
iado...??? thats way off i think kendo would be cool but we know who would win alot
korea and japan.

There is a World Kumdo Association that wants to make Kumdo (Korean Kendo) an Olympic sport - see http://www.wka.org/interview.html.

Speaking of Taekwondo, the WTF (World TKD Fed. - the governing body for Olympic-style TKD) president, Dr. Un Yong Kim, has resigned amid sordid allegations according to the latest TaeKwonDo Times (Vol.24, No. 2, March 2004).

My previous arguments against Kendo in the Olympics are presented here: http://listserv.uoguelph.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9810&L=iaido-l&P=R1265&I=-3

[Khabbi]

Dident K-W do a big article about this ?

[xvikingx]

Dident K-W do a big article about this ?
Gee, do you mean the "Korea: the black ships of kendo" article that is smack dab in the middle of the homepage? I don't know how they ever expect anyone to find THAT!
:confused2
Besides, I don't think that detailed, four part article provides enough information to answer this question.

Hhhmm, searching this website is such pain isn't it?

[kendokamax]

whats wrong with people starting new thread that already been disctusted about anyway?

There is not that much to talk about anyway, its nice to hear new opinions too.

[Mr. Loki]

I didn't know it represents such a huge effort to answer someone a simple question (which seems not-so-understood by the way), or that it is your obligation to write something in every s*upid thread here. I mean, if you don't want to answer, just don't! and move on!!!... why trash someone (like me in this case) for such a f*****g thing (quoting you :wink: ).

By the way, I know there is a search engine and there is also plenty of things on WHAT PEOPLE THINK... about it, which wasn't my question since I don't care what a bunch of selfish and sort of pathetic beings (almost 60% of them as polls shows) would think about someone "stealing" their "unique style" and "I'm-so-special-since-I-do-kendo" sort of s**t.

My question was from the other side, as in... what do the Olympic Committee says about it. Since the argument of "it aint a sport but a martial art" seems to me really invalid (Judo?, Tae Kwon Do?).


But whatever you were to post, just leave it like that... you might get tired of thinking so much.

Thank you guys, you are the coolest!

[samurai999]

My question was from the other side, as in... what do the Olympic Committee says about it. Since the argument of "it aint a sport but a martial art" seems to me really invalid (Judo?, Tae Kwon Do?).


But whatever you were to post, just leave it like that... you might get tired of thinking so much.

Thank you guys, you are the coolest!

I would try to answer your question about it, but the "black ships of kendo" article says everything already. I'll state things below, but believe that they are mentioned or discussed in that article.

Judo and Taekwondo have become well... "sponsered". Mizuno makes gis, and so many corporations have taken part in producing equipment for both judo and taekwondo that IMHO, they have lost their roots (spiritual and historical) and have become something that has been overly dominated by the "sport and technology" aspects of it. I think that this is the main fear of why kendoka (especially the hardline sensei in Japan) think that kendo shouldn't become an Olympic sport. They are afraid that the martial "art" will be lost when it becomes an Olympic "sport". People will look at it as chambara more than kendo.

For example, imagine instant replay in a martial art that in EVERY SPORTMANS PLEDGE I've heard mentioning "respecting the judges decisions no matter what the outcome". Doesn't make sense doesn't it? Also, I have heard stuff thrown around such as automatic scoring such as the ones used in epee/foil. How does one account for zanshin and tenouchi? I have not found one device that can measure those things accurately. Unless a person discovers true artificial intelligence, there is no way IMHO.

Until the time when (or if) kendo becomes an Olympic sport, this issue will be argued and argued and argued with no real end. Think chicken and the egg..

Well from the Olympic committe point of view, there aren't enough countries yet to make kendo recognized as a "sport" able to become part of the Olympics. In addition, what about Hawaii? Hawaii has THEIR OWN FEDERATION although they are part of the United States geographically. How does the Olympic comittee recognize that?

I hope I answered some of your questions somewhat comprehensibly.

My 0.02$(US)
Tim

[mystic_kendoka]

dont mean to hijack the thread (although it seems to have reached its purpose, and received the answer to its question)

i strongly believe that the egg was first...
i dont say this because the first chicked had to come from an egg etc. but from simple logic, and what i know about evolution...

We all know that different species have come into existance through evolution (please, nobody argue against evolution...)... now, so, we know that evolution happens over a long period of time, and it happens because the offspring is slightly different (hopefully improved) than its parent...

so a chicken probably came from some sort of pterodactyl or some bird, and evolved into a chicken, so if we look at the VERY first animal considered a chicken, its parent must have been somewhat different from the chicken, so that parent, who was not a chicken, laid an egg, which turned to be a chicken...

so my answer is the EGG!

[Bayushi-Shoju]

Natural Selection my butt

[AlexM]

I didn't know it represents such a huge effort to answer someone a simple question (which seems not-so-understood by the way), or that it is your obligation to write something in every s*upid thread here. I mean, if you don't want to answer, just don't! and move on!!!... why trash someone (like me in this case) for such a f*****g thing (quoting you :wink: ).

By the way, I know there is a search engine and there is also plenty of things on WHAT PEOPLE THINK... about it, which wasn't my question since I don't care what a bunch of selfish and sort of pathetic beings (almost 60% of them as polls shows) would think about someone "stealing" their "unique style" and "I'm-so-special-since-I-do-kendo" sort of s**t.

My question was from the other side, as in... what do the Olympic Committee says about it. Since the argument of "it aint a sport but a martial art" seems to me really invalid (Judo?, Tae Kwon Do?).


But whatever you were to post, just leave it like that... you might get tired of thinking so much.

Thank you guys, you are the coolest!

A) Please don't send another poorly typed and insulting PM again. Re-read the post and you'll see I didn't say anything bad to you specifically.


B) However, since you seem to want a nasty answer here it is:
You asked other people to essentially search for the answer for you. You weren't asking for opinions: you asked a vague question which you have now elaborated on.

If you were asking for opinions then why did you not give your own?

You didn't want to look for the answer, you wanted other people to look up the answer for you. Despite the fact that this is something that was readily available through a simple key-word search.

No one likes a student that comes wanting to learn without putting in the effort to do so. You'll get far more interaction with sensei and others if you don't just ask a question and lap up what they answer: You have to give something back too. Come back once you've developed some "critical thought".

I have now officially wasted too much time on this.

[OSatsu Jin]

It's called wading through all the crap to get the answer to your question....why do that when someone who has a reasonable amount of considereation and personality can answer the question.

Geez

[tokon]

it´s an interesting question for the whole kendo community, which has to be answered!
do we really want becoming kendo olympic?
I really don´t want that development!

practising kendo is not only learning and training techniques. it´s more than this. kendo is a lifelong path! it´s a leaving way of developing oneself mentally and ethically either. a way of transforming oneself to a new way of being psychologically.

my fear of that possible development of kendo is the probably concision of the path ... a drastic limitation to the technique! it would not be kendo anymore, it would transform to ken-jutsu. the same changes like karate or judo. I don´t want see "winners" jumping around while rasing their hands. that´s not the way of kendo.
I don´t want to have influence on kendo by the IOC based only on financial considerations or loss of total of attendances.

well it´s enticing to participate olympic games and maybe winning a gold medal, but that´s only filthy lucre.
I don´t share that wish of the gumdo community. I go to such lengths to say, if World Gumdo Association wants to become kendo/gumdo olympic, they have to think about still being a member of IKF. They have different goals. so why not resigning from IKF. a member who doesn´t achieve the same goals of IKF, doesn´t need to be part of it!

It´s a hard statement, and hopefully not only my opinion.