Kendo and my ego

[degeneral1]

I'm sure there are many levels to this question, but on the whole, does kendo serve to temper my ego? or inflate it?

[Jiyoui]

I.... don't get the question...

[turboyoshi]

That depends on whether you're the kind of person who pays more attention to your mistakes or your successes.

[sarge127]

That depends on whether you're the kind of person who pays more attention to your mistakes or your successes.
This has played a huge role in everything i have done... But in the end, the problems i learned from get me back BIG time...

[pgsmith]

That depends on whether you're the kind of person who pays more attention to your mistakes or your successes.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to turboyoshi again.

[b8amack]

Always so nice to see such even, well thought out polls. No one who has done kendo at all would pick option two... But that doesn't mean there are no opportunities in kendo for arrogance to grow.

[yoda-waza]

Transcend it and have one less question to ponder.

[turboyoshi]

Always so nice to see such even, well thought out polls.
Well, this theme comes up regularly and usually started by some young whippersnapper with an over-idealized sense of the martial arts or japanese culture in general. I can forgive it because I was that way once and know many others were too. They should grow out of it once they've been around long enough to meet a butthole sensei or two.

[rfoxmich]

I have no ego problems and I'd be happy to tell you about how great that makes me ;-)

[Anorymous]

Well, as a teacher of mine used to say, "Humility is one of my 7000 virtues."

[Missingno.]

I have no ego problems and I'd be happy to tell you about how great that makes me ;-)

I, for one, am humble enough to admit how not humble I am.

[sirius1906]

I was born humble. :D

[IloveKendo]

Well, as a teacher of mine used to say, "Humility is one of my 7000 virtues."


I'm going to have to start using that one....

[Gin]

"Humility is our weapon"

[davehale]

Every strike to men, whether my own or my opponent's, humbles me.

[IloveKendo]

Tonight, my Sensei said "the only correct way to do Kendo is to kill our ego." It made me think of this thread. I think he was talking a bit about not getting "emotional" during sparring. I don't know, I just thought I'd share this tidbit.

[DigitalDowntown]

Even though we all try to get past our egos, and kendo (and other budo arts, etc.) help us with that, it still bums us out to lose a match during a tournament. That's still our ego getting bruised.

[rfoxmich]

When it comes to humility, to paraphrase that old saw about statisticians; There are liars, damned liars and there are kenshi.

[Jiyoui]

Tonight, my Sensei said "the only correct way to do Kendo is to kill our ego." It made me think of this thread. I think he was talking a bit about not getting "emotional" during sparring. I don't know, I just thought I'd share this tidbit.

yes, and think deeper

[verissimus]

The only time I did really well at a tournament was when I didn't care about winning or losing. Not because I'd conquered my ego or because of any humility on my part, but because I was so tired. I'd had 6 or 7 matches in a row, and both semi-final and final had gone into encho. I remember thinking to myself during the final that I just wanted the match to end. Since then I've tried to recreate that mental frame of mind, without much success. I suppose the solution to this - and to everything else - is more kakarigeiko :D

[degeneral1]

Always so nice to see such even, well thought out polls. No one who has done kendo at all would pick option two... But that doesn't mean there are no opportunities in kendo for arrogance to grow.

I'm sensing sarcasm, but is the 2nd sentence validating the question?


Well, this theme comes up regularly and usually started by some young whippersnapper with an over-idealized sense of the martial arts or japanese culture in general. I can forgive it because I was that way once and know many others were too. They should grow out of it once they've been around long enough to meet a butthole sensei or two.

I'm not young, nor a whippersnapper. I don't believe I'm over-idealizing anything. And I'm trying to figure out how the butthole sensei relates to this.

I value humility in all things, and I think part of kendo is killing my ego. Yet I struggle with it all the time. Regardless of "success" or "failure", it's still there. Maybe the 2 aren't directly related at all.

The comments are funny. I'm getting the sense I asked a dumb question, but I can't figure out which way. Oh well. I would close out the poll, but couldn't find a button for that.

[b8amack]

I'm sensing sarcasm, but is the 2nd sentence validating the question?

Not as it's phrased, but whatever, really. I am certainly no avatar of humility.

[Raffa]

Kendo is a way of expressing yourself. If someone is humble then his kendo will also be so. The reverse is true too, throught kendo is possible to get more humble

[verissimus]

If someone is humble then his kendo will also be so.

How does one define 'humble' kendo?

[turboyoshi]

The comments are funny. I'm getting the sense I asked a dumb question, but I can't figure out which way.
You didn't show much depth of thought in posing your question.
Your question makes several assumptions, among them, that one can make a general statement about what effect kendo will have on someone's ego or that there will be any effect at all.
Kendo doesn't have to be a path to self improvement and there's nothing special about kendo that even makes it the best path for self improvement. If you are the type of person who strives to keep improving himself, any activity can be a vehicle for that. That's how the Japanese can turn chado or ikebana into arts for personal growth but you could do it with checkers or something else.
If you're dong kendo as a hobby or social activity and are not given to self reflection, kendo won't have any real effect on your ego. If it does, the effect will vary with the person and one cannot give a general answer like you asked for. On top of all that, when I say improving yourself, I do not necessarily mean you will become humble. One can become better in lots of ways without achieving the least bit of humility.

[Bokushingu]

When i'm training daily in or out of the dojo, i take option 1. when i'm competing in a taikai or testing in shinsa, i take option 2.

Same thing with my career... When i'm studying a new modality or staying current on my learned modalities i take option 1. when I'm administering a modality or involved in a code blue, i take option 2.

[FastKendo]

my Sensei once told me (us, actually), "be like mentally the most stupid student when receiving instruction (just listening and do it), and be like mentally the most skillful person in the arena during facing other one by one (in the shiai)". So I think 1 or 2 definitely depend on the situation.

[bobmaxine]

I think maybe that kendo inflates and deflates the ego in turns, and that to realize this also inflates and deflates the ego by turns.

I think the best lesson is to go with the ego flow, wherever it takes you, and then learn lessons from that. Which will in the end constitute a deflation of ego, but in a natural and healthy way.

[Kendoka]

Kendo is a way to discipline the human character through the application of the principles of the katana.

To mold the mind and body.
To cultivate a vigorous spirit,
And through correct and rigid training,
To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo.
To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor.
To associate with others with sincerity.
And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.
Thus will one be able:
To love one's country and society;
To contribute to the development of culture;
And to promote peace and prosperity among all peoples.

So for this thread, maybe 'And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.' is the valid bit.

[Shinsengumi77]

All I know is that I'm waaaaay more humble than the lot of you! ;)

[Cailin Coilleac]

I, for one, am humble enough to admit how not humble I am.

I was going to answer: I fell awesome and cool, because I would've picked the first option of the poll. I'm so cool, because I'm humble. :D Reckon we're polar opposites then, with a sense of humour :)

[tango]

I'm not young, nor a whippersnapper. I don't believe I'm over-idealizing anything. And I'm trying to figure out how the butthole sensei relates to this.

I value humility in all things, and I think part of kendo is killing my ego. Yet I struggle with it all the time. Regardless of "success" or "failure", it's still there. Maybe the 2 aren't directly related at all.

If you're not becoming more humble through failure, then I'd venture to say you haven't failed enough....

Either that, or you're not fully recognizing or fully embracing your failure(s)...

[turboyoshi]

If you're not becoming more humble through failure, then I'd venture to say you haven't failed enough....

Either that, or you're not fully recognizing or fully embracing your failure(s)...

This is a good point. Personally, I don't value humility or pursue it as if that were a goal by itself. I think that would be dumb. I see it as a natural byproduct of correct training. When you lose in shiai or in jigeiko, ( and everyone loses eventually) that's a big enough clue that you weren't as good as you thought you were, right? The proper display of humility then (IMO) is not to say to yourself "i suck" or "That person is better than me." Those are just acts of false humility. Say to yourself instead, "What mistake did I make that I should address in my training?"

You don't need to try to be humble or kill your ego or otherwise focus on such details. These things aren't goals, they're results. You just need to continue to pursue correct training.