Budo?

[RayOfAsh]

http://www.linkframe.com/Fitness/Kendo/san_diego_kendo_club.htm

My local Kendo club thingy says:

"The San Diego Kendo Club offers courses in kendo and provides kendo practice to male and female, and youths of all races regardless of religion or national origin. We approach kendo as a form of budo that aims to train the mind and body, and cultivate character through sustained training in Japanese sword techniques.

Although we acknowledge the fact that kendo is seen by some as a sport of martial arts where kendo matches (shiai) are fought. We practice kendo as a form of budo that train the mind and body, and cultivate character and respect for each other."

Dose this involve any religious spirtualy thingys or what?

[Bleda]

Budo != Buddhism. If it was the same then they would call it buddishm and not budo. Just look up budo on google and you'll see what it entails.

[RayOfAsh]

"Do, the way, is the method, the teaching that enables you to understand perfectly the nature of your own mind and self. It is the way of the Buddha, butsudo, that leads you to discover your own original nature, to awaken from the numbness of the sleeping ego (the little self, the limited "me") and accede to higher, fuller personhood. In Asia this way has become the supreme morality and essence of all religions and philosophies. The yin and yang of the I Ching, the "existence is nothing" of Lao Tsu, have their roots in it."

http://www.shotokai.com/ingles/filosofia/budozen.html

Funny, this site says the exact same thing:

http://www.judoinfo.com/budozen.htm

[RayOfAsh]

http://britishaikido.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20

No matter where i guy, the word religion and spirtual is used constently.

[Catherine]

The description the club used about kendo being used to train the mind and the body through the application of the principles of the sword is a fairly standard set of words used to describe kendo.

It is used in a kendo text book - I can't remember which one.

The bit where they talk about shiai seems a bit odd. You might want to ask them what they mean by it.

They may be saying that shiai is not the only important thing in kendo, but they still participate in it or they may be saying that they don't participate in shiai.

I would be a bit wary of a kendo school that does not participate in shiai. I think that shiai is a good way of teaching kendoka about the urgency and immediacy of kendo and where your kendo might be lacking. eg if you just stand there without a strong centre - you will be cut.

Catherine

[JSchmidt]

[QUOTE=RayOfAsh]" In Asia this way has become the supreme morality and essence of all religions and philosophies. "

Note "All religions and philosophies". Yes, budo of course got it's roots in buddhism, as it is originating from a buddhist culture, but that doesn't make it religious by any means.
That would be the same as describing any action you do as 'Christian' (assuming that you come from a predominantly Christian country).
Budo teaches nothing that Christianity, Humanism, Islam, etc etc doesnt teach. Name your religion/philosophy and you'll see that budo contains the same principle: Respect for eachother and your surroundings.

For the record, I'm about as atheist as you can be and I can't see anything wrong with budo at all. If anything, it almost completly matches with my 'humanist' ideal of living.

Jakob

[Neil Gendzwill]

Budo means martial way, a method of improving yourself through hard practice. It isn't necessarily buddhist or any sort of religion: the "bu" in budo is not the same as the "bu" in buddha. In fact if you had to associate kendo with any sort of philosophy it would be zen, a lot of zen principles are embodied in the actions of kendo, although zen isn't explicitly taught. Kendo dojo don't normally teach any sort of philosophy or spirituality outright; there isn't usually any part of the class where there's a lecture about anything other than the techniques. The idea is that you practice sincerely and hard and the improvements happen. It doesn't matter if you have a sword in your hand or a paintbrush, any activity that you practice with best effort and thought can be a path to self-improvement.

[RayOfAsh]

"he bit where they talk about shiai seems a bit odd."

What? Where? Shiai?

[Catherine]

"he bit where they talk about shiai seems a bit odd."

What? Where? Shiai?

The end of the text you posted says the following:

"Although we acknowledge the fact that kendo is seen by some as a sport of martial arts where kendo matches (shiai) are fought. We practice kendo as a form of budo that train the mind and body, and cultivate character and respect for each other"

I thought that they may have been hinting that the club didn't participate in shiai. I was interested to read what they had to say so I had a look at the website.

It seems that the club does participate in shiai and is very aware of what happens in shiai at a local and international level. However, they have a strong belief that kendo is not sport. I imagine that this belief has a strong impact on how they participate in shiai and what they are looking for when they do participate in shiai.

I found what they had to say interesting. It was also refreshing to see a club which takes such a strong stand at club level that kendo is a martial art (a 'way') rather than a sport.

Catherine