stamina n stuff

[rottunpunk]

ive just started kendo

unfortunately, due to other comitments i can only train every other week

i gather that stamina is very important in kendo, but i am very unfit from not doing judo for some time and living off a student diet

is there any way in which i can quickly and cheaply build up my stamina to a sufficient level suitable for training properly

i feel like a weak little girlie
its not gud im not a girlie type girl-grr arg

any advise wud be greatly appreciated-cheers

:p

[Kendoboy]

try doing your judo kata with 2 pound weights on your wrists. And lots of suburi! running will also help.

Stamina is something that takes time to build, so be patient.

[alexpollijr]

There's no shortcut to getting to a reasonable level of fitness that would allow you to practice kendo.

A number of exercises can be of value, but any of them will take time and commitment. Aerobics and Plyometrics will probably be the most useful exercises you can practice. Besides the usual kendo practice of course, especially kakarigeiko, uchikomi geiko, kirikaeshi and haya suburi.

[KhawMengLee]

Try doing lots of Haya-suburi(jumping suburi), you know the ones you do in warm ups that leave you breathless.

Do about 50, then 70-75, then 100. If you can do about 4 sets of 50 haya suburi its good cardio fitness.

To build speed use a suburi-to and do lots of suburi. I try to emphisize a lot on the upstroke more than the downstroke to get more speed. Meaning I try to lift up as fast as I can because the downstroke is aided by gravity.

I now do about 300 cuts(MEN,KOTE,DOU) and 100 Hiya suburi with a suburi-to on the days I don't train.

Also, walking up stairs and then walking down backwards is good to strengthen calf and leg muscles.

PEACE
MENG

[kendokev]

Running man, is a great way of building stamina... though you'd better have good posture else you'll end up with a bit of a back pain... hey whadya know, good kendo training

And, as you run, don't just run, think about how you run. Make sure you flex your knees to cushion each step so that you don't get micro fractures.... you'll know if you got them if they ache the next day :)

And if your thigh and leg muscles still ache 2 days after your run, it's time to run again. It's the only way to get rid of the lactic acid in your muscles and that's causing the ache.

how long and how far at first??? oh well, I prefer if we worked it out ourselves. if you've got a park to run in that's is of all right distance (I'd say 3 km), then just go for a slow jog but time yourself. And once your comfortable with a certain time, just push yourself bit by bit. Main thing is, take it easy the first time. Scope out the track a bit. enjoy yourself.

I don't have a training cert in health. these are tips from a beginner, to a beginner. happy jogging.

[Ares2907]

kendo involves aspects that are both aerobic and anaerobic in nature. You'll want to have a degree of both types of fitness if you want to get serious about your training.

Do your commitments just happen to be on at the same time as your kendo training? (in which case you could think about supplementing your kendo training at a different dojo/ doing suburi et al at home)
or do you simply not have enough time in your hectic schedule (in which case you would apparently not have enough time to fit in other types of exercise)

It's my experience with the latter people who claim 'not to have enough time', that the two hours they spend watching shit american sitcoms most evenings could be otherwise used productively (and hence is not an excuse).

As for what exercises to do, I advocate a lean towards having anaerobic stamina more than aerobic. Weight training, done correctly is good. I'm sure jogging is also fine (however the line about needing to go jogging again being the only way to get rid of lactic acid is somewhat misleading - any movement that stimulates the lymph nodes will help with that, which is just about any movement at all).

If the lack of fitness is attributable to being porky, then you will obviously need to take what you shove into your cake-hole into consideration.

As a beginner, you also need to take into account the fact that your body will take some time to get used to the movements of kendo itself.

[rottunpunk]

thanks for the advice

i suppose i do have enough time if i got out of bed in the morning-hmmn

as for the training at a different dojo-thats impossible-the closest one is in manchester, which requires me getting trains and knowing my way around manchester-scary

i will take your advice though and do more training at home, and perhaps take up jogging if my knee can manage it

cheers chumblys
:P

[Confound]

Amen, Ares. Recently I went through all the bother of introducing someone at my budokan, and bringing her to practice. I introduced her to all the sempai, she speaks no Japanese.

I have been acutely embarassed, since she hasn't started kendou yet (2 months later). She talks big, but never puts her money where her mouth is, so to speak. I hate people like that. However, at least my sensei's don't blame me, they just chalk it up to another flaky gaijin.

c

[nodachi]

rottunpunk, if you are worried about your knee then running is maybe not the best exercise. It puts a lot of stress on knees, especially hills! Swimming is probably the hardest workout for the least amount of stress on your body. You can swim until you arms are finished. Then good work outs for the legs are just running in the deep end (like treading water, only running). Same motion as running, but zero stress on the legs and knees. It will be more of a strength workout too. More resistance and all that stuff.

[ben]

...or do laps just kicking with a kick-board.

b

[GMason]

I'm only guessing but....

I guess you practice at Do Shin Ken Yu Kai - Preston ???

I so why don'y you ask Andy or Rutger or someone else to give you a lift on a sunday morning and come across to Do Shin Ken Yu Kai - Bolton.

I apologise if I have jumped to conslusions and you don't practice at Do Shin Ken Yu Kai. But it is the only dojo I know in Preston.

[rottunpunk]

i do indeed train in preston
are you from bolton then?

i cant do sundays as i am in the church band and have comitnments i cant and dont really want to abandon, that is why i only train everyother week as well

its quite annoying, but theres nothing i can realy do about it

at least when i go back to darlington in the holidays i can get a lot of training in both iai and kendo with chidokan

for now (until i get more into it kendo is just a hobby for me, so im not all that dedicated to it as maybe i shoulkd)

nodachi-thankyou for the advice about swimming, but i hav a fear of suffocation from when my dad chucked me in the big pool when i was little and told me top swim to my ring (it was a squeeky horsey one-funky) but i sank, so as a result, i cant swim

goin 4 a short jog/walk 2morra though and i might start weight training-hmmnh

:p

[GMason]

I do practice at Bolton but I'm actually from Do Shin Ken Yu Kai - Halifax (I think we are all coming over soon, for a kind of inaugural Preston practice.)

I think you are right not to let Kendo rule your life. There are too many people who let Kendo take over everything. Not that this is wrong. "Whatever floats your boat" as they say. But I think you do need to keep a bit of perspective on things.

As for extra stamina training etc.. Just stick at it you may feel like a bit of a big baby at first because you can't keep up or you find it difficult but everyone feels like that at first (I still feel like that sometimes if I been out on the beer or practiced a bit too much). But you will build up your muscles and stamina and eventually it will be no problem. (Even when Andy decides to go crazy with Saburi !!!! :D I practiced over at his old Dojo ages ago and all we did was saburi and then keiko.)

[rottunpunk]

hehe you should have seen us after we had to do a warm up with like running and press ups and stuff last week-that were funny

yeah the halifax lot are meant to be coming on the 20th. i think that works out as the week im not at kendo, but i might make an exception just this once.

are you coming down for that then? it'll be funky to meet ya bud

:p

[GMason]

I wasn't sure what date it was but yep I'll be there.

Andy has asked me and a few others of to come across, and take the class. If my friend takes it, that should be entertaining, last time she took a class in Bolton everyone complained as she had them doing about 1000 or so cuts (That will build you stamina up :D Ask Andy about Leng she's crazy !!!) and no one could move afterwards, all she could say was... well we do this every week in Macau HA HA HA HA you are all weak !!!

It was great !!!!

Yep I will be there on the 20th it will be nice to meet you. There will be some good fencer's.

OOOPPPS :eek: sorry highjacked the thread SSSOOORRRYYY!!!

[rottunpunk]

cool cant wait

but dont kill me

im little and wear glasses-hehe

....dyu really do that much every week? if so how long dyu train for? hehe

:p

[GMason]

No, we normally don't do that much Saburi or Stamina we usually only do about 30 of each. My Stamina is very low compaired to other Kendoka I know. :eek: I get knackered very quickly. I need to do something extra, like what other people have suggested. It's just finding the time that is the hard part.

It is very very rare we ever do that much. I can do that much saburi but I can't move my arms the next day.

[rottunpunk]

hehe ah bless

i think oi might give the drum lesson the next day a miss anyways-hehe

:p

[KhawMengLee]

Our club has a little tradition. We do 10 hiya-suburi(jumping suburi) per years in their age for whomever that has a birthday on our training day. Nevertheless I dread birthdays now...especially for the older sempais who are like 25+(which totals 250 over cuts).

Birthdays. Fear 'em.

MENG

[rottunpunk]

scary

surely the loder you get the less you should have to do...for conorary reasons-:D

:P

[Atama]

Hey rottunpunk, I train at preston too....don't worry about being a girlie girl stamina comes in time, I stuggled alot through Andy's warm up when i first started. The best way to build up your stamina is practice some suburi in your back garden when ever you have some free time.

Also if you have a knee injury be very careful I myself have injured my knee in kendo, just let someone know and don't do anything that hurts.

I'll see you on wednesday and don't worry i'll make sure Dave does lots of suburi to help you build up that stamina :D

Lisa William ( Do Shin Ken Yu Kai )

[rottunpunk]

heyo

thanks for the offer of telling dave to do more suburi-but you dont have to-honest :p

nah i guess it'll be good for me, but not too much of lots to start of with ok?

cya on wednesday then hun

:jaguar:

[Nishi]

My advice about stamina would be "never quit", no matter how hard the training may seem(unless injured). At first, it appears to be your body that starts to struggle with these new demands your putting on yourself, but if you study the situation closley you will see that it is the mind that wants to quit first...mind leads the body ! I think suburi should be done like you were fencing someone...a strong mind, a vigorous spirit, and 100% commitment to every move and thought you make . This spirit will, if practised ,spill into every aspect of your kendo. Alot of new students feel they must train in order to learn kendo, but i think its a case of learning to train, and then we can learn kendo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doshinkenyukai (Preston sempai)

[GMason]

Morning,

Also one major benifit with taking it to the limit, and pushing through the wall, and all the other buzz words that you want to use :).

Is that once you are tired you will find you real Kendo will appear. Once you are tired, you stop being tense. Which is a big problem for both a Beginer and an experienced Kendoka.

So once you are knackered your real Kendo appears. It's the same with Kakarigeiko. Which is why I think somemany people hold Kakarigeiko in such high regard as a training tool.

[David J]

Originally posted by GMason
...once you are tired you will find you real Kendo will appear.

And in my case its really, really bad......;)

<rei>

Dave

[Nishi]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by GMason
...once you are tired you will find your real Kendo will appear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think alot of sensei will try to exhaust there students so that they stop using there muscles and the tension leaves their bodies,also, the student stops thinking and just reacts and the students endurance is challanged....once a kendoka can train with a completely relaxed mind and body, stamina is no longer an issue.Bieng completeley relaxed is not a chore, and takes very little energy to mainatin, however, to understand this i think every kendoka should train to understand both ends of the spectrum, complete exhaustion and complete relaxation.Leave nothing to chance and never cheat yourself.

[GMason]

I think the last three word of Dave/Lisa's post are probably the most important of this entire thread.

"Never cheat yourself"

Because that is all you are doing. If you don't give it your all. Your sensei after seeing you cheat yourself for a few weeks will try and encourage you but will stop caring after a while. As they have seen people come and go, and it's a sad fact. That some people just won't push themselves to to the point where they want to throw up.

The people that do push themselves to that point are proabably the people who will improve the most.

As they should learn the most and push their stamina to the limit and then go that little big further.

[dorkusxmaximus]

Besides doing haya suburi, you should also try running a mile or more because that improved my stamina a lot and helped me survived through kendo practice.

[dLuXpN0i45]

Originally posted by dorkusxmaximus
Besides doing haya suburi, you should also try running a mile or more because that improved my stamina a lot and helped me survived through kendo practice.

Yeah, running does help out alot. running and suburi are my favorite things to do when im away from the dojo.

[nodachi]

IF you really want stamina, I hate it, because I suck at it, but do swimming, much less stress on the joints anyway...

Granted I don't, but it should do the trick

[BigG]

Originally posted by dLuXpN0i45


Yeah, running does help out alot. running and suburi are my favorite things to do when im away from the dojo.

This is an interesting point ... training away from the dojo ... I would love to get some additional training in but I take it you either train outdoors (as you are in California) or have incrdibly high ceilings in your home.

My questions to everyone (especially nothern europeans) are:

1. what training do you manage to do away from the dojo e.g. suburi in the back garden?

2. What do you wear on body and feet if its outside?

3. do your neighbours think that you have gone 'a little strange'?

Many thanks and seasons greetings

BigG

[dLuXpN0i45]

Originally posted by BigG


This is an interesting point ... training away from the dojo ... I would love to get some additional training in but I take it you either train outdoors (as you are in California) or have incrdibly high ceilings in your home.

My questions to everyone (especially nothern europeans) are:

1. what training do you manage to do away from the dojo e.g. suburi in the back garden?

2. What do you wear on body and feet if its outside?

3. do your neighbours think that you have gone 'a little strange'?

Many thanks and seasons greetings

BigG

hahaha yes that's true..very true. well you can do most of the exercises without a partner.. if you have enough room that is.. you can be hardcore and just be barefoot with your full bogu.
and yes people do look when you doing suburi.. especially with your uniform on. Now i don't do half that stuff.. im too busy. So i just run and do suburi everyday..

[alexpollijr]

What? Suburi in full uniform?
What for?


Anyway, try to get a smaller suburito that fits your ceiling height. As for the shoes, why not your usual one for jogging;

The only exercises you can practice without a partner are the various suburi and footwork exercises, and that should be enough for the off-dojo hours.

[hamish]

I used to do suburi in my lunch break, still in my work uniform with steelcap shoes on, so I wouldn't worry about what shoes you're wearing.

Hamish

[2muchryt]

running has too much shock to the joints.
i prfer swimming.

[2muchryt]

an excercise that i have found to very helpful is one my sensei showed to me. he said a high ranking japanese sensei used to do this in his home while he was watching shit japanese sitcoms. so all you folks who love shit american sitcoms, and even, my favorite, new zealand shit sitcoms : there is hope.
it is simple really, you just sit in seiza while watching tv (so you don't mark up the ceiling) pick a target, (like a pillow, or your brothers head, etc) and do left handed suburi paying attention to the basics, keeping the shanai in center, extending, kime, snap, etc and it really helps develope your left, depending on how much TV one watches. i should do it more because i tend to use 2 much right. he said it works well for tsuki too.

by the way i have heard that one of the best cross training for
martial arts/boxing/fencing was dancing.

[nodachi]

Good point!

Dancing is good training for any sport actually. Great for your flexibility and strength training of your muscles using your own body wait, or other light dancers for lifting and catching.

I never did it, and it sounds funny, but I have known a football player or two who danced ballet and it helped their strength, flexibility, and jumping over the other teams line for those dives to the end zone.

[Aoi]

Good training... more kendo and more kendo. hehehehehe
asa-geiko, hiru-geiko, kurabu-katsudo, yakan-geiko, kangeiko etcetc. going to other dojos is always good. Different styles, different people (just don't forget to get your senpai and Sensei's agreement before your flee off)
There's a left arm training my senpai told me. Try it while you're watchin TV or something.
Grab one shinai, hold it on the very tip of the tsuka with your left hand. (if your a beginner, maybe even the middle or top of the tsuka) stretch your left arm forwards (wrists straight) and keep the shinai horizontal (parallel to the ground and to your body). You can do this sitting or standing. Let's see how long you can keep it horizontal for :D