Young Kendoka

[heri0n]

I was just wondering how many of this board were under 20? It is pretty hard to find young kendoka in North America... So I find it nice to play other younger kendoka... (not to be offensive to all the older members of this board :P)

[Danny Boy]

heh, 19 here.

[Sanjuro]

i beat you.

17. :D

Athough I have to admit I don't fulfil the criteria for North America.

[heri0n]

i am 17 also :P
how long have you guys been doing kendo?
and what rank do you hold?

[Sanjuro]

One year or so

I am unranked

Rank here doesnt usually mean a lot, as there are extremely skilled kendoka my age (winning tournaments easily) that prefer to be unranked until they get older. If they are ranked, it is usually at a much lower level than they are supposed to be. I, of course, am not one of them.

[taiwnezboi]

I'm 17.. Brown belt (equivalent to 4th Kyu)

how about yourself?

[heri0n]

oh yeah i forgot to mention my rank
i just got my shodan on sunday :D

[taiwnezboi]

ohhh nice~ how long have you been practicing?

[heri0n]

2 years + like sept - dec

[Will]

Originally posted by taiwnezboi
I'm 17.. Brown belt (equivalent to 4th Kyu)


Brown Belt? Does your dojo have belts?

[mingshi]

From observation, I would say that an adult would progress faster than a teenager in Kendo. They take things more seriously. They don't practice for the "fun" of it.

But they tend to move slower (due to aging???) and use too much of their upper body strength.

There aren't many parents who would like to let their kids to take up martial arts in an early age. But it's reverse in East Asia. I personally know a HK Wushu Team member who trained since the age of 5, and she's now the instructor of Uni Arizona's Wushu club. Another one is a HK Judo Team member who got her blackbelt at 14, and she'd participated in the Uni Olympics.

Maybe cases I know are quite extreme since I also know plenty of friends who had Grade 8 Piano, who started playing since 5 or so.

I guess parents in this generation would rather keep their Kids with their Playstation 2 and play indoor in an isolated environment all day long. I was brought up like that :(

p.s. I'm 20, the youngest regular in my dojo (the 2nd youngest is 29!!). And I'm still underage for comsuming alcohol in the US...

[taiwnezboi]

"Brown Belt? Does your dojo have belts?"

Yes, we use belts at our dojang, which each correspond to a different kyu. Here are the belts that we use and their corresponding ranks, just in case you're interested:

White - 9 Kyu
Yellow - 8 Kyu
Green - 7 Kyu
Purple - 6 Kyu
Blue - 5 Kyu
Brown - 4 Kyu
Red - 3-1 Kyu

Then after that it's dans.

[reicheru]

Hmmm. Never heard of belts in kendo before. Do you actually wear them during practice? If so, how/where are they tied? I can't imagine seeing a belt tied around a hakama; doesn' sound too kosher to me. Or are they belts in name only so you can use the common lingo with friends who practice other martial arts?

Rachel

[taiwnezboi]

reicheru: Well, all of the people at the dojang call them belts. They are the same as the tags that everyone wears w/ their name on them, except ours look a little different. For us, we have our school symbol in a circle in the middle of the tag and it is colored the color of the "belt" we hold. Our name is written in English under the symbol.

[heri0n]

only the 3 of us!? i am dissapointed.. :(

[GMason]

Hi, Jenny

I have to disagree with you on the not taking it seriously idea.

My cousin Mark (The young guy who won the Lidstone), he is only 14 (Shodan), he takes it very seriously. I suppose that it does help with him being very good. I not looking forward to the day when he starts to kick my Ass :eek: :eek:

He enters all the compititions he can, and takes it more seriously than some of the seniors at the club.

But I suppose he could be the exception to the rule in Britian.

[KATSUJIN]

well.... i am abt to hit 20 soon.....

[Abe Froman]

I feel old now...

I'm 22. I can feel my youth slipping away as I type....

I have been practicing kendo for a little less than 5 months. I am currently 3rd Kyu.

[Phorest]

I'm 17, and will probably be starting Kendo sometime soon. :D

[nodachi]

I'm 22. Not under the twenty limit, but not fitting in the old kendoka list. Started almost 4 months ago.

[kendokamax]

i'm 21...
is that considered old??

[saki_wooah]

I'm 14! and i'm nikyu, just started last year... I do take kendo seriously! Well I try to. I have a lot of problems convincing my parents to let me go to championships out Montreal... (there's 1-2 only championships here :( ).

[saki_wooah]

My cousin Mark (The young guy who won the Lidstone), he is only 14 (Shodan), he takes it very seriously. I suppose that it does help with him being very good. I not looking forward to the day when he starts to kick my Ass

I thought the minimum age for shodan was 16... well, that's for canada.

[saki_wooah]

oups! sorry it's 14 for shodan and 16 for nidan... I checked the wrong column

[dorkusxmaximus]

i'm 18

[ryuu]

all of you guys are way older than me..... im only 12....
NO JOKE!!!!

[Commander]

Im 19 on June, wanting to grade at the Stoke seminar/grading on July for Ikkyu

[h2o]

Haha, and then you should consider that this thread is 2 years old, so add 2 years to every age stated in the posts (the Age: XX next to their names is their age of this moment, calculated from birthdate).

[bisha]

??!?? (http://img1.yoxio.com/img/163707.jpg)












Sorry just having a bit of fun with these babies. I'm a very young kendoka too (relatively speaking.)

[Commander]

obviously :rolleyes: someone posted, so i replied

[bisha]

Wasn't really directed at you. But good going, bud.

[Kirsty]

I'm 17. There are a lot of people in kendo younger than 20 around.

[Ren Blade]

I'm younger than 20 mentally. Does that count?:)

[h2o]

I'm younger than 20 mentally. Does that count?:)

Tss, if it did, we should find that the average age of all people on Earth is 7 :wink:

[KendokaJim]

I'm 22 and I started kendo just under a year and a half ago. I'm not sure I could have progressed as well if I was younger. And I think Mingshi was just saying that most young kenshi don't take it seriously.

[ryuu]

Ha ha! Nobody can beat my age!
sorry........
Getting carried away! I can finally relish in the fact that i am the youngest in my yeargroup, and my dojo
I'm 12 ha ha ha ha ha.........
i'm going over the top now....
WHO CARES! Im 12... i'm 12 ha ha ha.....:ogre:
I'm aloud to be stupid cos i'm young he he he:silly:

[GoldenShinai]

I'm 13......Ryuu-chan is probably the youngest on the boards.....

[bluhawq]

I'm 19..I'm not the youngest in my dojo tho...the youngest is probably a 14 yo nikyu..(or is it 15..i have no idea)..we had a kid join in last beginners class..dunno whether he'll still be coming

[W@ffen-SS]

i got an art but how to post it

[Wout]

From observation, I would say that an adult would progress faster than a teenager in Kendo. They take things more seriously. They don't practice for the "fun" of it.



I'm 21 and I do practice for the fun of it, on the other hand I'm not regarded as thé most mature person (I've got plenty of time to feel old so I enjoy being young for now :D ) .

BTW you're profile says you're 22

[Jacynth]

Yea I'm 15,

[Eiliries]

I turned 18 yesterday, now I can legally buy rubber cement, lighters and spraypaint...

[Richmond-san]

I am 19 but I'll 20 in less than a week.

[Richmond-san]

Ha ha! Nobody can beat my age!
sorry........
Getting carried away! I can finally relish in the fact that i am the youngest in my yeargroup, and my dojo
I'm 12 ha ha ha ha ha.........
i'm going over the top now....
WHO CARES! Im 12... i'm 12 ha ha ha.....:ogre:
I'm aloud to be stupid cos i'm young he he he:silly:

You may be young but your better spoken and have more accurate spelling than a lot of native english speakers on this forum.

Richmond-san

[ryuu]

Tahnkyou for your gracious observation richmond-san. it is much apreciated.

[JeremyMartin]

I'm 15 years old and i do kendo and i enjoy it alot.I have not been able to get into a kendo dojo yet but i will soon...i have been doing kendo since i was 12 so i got some experience but nothing beats the dojo heh.I just self teach it to myself Books video tapes etc.So i can't say i have any good rank to mention Hehe.But i enjoy kendo alot ^^

[andypits4]

i am 11 years old and i do kendo. i am canadian eh

[bluhawq]

i am 11 years old and i do kendo. i am canadian eh

keke..he's younger than u ryu!!

[andypits4]

oh ya i beat you. im only 11

[Kendo Student]

I'm 14 and I'm gonna start kendo in a week, and I already got my equipment, except for a bogu of course, lol.

I feel like i'm gonna be the youngest in the dojo i'm gonna go to, because my dojo's kendo minimum age is 14..

[Lil' Kenshi]

From observation, I would say that an adult would progress faster than a teenager in Kendo. They take things more seriously. They don't practice for the "fun" of it.

But they tend to move slower (due to aging???) and use too much of their upper body strength.



I have to disagree on those two points, I am just as good, if not better that most of the adults (youngest being 26ish)in my rank. Practicing for the "fun" of it is a matter of teminology. I practice for the fun of it knowing it benefits me in the long term.

Some of the more graceful (usually better) shia are older. They are are well aware of their physical setbacks and move with less artsy and flamboyant tecnique. This is just based of the obsevation of 20 or so students.

[Richiro]

I agree. Because I stared kendo A little earlier than a guy at my dojo (he is 49) and Because of my grades i was out of the dojo for a while. He got is bogu before me and is pretty good, but when i faced him in keiko I was scoring easy points on him.

[ahmed61086]

I am 19 and am a 6th keup.

[Andou]

Yeahhh. Not all teenagers are at Kendo for fun. If I were at Kendo for fun I wouldn't be leaving with all the determination to be better at...having fun...than I was when I entered the dojo in the first place. It's much deeper than that. Sure, it is hella fun but I'll be damned if I didn't feel any sense of accomplishment from it. Usually...my "fun" consists of a few of my friends and I sitting around a fire eating pizza and me playing the ole' guitar. I don't feel as though I've done much after I walk away.

[Karana]

There seem to be quite a few 14 / 15 year-olds here...

Well, I'm 14 and a beginner (unranked! ^_^; )

[JoonShik]

I'm 15 and 3kyu, will be going for 2kyu this fall.

O and my brother is 11, and hes 4kyu. He started when he was 10. And the youngest in my dojo is probably either 9 or 10. NCKF is full of little kids younger then 17. (Youth division 14-17, 11-13, and 10 and under.)

[Anjin-san]

I'm going to be 20 in August... :(

I better write my will and get my retirement plans sorted out.

[taganahan]

i'm 10 yrs. old....actually no!




I'm going to be 20 in August... :(

I better write my will and get my retirement plans sorted out.

haha, that's what my dad told me before and after i graduated from high school. he's and insurance agent and he tried to sell me insurance and told me he won't be getting any profit from it cause he will put the money he gets on my plan. i never got one though. figured it's too early for me to spend money for life insurance.

~taganahan

[piggy]

Yeahhh. Not all teenagers are at Kendo for fun. If I were at Kendo for fun I wouldn't be leaving with all the determination to be better at...having fun...than I was when I entered the dojo in the first place. It's much deeper than that. Sure, it is hella fun but I'll be damned if I didn't feel any sense of accomplishment from it. Usually...my "fun" consists of a few of my friends and I sitting around a fire eating pizza and me playing the ole' guitar. I don't feel as though I've done much after I walk away.


well said Andou. im 15 but i'm pretty sure that our dojo accepts as young as 7 from what i hear.

as for the fire, why play the guitar when you could play bass?