Kendo

[daktariboon]

BEGINNER KENDO HELP

I am learning Kendo and I live near Sasebo city and I want to know if any instructors or kendoist in the area that can speak English. I speak a little Japanese but I need someone that speak English to understand subtle movements and intricasies of Kendo.

D. Thompson

[2muchryt]

my humble suggestion:

dont worry about the language.
just go and embarass yourselve like the rest
of us.

learn kendo with sweat, not with the mouth

[kendokamax]

haha
but man as a human being it;s fun to communicate with words too sometimes

[nodachi]

Don't worry about missing subtle movements and intricacies because of a language barrier. I am learning here and speak very little Japanese. However, each week I pick up more and more vocabulary so I understand pretty well. You may not be able to communicate back, but you will know what they are saying after going so many times. And to make up for what you are missing from language problems, do things like read and ask on this forum, and read some Kendo books to fill in the missing holes. I don't feel like I am missing the subtle bits because I read up and ask about what I am not sure of.

[dLuXpN0i45]

hahaha... wow.. i remember my first weeks of kendo, language barrier or not, you WILL get what they want you to do.. or you can just lead the first hundred hayai suburi's..

[Kendoka]

Originally posted by daktariboon
BEGINNER KENDO HELP

I am learning Kendo and I live near Sasebo city and I want to know if any instructors or kendoist in the area that can speak English. I speak a little Japanese but I need someone that speak English to understand subtle movements and intricasies of Kendo.

D. Thompson

I have excellent English speaking Senseis in my village. Not to detract from their generosity and skill however, when we receive a visit from Japanese Sensei who then conduct lessons only in Japanese we learn a lot.

Even though most of us can not understand the language, we understand the teaching, or most of it !

Continue with your training, gradually you will learn Kendo Japanese and it will make sense.

[Inouye02]

anybody visiting the Los Angeles area ...

Venice Kendo Dojo..

everyone welcome ...

[Old Warrior]

In a class of anywhere between 8-10 students, there are only 2 of us who do not speak Korean, and the Master, only speaks Korean. While I am only a beginner, I can state with certainty that the language barrier is insignificant.

A shake of the head obviously means you are doing it wrong and a thumbs up means you've got it right. The best class I ever had was when I was the only one who showed up, due to a snow storm. I learned more that day (with no one around to translate) than any weeks worth of classes. The Master stood next to me in front of the mirror and I was able to watch his form as we went through our basic practice routines (3,2, & 1 step cuts to each target). When I was too tense the Master raised his shoulders and gritted his teeth to make the point. When you are doing fast mori strikes he stands in front with his arm bent and swings it to the right or left to show your form is off center.

The only hard part is keeping from laughing at some of the comical moments. I took my first test not knowing a single word of what was being said except my name and phrases like "3" "10 times". I was concentrating, looking out the corners of my eyes to see what the others were doing. But for one of my classmates to whispered that I should bow and sit down, I might still be standing there. All in all the immersion in the language of another culture is all part of the experience.

[scbang]

And where in US are you Old Warrior? SC

[Old Warrior]

scbang

I belong to Sung Moo Kumdo Academy, Closter, NJ (15 minutes north of the GW Bridge)

[chidokan]

“The pen is mightier than the sword – NOT”

I prefer " o.k. then, your pen, my sword, outside now!"

Tim Hamilton

[Old Warrior]

Chidokan

My sigfile is a take off on a Gahan Wilson cartoon that was published in Playboy Magazine in the 1960's.

It showed a body on the floor oozing blood and a guy holding a sword like a pen writing on a piece of paper in blood. He had just finished scribing "the sword is mightier than then pen".

I wish I had the cartoon so I could frame it.