Old Kendoka.....

[David J]

For the sake of the oldies here ;) , and in response to the "Young Kendoka" thread.....

Who is the oldest here? Who has been practicing the longest? Who started latest in life?

I've only been going for less than a year, but I started at 34....

<rei>

Dave

[Simon Chien]

Two and half years of Kendo in the uni.
Stop training after graduation.
Pick up shinai form March of 2002.
Will join the shodan exam Jan. of 2003.
I am now 43 years old.

[GMason]

I'm only getting old at 27 !!

But the oldest person I've practiced with (If this is relevant to the post), was 83 year young !!!!!!!!, he was a Japanese Gentleman.

A really nice old guy who helped me loads.

Like I say not really me but seems relevant

[Tato]

Agree with Gareth, I refuse to be considered old because I'm over 25.

Being old is always in 10 years more that what you actually have.

Rei

[nodachi]

You aren't old until you die.

It's really hard to think of Kendo people as old when you see random 80 year olds moving at lightning speed in their shiai or practices. I can only hope to be in the same shape as these people when I reach that age.

[Hyaku]

Originally posted by David J
[B]For the sake of the oldies here ;) , and in response to the "Young Kendoka" thread.....

Who is the oldest here? Who has been practicing the longest? Who started latest in life?

I've only been going for less than a year, but I started at 34....

<rei>

Dave
.................

Im 55...... I started when I was 23. Prior to that I did Karate and Jujitsu.

Hyaku

[JSchmidt]

"You aren't old until you die"

I usually say that you aren't old until you stop wanting to learn.
I've seen old 20 year olds and young 80 year olds...difference being that the 20 year old was happy getting a job, wife ,house kids and live like that forever, and the 80 year olds who still wants to explore and learn new things.

Jakob

[Ome Jan]

I'm convinced too that age "an sich" isn't a criterion. The way you deal with your age can tell you much more, wether you're "young" or "old".
I'm 48 and I practise kendo 5 years now. I'm 2nd dan. And I like it.
Ome Jan

[reicheru]

My sensei is 80. Maybe 81 by now. A few weeks ago, someone completely unrelated to kendo mentioned this guy in conversation with me, and said, somewhat incredulously, "and he's still driving a car, at his age!" I almost laughed aloud, and suggested that if he really wanted to see something impressive, he should come to the dojo sometime and see what else Omori-sensei is still doing "at his age." I hope I'm even half as genki when I reach 80...

-Rachel (a very young 24-about-to-be-25)

[Kuri]

I occasionally train with one sensei who I classed as old. Today I found out how old and dedicated he really is to kendo and iaido. This year marks his 80th year of kendo training (86 years old). 8th dan kendo (9th? not really sure) and 10th dan hanshi iaido. He was recovering from broken ribs, but he still had the courage to do a demonstration. Unfortunately, he tripped on his hakama moving back into position on one (a tense moment for all), but he bounced back and followed it up at the enkai with a traditional Japanese song!

I'm with reichuru, "I hope I'm even half as genki when I reach 80..."

[Neil Gendzwill]

I met Haga-sensei (hanshi hachi-dan) when he was 76 and I was 30. He effortlessly managed me in keiko. I couldn't touch him unless he wanted me to. Then he invited me to hit him men-taiatari-men. I must have outweighed him by 60 lbs, but I couldn't move him. Then I watched from the sidelines as he smoothly handled all comers, including nanadan instructors, and nobody could deal with him. It was a life-changing experience, to see what is possible at that age. He visited our dojo a few years later when he was 80, still strong. If you watch him from the side, you see that he never moves quickly. He just moves at the right time, and he's never there when the other person goes to hit him.

So now I'm 42, and I'm looking forward to 40 more years of kendo.

[Jerry Wellbrock]

I started kendo at 49 and I am 50 now.....I have done Chito-Ryu karate for 30 years starting when I just turned 20.....what is old....I can do anything physically that any of our younger karateka can do....yes it does take me longer to get over it and injuries take a lot longer to heal but with regular training I hope to do karate and kendo for at least 30 more years.....I once heard that old age is a statement of the body and that youth is a statement of the mind but I believe you can have a warriors heart at any age and that expierence and years of training can often overcome youth and less experience.......:old_man:

[ben]

I'm 34. Started kendo at 14. Did it for a year. Gave up for a while. Started again at 21 (how I wish I had those missing years back!). Haven't stopped since. Training at a University I often feel old. I don't have the time to do 4 or 5 sessions a week plus cross-training like some of the young dudes, hence they have more speed and faster recovery. But I think this is the natural order of things. It's just biology. Past a certain level in kendo, you start to work on things other than technique, and you don't need strength and speed to do it.

b

[Confound]

It's very encouraging to hear about people outside Japan who have been practicing for a long while. I knew there must be some people, but it's neat to know that there are so many.

c

[munenmuso]

I started four years ago when I was 22. But in between several months AWOL.

Nice to be back....

Love this site. It's an addiction.

[gill]

I started almost 11 years ago at 19.

I'm feeling old at the moment coz I turn 30 next week :eek:

Gill