Commute?

[Phorest]

I'm curious to find out how long any of you have ever commuted to practice at a Kendo Dojo.

Right now the closest place to me is about 2 hours away. Is this too far? Will I be limited by the fact that I can't stay longer after practice, and can't really "come on down to the Dojo" for spur of the moment stuff?

So, if any of you have ever had a 2 hour commute (or close to it), how did you guys manage? Was it worth it?

[lucian]

Hell yeah its worth 2 hours, It takes me 2 hours 30 to get to my dojo and about the same when i finaly get of my arse to go to Tim's dojo,
but i also have to walk 2mile to get my first bus which would not be so bad if my bougu would fit in my burgan so i have to do it with bougu bag hanging from my fingers. (they are nice blue colour by the time i am finished walking)

kendo/ iaido /jodo is well worth 2 hours, in the long run even if you can only stay 1 hour its better than no training at all ?

[Phorest]

Hey, thanks for the response. 2 hours does seem like it would be worth it...I mean Kendo looks like a LOT of fun.

I'm very, very tempted. The only thing is, I'm still in highschool, and the place I'm looking at taking lessons at has practice on Thursdays at 5:30. I could just barely make it there if I left right after school (3:00). And I'd get home at 9:00. I suppose this isn't terrible, as long as I get my homework done, etc.

I'll keep thinking about it.

Anyone else?

[nodachi]

IT's fine to go that long as long as you bring stuff to do on the bus. That way you aren't just wasting your time sitting there. You still get to do Kendo, and you get your work done. I know I've got my priorities straight. :)

[Phorest]

Well, in this case I'd have to drive. I don't know of any buses running between here and Pittsburgh. :(

So, I'd basically have from 9:00 until 12:00 (absolute latest I can go to bed in order to be functioning in the morning) to get all of my homework done. My parents are okay with it, but they've said "If your grades drop, no more Kendo."

So, 4 hours of driving a week might not be unbearable. And once I go to college (this fall) I'll be about 30 minutes closer to Pittsburgh, which will help also.

I'm still waiting for an email reply from the Sensei who teaches in Pittsburgh. I was hoping he could let me know some more details about it, and I asked his opinion on commuting also.

[chidokan]

When I first started I used to travel to Southampton once a month, that was six hours each way but I stopped there all weekend.
My teacher used to travel 5 hours by train each way every weekend to visit his iaido class. Thinking about it though, if you had 3 of Oe Masamichi's students teaching you, you'd travel that much as well!!!
I still travel a lot to train/teach now, off up to Glasgow next month, then over to Leeds and Cumbria a little later on. It keeps you fresh and a little more open minded than just sitting in your own dojo. With a bit of luck ( and cash! ) I'll be back over to Japan again this year for another good training session..

Tim Hamilton

[KATSUJIN]

the nearest for me takes abt 1hr...which includes waiting time for the bus.....the longest so far is abt 1.5 hrs.....because the transport system here is quite fixed in arrival and departure time......except for once in awhile.....