Training in japan

[Richiro]

WHo has been to japan and trained there? Is it a lot different from kendo in other places? if so explain.

[Pan-Chan]

There really isn't any way to tell if Kendo practice in Japan is COMPLETELY different from other places since every dojo is different. But from what my Japanese sensei have told me, compared to in the United States, the practices there are more stamina oriented, and the sensei give far less if any technical instruction. It's mostly watch then try it till you get it right. This is just what my sensei told me though, so it's not my experience.

[JSchmidt]

It varies depending on dojo.

Jakob

[Musha]

I think if you had done Kendo out of Japan at any dojyo the formula of most practices is pretty much the same. Warm up-Suburi-Waza and jigeiko. The difference is like Pan-chen said, in the dojyo I went to the senpai just called out waza such as "Shoumen! 5datotsu" there was no asking about waza or giving advice from any non sensei. People just did it :D.

[JSchmidt]

I think if you had done Kendo out of Japan at any dojyo the formula of most practices is pretty much the same. Warm up-Suburi-Waza and jigeiko..
Again..this depends on the dojo..

Jakob

[Musha]

Don't you think doing kendo in another country till you get the basics helps though Jakob?

[JSchmidt]

Ooops..sorry..misread..thought you meant any dojo in Japan..my bad.

Jakob

[rainmaker]

I have been trained more than a year so still beginner and working on my basic. I have been visiting other dojos often. I have been to Brazil and Chile and they all do teach same thing. It is matter of how much sensei push you. Once every practice is over, sensei will point out what was wrong and what is good. I haev never been to Japan to practice Kendo so I do not know over there. But it seems like most of other dojos outside of Japan is doing somewhat similar stuff.




Don't you think doing kendo in another country till you get the basics helps though Jakob?

[Mikeyprime]

Ive practiced in a few countries and states (exlcuding japan) and all have been pretty much the same thing. Warm up stretches, uchikomi, then it starts to get varied at this point. some dojos go straight to ji-gieko, some do a bunch of kakarigieko and some ji-geiko. Its all the same in the end. I have found some dojos just like to emphasize kihon and uchikomi, while others stick to almost solely jigieko,

[chidokan]

I visited the Saga high school dojo with Hyaku...they won the all japan schools champs the other year. Their training schedule every day was to do 3 hours fitness from 6am to 9am, go to class, then 6pm to 9pm was a quick warmup first, and then uchikomi geiko for the rest of the night. They seemed quite fit. :rolleyes: I reckon most of the visitors here would find that quite difficult.
For iaido when I visit, we start after breakfast, do mae continuously til 12, a short break, then other waza til 5, another short break, then finish around 9/9:30pm. The breaks involve talking or showing what we will do next or questions from what we have done. This usually lasts between 6 and 10 days, with extra practise if we are there for more time. Oh and we also talk over beer til late... :ko:
Last time I was lucky and had 3 weeks, so got to go to a local dojo in Tokyo as well.
I personally think there is no difference in the training intensities, my teachers try and cram as much as they can for the time I am there, I do the same to visitors to my dojo.

[ECM]

I've been living in Tokyo for almost 2 years, and have trained at/visited about 3-4 places. General observations:

- There is less formal teaching. At most, the sensei will tell you to correct a few things during or after practice. Then, it's on you to try to fix it. So I would agree with the comment someone else made that the idea is to learn by watching and doing.

- At most dojos that I've been to, people just basically do jigeiko. Sometimes a sensei will organize a small group to do uchikomi, or have a separate session on weekends with a few people to do some basics, but people generally just pair off for jigeiko.

- Somewhat surprisingly, they tend to be less formal about dojo etiquette.

[nodachi]

I was a member of an elementary school kendo club which composed of half elementary students and half random adults who lived in town and went because it was the most local dojo. The sensei were awesome and really knew how to teach. Because there were lots of young kids, we focused on kihon. We did tons of drills that focused on only kihon. We also received direct instruction on what needed to be fixed, although there were times when someone would be pulled out of line and asked to watch particular people practice for a few minutes to learn what wasn't really sinking in by watching one of the advanced people. There was very little jigeiko. Each practice may end with 10 minutes of jigeiko or some team shiai practice to keep the kids interested. They would all cheer out loud when it was shiai practice days. But that was only 10 minutes out of 3 hours. Ettiquete was important and was taught frequently, basically when someone saw something odd, they would teach the proper ettiquete to fix it. After the kids left, then the adults would jigeiko, but the time we had the gym was basically up so we would only have another 15 minutes or so for our jigeiko.

[Pauly]

I've been living in Tokyo for almost 2 years, and have trained at/visited about 3-4 places. General observations:

- There is less formal teaching. At most, the sensei will tell you to correct a few things during or after practice. Then, it's on you to try to fix it. So I would agree with the comment someone else made that the idea is to learn by watching and doing.

- At most dojos that I've been to, people just basically do jigeiko. Sometimes a sensei will organize a small group to do uchikomi, or have a separate session on weekends with a few people to do some basics, but people generally just pair off for jigeiko.

- Somewhat surprisingly, they tend to be less formal about dojo etiquette.I agree with everything ECM has said with one addition related to my experience:
The average skill level of my current dojo is way beyond anything I had seen in the US. After warm-ups, we split into elementry and junior high school group and high school and adult group. After almost 3 years of doing kendo, I can now say I am confident at the level of a typical high school 1st year student (key word: typical).
It gets discouraging sometimes that I cannot have a good fight with the players my own age (nor can I give them a good fight). But they are helpful and everytime I go I feel my friends' main goal is to improve my kendo to at least the level of a typical 1st year college student (which is still way off my current age!).

[ECM]

After reading what Nodachi and Pauly posted, I thought I should post some follow up:

- I only practice at adult dojos in Tokyo. I think part of the reason there is less formal teaching at adult dojos is that many Japanese kenshi learn kendo while in school. (At one time, kendo and judo were mandatory for students in junior high or high school.) So the expectation is that people already have pretty decent skill level by the time they hit the adult dojos, and hence the learn-by-watching/doing-and-a-few-brief-words.

- I agree with Pauly: the general level of kendo here is really, really good. I've practiced with some awesome people in the U.S., but the difference here is that there is much greater depth, and I learn something from basically every single person (sensei or otherwise) that I practice with.

Anyway, just my experience.

[chidokan]

just to make sure you dont think all japanese are super hero types who will kick your proverbial, two little stories...
I once went to a kendo dojo where a kendo sales rep had turned up with the latest gear to sell. At 35 years old, I guessed he would be 5/6th dan and would give me hell, (my so called friends at the dojo did not contradict me BTW) so I gave it my best shot....10 seconds later he's pinned up against the wall with a shinai in the throat saying " I've only done kendo for two weeks, its my new job selling this stuff" God I felt an idiot....
Last Tokyo visit I was the senior grade in the local dojo after the sensei according to him, so I got to sit on the senior side (at his insistence I will have you know) An old guy walked in so I thought I was in trouble and going to get thrown to the lions, another set up.... He had been bought a sword for his retirement present the month previous. Wrong again. :smiley:
We put ourselves down a lot over here but shouldnt as much as we do, some of us have been training a long time and have at least some skill to hold our own in most local dojos. Dont forget they all have to start as well sometime!