Beginner Training

[Phlebas]

Hello everyone,

I am new to these forums, and I thought it was time I said "Hello" to all of you. I have been reading many threads over the last few days and I have found the advice helpful to say the least. There is so much information here! I feel lucky to have such a vast resource of shared experience, and I would like to thank KW, the moderators, and all of you for making this board possible.

I am "sort of new to Kendo -- again". Let me explain: I began my training eight years ago when I was in my early twenties, but only a few months later tragedy struck and my life was plunged into darkness. Now, eight years later, I wish to return to this wonderful sport and I would like some advice on a "pre-Kendo" regimen. If any of you have ever been taken away from your persuit of Kendo at some time(due to travel, health, etc.), I would like to hear how you prepared for your return. I have begun some exercises for abdomen and torso strength, and some light leg workouts, but I would like to ask all of you for more pearls of wisdom in this matter. By all means, please include any MENTAL exercises you found helpful too! I know that I am in for a great challenge by starting at the beginning again at thirty years of age, and any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

-Phlebas

[JSchmidt]

Best way is just to start going to practice. Upper torso training is largely unnecessary, abdomen & back is always useful. (And make sure you train both, just doing one of them can lead to back problems)

Jakob

[munenmuso]

Howdy Phlebas,

Welcome to KW..

Try jogging for several miles and push-ups afterwards. Next day your whole body is aching but adjusting though for the rigorous kendo training and you'll feel that you've been from a labor camp for the last 24 hours. Try also hyasuburi at home to fine tune those arms and body coordination, that is if you still remember the basics.There is also a thread somewhere here about "stamina and durability". Avoid smoking if you do and when the time comes you'll be back in training kendo, your body is at shape again.

Hope that helps. It works for me everytime I go absent for several months from training.

munenmuso

[Ares2907]

It depends on what you are trying to achieve by doing preparatory exercises. There have been a bunch of threads on both mental and physical exercises. I don't really have time to search them out right now, but if you have problems finding them, send me a PM and I'll try and dredge them up (failing that, maybe some kind soud would like to follow up with some links).

You need to be clear about what it is you are trying to achieve so that people have a clear idea about what they are helping you with.
From what I can gather with your ab work etc, you might like to try using google to check out exercises for core stability.
Anyone here will tell you that I am an advocate of heavy leg workouts in preference to light ones ;)

[nodachi]

I hopped into Kendo with no preparatory training. In my opinion, you don't need anything special to get you ready. A lot of kendo is muscular endurance for those long drawn out matches and speed in your footwork and swings. To me, there seems to be no real way to get ready for it but to just start. The muscular endurance will come with lots of suburi and the speed will come with time. Granted I do lots of sports so I maybe didn't need to train before hand, but as long as you consider yourself in some sort of reasonable shape (ie not a couch potato who has never done a day of exercise in their life) then you should be fine and ready to go already.

[Jerry Wellbrock]

Phlebas ...First of all let me congratulate you on wanting to return to kendo.....I have been involved with different martial arts and teaching for over 30 years....for different reasons most people will have a absence at one time or another....I have heard many people say that they want to get in shape berfore they return to training and they never seem to get back to training....as Nike has said "Just Do It" nothing will motivate you to get in shape more than getting back in class and training.....running, weights, push-ups, etc are all good for you and your stamina but nothing will get you in kendo condition better than doing kendo....just get in class as often as you can to give it 100%...soon you will find yourself back in good shape and enjoying your kendo more than ever....again glad your back and good luck....Jerry:D

[scbang]

Phlebas, only thing you need is an enthusiasm. If you keep your motivation fresh, everything else will take care of itself. Many people wonder why would anyone go thru what we go thru in the middle of summer ( NY can be pretty hot and humid ) or freezing cold weather. If you don't have to ask that question yourself, you're 90% there already.

SC

[™˜“¹]

scbang:

where are you in NY?
Just wonder where everyone train in NY

thanks

David

[Phlebas]

Thanks everyone! I certainly have enthusiasm in abundance, but my muscular condition isn't what it was eight years ago. I will continue with leg, back and abdomen workouts until my return to the dojo in two weeks. I like Ares suggestion of trying the jumping suburi as a workout too, but I would hate to be doing it incorrectly so perhaps I will use the old skipping rope to train cardio and leg coordination. Also, I am tall and my ceiling is low so I am sure I would damage my shinai (and the paint on the ceiling) if I were to try it.

Thank you all for your kind advice. I am eager to resume training and I will post all my complaints about muscle aches after first practice. :)) Well, maybe not.

Peace,

-Phlebas

[Ares2907]

Don't sweat it too much Phlebas, just take it easy getting in and work up to it. The further you progress with your training, the better you will be able to decide how serious you want to get about it.

BTW - are you a T.S Elliot fan or an Iain Banks fan (both is also an acceptable answer ;) )

Gentile or Jew,
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you. T.S.Elliot, 'The Waste Land', IV

[Phlebas]

Well spotted, Ares, you nailed it. I am a literature FANATIC. Yes indeed I am a fan of T.S. Eliot, and Iain Banks as well. "The Wasteland" captured my imagination in high school and is one of my favourite epic poems. Eliot's other works pale in comparison. Banks became one of my favourite SF novelists in the early nineties and I was delighted to see a relationship between these two writers when I read Banks' first SF novel. The Culture is fascinating, to say the very least. I hope "Look to Windward" isn't the last one, as some people have suggested.

"Phlebas" has been a pseudonym of mine ever since I laid eyes on "The Wasteland" many years ago. I suppose I should actually use the full name from the epic, but "Phlebas the Phoenician" is too long for most forum or email usernames. Nice to see that someone else has read Eliot's masterpiece!

-Phlebas

p.s. I hope that the whole "Death by Water" thing isn't portentous... I have to wonder, ever since I read Musashi's Book of Five Rings!

[hwarangdo]

let me preface by saying i am a beginner (less than one year studying kumdo)

i practice my warmup exercises with two jookdos (shinais) taped together. (Jookdos with heavy bars inserted would work better i'm sure but for my training "tool" all i need is tape). i've found that my striking speed has increased as i am using more of my body (legs to torso) rather than my arms to swing the weighted jookdo.