Unnarmed/Sword Question

[Ryan213]

Hello, I was wonderring what unnarmed art complements Kendo best?
As in which unnarmed art is best for a kendoka to learn ?

[Pan-Chan]

I'm not really sure there are any other unarmed martial arts that really "compliment" Kendo. It seems, IMHO, that all of them would be complimented themselves by Kendo. I can't say from experience since Kendo and Iaido are the only arts I practice/have practiced, but Kendo seems to be unique to itself.

All my sensei are experienced in other arts, but they practiced them before finding Kendo, for the most part. These sensei have also told me that if you try to succeed in too much at once, you will more than likely never get as far in anything like you could have. So if Kendo is your aim, practice Kendo. Iaido DEFINITELY helps with Kendo, but it is a weapons art too; it improves the grip and strightness of your strikes tremendously. At least I've found it to.

I hope this helped a little. Good luck! :D

[Kyuuketsuki]

If I wanted to choose an unarmed martial art i would choose aikido. But I dont want to, hehehe, I'm happy with kendo and iaido, love them both!

[Optomitrist]

Now you want to compliment kendo, a japanese sword fighting art initially of the samurai origon (roughly). A good compliment would be aikedo, it is a noble martial art that does empty hand as well as budo/katana/knife/... training that isn't covered in any of the japanese sword arts.

If I had it my way I would be taking aikedo, kenjutsu, iaido, kyudo and kendo to get that full curiculum going.

[Kyuuketsuki]

I would add naginata and jodo

Wouldn't it be great?

[KenShi_JoB]

Now you want to compliment kendo, a japanese sword fighting art initially of the samurai origon (roughly). A good compliment would be aikedo, it is a noble martial art that does empty hand as well as budo/katana/knife/... training that isn't covered in any of the japanese sword arts.

If I had it my way I would be taking aikedo, kenjutsu, iaido, kyudo and kendo to get that full curiculum going.

Aikido is ok, but if the reason is because kendo come from samurai, jujutsu or judo or daito ryu aikibujutsu would be better IMHO.

[Yann]

Judo and ju-jitsu

[neit]

or maybe do something completely different? i find my iaido and bak-mei do not interfere at all. or so i hope.

[Slade]

At first glance I thought he was asking which unarmed combat to use against a kendoka....I was gonna say, "Run".
:wink:

[Ryan213]

Well i currently do Wing Chun, my sifu says weapons training is fine. So im getting into Kendo as i've always liked it, but if training in Judo, Aikido or Jujutsu would be more effective for a kendoka I would train in that instead of Wing Chun.

[crabbi]

Well i currently do Wing Chun, my sifu says weapons training is fine. So im getting into Kendo as i've always liked it, but if training in Judo, Aikido or Jujutsu would be more effective for a kendoka I would train in that instead of Wing Chun.
Hi Ryan213-San

Wing Chun has a similar focus to Kendo on the control of the centre line so I would have thought that you should continue with Wing Chun...

However, I would also highly recommend Traditional Aikido as this is a Style that combines empty-hand techniques (based on sword movement for the most part) with Bo / Jo / /Tanto / Bokken (although the movements are radically different to Kendo) work and a fluidity of movement that helps you in harmonising with your opponent.

You will also learn techniques for disarming armed opponents and you will develop great breakfalls... Additionally it helps in the development of Ki and self-awareness...

But most of all, you can still use your hakama and keikogi... (ROFL)...

Cheers

[Banza Joe]

Hi Ryan213-San

Wing Chun has a similar focus to Kendo on the control of the centre line so I would have thought that you should continue with Wing Chun...

However, I would also highly recommend Traditional Aikido as this is a Style that combines empty-hand techniques (based on sword movement for the most part) with Bo / Jo / /Tanto / Bokken (although the movements are radically different to Kendo) work and a fluidity of movement that helps you in harmonising with your opponent.

You will also learn techniques for disarming armed opponents and you will develop great breakfalls... Additionally it helps in the development of Ki and self-awareness...

But most of all, you can still use your hakama and keikogi... (ROFL)...

Cheers

having studied aikido for 12 years, i hope that you'll consider me qualified to voice my opinion.
Aikido has always been my main art, and i struggled with kendo because of the completely different basic postures used. the sword cutting in aikido, or 'aiki-sword' as quote above is actually quite different to that of kendo and iaido. When performing most suburi in aikido you would have the right hip leading, which is my biggest problem for kendo (ie. not keeping my hips square).
Aiki-jujustu, which i also study and often teach, would possibly be better suited, more for its directness and shortness of movement, as opposed to aikido's quite 'flowery' at times movements. Aikido is also very spherical whereas aiki-jujutsu can be more linear like kendo. You do learn tachi-dori, jo-dori, tanto-dori, which is unarmed defence against a sword, jo or tanto, which is probably very beneficial in developing maai.
Personally i think 'kendo then aikido' is better than 'aikido then kendo'. As i picked up habits that aren't easily lost when practicing kendo.
Aikido isn't as strict with its formality of kamae as kendo is, but some of the foot movement will be familiar to any kendoka starting aikido. Hara control features signifcantly in both aikido and kendo, so that's also beneficial.
But, i must stress, that i would never look to aikido to strengthen your sword technique, use it for perfection of tai sabaki, posture (not necessarily kamae) for strong centred and ground posture) and zanshin.
Depending on your level of kendo, aikido can help you better understand the concepts of zanshin, fushin, fudoshin and mushin. Whilst in kendo no kata class the other week our sensei talked about mushin in kata, i understood his point exactly and actually my kata is better for it, but everyone else looked completely puzzled so sensei told us to forget it and moved on.
Try it, you might coem to love it like i do.
Hope it helps, good luck with whatever you do.

[Ryan213]

Thats very insightful thankyou, I find it hard to come accross such rich information on the subject.

[Hai_hai]

I would add naginata and jodo

Wouldn't it be great?
One is armed in naginata and jodo. He was asking about unarmed martial arts.

[Paburo]

IMHO i think it would def be KARATE-DO and karate kumite.

in my dojo i have a bunch of kendomates who also do unarmed MA, like judo, jujutsu, capoeira, tkd, etc.

but from them, those who have the best reflexes, who see best the 'holes' in your kamae, who can also see the opportunity and strike fast are those who practice(d) karate and have more experience in kumite. they also do pretty well in shiai. i think the kumite spirit is somewhat similar to the fighting spirit in kendo.

really... i dont know what these guys do but they're freaking fast. i'm even considering going back to karate and doing kumite to improve my kendo!

[Ryan213]

Yes , i also believe Karate a good choice, karate and judo.
I used to think Aikido, but based on what I have heard, Aikido might be suited for later on.
I was thinking Judo, but I just wonder if it will teach complete defense.