Why are you doing kendo?

[Musha]

I first started doing kendo because in aikido we learned a little about bokuto kata and some one that also did kendo showed us a little about kendo and I thought I'd like to do some thing that tested my skills in shiai and used more shinai and bokuto than just rolling around in aikido.

After about two or three years doing kendo I stopped wanting to do shiai, maybe because the dojyos I have been to haven't been about shiai and I feel more like doing kata which is more like I did in aikido.

Today I went to a high-school shiai and started feeling I wish I could be like thouse cool high-school students practicing kendo every day from the age of 6 or so and all in the same cool school bogu and in there teams instead of floating around England and Japan not knowing what I'm doing.

I can't work out why I have been doing kendo all these years. Do I want to do perfect kendo and reach 8 dan in about 40 years or some thing or claim fame and fortune doing shiai. Or do I want to achieve kendo fudoshin, just do some thing that not many people in England can do. Or just have fun doing some thing where theres always some thing to learn.

[Musha]

Could any one give me some info about them selfs and why they are doing kendo. I'll start:

Age: 19
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded (Maybe Ikkyu tomorrow :D)
Started kendo: 2003 I think
Reason for doing kendo: Spiritual development

[Light Samurai]

I did Aikido fro the same reasons. that being said, competion destroys people, even if it for training, do I partake in Kenjutsu and iaijutsu.

[Anjin-san]

Today I went to a high-school shiai and started feeling I wish I could be like thouse cool high-school students practicing kendo every day from the age of 6 or so and all in the same cool school bogu and in there teams instead of floating around England and Japan not knowing what I'm doing.

I can relate to that, its a bit disheartning when you see these guys in there teens owning everyone.

On the other hand we're not exactly old, there are probably a whole load of people who look at people our age in the same way. I don't think aiming high in shiai is such a terrible goal to go after, neither is it one exclusively for japanese kids who came out of the womb doing haya-suburi.

The reason I 've been doing kendo, is primarilly because its fun, and also because it provides a lot of metaphors for improvement that are practically applicable in other areas.

[Musha]

I only know afew Uni dojyos in the UK and arn't you part of one? I've always got it in my mind what some one said once. All we can ever been are amateurs.

I also spoke to my friend who is a friend of a girls mother who was at the shiai and I think practices at the dojyo I do in Japan from time to time. She said that the school contacted this girl to ask her to join this privet school that is very good, because she was good at kendo.

Sounds like baseball and American football to me and that is really seriouse stuff when people do things like that to better there schools reputation...

[Anjin-san]

I only know afew Uni dojyos in the UK and arn't you part of one?
I had something to do with the founding of the new incarnation of UCL Kendo Club


I also spoke to my friend who is a friend of a girls mother who was at the shiai and I think practices at the dojyo I do in Japan from time to time. She said that the school contacted this girl to ask her to join this privet school that is very good, because she was good at kendo.
I'm so jealous of people like this. Like we had this one kid who visited mumeishi who had an internship and subsequent job offer with a very big japanese technology company, mostly due to his kendo ability. My japanese wasn't good enough to figure out the exact details but damn! Getting so much appreciation for kendo ability would be great!

I really would like to go to japan for a few years...

[StormTyrant]

For 2 reasons, its truly become a part of my life and who i am, and id like to continue improving at it.

[Berugijin]

This post says it all really:

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showpost.php?p=65903&postcount=17

[Zaphiel]

why i started kendo?
well i always liked to hit someone with a stick so why not make it a hobby?:wink:
no seriously... in my oppinion kendo is the king of budo....it's not only this becoming physicly strong..kendo gives me much more... no other budo has this spirituell thing.
I started at the age of 16....(but till now i've done a 4 month break....)
hopfully i get my first grade at the end of june.....

[Light Samurai]

why i started kendo?
well i always liked to hit someone with a stick so why not make it a hobby?:wink:
no seriously... in my oppinion kendo is the king of budo....it's not only this becoming physicly strong..kendo gives me much more... no other budo has this spirituell thing.
I started at the age of 16....(but till now i've done a 4 month break....)
hopfully i get my first grade at the end of june.....
Sayig Kendo is the king of Budo is wrong. All martial arts are kins and queens of budo bujutsu. it just determines what path you take.

[Ursamajor]

I started Kendo this year. Initially I desired to find a true medieval sword school in order to learn more concerning my career focus(history professor) and as a way of getting back into shape. Finding none in my area, I opted for Kendo---a small dojo in my neighborhood.

I greatly appreciate the physical and mental aspects that Kendo is providing me. The problem here is that we don't have an appropriate Dan for sensei. All grading must be conducted at a regional event. Another issue is the lack of much promotion by my dojo(aikido in focus), lending to the sad fact that I often show up for training, and there is only one or two with me.

[Michael_St_A]

Why?

Because it felt right from the moment I first saw it.

Having started in my mid-thirties I have never set it as my goal to fence like a Japanese high-school kid. My yardstick is my own progress not somebody else's.

I also try to give back to the kendo community at least as much as it has been giving me.

:-)

PS It's fun though to score ippon against a cocky youngster every now and then...

[Richmond-san]

Why? I know it probably sounds dumb but I have been swinging around wooden swords since I was three years old and it was a desire and habit that I could not kick. I always felt there was something more there, in the fencing I mean, I just could never put my finger on it. Budo through kendo fills an empty space in my heart, thats why I do it.

Richmond-san

[Kirsty]

I've always wanted to do something I really loved. Something unique and fun. I don't know why, but one day in my freshman year in high school, I was talking to a new friend. I told her about a Japanese manga that involved swords. One of the characters was in kendo. I had no idea what it was at the time. My friend said she liked swords, and I thought, "Hey, yeah! Swords are pretty cool." After that I became interested in sword fighting. Not just any sword fighting, but Japanese styles of sword fighting. Its not like I wanted to try to be like the character in the manga I was reading, I just wanted to do something I'd enjoy.

About 7 months later in 2003, I finally found a kendo dojo not too far away. It was weird because it was on the same street my dad had worked for 7 years! I had been there many times and never even noticed the dojo. But anyway, thats how and why I am in kendo.
Ah! I feel like I'm writing an essay for school! =P Sorry about that. It is the whole story to why I'm in kendo though.

To shorten what I just wrote. ^^;

Age: 17
Sex: Female
Grade: Ungraded
Started kendo: August 2003
Reason for doing kendo: Interest in samurai/swords. Something to do that I enjoy. To become stronger both physically and mentally (sp?). Overcome being shy (yes its helping). .......thats it for now. =)

[Pan-Chan]

lending to the sad fact that I often show up for training, and there is only one or two with me.

I wouldn't consider only a few other kenshi training with you a sad fact. It enables you to get more one-on-one attention from the sensei, so you learn much more quickly. Variety during practices like jigeiko and shiai is nice, though.


I started Kendo at age fifteen, and I am currently ranked san-kyu. Our dojo is somewhat isolated from the rest of our federation, so testing only happens once every couple of years. I should be testing with the rest of my dojo in November, and by then I hope to be going for shodan, but I don't really mind what rank I test for. I started back up in Iaido about six monthes ago after taking a break because of school and other things for about a year, and it's awesome.

I continue to practice Kendo and Iaido for the atmosphere practice creates, along with the great people you meet and are able to train with and learn from. Just going to a dojo a few days out of the week completely changes my outlook on the rest of my it, and I couldn't imagine my life without the wonderfully exhausting keiko I get. It also encourages me to set tough goals for myself in most of the things I do, like school and any activities I take part in.

My Kendo/Iaido dojo is my home, and the people whom I train with and learn from are my family, it's just that simple, really. The only difference is that I don't ever plan on leaving this home; it reaches out to all the other dojo in the world, so I can never leave as long as I am training.

[Musha]

I started Kendo this year. Initially I desired to find a true medieval sword school in order to learn more concerning my career focus(history professor) and as a way of getting back into shape. Finding none in my area, I opted for Kendo---a small dojo in my neighborhood.

Sorry I'm not asking why you started kendo. I'm asking why you are still doing kendo? What are your motives and aimes, what keeps you going?

Kirsty
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Grade: Ungraded
Started kendo: August 2003 (2 years?)

You are doing kendo because you enjoy it? Why? Compertition, because of the people? Because it enables you to do some thing you never could on the street. Let it all go and hits some one with a big stick :D.

You also said health :).

Richmond-san
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Grade: Unknown
Started kendo: Unknown


'I always felt there was something more there.' Means have fun doing some thing where theres always some thing to learn? And you like sword arts?


Michael_St_A
Age: 30+
Sex: Male
Grade: 1st dan?
Started kendo: Unknown

You feel you want to develop your skills and set your own goals? (Sounds like a job advertisment or some thing sorry :D)


Ursamajor
Age: 40
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded?
Started kendo: 2005
Also interested in sword arts and history and health aspects?



Zaphiel
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded
Started kendo: 2004?

Always liked to hit someone with a stick so why not make it a hobby. You also like to let it all go and do some thing you can't usualy do? And also spiritual development?

[Musha]

I'm thinking alot of people over 25 do kendo because of personal development. Under 25s do it because its fun and alows you to express your self.

I'm also thinking some girls do kendo because they like to hit and beat up men at there own level :D.

[canuck316]

Age: 20
Sex: Male
Grade: just got 4-kyu
Started kendo: January 2004

I started kendo because of a fascination with the japanese culture and a love of swords. I had played soccer most of my life but due to injuries, it was not in my best interest to keep playing. I found a poster at my University about the kendo club and i joined the next semester. It was hard at first, training your whole body to coordinate itself is not easy, as most of you who will read this know. Then after joining, I found great reasons to keep going no matter how hard it gets. A kendo club or dojo is like a family, and there is always someone you can talk to, even if they did just smack you upside the head with a shanai countless times. A dojo or club also has it's hierarchy like society, but unlike society, you will be shown respect from everyone around you. And of course, on the technical side, a match in a shiai is like nothing else i've ever experience. A great balance of timing, strength, speed, and strategy all melded into two players, who no matter the outcome of the match, are able to smile and shakes hands and tell each other how great of an experience it was to play kendo with them after the match is finished. I could go on, but this is already getting long!

Grant

[Michael_St_A]

Sorry I'm not asking why you started kendo. I'm asking why you are still doing kendo? What are your motives and aimes, what keeps you going?

Michael_St_A
Age: 30+
Sex: Male
Grade: 1st dan?
Started kendo: Unknown

You feel you want to develop your skills and set your own goals? (Sounds like a job advertisment or some thing sorry :D)




Sorry but that is not what I said. Your summary is pretty inaccurate. You will also have to accept that some people don't want to be categorized and prefer to answer in their own way.

[Sandokan]

Dear Musha-san,
I continue practising kendo because it teaches me something new about myself and life in general every time I go to the dojo.
Just the other day I realized how Ki-Ken-Tai No Ichi the underlying principle of kendo applies to my life.
KI - Is my spiritual and intellectual self. The one that strives for self-esteem and spiritual satisfaction. That which wants to learn. My religious beliefs, my principles and ethics are all covered by Ki.
KEN- Is what I DO for a living and what I DO in my personal life. My career, my personal life, my family life are all covered by Ken.
TAI- Is my physical self. My mortal body, that gets hurt, feels hungry, gets sick, gets old and that which will eventually be destroyed. That which desires stimulation of all kinds. That which craves and that which suffers.
So when we have all the three aspects of life flowing in harmony we are HAPPY at all levels. If the balance tilts towards any one of the three we are UNHAPPY.
The key of my existence therefore is to strive for KI-KEN-TAI NO ICHI.
Its a quest that is eternal......It can also be applied to the Universe.
KI- The power of life in the Universe.
KEN- The movement of the planets, suns, galaxies.
TAI- The Celestial bodies themselves.
Ki-ken-tai no ichi.......
Thats why I continue practising Kendo.
I hope I havent said too much.
My warmest regards to all my fellow Kendokas.

[mingshi]

Mingshi
Age: 22
Sex: female
Grade: nidan
Started kendo: Jun 2001
I need to look tough and keep fit along the way. Don't want to sit in front of my computer all day/night and have no life. I Also enjoy BDSM with RBSOs. :rolleyes:

[JSchmidt]

I do kendo because I can legally bash people over the head with a 4-foot stick!.

[LarsCW]

I started kendo januari 2005 and sofar I have found all I hoped for and more.

Getting back in shape and I am having loads of fun.

The hardest seem to be is to make it clear to the people around me how kendo isn't about beating the crap out of others with a stick.

[Zaphiel]

cause of some problems concerning my self:
@ light Samurai: That's why I said 'in my oppinion'......:D
@musha: okay...why I still do it....well now I started it there's some sort of presure...I started something now I have to finish it!!(I say this even though I know that I'll never finish kendo in my whole life)
and it helps me in my every-day life...I'
m much more calmer and relaxed....I am able to deal much more easier with people...and so on
hope I ansered this time correctly

[Kirsty]

Sorry I'm not asking why you started kendo. I'm asking why you are still doing kendo? What are your motives and aimes, what keeps you going?

Kirsty
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Grade: Ungraded
Started kendo: August 2003 (2 years?)

You are doing kendo because you enjoy it? Why? Compertition, because of the people? Because it enables you to do some thing you never could on the street. Let it all go and hits some one with a big stick :D.

You also said health :).


You pretty much figured out why I enjoy kendo. ^_^ The people, the challenge....etc. =)

[joekc6nlx]

Definitely the challenge, and the opportunity to meet a lot of great people like yesterday at the Cleveland tournament. If I go for no other reason than to watch other participants, learn from them, and meet friends, both old and new, then it's a great reason. I can then take all of that back with me to use in my daily training.

[Musha]

You pretty much figured out why I enjoy kendo. ^_^ The people, the challenge....etc. =)

Sorry if any one thinks I am trying to put people in groups here. My aim was just to work out the reasons none Japanese people are doing kendo and comparing it to different things.

I also think if people do not fit into these groups they will quit kendo or not do it as long as others.

I think I'm a bit hyper-active so I need some thing that keeps me working all the time. I quit things like guitar practice because thats all it is most of the time practice.

Kendo also has practice but there is always some thing there that needs working on. I had a problem keeping my swings straight, worked out that one then my left foot started coming forwards so I have to watch that.

Think that is one of the reasons I have been keeping to practicing ;).

[Richmond-san]

Why am I still doing kendo? To be true, it is the spirtual development I have attained from my kendo practice, It makes me feel whole. Started kendo in 2003, practiced off and on(balancinng with kenjutsu)Trying to be devoted.
Is this satisfactory Musha?:smiley: I dunno, I think many Japanese people do or don't practice kendo for the same reasons as non-Japanese people.

Richmond-san

[Lucien]

My reason for continuing kendo changes all the time. Previously it has been, 'To be really good at one thing', later 'Because I need to prove that I can stick to something and be a reliable person'.

Now my reason is because kendo gives me a chance to improve everytime I pick up a shinai. I am now developing this mindset when meeting everyday situations.

In the future I am sure it will change again.

The one thing that has stayed the same is watching teachers do kendo and thinking, 'I really wish I could do beautiful kendo like that.' And with kendo, if you practice hard, this is not unobtainable. (I hope)

32, M, 3rd dan, 10+ years.

[CryingFreeman]

i'm doing kendo because i cant think of a good reason not too

[Lazken]

purely because I have fun ...
Ive always been intrigued by the old japanse samurai movies, and the honor and tradition and stuff, thats how I started. Now Im just hooked :D
learning and seeing yourself improve is just as addictive as any drugs ... Its nice to see that practice pays off.
and we have alot of fun, I always come home exhausted but with a big smile on my face :p (and the occasional bruises)

[Sa Mu]

Age: 29
Sex: male
Grade: Still Ikkyu!
Started Kendo: Sometime 1995, don't remember exactly

Still doing kendo after 10 years because it is such a challenge to obey the rules, and I like the humility (mostly) of being a teacher of other arts and a student of Kendo...

[Taisaburo]

Age: 17
Grade: Rokkyu
Started Kendo: 2003.
Reason: A lot of them... but the main three would have to be: I'm addicted to Japanese culture in general, self improvement, and it's extremely fun and addicting as the culture it generated from.

[ChaShu]

Age: 29
Started: Jan 2005
Reason Started: I work about 7-8 hours a day sitting on my ass in an office and I spend another 2-2.5 hours commuting every day in my car on a packed freeway so I sterted to get some activity in my life, lose weight, and for rage control (YOU ever drive the 401 in Toronto during rush hour traffic across the city?)
Reason I've Stayed So Far: I love kendo, 'nuff said.

[ChaShu]

Mingshi
Age: 22
Sex: female
Grade: nidan
Started kendo: Jun 2001
I need to look tough and keep fit along the way. Don't want to sit in front of my computer all day/night and have no life. I Also enjoy BDSM with RBSOs. :rolleyes:

OK, the BDSM I get, but RBSO?

[DCPan]

I'm thinking alot of people over 25 do kendo because of personal development. Under 25s do it because its fun and alows you to express your self.

IMHO, those really stick with kendo no longer worry or think about why they stick with it...they just do.

If you must ask why, because I'm happier when I do it.

FWIW.

[Musha]

Which dojyo do you practice at Samu?

[JSchmidt]

IMHO, those really stick with kendo no longer worry or think about why they stick with it...they just do.

If you must ask why, because I'm happier when I do it.

FWIW.

Exactly.

Jakob

[Taisaburo]

IMHO, those really stick with kendo no longer worry or think about why they stick with it...they just do.

If you must ask why, because I'm happier when I do it.

FWIW.

Yes... I strongly agree.

[Michael_St_A]

OK, the BDSM I get, but RBSO?


Research and Bid Support Office of a university?

[Commander]

Research and Bid Support Office of a university?

Rich boy show off :p

[Sa Mu]

Which dojyo do you practice at Samu?

Shudokan in Cheltenham...

[Taisaburo]

Another good thread might be, " Why did you start Kendo?" or, " How did you find out about Kendo?"

[Charlie]

David said it very well. I do it for the exercise mental as well as physical, and because I enjoy it. Now that I've been doing it for so long - 32, male, nearly seven years, 3rd dan - I realize I might have been as passionate about any other sport, racquetball for example. But it's kendo I feel in love with. I started doing martial arts because I wanted to be Bruce Lee. I stick with it because I want to be Takakura Ken. That is, at first I had aspirations of being a badass or something. Now I just like it and realize it's the doing, not the achieving, that is so rewarding. This poem sums it up for me very well:

The First Step


The young poet Evmenis
complained one day to Theocritus:
"I've been writing for two years now
and I've composed only one idyll.
It's my single completed work.
I see, sadly, that the ladder
of Poetry is tall, extremely tall;
and from this first step I'm standing on now
I'll never climb any higher."
Theocritus retorted: "Words like that
are improper, blasphemous.
Just to be on the first step
should make you happy and proud.
To have reached this point is no small achievement:
what you've done already is a wonderful thing.
Even this first step
is a long way above the ordinary world.
To stand on this step
you must be in your own right
a member of the city of ideas.
And it's a hard, unusual thing
to be enrolled as a citizen of that city.
Its councils are full of Legislators
no charlatan can fool.
To have reached this point is no small achievement:
what you've done already is a wonderful thing."

C.P. Cavafy

[Neil Gendzwill]

Because it's Wednesday, and on Wednesdays we have practice.

[kuzu70]

We have practice Wednesdays too, but I can't go today. ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!

[samurai999]

Started in summer of '99 technically. Currently 2dan.. Want to test for 3dan this coming November.

why am i still doing it? Cuz i want to i guess? in the beginning it was the fact that i wanted to learn 'bout my heritage since my dad didn't really want me to learn that stuff until I "grew up". Next part was my dad didn't think i could play kendo and go to school and do work at the same time. But I proved him wrong. Next was after my achilles injury.. I wanted to play soo bad.. Now, its my time to concentrate on somthing that I enjoy. Not necessarily self-improvement, or exercise, but for "the love of the game".

Tim

[The great I AM]

Age: 24
Sex: Male
Grade: 3rd Dan
Started kendo: Oct 99

I do kendo because first and foremost, I enjoy it. Even after a bad lesson, you know that a good one will be just round the corner, and I am constatntly learning kendo. I will never fully understand it, but can try to understand as much as I can, and this (along with at the moment competing in shiai) is my biggest motivator. Recently also going to UCL has been a massive eye opener for me as well. I discovered a lot more about myself and my kendo through teaching my students. Teaching is a wonderful experience, and I'm very glad I am doing it!
As for starting kendo, one of my mates once said "I'm going, you fancy it?" and that as, as they say, was that....

[Sepiraph]

Age: 29
Started: Jan 2005
Reason Started: I work about 7-8 hours a day sitting on my ass in an office and I spend another 2-2.5 hours commuting every day in my car on a packed freeway so I sterted to get some activity in my life, lose weight, and for rage control (YOU ever drive the 401 in Toronto during rush hour traffic across the city?)
Reason I've Stayed So Far: I love kendo, 'nuff said.

Driving on the 401 during rush hour is definitely not fun... You should just wake up 2 hours early and then drive to work (thus avoiding the traffic), then practice Kendo in the parking lot. :)

I do Kendo because I like it, I like the various facets of Kendo: be it personal development, the physical training, the shiai/competition, and also the friends that one will meet along his/her Kendo journey.

[Tokio Saitou]

Age: 19
Sex: Female
Grade: Nikyu
Started kendo: November 2002

Why? discipline, and more important: I love Kendo.
Now I help my sensei with children and I'm very proud of them.

[kanyil]

Age: 26
Sex: Male
Grade: Shodan
Started kendo: 1994

We each do Kendo for our own reasons. I do Kendo because it's there and it's fun. I do nito because it's there. I don't do jodan because of a permanent injury to my elbow.

As a senior sensei said during the opening ceremony for a national taikai recently.




"Have fun bashing people with sticks legally, unfortunately, there are only so many trophies, so give it your best shot" :D



The same sensei is also famed for, during the opening ceremony of a previous national taikai, saying:






"You win by having good kendo, you lose by having bad referees. That's Life. Have fun". :D :D

[Echo]

I started Kendo this year. Initially I desired to find a true medieval sword school in order to learn more concerning my career focus(history professor) and as a way of getting back into shape. Finding none in my area, I opted for Kendo---a small dojo in my neighborhood.

I greatly appreciate the physical and mental aspects that Kendo is providing me. The problem here is that we don't have an appropriate Dan for sensei. All grading must be conducted at a regional event. Another issue is the lack of much promotion by my dojo(aikido in focus), lending to the sad fact that I often show up for training, and there is only one or two with me.
Have you stuck with the Kendo?

[Echo]

Age: 19
Sex: Female
Grade: Nikyu
Started kendo: November 2002

Why? discipline, and more important: I love Kendo.
Now I help my sensei with children and I'm very proud of them.
Does your dojo train many children, ours has a few but we don't find it easy to fit them into all of the daily training with the taller older students.

[Simon R]

Age: 17
Sex: Male
Grade: N/A
Started Kendo: April 2004
Reason for study: I initially started because I thought it looked "cool" and I wanted to learn how to manipulate the katana. After learning that I didn't know what I was getting into at all, I did some reading and decided that I wanted to pursue kikentai-ichi and the concept of No-Mind. It has been extremely difficult for me to practice on a regular basis because I go to a boarding school in Maine where there is no dojo anywhere nearby, but I go to my dojo back home evey time I can. I don't know exactly where kendo will lead me, but I have decided to commit myself to it and see where it goes.

[Tokio Saitou]

Does your dojo train many children, ours has a few but we don't find it easy to fit them into all of the daily training with the taller older students.

There's a training just for children and for now we have like hmmm 11 chibis =D
At the beginning there were 2 kids, and trained with us at night but now they train saturdays in the morning.

[Echo]

I used to train children in another martial art dicipline & I found it really rewarding. I think it also improved my training, having to know what you were doing so much better. stick with it.

[Anjin-san]

"You win by having good kendo, you lose by having bad referees. That's Life. Have fun".

Thats a really good quote... :)

[kanyil]

Thats a really good quote... :)

Yeah, we all love him for being the blunt and straight-to-the-point guy he is. Both quotes were his entire speech during the opening ceremonies of one of the largest national taikais.

Especially since we believe the message was intended for many referees there.

[Benegizer]

Age:27
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded
Started: April 2005

I joined kendo because it was always something that I have had an interest in and have the oppurtunity to study for free at the Junior High School I teach at in Osaka, Japan.

[axeman]

Because it's Wednesday, and on Wednesdays we have practice.

I know I'm late, but I just wanted to say that I think that's the most Japanese answer I've seen yet.

Ryan

[Yiu Fai]

Age: 26
Sex: Male
Started: Nov 04
Grade: 9th Kyu

Why I started: I wanted to get back into martial arts after a 2 year hiatus, but I didnt want to train with all the people who practise for the wrong reasons (ie: people who wanna be heaps tough so they can go out and start heaps of fights etc). Also wanted to pursue a martial art which emphasises the "art" part of the whole martial arts experience. Weapons, Samurai and esp Jap swordsmanship have always fascinated me, having been a keen martial arts fan since I was 10.

Why I'm still going: I keep going because training is oh so fun, frustrating, involving, thoughtful and challenging all at once. The fitness benefits, cool outfits, good people and sparring are just bonuses! Oh and everytime I leave training, I feel like my mind has been refreshed, it's very calming. (Funny, never thought so much yelling and hitting would be so Zen for me, hehehe)

[Philippe]

I'm thinking alot of people over 25 do kendo because of personal development. Under 25s do it because its fun and alows you to express your self.
I'm 33, and I do it for both. And to support the kids (junior high) I practice with, and try to give back a little, at least, to the sensei at that same school who's supported me since I came to Japan.

[Philippe]

Shoulda read the whole thread before sending a reply...


(...) for rage control (YOU ever drive the 401 in Toronto during rush hour traffic across the city?)
Yes. And thought: NEVER AGAIN!!!!

And you do this everyday? Masochist. :eek: :dead:

[ace]

[QUOTE=Yiu Fai]Age: 26
Sex: Male
Started: Nov 04
Grade: 9th Kyu
QUOTE]

9th kyu i did not know there was such a grade i throught you started at nothing the became 6,5 and so on.

[Yiu Fai]

i'm training at a unaccredited dojo, so i guess in the scale of things i dont really have grade. i should've said 9th kyu at my dojo, my bad :evolved:

[Philippe]

9th kyu i did not know there was such a grade i throught you started at nothing the became 6,5 and so on.
Must vary from place to place. In my little corner of Japan, elementary school students start at 5th kyū and can work their way up to 1st kyū. Kids who start kendō in junior high school start at 4th kyū, kids who start in high school start at 3rd. University students and adults start at 2nd.

I don't know whether this varies from prefecture to prefecture, and, if so, how much it does.

[Fonsz]

For 2 reasons, its truly become a part of my life and who i am, and id like to continue improving at it.
Mr Tyrant,
You have worded my sentiments excactly, and I would like to steal(borrow) your input in this thread by saying that the same counts for me.
Thanks for thinking for me.
Regards

[SkippyDaStudent]

Age: 20
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded
Started kendo: June 12, 2005 (a week ago from today)

Why I started: I heard about it from a friend's mom, and I have been a fan of the Japanese culture since around 7th grade. It sounded like something I would enjoy and I have yet to be proven wrong.

Why I'm still doing it: I'm going on my second week and I am learning so much, both in technique and in personal development. That, and it's a blast!

[KATSUJIN]

Age : 22+ ( 23 in about 6 mths)
Started in : July '99
Current Rank : 3rd Dan

Why I started : Good question. Many people asked me this question since I'm like, the only indian guy still in training... and only 1 answer. I still dont know

Why I continue : Well... it seems to let me become 'free' in some sense... u know... u can do it not becos u can but becos u want to.. but I really enjoy training... so not a bad thing eh...

[Mugu]

Age: 23 (14 more days I'll be 24)
Sex: Female
Started: a month ago
Rank: none

1. I needed a new hobby and motivation because I was bored after I got out of school and somewhat had been planning for this for a while
2. To strenghten myself physically, mentally, and most important, self-discipline (the fact I haven't excercise much in the past 4 years and somewhat a lazy slob)
3. Get away from stress, everytime after each practice session... I feel like the world owns me nothing after screaming and hitting for 2.5 hours (I used to have serious depression issues)

Yes, I'm doing this to look for a better part of myself just like every 20-somethings

[piggy]

age: 15
sex: male
reason for starting kendo: for the discipline, for the art of it, for stress releif, and because i have an undying infatuation for it like a little schoolgirl with a crush

[Kendo Spirit]

Age 27
started: 1 year
current rank: 6th kyu (half a year ago)


Strengthen the mind body and spirit - inner harmony - discipline
Interest in the ancient way of the japanese warrior :P

[ShinKenshi]

Age: 20
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded, hopefully testing for 1 kyu in the fall
Started kendo: January 2004
Why I started: I've always had a facination with Japanese martial arts and swords and it might have stemmed from my living in Tokyo for 12 years. When I found out that a kendo club was starting at my college, I jumped at the opportunity to join.

Why I'm still doing it: Once I started, I just couldn't stop. I sacrifice a lot of my time (sometimes a little too much) for kendo and everything else associated with it. Also because I keep seeing sandan and up being as good as they are and I every time I see them it gives me more motivation to keep becoming the best that I can be.

[#2 mouse]

Age: 31
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded, just starting in bogu
Started: Feb. 2005
Why: I started because it was something that had interested me for about a year and a half. I have the need to continue to improve myself. I have always wanted to learn a martial art. I needed some form of exercise. I needed some kind of stress relief. The romantic side of me likes the ideals of kendo.

Underlying everything I do for fun is a competitive spirit. It doesn't get in the way but just drives me forward. While shiai is not the reason I do kendo I am sure that I will compete.

Kendo has not disapointed me yet. It has turned out to serve all of the reasons I started doing kendo for.

[Andou]

Age: 17
Sex: Male
Grade:...No comment.
When: circa July 2003.
Why: When someone asks me, "So, do you play any sports?" I can laugh at them and point a very condescending finger and yell: "Sports?! Ye are no match for the order of the sword!" Kendo has grown on me as if it were feeding off the very force which keeps me alive...slowly mutating me into some kind of thing that...I'm doing kendo because it feels good and I love it. And it keeps me away from the, what I like to call, United States Bored Suburbian Kid Syndrome. This sickness includes: partying every single damn night, getting drunk and/or high and bragging about passing out (...Don't...know why...), trying to sell drugs in a high school gym locker room, having your peers envision your future in a jail cell, driving ridiculously fast on residential roads (while high and/or drunk) and ultimately dying in some kind of deserving wreck. Kendo is my anti-drug...and it's my passion.

[Inouye02]

Age: 17
Sex: Male
Grade:...No comment.
When: circa July 2003.
[b] And it keeps me away from the, what I like to call, United States Bored Suburbian Kid Syndrome. This sickness includes: partying every single damn night, getting drunk and/or high and bragging about passing out (...Don't...know why...), trying to sell drugs in a high school gym locker room, having your peers envision your future in a jail cell, driving ridiculously fast on residential roads (while high and/or drunk) and ultimately dying in some kind of deserving wreck. Kendo is my anti-drug...and it's my passion.

age: jiji now
grade: should be everyone's favorite 6 or 7 dan sensei.
When: April, 1971-77


HaHaHa, I quit Kendo to go do what you joined Kendo for..did the wild child thing for 26 yrs, then decided to come back....why? who knows, but it's been good so far..

[Charuzu]

I've always wanted to do something I really loved. Something unique and fun. I don't know why, but one day in my freshman year in high school, I was talking to a new friend. I told her about a Japanese manga that involved swords. One of the characters was in kendo. I had no idea what it was at the time. My friend said she liked swords, and I thought, "Hey, yeah! Swords are pretty cool." After that I became interested in sword fighting. Not just any sword fighting, but Japanese styles of sword fighting. Its not like I wanted to try to be like the character in the manga I was reading, I just wanted to do something I'd enjoy.

About 7 months later in 2003, I finally found a kendo dojo not too far away. It was weird because it was on the same street my dad had worked for 7 years! I had been there many times and never even noticed the dojo. But anyway, thats how and why I am in kendo.
Ah! I feel like I'm writing an essay for school! =P Sorry about that. It is the whole story to why I'm in kendo though.

To shorten what I just wrote. ^^;

Age: 17
Sex: Female
Grade: Ungraded
Started kendo: August 2003
Reason for doing kendo: Interest in samurai/swords. Something to do that I enjoy. To become stronger both physically and mentally (sp?). Overcome being shy (yes its helping). .......thats it for now. =)

Age: 15
Sex: Male
Grade: 5th-Kyu
Started kendo: My memory sucks -_-
Reason: I started Ryuseiken Batto-jutsu/Kenjutsu for much the same reason as you Kristy. Yahiko from RK is my hero. Also hopefuly I can get down to Rochester soon and then I will start kendo (=^o^=)

[Andou]

age: jiji now
grade: should be everyone's favorite 6 or 7 dan sensei.
When: April, 1971-77


HaHaHa, I quit Kendo to go do what you joined Kendo for..did the wild child thing for 26 yrs, then decided to come back....why? who knows, but it's been good so far..

Yeah...you know, don't get me wrong, I truly have nothing against someone smoking marijuana so long as they don't try to repeatedly sell me some and do it in moderation. I know tons of people who smoke pot and/or drink and are pretty cool people. I just hate the people who do it and endanger people. I have no beef with a few guys or girls who get baked/drunk in the safety in their own house.

[Mokuso]

Kendo???? What is Kendo? how did I get here?

[lost_kendoka]

I'm also thinking some girls do kendo because they like to hit and beat up men at there own level :D. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, rotflmho

age: 14
sex: female
grade: yonkyu (7 months ago -_-'')
started:2003
how: my brother had been wanting to learn kendo for sometime so my mum decided to take me and my younger brother along too, she thought it would be some useful self defence for me :D
why: to meet new people all around the world

[Veren]

Age: 35
Sex: Male
Grade: ungraded
Started: May 2005

How: stumbled across local Kendo sites while looking for Japanese language instruction in the local area. That's right-- Google's ranking system is how I got into Kendo. :)

Why Did I Start: I was looking for a martial art for both fitness and discipline, something that would be challenging and interesting, and keep me fit and out of trouble. :)

Why Do I Continue: because I've found Kendo is so much more than I expected. I've found the experience fulfilling and I'm constantly trying to learn more and get my body to do what my mind wants it to do. :) I've also felt better than I have since I stopped running track in high school and became a desk-worker/couch & computer potato.

[Raurik]

I'm not strong enough yet...I have to better myself and this is the path I chose to do that

[stephanie dee]

Could any one give me some info about them selfs and why they are doing kendo. I'll start:

Age: 19
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded (Maybe Ikkyu tomorrow :D)
Started kendo: 2003 I think
Reason for doing kendo: Spiritual development


Age: 17
Sex: Female
Grade: None. Only just started
Started Kendo: I tried it once but prefered Iaido, so I started Iaido 3 weeks ago
Reason for doing Iaido: Erm, it looked interesting and I wanted something that would be different and that would help me physically and spiritually. :)

[Naginatagirl]

Age: 17
Sex: Female
Grade: beginner

Started kendo: Sept 2004
Reason for starting: Naginata wasn't physically challenging enough. If I hadn't started Kendo, I probably wouldn't have continued in Naginata. And I had a friend or two who loved Kendo so I figured I might as well TRY it.

Reason for continuing: ummm....well....*runs*

[affektenlehre]

I started with Kendo about a few months ago ... and to my astonishment .... it seems that it kinda makes me push myself to the limits!

I just love it ... for that reason alone!

[TcDohl]

Age: 20
Gender: Male
Rank: Ikkyu
Started kendo: September 2001

I started kendo, thinking "Hey, this'll be fun." I was always intrigued by Japanese swordsmanship, (and yes, anime) and I really wanted to take it up.

Right now, I realized that I'm continuing with kendo because during keiko, most particularly ji geiko, I find that my mind is the most peaceful, the most clear. Normally, my brain is going a mile a minute, even in the most mundane of situations. But I realize kendo just makes me concentrate so hard that all the other thoughts go away. I don't even concentrate as hard when I'm in an exam or studying (probably because there's someone a few feet away with a stick ready to smack you down).

Also, another reason why I'm continuing with kendo is the fantastic people you meet. Kendoka come from all walks of life. But other than the jerks, you always connect with other kendoka in a way that you can't really do with other people.

Another reason is that it's part of my reasearch for the kendo manga I'm writing. If you want to know more about that, ask. :p

[Seikei-san]

Age: 14
Gender: Male
Rank: Unranked/Beginner

Started: July 13, 2005( Last month)

-Why I started: Well, I started because I was very interested in Samurai, and samurai swords. I found kendo while I was looking for a martial art that was somewhat the "Way of the Sword," so I found kendo. I also started because I was fascinated about kendo after I found about it, while researching. I also wanted to start because I wanted to get stronger Spiritually and Physically.

-Why I continue: I still continue to go because I am enjoying it really well, and am very dedicated to it, and I also wanna keep practicing it, and learning, and experiencing more things in kendo.

[KendoKT]

Age: 20
Gender: female
Started Kendo: june 2002
Grade: yon-kyu ( i probably should be higher than that but i work on weekends so I haven't been able to go to examinations :down: )
Reason: I started doing kendo after I saw a demonstration at my high school. I have always been intrested in martial arts, so when i saw the demo i knew i just had to try it out.
Well three years later im still doing kendo and I love it. the exercise is good for me and I have met a lot of nice people. :)

[nikolaj]

age: 17 (turning 18 in november)
gender: male
started kendo: not sure... somewhere in between one and a half or 2 years ago...
grade:sankyu

I've been interested in japanese history and budo for some time and I had tried both jiu-jitsu and TaeKwonDo (not japanese, I know) in the past,but they both kind of lost their appeal after 2 or 3 years. This probably because I was more interested in the use of traditional weapons and the values of martial art as opposed to the practical aspect of self-defense... I had heard about kendo before, butit took me a while to find a dojo where it was taught.After some search, I found one, tried it, and loved it! "the end"

[Phil-co]

Age: 25
Gender: male
Started kendo: September 2003
Grade: ikkyu

Been interested in kendo since at least 1990. Couldn't start until two years ago, because I didn't have any money. I Keep doing kendo for personal development.

[Wout]

age: 21
gender: male
started: march 2003 so almost 2 years and a half now
grade: shodan

I started because soccer stops between seasons and every year after season I felt a bit at a loss and figured I could maybe do something at a side where training was a whole year. Kendo looked kinda ok, so I started and I continued because it was ok.
I still play soccer too, my problem now is that I sometimes get torn apart between soccer and kendo.

[Sepiraph]

I started and continued Kendo because I like it. It is hard to exactly describe the reason why I like it, to put it best would be to say because "it just feels right".

[stephanie dee]

I still do it because it becomes a way of life. It becomes obcession. You can't help it... its like this little (well, rather large!) community tha you want to be and are proud to be apart of. It just becomes... you.

[piggy]

my family had to "intervine" in my obsession with kendo. they put me in KAA (kendo addicts annymous). i can quit anytime i want! i just dont want to...

[Spyder]

Age: 20
Gender: male
Started kendo: May 2005
Grade: ungraded

I've always had an unhealthy fascination with martial arts both armed and unarmed, usually causing me to do things like learning flips, running off trees/walls and breaking metre sticks in class sword fights. I've also had an interest in many ancient cultures, especially Japanese. So combine the two together and you get kendo...or at least I did. I only started kendo recently however because my home town didn't have a dojo in or near it when I was in highschool, and until last may all my classes conflicted with practices.

[Miravil]

Must vary from place to place. In my little corner of Japan, elementary school students start at 5th kyū and can work their way up to 1st kyū. Kids who start kendō in junior high school start at 4th kyū, kids who start in high school start at 3rd. University students and adults start at 2nd.

I don't know whether this varies from prefecture to prefecture, and, if so, how much it does.

After reading this, I'm starting to feel curious. My dojo starts from 10th kyu. Any other dojo doing the same???

[s][nFesT]

my dojo doesn't have a definitive kyu system. it's more or less in three stages: 1) beginner - getting to know the movements, footwork, and so on...basics
2) bogu - self explanatory, but this can be expanded to ability to practice geiko, jigeiko, etc.
3) ready to grade for ikkyu

there really isn't any kyu gradings at all within our dojo.

[Miravil]

Oh, where are my manners.... hehe

I continue kendo plainly due to addiction. I may be lazy to drive all the way there, but once I'm in the dojo my spirit is high and pumping. I like the challege from the senseis although I hardly score them, but they just make me feel more addicted to try harder. :devious:

[Yiu Fai]

After reading this, I'm starting to feel curious. My dojo starts from 10th kyu. Any other dojo doing the same???

I train at an unaccreditated dojo and currently I'm 9th kyu there.

Cant wait to grade at my other dojo and get my internationally recognised 6th kyu :)

[Philippe]

Must vary from place to place. In my little corner of Japan, elementary school students start at 5th kyū and can work their way up to 1st kyū. Kids who start kendō in junior high school start at 4th kyū, kids who start in high school start at 3rd. University students and adults start at 2nd.
After reading this, I'm starting to feel curious. My dojo starts from 10th kyu. Any other dojo doing the same???
My wholly unfounded pet theory for all these extra (unofficial?) grades in some dōjō is that there is a (perceived) need to provide students with a sense that they're making progress.

Of course, it's a theory I pulled out of thin air at random, so it may not be worth very much... :)

[karai]

I only practice kendo because 1. I've forgotten how to use a sword properly (although modern kendo is somewhat limited in remedying this) and 2. the only nice people I have ever met, other than a few occasionally scattered here and there, were and are in my dojo. No matter where we practice, the atmosphere seems more positive and cheerful than most other places I go to. There really is no definitive reason that can be put into words, however.

[Miravil]

I only practice kendo because 1. I've forgotten how to use a sword properly (although modern kendo is somewhat limited in remedying this) and 2. the only nice people I have ever met, other than a few occasionally scattered here and there, were and are in my dojo. No matter where we practice, the atmosphere seems more positive and cheerful than most other places I go to. There really is no definitive reason that can be put into words, however.

Yes, I agree with you. I can mix around with any kendoka even we don't really know each other yet having fun together. I have a few wonderful esperience myself. :)

[2muchryt]

I just saw my sempai who has been doing kendo since he was 6.
being raised in japan, he competed in tournaments throughout jr. high and
high school, (how many people out there understand the hell known as
japanese high school kendo sempai ?) he was a member of tokyo university
kendo team, etc.
anyway, i was talking to him about this very subject.
seems like he feels like a lot of similar kenshi do.
he said he hates kendo and doesn't have any idea why he is still doing it.
he said he has tried to quit many times but cant.
still he never stops.

my wife drives me crazy sometimes,,,
still i love her.

[Okori]

Age:14
Sex: Male
Grade: Ungraded >.<
Reason I started:I have an affinity for sharp objects, I'd be hard pressed to know other people in family/social group who do it, its a martial art (yay!) and, well, its damn cool.

Charlie, you been playin DOA Ultimate?