Should I do kendo?

[HamsterHamster]

I'm am competitive fencer of foil fencing (a type of western fencing), and have been national champion for my age twice and represented my country overseas. I have been fencing for more than six years. Sadly however this is only possible because the standard of fencing in my country is so low. There is very little fencing here, and even though I love the sport and try as hard as possible, there are very few other serious fencers and it is impossible to ever compete at an international standard. I would be interested in taking up kendo instead of foil if it would be possible to do kendo at a serious level in the future. Is it possible to be competitive when one starts at 17 years of age? At what age did most competitive kendo practicioners start? I will be moving to Japan soon so finding training isn't so much of a problem. I have spoken with people who do it and have read much about the sport, and I find it really interesting. However I wouldn't want to throw away fencing unless it would be possible to be serious at kendo. Just the thought of giving up what I've done all my life makes me really sad, but I would rather do a living sport like kendo than waste more time on fencing which is dead in my country. It's really frustrating not being able to get good practice with other people. What do you think? If I started now and was very motivated, would it be possible for me to ever be competitive or serious? Would it be a chance worth throwing away fencing for?
Thank you very much for reading this. I hope I can do kendo in the future, and now that I think about it, I would have preferred to have taken it up instead of fencing to begin with.

[KhawMengLee]

Should be no problem. The thing is that you should go in as an empty vessel. Try not to apply what you know of fencing to kendo during your early years because it will confuse your training.

17's a great age to start and develop. Most ppl(outside japan) start during Uni anyway.

Go ahead and try it out.

Good Luck!

[nikolaj]

heh, 17 is definitly a good age to get started, sorry about your fencing btw...

[vyung]

Hey HamsterHamster,

Great to hear that you are interested in taking up kendo. At 17, that's a great age to start! Most players start learning kendo when they go to uni, including the really good players in Australia.

Where are you located in Australia?

If you put your mind into kendo and train hard, no doubt you will be very successful in your kendo career, and maybe represent your country in the World Championships. :)

[crabbi]

Hi HamsterHamster...

Kendo is a fantastic passtime... it's never to late to start...

However, have you considered seeking a Fencing Club in Japan? Where in Japan will you be going? I am sure that many Japanese Universities have Fencing Clubs...

Check out: http://www.fencing101.com/vb/history/topic.php/17901-1.html and (if you read Japanese!) http://www.sportsweb.ne.jp/fje.htm

I recommend Kendo to you wholeheartedly... but be aware that it is very different to Foil Fencing...!

cheers...

[Anime12478]

Whatever you do, do NOT throw away fencing for anything if you enjoy the activity. If you want to take Kendo, then do so. But if you love fencing, then you can always do them both.

I myself started Kendo at 18 (2 years ago) so it's not to late to start. You have people starting at 5 or 6 years old and people that don't start until their 30s or 40s. The wonderful thing about Kendo is that you can start practicing Kendo at just about any age. As far as competitiveness, you can be competitive in your respective devision within a few years once you get the basics and stuff down and you have sparred your fair share of times.

[natehill13]

I know several competitive kendo players who did not start until high school, later in the police academy or university or even later as we had one gentleman start in his mid 60's and went on to compete at a high level. Of course here some kids start as early as three years old, so I would have to say you are starting out in about the right place.

[rainmaker]

I agree with this. You can do fencing and Kendo together. You have to understand that there are not many Kendo population outside of Japan either. You will always have to deal with such problem. For your reference, Japan has about 5million kendokas, Korea has about 500K, US has only 5000.

Good luck.. I wish I started my Kendo when I was 17....

Whatever you do, do NOT throw away fencing for anything if you enjoy the activity. If you want to take Kendo, then do so. But if you love fencing, then you can always do them both.

I myself started Kendo at 18 (2 years ago) so it's not to late to start. You have people starting at 5 or 6 years old and people that don't start until their 30s or 40s. The wonderful thing about Kendo is that you can start practicing Kendo at just about any age. As far as competitiveness, you can be competitive in your respective devision within a few years once you get the basics and stuff down and you have sparred your fair share of times.

[HamsterHamster]

Thank you all very much for all your advice and comments! I will definitely start kendo then.
I understand what some of you are saying about keeping on fencing with kendo. I have given this a lot of thought, and normally I would agree with what you say, but in the end I wouldn't like to keep on fencing half-heartedly while trying to do kendo too. Fencing training has actually become less fun in recent years for me. There are very very few competitive fencers my age, and before I have always trained against older fencers. Now most of those older fencers have quit due to university or work, and I can only get good training matches with a few people in Sydney. Before there was an endless supply of fencers willing to trash me. I don't think one can really enjoy a sport where one can't stretch oneself, and I hate the feeling of getting worse or failing to improve. I've trained for months at a time in Germany and trained in China a bit, and I know the only way I managed to keep up internationally (ie. be in the bottom half of my age group) was by fencing fencers much older than me in Australia. In serious fencing countries like Germany one trains full time only with fencers of one's own age. There I was struggling to win half my bouts against people my age or younger, and it was seriously fun. Over there it is usually ridiculous to think of fencers fencing up more than an age group or two.
If I continue fencing like this I'll just be stagnating as a fencer, and if I try and cut the amount of time I fence to fit in kendo while keeping fencing I would get worse.
Normally however I would agree that it is better to keep on things like that.

vyung
I'm located in Sydney. I actually intend to try joining the Sydney Kendo Club, so maybe we'll be seeing each other soon!

crabbi
Yes I have considered fencing in Japan. Actually I only was willing to go there at first because a friend recommended fencing there, but unfortunately Japanese foil fencing is not much better than Australian fencing, although it is a significant improvement!
If I leave Japan at the start of next year it would almost certainly be to the Tokyo area. If I went the year after it would still probably be Tokyo but could also be Osaka or another town.

Once again, thank you everyone for your comments and support!

[Andou]

Thank you all very much for all your advice and comments! I will definitely start kendo then.
I understand what some of you are saying about keeping on fencing with kendo. I have given this a lot of thought, and normally I would agree with what you say, but in the end I wouldn't like to keep on fencing half-heartedly while trying to do kendo too. Fencing training has actually become less fun in recent years for me. There are very very few competitive fencers my age, and before I have always trained against older fencers. Now most of those older fencers have quit due to university or work, and I can only get good training matches with a few people in Sydney. Before there was an endless supply of fencers willing to trash me. I don't think one can really enjoy a sport where one can't stretch oneself, and I hate the feeling of getting worse or failing to improve. I've trained for months at a time in Germany and trained in China a bit, and I know the only way I managed to keep up internationally (ie. be in the bottom half of my age group) was by fencing fencers much older than me in Australia. In serious fencing countries like Germany one trains full time only with fencers of one's own age. There I was struggling to win half my bouts against people my age or younger, and it was seriously fun. Over there it is usually ridiculous to think of fencers fencing up more than an age group or two.
If I continue fencing like this I'll just be stagnating as a fencer, and if I try and cut the amount of time I fence to fit in kendo while keeping fencing I would get worse.
Normally however I would agree that it is better to keep on things like that.

vyung
I'm located in Sydney. I actually intend to try joining the Sydney Kendo Club, so maybe we'll be seeing each other soon!

crabbi
Yes I have considered fencing in Japan. Actually I only was willing to go there at first because a friend recommended fencing there, but unfortunately Japanese foil fencing is not much better than Australian fencing, although it is a significant improvement!
If I leave Japan at the start of next year it would almost certainly be to the Tokyo area. If I went the year after it would still probably be Tokyo but could also be Osaka or another town.

Once again, thank you everyone for your comments and support!

Foil fencing In Japan, huh? I wonder what the kendoka think of that... Anyway, I wish you good luck in your Kendo. And that we'll do our best here to answer anything you might be perplexed on.

[crabbi]

Hi HamsterHamster-San


Well, it looks as if you have thought this through very carefully...

I am sure that you will love Kendo as you already have a taste for sword arts...
But be warned that Kendo is incredibly addictive !!!

Best of luck in your chosen path... keep us informed ...

Cheers

[vyung]

Hey HamsterHamster,

Everyone from the Sydney Kendo Club will be looking forward to your visit and your training with us.

If you are coming for the 1st time, come on the Saturday morning. It's great atmosphere on Saturday as kendoka from other NSW kendo clubs also join the training. I can take you around and introduce you to the sensei and fellow members when you come. Let me know.

[HamsterHamster]

vyung
Thank you for that. I will try to come in this Saturday then. See you then!

[vyung]

Fantastic! Me and all my fellow club mates will be looking forward to meet you. :)

[piggy]

awsome signature natehill13 i think my dad said something like that once...

kendo in experience is more competitive than fencing in that there are more kendo dojos than fencing places where i live. i believe that you will enjoy kendo!

[SkippyDaStudent]

I have found kendo, so far, to be quite enjoyable, so I would definitely recommend it.

[samurai999]

As for your fencing, it always sucks to give up something that you had a passion for. Sorry to hear that.

Heres my suggestions to you when you start kendo. Take these with a grain of salt as I am not a sensei nor am I an expert in the field. However, I have been practicing for 5 years and believe I've learned something in those 5 years I've been practicing:

As for you starting kendo. That is not a bad idea at all and most of us (biased or unbiased on this forum) would recommend that to you. People start at 8 yrs old, some others start during college, some others start in their mid 30s. I have heard of people starting in their mid 40s and 50s. Just remember that when you start kendo, just enter it with an open mind. Don't come in with conceptions as to how you think it should be (ie closed minded). Be willing to learn from the senseis and don't be afraid to ask "why". Take the main points of what the senseis tell you and develop it into a "style" that you are comfortable with. Lastly, have fun and converse with other people and make friends. Kendo is those things too. Its not just practice.

My 0.02(US),

Tim

[Theodore]

Foil fencing In Japan, huh? I wonder what the kendoka think of that... Anyway, I wish you good luck in your Kendo. And that we'll do our best here to answer anything you might be perplexed on.

See the biography of Joe Elliott at this link (http://www.redrocktrainingcenter.com/Fencing/staff.html). Joe trained with the legend, Torao Mori (http://www.isu.edu/%7Ejon/kendo/swordsmen.html), and his son-in-law, Heizaburo Okawa (a kendo sandan). Okawa was a 1964 Japanese Olympian, missing a gold medal when his team came in 4th and was the US foils champion 2 years in a row (his run would have been longer but they changed the rules so that only US citizens could be the US champion). I fenced with Okawa for over 7 years and was a member of the Mori FC from 1977 to 1985. He's a great guy and a fantastic athlete.

[piggy]

simply put, if you think that you might want to do kendo, try it out. see how it compares to fencing for you. (in the amount that you enjoy it of course) if you dont like it or choose not to do it, than dont do it.

i would strongly recomend kendo to anyone but it is your decision.

[Richiro]

Just like every one else said dont try to apply any thing u know about fencing to kendo. also It is a good age to start i guess(but i'm only 14) but there is age guy at my dojo thats 49m and started 7 months ago. also we just got a couple of sons and dads come to our dojo for kendo. I hope u enjoy kendo.