gender advantages

[seijuro_hiko]

Im not very experioenced with kendo as people may have guessed fom my other posts.. I was just wondering if anyone had noticed any specific gender advantages and disadvantages i should look out for when sparring? ie: iof i know that it hurts alot to hit a girl somewhere i will try to avoid it. But all the same if i know that girls are slowed, at say, swings but faster with footwork i will avoid trying to dodge more often when sparring with them.

[ghostdancer]

beat advice is to ignore the "gender difference "
cos against a experienced female kendoka you will get your arse handed to you on a plate if you give them an inch
also treating a female kendoka in a differant manner because of their gender could be seen as disrespectful
one of my instructors is female, she barely comes up to my chin and i out weigh her by probably 30 kilos i only tried to get "physical" once bad mistake. real bad mistake got a bit of a slap and no mistake
just treat them how you want to be treated and all will be fine

[Kitsune]

I agree with that, in kendo and other martial arts better ognore gender difference.

[mingshi]

We are still waiting for a lady who claims to self-taught or learn from Grandmaster Hattori.

Bet the girls are better at their disguise technique in ninjitsu.

[tango]

beat advice is to ignore the "gender difference "
cos against a experienced female kendoka you will get your arse handed to you on a plate if you give them an inch

WITNESS!!!!!!!

[Kenzan]

From my meager experience, we have several females in our Dojo that not only have the ability to dominate matches with men, but do it well in competition.
If anything, perhaps lesser degrees of rage inducing and therefore focus reducing testosterone levels may be an advantage for female Kendoka.
Regardless, they are indeed a force to be reckoned with.

[tango]

Im not very experioenced with kendo as people may have guessed fom my other posts.. I was just wondering if anyone had noticed any specific gender advantages and disadvantages i should look out for when sparring?

In my experience, there is no real advantage or disadvantage, except...

ie: iof i know that it hurts alot to hit a girl somewhere i will try to avoid it.

THAT is a girl's advantage and a guy's disadvantage.... when guys try to avoid this or that in keiko with a girl because they think "I'll hurt the girl"...

I had my ass handed to me by a girl at my first 3.dan testing.
I've only faced one girl in competition (SEUSKF Arai-sensei's daughter several years ago)... and the match lasted a lot longer than I wanted it to because I was holding back, basically for the same reason that you mention (don't hurt the girl). Wasted a lot of energy because of that in the first match of the round-robin. Not good.

I think you fight girls a certian way, depending on what level you (and she) are... 1.dan and under level .. ehh... just be clean with technique and don't bully them around with major taiatari, etc.
2.dan... ehhhh.... can get a little more physical. Have to be cautious with 2.dan girls...
3.dan+ --- all bets off. Kill them. Quickly. Because they WILL kick your ass and not think twice about it. They will debana kote and nuki dou while you're still thinking, "Hey, I got paired with a ..." ***THWACK!!**** "...chick!"

[Paikea]

WITNESS!!!!!!!

Seconded...

[Neil Gendzwill]

Im not very experioenced with kendo as people may have guessed fom my other posts.. I was just wondering if anyone had noticed any specific gender advantages and disadvantages i should look out for when sparring? ie: iof i know that it hurts alot to hit a girl somewhere i will try to avoid it. But all the same if i know that girls are slowed, at say, swings but faster with footwork i will avoid trying to dodge more often when sparring with them.

I suggest you stop thinking about how you're going to spar and concentrate on a) getting your ass into a dojo and b) learning basics. You're unlikely to face this problem for 6 months or more, as that's how long it takes before you typically start wearing armour.

[Obukan_dude]

Seconded...

I'll be the third witness...

[cesarekim]

SNIP 2.dan... ehhhh.... can get a little more physical. Have to be cautious with 2.dan girls...
3.dan+ --- all bets off. Kill them. Quickly. Because they WILL kick your ass and not think twice about it. They will debana kote and nuki dou while you're still thinking, "Hey, I got paired with a ..." ***THWACK!!**** "...chick!"

Right before my 3dan shinsa, I decided to warm up with some jigeiko. While I was waiting for my dojo-mate, a short girl who practices in Florence asked me to do some geiko to warm up. I of course said yes. There I stood at my towering 5'6" over this girl who is about 5' and 90 lbs. We squared off, looked at each other for about 10 seconds as we were in shinsa mode. I started to do seme and she WACKED me across the head... She proceeded to warm her shinai up very nicely on my kote and men for 30 seconds as I stood there like an ass looking confused.

Forget about gender differences. Square off and try to get the first point. After that, you can worry about whether she is a girl or not....

BTW, she passed and so did I.

[seijuro_hiko]

thanks guys. I just like to know as much as i can before i go doing ahything stupid. i never underestimate girls because i have had my as handed to me on one occasion by them.. but that wasnt with a sword. I just didnt know if i had an etiquette to follow or something. Atleast now i know not to treat them lightly and to go all out in sparring no matter who it is lol. Why is it always the short ones that kick but?!

[Masahiro]

to put ur query to an end for once and for all Seijuro, what's the difference in advantage between boys and girls in kendo?

we have one more "stick" than they do, but we are not allowed to use that "stick" on the court, so... where does that get us? no where. hahahahhaha.

if they are really pretty girls, you risk the chances of just staring at their pretty face under the men. (even if they are screaming at you) all you will be thinking is.. "awww. kawaii... " and then *BAM* ... men uchi. hahahahaha.

[Alison2805]

thanks guys. I just like to know as much as i can before i go doing ahything stupid. i never underestimate girls because i have had my as handed to me on one occasion by them.. but that wasnt with a sword. I just didnt know if i had an etiquette to follow or something. Atleast now i know not to treat them lightly and to go all out in sparring no matter who it is lol. Why is it always the short ones that kick but?!

Get your butt into one of the Perth dojos. It will be a while before you are good enough to "spar", but us girls will be waiting

[kartoffelngeist]

I suggest you stop thinking about how you're going to spar and concentrate on a) getting your ass into a dojo and b) learning basics. You're unlikely to face this problem for 6 months or more, as that's how long it takes before you typically start wearing armour.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Neil Gendzwill again.