Hello there,
Just to make some further clarifications, since kaneida has stepped in already:
Just wondering where in China you're working, if you don't mind me asking? Cause there are kendo clubs in China, and if you want to view what training is like to at least get an idea of what practise is, you can (depending on where you are) try to find one nearby and see for yourself. The nice thing about kendo is that the training regimen in one club would be similar to the training in others, so viewing the training in China would give you an idea of the training here in Manila.
To begin with, you won't be needing all the equipment at the start. You'll be needing the
shinai (bamboo practise sword), which you can purchase from the club. The
bogu (sparring armor) you won't really be needing til after six months of beginner training. This you can get on-line, or, if you're lucky, from the club also, cause we do sell some second hand stuff. These are mainly high school kid sized though, so adults might have some problems fitting them.
Er...why would that be gay? If some of the kids in the dojo heard you say something like that (and I believe some of them DO read these forums...or at least their parents anyway), I think they would gladly show you how "gay" it is to train with them...But seriously, don't close your mind to the training possibilities. If you found yourself lucky enough to start in a beginners' batch that was ALL composed of kids, so what? You might actually find yourself learning something in the process.
The only Japanese you'll have to learn are terms that are generally used in kendo. So even if your memory sucks, weekly repetition for the six month beginners' course will probably burn them in your memory.
Well, you can research these forums (I know you said you don't like reading forums, but think of it as an exercise in patience) to start, there are a lot of helpful threads, especially the stickies. Also you can try the FIK website,
here. But kendo is an art of "doing"...none of the research can properly prepare you for the reality. The only thing that is asked would be for you to show up with an "empty cup" and to keep on showing up.
Well...you can, if you want to. Most people in the dojo would look at you strangely though if you did, hehehe.
Lastly, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but we only accept beginners in during the first Saturdays of January and July. This is so our instructors will have an easier time handling things. So if you're coming home in June or July, that might be cutting things rather close for the July class. Just so you know.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Togashi
Originally Posted by male73
I see, I might have misunderstood him while we were talking about his course (assuming we're referring to the same guy), because I kind of remembered that we were talking about law school since my wife used to teach there. Anyways, it was really unfortunate that my batchmate in kendo had to stop to concentrate on his studies but well, you know how it is in law school (or any other school for that matter), especially bar review -- they're like work, sagabal sa kendo [obstacles to doing kendo].
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