I really want to learn kendo but the closes school is a 6 hour drive from where I live. I'm wondering if there are any good online resources,books or videos for learning kendo from home.
I really want to learn kendo but the closes school is a 6 hour drive from where I live. I'm wondering if there are any good online resources,books or videos for learning kendo from home.
I know there are some people who will say they drive sixteen hours, uphill both ways, through snow, to practice kendo every week, but I agree that 6 is a little far. Moving not an option?
not really. The school I'm talking about is in halifax the biggest city in atlantic canada and Living in a big city is not of my liking having lived is a quite town all my life. The Canadian Kendo Federation has only one Kendo school listed in all of atlantic canada. I live in New Brunswick and the closes US school is in boston. Boston is also a 6 or more hour drive.
Learning a solo martial art is hard enough as it is without a proper teacher, kendo is designed around having a partner, given the focus on jigeiko. I'd argue that trying to teach yourself kendo is the same as trying to teach yourself judo, it's just not going to work.
While I definitely appreciate having your heart set on something, there are countless hobbies that one can take up. Surely if you're passionate enough to take the time to research and teach yourself a martial art you're passionate enough to take the time until you can learn it properly?
That would usually be me, but 6 hours is outside my 'motel limit'. You might want to look into hiro's online course at kendo-guide.com Though as has been stated above, practicing alone will only get you so far, and even then you wont progress quickly and will be likely to develop bad habits. My advice would be to find another activity until kendo is closer to you, or you are closer to kendo.
I'm a super kendo slacker.
Best thing I can suggest is the following which many college clubs without an instructor do:
Recruit at least one interested friend to go with you, perhaps on a monthly or once every three month basis. This way you can practice the basic exercises the best you can with a partner. Likewise you will be able to check back in on a regular basis for correction.
I remember some guy asking Liang Baiping what the philosphy of Taiji was. Baiping looked at him and said, "The philosophy of Taiji is to crash through to their center and kill them".
The problem with distance learning is further complicated by the fact that the Halifax club doesn't have a sensei, last I checked it was being led by a shodan. I don't usually recommend self-instruction but if you are bound and determined there are some videos available through e-bogu that can point you in the right direction.
Neil Gendzwill
Saskatoon Kendo Club
He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.Originally Posted by ranma
- Ben Jonson, English poet
Okay so maybe that's a little harsh... It sucks that there is no dojo nearby to practice but you aren't going to be living (wherever you are) your whole life are you? Just wait until you move somewhere new and take-up kendo then. I know that's not the answer you want to hear but...
It's just that there are tons of threads like this on KW. "Hey, I live at X but there is no place to practice kendo..." Well then unfortunately you won't be practicing kendo until you move. With kendo, you need to have a partner, just shadow swinging for 8 hours a day will be boring and most likely you will be doing it wrong. Now you've just developed the muscle memory to swing the shinai incorrectly.
I grew up in Hawaii and I saw snowboarding on TV and I really wanted to try it, unfortunately there is no snow on my island (please someone do not mention the Big Island having snow). You know what I did? I didn't go snowboarding... at least not until I moved away to a place that had snow.
Read some books and learn about the history of kendo and Budo in general. Then when you finally move somewhere that has a dojo, you'll have the right mindset for practice and you'll be ready to go.
To answer your question, you will have to either a) move closer to a place that teaches kendo, or b) gather enough friends to form a study group and make arrangements to carpool to a kendo sensei every so often. You can study on your own with the sites Neil and ender84567 mentioned. Please understand that there is a LOT going on that is not obvious to an untrained eye. So, unless you're some kind of martial genius, you're not actually going to be able to grasp the important aspects of kendo without a qualified sensei to lead you.
Personally, I find that much of what is fun about kendo is practicing with other people. I think you'd miss out on the good stuff if you merely train on your own.
I have only been in Kendo for about a year and a half now, so I am too inexperienced to tell you whether or not you can really learn Kendo alone. Also, take what I say with a grain of salt. I did find this website, though: http://www.kendo-guide.com/ It seems good enough to teach you some of the basics, and I think it is your best bet of learning anything legitimate alone. It does cost a bit of money, but I think it will be your best bet. I got all of the videos to supplement what I learn in the dojo. I don't think you will be able to go very far with this, but at least it can get you started. I think it is the best possible instruction outside of a dojo.
Edit: Blegh, was beaten to it.
Joe
Choyokan Kendo Dojo
I'm considered new in kendo, but already around for sometimes (still not long enough actually, LOL) on other MA. Just remember 1 thing "practice makes perfect", or for more clear, "PROPER practice makes perfect". Unproper practice will lead to bad habit, unproper muscle memory and will takes a lot of time to fix. That's why I also against the "classical kendo" on other thread if they just make it up without proper knowledge from proper sensei.
I suggest you to study kendo from historical and philosophical point of view. It'll be better if you can go to the dojo at least once a month to get a proper teaching and repeat it a lot at home and then get fixed at your next attend.
Or why not doing something else first? at least to keep you strong and fit.
I know a lot of people who believe that 'you can't train without a sensei', and I have seen some really harsh opinions on this topic - but I believe that if you set your mind to something, and you have a good source of inspiration you can do anything.
I think that as long as you practice the basics, read about the footwork, look at videos (tonnes on youtube) and just try your best to get a good understanding, then when you finally are able to practice in a dojo, you will already have a good knowledge base. Just watch out that you don't learn bad habits - that is the most 'dangerous part' about learning at home, but apart from that, who's to say you can't? Go for it!
See, except your entire statement is contradictory, you can learn on your own as long as you dont learn bad habits. Which is nigh impossible. Even watching videos, especially for a complete beginner, they don't know what they are looking at. Feedback is essential to nip many habits in the bud. Especially youtube is rife with examples of non-kihon kendo. What works in shiai is not exactly good to practice. That's why if you must do it, something like kendo guide is nice because you at least get some feedback on videos you upload, or even the e-bogu videos because there is a effort to give good basic examples for the viewer to imitate.. A person cannot learn kendo in a vacuum without developing bad habits. Even if someone has an instructor but they are a lower level (ikkyu thru sandan), they tend to pick up more bad habits because instructors at this level are not typically able to demonstrate properly. I'm sure people here could tell you of transfer students that have had horrible habits they have learned under such circumstances. I have witnessed it many times first hand, a recent example is a yondan leading practice was teaching the 'proper' way to hit hiki dou was to lean away from the dou as you struck (sure, I know that isin't right, but I bet all the mudansha in the class tried to imitate the way they did it.). Sure I will agree you could learn something that can be called kendo on your own, but I disagree that it would be exactly helpful if you ever joined a 'real dojo' down the line.
I'm a super kendo slacker.
@ender84567:
I do agree with you entirely, although I just meant (obviously not put across well) that if you read through books, videos etc - you obtain a knowledge base, whatever materials you learn from and how good they are, is obviously down the to knowledge base of the person making them - and of course it could never replace a real sensei,
but I just meant that if you 'know' the concept of how to hit for men, kote, do or tsuki, and are truly interested in getting the right skills (ie - learning from a trusted knowledge source), then when you finally train underneath a sensei, you can understand the basics much easier, and quicker.
But yes, bad habits are something that you could acquire by learning on your own, very risky.
I disagree. I can explain the correct way to hit a men in a couple of minutes. Learning to do it right takes a couple of decades. Knowing the explanation ahead of time doesn't buy you much.
Neil Gendzwill
Saskatoon Kendo Club
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