New to Kendo!

[IronWarrior]

Hi there!

Just about to start my Kendo training on the 9th over at the Mytchett Dojo, so am excited that am about to enter the world of Kendo.

I'll got interested in it after watching a Anime called Bamboo Blade so half way through it I throught, that be something good for me to do, so I was lucky enough to find a local Dojo in my area, I just moved to the area as well, so it's like a new start for me.

Brought all my Bogou armour few weeks ago and my Kendogi and Hakama arrive in the post in the next few days!

Really excited about this, am looking forward to learning everything and taking part in tournaments, which I hope I be ready to enter next year. I assume there are tournaments for each dan, even for first years?

I have the natural worries over the kiri and the seiza, a other thing that am kinda worried about is that I see when I visit the Dojo and in videos is that when people are sparring with each other, they carry on with the attack pass the person and then turn around, it just seems awkward to me (kinda reminds me of horse riding), through I guess all these things will become natural once I get into the swing of it.

Greetings. :P

[ender84567]

good luck, and have fun.

[nagi]

Quite the gamble to jump into bogu immediately, if I may be so frank.

As enjoyable as kendo is, or may seem, even, it is not for everyone, and decent bogu is a heavy investment. On top of that, in my dojo's experience at least, people who get into bogu too soon tend to quit kendo altogether shortly after.

I'm not saying this will happen to you, but with a rather shallow anime (I know, I watched it too) as your primary reference, I recommend that you at least keep your bogu receipt 'til you're positive you're comfortable with endless amounts of footwork, air cuts and sound kiai - all of which you'll need a fair understanding of before you should even think about going into actual "battle".

Having said all that, best of luck and enjoy yourself.

[ShinKenshi]

Hi there!

Just about to start my Kendo training on the 9th over at the Mytchett Dojo, so am excited that am about to enter the world of Kendo.

Glad you're excited and welcome to kendo.

I'll got interested in it after watching a Anime called Bamboo Blade so half way through it I throught, that be something good for me to do, so I was lucky enough to find a local Dojo in my area, I just moved to the area as well, so it's like a new start for me.

Brought all my Bogou armour few weeks ago and my Kendogi and Hakama arrive in the post in the next few days!

Seems a little quick to get into keikogi and hakama, let alone bogu. Most other dojo tend to wait a bit longer but then again, some places throw you in faster than others and who am I to second guess your sensei.

Really excited about this, am looking forward to learning everything and taking part in tournaments, which I hope I be ready to enter next year. I assume there are tournaments for each dan, even for first years?

First things first, keep showing up to practice and make it into bogu. After you get used to moving around in it, then start thinking about tournaments. But to give you a heads up, tournaments have different divisions for different rank levels, generally as follows: mudansha (those without dan rank), sometimes a women's division, 1-2 dan, 3 dan and up, and team matches.

I have the natural worries over the kiri and the seiza, a other thing that am kinda worried about is that I see when I visit the Dojo and in videos is that when people are sparring with each other, they carry on with the attack pass the person and then turn around, it just seems awkward to me (kinda reminds me of horse riding), through I guess all these things will become natural once I get into the swing of it.

Greetings. :P

The passing through and turning is all part of zanshin, which you'll learn over time. For now, focus on learning the footwork and don't get ahead of yourself. It's going to be a while before you start sparring so be prepared for a lot of work on the basics, not to mention the blisters. Enjoy!

[IronWarrior]

Ah thank you for the replys.

Through, once I start something, it becomes a part of me, never in my life have I left something, so this is for life.

The Bogou gear was second hand but only used once from eBay, so it's still as new, lucky enough for me the guy was the same height and build as me and everything fitted correctly, through the men seems a little tight, but never wearing one, not sure if thats ok or not, we allowed to wear our armour in our last day of our training when we get to used what we learn and as they say "bash each other over their heads" but that's 8-12 weeks away once training starts, but for the £103, I couldn't resist not buying it when the same version costs £400!

Same again for the keikogi and hakama really, but I brought that brand new, cost as much as the armour, but if you going to do something, you better look the part. :P

Ah zanshin, sounds like a good idea from reading about it, I kinda understood the idea about it beforehand, but it becomes a lot cleaner in the mind when someone explains it, thank you.

Blisters! I eat them for breakfest, used to do a lot of marching back in my Cadet days.

[ShinKenshi]

The Bogou gear was second hand but only used once from eBay, so it's still as new, lucky enough for me the guy was the same height and build as me and everything fitted correctly, through the men seems a little tight, but never wearing one, not sure if thats ok or not, we allowed to wear our armour in our last day of our training when we get to used what we learn and as they say "bash each other over their heads" but that's 8-12 weeks away once training starts, but for the £103, I couldn't resist not buying it when the same version costs £400!

Did your sensei give you permission to buy bogu as well as hakama and keikogi yet? One thing about kendo is that it's always best to ask your Sensei about it first before shelling out any money.

Ah zanshin, sounds like a good idea from reading about it, I kinda understood the idea about it beforehand, but it becomes a lot cleaner in the mind when someone explains it, thank you.

Not only is it a good idea, it's required and is an essential part of kendo. Without it, you're just prancing around whacking someone with a stick.

[Dezza]

I practice at Mytchett so will see you on the 9th. O'Sullivan sensei will take you though all the basics such as posture and footwork first so it will be a while until you hit (or be hit) in bogu.

Just attend with an open mind and try to remember what sensei instructs. Be warned though, Kendo looks funky and aggressive on Youtube but some beginners find the basic drills 'too hard' and repetitive (even boring) so sack it off. Just stick with it and you'll be rewarded in time!

[IronWarrior]

Did your sensei give you permission to buy bogu as well as hakama and keikogi yet? One thing about kendo is that it's always best to ask your Sensei about it first before shelling out any money.

When I visited, I got the feeling that the Dojo and the Sensei are not really like that, through he did warn me and a other vistor that Kendo can cost a lot and after our training is done, we can decide if we want to keep with it or go, but once I made my mind up to do something, I go full out, but our Dojo does recommend for our training sessions we can use a t-shirt and tracks or if we have a hakama we can use that with a t-shirt.

At the price the armour was going for, it was best to buy it now for later, I don't expect to be using it till end of the year.

I practice at Mytchett so will see you on the 9th. O'Sullivan sensei will take you though all the basics such as posture and footwork first so it will be a while until you hit (or be hit) in bogu.

Just attend with an open mind and try to remember what sensei instructs. Be warned though, Kendo looks funky and aggressive on Youtube but some beginners find the basic drills 'too hard' and repetitive (even boring) so sack it off. Just stick with it and you'll be rewarded in time!

Ah really, where abouts do you live? Do you really come all the way down from London to Mytchett? How often may I ask? I visited the Dojo about a month ago, maybe you saw me?

I started to watch some Kendo training youtube videos where they do footwork and dance forth and back doing what I would call men attacks, seems a lot of fun to me. Repeative actions even borning ones are not a problem for me, it's to be expected, am used to that sort of stuff back when I was a Cadet doing endless Drills and Marching.

Ah great news today, my Keikogi and Hakama arrived today in the post from Nine Circles, they did a great service, I only ordered it on Sunday, it was a bank holiday monday and so already, it's here! I was expecting tomorrow or Friday at the latest, so really happy with them.

Everything seems to fit, through before I cut the string off which will void my chances of sending it back for a refund or a new size, I plan on visiting the Dojo tomorrow and asking the Sensei and the others if they mind seeing if when I put it on, it fits me, I think it does, I got all the measurements correct when I ordered. The Keikogi fits prefectly, really happy with it all.

Already turned my hands blue! lol

I also brought some replacement parts for the Shinai that I was given for free when I brought the armour, but it seems the Tsukagawa doesn't fit the handle, can only get it 3/4 the way before it becomes too tight, so it must needed the 39 instead of the 38, ah well, first mistake, but easy corrected.

Ah Dezza, as they say, all good things comes to those who wait.

One question if I may ask please, are there any annual camps in the UK for Kendo for people to attend, where you can train each day for x the weekend or two weeks in summer or winter etc?

[ender84567]

I also brought some replacement parts for the Shinai that I was given for free when I brought the armour, but it seems the Tsukagawa doesn't fit the handle, can only get it 3/4 the way before it becomes too tight, so it must needed the 39 instead of the 38, ah well, first mistake, but easy corrected.

the number refers to the length of the tsuka, not necessarily the size/width. I would not go with a shorter tsuka off the bat unless you have small arms/hands. You can specially buy thicker ones, but likely if it was just tight wet it and it will stretch, using a rubber jar opener will work too. I wouldn't mess around with trying to re-tie a shinai or replace leathers until someone shows you how to do it properly and how to safely inspect a shinai. Proper shinai maintenance is one the most important things for safety in kendo.

[Dezza]

One question if I may ask please, are there any annual camps in the UK for Kendo for people to attend, where you can train each day for x the weekend or two weeks in summer or winter etc?

It depends where you live and/or the extent you are willing to travel. If you are happy to catch a train into London you can practice every day of the week, I wouldn't like to guess how much that would cost in fares though. I work locally so it takes me about an hour to dive home after practice.

Keep tabs on the BKA website for any seminars, we had Chiba sensei visit a few months ago. I'm not aware of any long term residential camps in the UK.
http://kendo.org.uk/
http://kendo.org.uk/club-directory/maps/

[IronWarrior]

the number refers to the length of the tsuka, not necessarily the size/width. I would not go with a shorter tsuka off the bat unless you have small arms/hands. You can specially buy thicker ones, but likely if it was just tight wet it and it will stretch, using a rubber jar opener will work too. I wouldn't mess around with trying to re-tie a shinai or replace leathers until someone shows you how to do it properly and how to safely inspect a shinai. Proper shinai maintenance is one the most important things for safety in kendo.

Well I was given this shinai for free, the parts was pretty dirty after being left in the garage since 2008, so I thought I get some new parts, the Take seems fine to me, I checked it for damages and splinters, but wouldn't use it without it first being checked by the others at the Dojo, but for the time being, am sure they can spot something that my untrained eye couldn't.

Tomorrow, hopeful they can advise me when they see it. Once my training starts, part of the training costs, we are given a complimentary shinai to use, so will be using that, so will be safe.

I'm guessing Tsuka and Tsukagawa is the same thing but shorted?

It depends where you live and/or the extent you are willing to travel. If you are happy to catch a train into London you can practice every day of the week, I wouldn't like to guess how much that would cost in fares though. I work locally so it takes me about an hour to dive home after practice.

Keep tabs on the BKA website for any seminars, we had Chiba sensei visit a few months ago. I'm not aware of any long term residential camps in the UK.
http://kendo.org.uk/
http://kendo.org.uk/club-directory/maps/

Ah, well that's pretty awesome, look forward to meeting you, through am very shy and quiet in person.

Ah train fares would cost aleast £25 for a return, so that's out the question, the only other Dojo am planning on visiting after training is the one in Reading which is the sister club.

There is no Dojo listed in Brighton, but is that really true, there must be one for such a large/major town?

[Dezza]

There is no Dojo listed in Brighton, but is that really true, there must be one for such a large/major town?

As far as i'm aware there is a dojo in Brighton that operates under the British Kendo Renmei.

[IronWarrior]

As far as i'm aware there is a dojo in Brighton that operates under the British Kendo Renmei.

Ah awesome, thank you.

[rfoxmich]

Enjoy your kendo journey. Approach it without any preconceived notions about kendo. Read up on 'shu-ha-ri'.

[Welshy]

Ah awesome, thank you.

Be careful when you're investigating - there are some Renmei dojo that don't like it if you train at an Association dojo as well. If in doubt, I would suggest going with the BKA over the BKR every time. It's the much larger, internationally recognized organization. From personal experience the Renmei don't believe in things like shiai and small cuts, so your kendo journey may be a little different if you go there. It's possible to be in the BKA and not compete (you have the choice) - but it's impossible to be in the BKR and compete.

I swapped from a BKR to BKA club a few years ago. Best decision of my kendo career.