just curious

[Tamaki :)]

Hello everyone, I have been taking kendo for a little less than 2 months and in the first month, I got my hakama and keigo-gi and by the second or third class after I got my keigo-gi and hakama(I take 2 classes per week) I was loaned a bogu by my sensei. I was wondering if I am going unusually fast or the guy that came before me who is 1 year older than me, so he's technically my sempai, was going unusually slow? (he got his hakama and kendogi maybe 2 or three weeks before me) but he said he's been going for about 15 weeks before he got his uniform, and then it was maybe by the next practice that he got his loan bogu. Granted, I might have practiced a little more than he did at the strikes, and I thoroughly searched the web for things related to kendo, so I got a good idea of what it was going to be beforehand, as well as some tidbits of information about it, however, he doesn't seem to be the kind of guy to do things he's interested in half-baked. Thanks for reading, Heather

[Big One]

Hello,
Welcome to the forum. At this stage you should just trust your sensei and not to worry about others. He is fast, he is slow! does not matter.

[DigitalDowntown]

You're maybe on the fast side of things. Fifteen weeks before wearing keigo-gi & hakama is maybe a little on the slower side.

FYI; I wouldn't call this other guy a 'sempai,' he's a fellow beginner that's been going to the dojo longer than you. Your sempai are your more senior students, those who can help you with questions but don't have the experience of the sensei. I doubt you would ask your fellow beginning dojo mates to help you with your swing mechanics or for help with reassembling and maintain your shinai just because they've been there a few extra weeks.
There isn't really a hard and fast rule about it, but your sempai will typically have at least a year on you.

[Tamaki :)]

Thank you so much you guys lol, I figured that I would never get a reply, and thank you for the clarifications on what a sempai is DigitalDowntown and Big one, I guess I was in a way insinuating that I was faster, I just wanted to make sure my guess was right, but I think I have a pretty good relationship with him, we have some things in common and stuff, so I'm not trying to be condescending at the very least
Thank you again, Heather

[jjcruiser]

Regarding feeling like you are going fast: When we learn new things we often make huge jumps in ability early on that then become discouraging when they do not continue at the same rate months or years later. I have a friend who started fencing this year and after feeling like he was making very much progress -- faster than his classmates -- he's now down on the whole experience because he feels like he's not making progress anymore. I think this is common. Sometimes there's a benefit to feeling like you are going slower initially. First, it helps make sure you're establishing fundamentals. Second, your expectations are managed better for the long haul.

(Of course, it's more fun to feel like you are cruising and picking up stuff quickly, so there's another side to that coin.)

Just my two cents.

[Tamaki :)]

Regarding feeling like you are going fast: When we learn new things we often make huge jumps in ability early on that then become discouraging when they do not continue at the same rate months or years later. I have a friend who started fencing this year and after feeling like he was making very much progress -- faster than his classmates -- he's now down on the whole experience because he feels like he's not making progress anymore. I think this is common. Sometimes there's a benefit to feeling like you are going slower initially. First, it helps make sure you're establishing fundamentals. Second, your expectations are managed better for the long haul.

(Of course, it's more fun to feel like you are cruising and picking up stuff quickly, so there's another side to that coin.)

Just my two cents.

I do think that is true but I really hope that I won't become discouraged or anything thanks for sharing your experiences with this naive 14 year old ^_^

[UnimportantHero]

thanks for sharing your experiences with this naive 14 year old ^_^

Oh great.

Another teenager I can look forward to being owned by at some future event.

;p

The only one who can keep you from becoming discouraged is you. I find that there are often days when I simply do not feel like going in for practice. I would rather go and hang with friends, or stay in and goob on some computer games, or whatnot. But going in anyway always proves me wrong and leaves me feeling happy that I did. So always go in, no matter what.

[Tamaki :)]

Oh great.

Another teenager I can look forward to being owned by at some future event.

;p

The only one who can keep you from becoming discouraged is you. I find that there are often days when I simply do not feel like going in for practice. I would rather go and hang with friends, or stay in and goob on some computer games, or whatnot. But going in anyway always proves me wrong and leaves me feeling happy that I did. So always go in, no matter what.

lol count on it XP, and yeah I try to go in whenever I can, but sometimes I just can't because of my parents, and soon its probably going to be because of school -.-" another reason to hate school, wonderful >.< anyway, thanks! The days I can't go, I'll just have to train extra hard

[ShinKenshi]

I do think that is true but I really hope that I won't become discouraged or anything thanks for sharing your experiences with this naive 14 year old ^_^

Great, we're toast... Go easy on us older folk once you get into bogu.

[Tamaki :)]

Great, we're toast... Go easy on us older folk once you get into bogu.

lol, I may be young, but I still can't push anyone farther than an inch away from me, I'm so puny ^-^ I was in bogu for the second time yesterday ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ ＼ / ＼/ ＼ (evil laugh)

[cr720]

Welcome to the forums and good luck with your training! And you know that even when you don't have school, life gets in the way of training sometimes . But UnimportantHero has a good point, and I also find that when I force myself to go to practice (even though I don't want to), I have some of the best times, or I learn the most.

[Tamaki :)]

Welcome to the forums and good luck with your training! And you know that even when you don't have school, life gets in the way of training sometimes . But UnimportantHero has a good point, and I also find that when I force myself to go to practice (even though I don't want to), I have some of the best times, or I learn the most.

Thanks I think I may have had that experience before, it was pretty early on though, when I wasn't really doing much because I didn't have my bogu yet, and after practice I came out smiling oh, and I'll try to rep for you but *cough* I sort of went overboard today when I finally found out I could actually do something like that, so instead, I have to wait till tomorrow and if I have internet at my hotel (I'm going on a trip to visit my big brother) I'll definitely give you some rep ^^

[Josh Reyer]

FYI; I wouldn't call this other guy a 'sempai,' he's a fellow beginner that's been going to the dojo longer than you.

Except that the bolded part is the very definition of "sempai". If someone starts the day before you, they are your sempai.

[nsylver]

Why hello Tamaki!

/wave at fellow dojo member.

[LarsCW]

another reason to hate school

Enjoy your time on school and make sure it will last as long as possible.

Kendo can be really confronting, just ask questions when ever you want to know something. Your sensei is the best source of such info as he/she will know how fast/slow you pick things up. Using the search option on the forum can also lead to another wealth of knowledge.