Very first thing when they walk in the door?

**jjcruiser** · 7th January 2012, 01:22 AM

I was in the strange/unfortunate position of being the most "senior" person at the dojo the other day when three new beginners walked in wanting to start. I realized that while I'm comfortable going over the basics of footwork, I had never thought through what to say as far as introduction to Kendo or dojo ettiquite. I wasn't even sure how much I should do any of that.

My first-ever class we had basically a half-hour lecture on the history of swords and development of Kendo and about the shinai and the sword, etc., which I really appreciated but don't remember (and would have felt extremely awkward starting into with brand new beginners myself, especially since I'm not close to a sensei and other more senior people eventually showed up).

Anyone have a canned speech they give? Anything you talk about first? Do you just line them up and show them how to stand? Do you loan them a shinai?

**Neil Gendzwill** · 7th January 2012, 03:40 AM

I introduce myself and briefly explain what kendo is (ie, fighting with swords, no punching/kicking/grappling). Then I go through administrative stuff (how to register, what the costs are, class schedule, etc). We keep a bag full of old shinai for loaners. 1st day is usually devoted to etiquette and footwork, at the end I may have them swinging a bit.

**DigitalDowntown** · 7th January 2012, 05:05 AM

For total beginners we usually explain what to expect from kendo training and have them watch a practice. If they came in gym clothes, they might participate in warm-ups and do a little footwork.

**Jiyoui** · 7th January 2012, 05:46 PM

Foam sword fight

**davehale** · 8th January 2012, 05:17 AM

I can only offer what I've experienced as a beginner. Neil covered most of it though. My sensei briefly covered a little history, what Kendo is AND isn't, then dojo etiquette and procedure. The rest of class was nothing but footwork. My second class was more of the same but more time spent with footwork but this time we were allowed to hold a shinai and instructed to keep it centered and steady during the exercises. Third class was more iteration but we began learning to strike men. During these classes we were taken to the side as the regular class continued in it's own way. By the forth, we were intergrated with the regular class sections that didn't require bogu. Hope a beginning students perspective helps.

**MiddleEarthNet** · 10th January 2012, 08:58 PM

Every dojo has a different approach to beginners but I'd make sure you covered basic admin stuff and a few basic ettiquette. But I WOULDN'T over emphasise the ettiquette on their very first lesson because too much can scare people away as well. If it is a junior, maybe introduce them to another junior in the dojo. If they are just watching it is easier but if they join in, make sure they are properly warmed up. After that just keep things simple. Finding out how much they are about kendo or other arts will give you an idea of where to start with the ettiquette.

**Charlie** · 25th January 2012, 05:14 AM

You can learn a lot by teaching! We do pretty much what Neil said.

**CauseImSmaller** · 26th January 2012, 02:25 PM

First day for me was basically etiquette, etiquette and learning suri-ashi and sonkyo. Other than during Taiso where I was just told to try my best to keep up, I didn't swing a shinai.

**Berserker** · 26th January 2012, 05:45 PM

Its interesting to note that even though must of us are spread across the world we have a stock standard way of welcoming and introducing a beginner to the club! We usually encourage people to particpate in the first class, even if it just doing footwork and learning how to address seiza correctly. so basically the same way as most clubs

Etiquette is something that we harp on in the club as we believe it is a fundamental component of kendo and should be given a fair deal of attention...