New Beginner

[motlive]

I haven't even started training yet, sat in on my first lesson and sitting in on another next week.

I'm book learning to begin with (financial restraints due to Christmas).

In my quest to make sure Kendo is right for me, and I believe it is, I am looking at everything I could possibly need and then budgetting for it to see if I can accomodate it.

A good quality Hakama and Kendogi are high on my list, as I will be wearing it a lot I don't want to be uncomfortable (worst feeling when you cant concentrate because something you are wearing is bothering you).

The Bogu is going to take a few months to save for, and will at least give me time to settle in, the amount of information currently is overwhelming. I would like to know if there are any brands that should be steered clear from as it is a hefty investment to make.

[krys]

Skip the books, good quality uniform and branded bogu.
Just start training. Wait a bit. In due time buy the cheapest uniform. Wait some more. In due time buy some low-end bogu.
The guys who know it all before even starting do not make good students.

[motlive]

I understand that, its hard to teach someone something they have learnt from a book already. My Sensei said to read books and watch documentaries etc to aid in training/learning.

[Yan Ling]

I'd watch documentaries to peak your interest

[dillon]

I agree with krys. Start practicing and put your money first in the dojo fees. Forget books and videos for now as there are loads of them and not all of them are that eludicating. If you're loaned some books and videos that's another matter but don't buy them as a starting point. Later on when you understand kendo a bit better you'll have a better idea what is useful content and what is not.

You can usually get by for about 3-6 months in gym clothes (depending on frequency of practice and progress). I actually bought a couple of shinai (good to have a spare) before gi and hakama. I only bought gi and hakama when I was told that I would be using club armor from that point on (in which case the gi and hakama will make the armor feel more comfortable than gym clothes). As with any equipment get some advice from the sensei/sempai before buying as there are different size shinai and types of gi/hakama.

I have a slightly different take on bogu though. While buying something super expensive for the sake of having something fancy is unwise, the cheapest set might not be the best value in terms of getting something that can last you several years. So get the best value bogu which will likely be around the low-middle to middle price range. As mentioned many times in other threads, kendo takes on a different feel when you get into armor and the drop out rate is very high at this point. So if possible, use borrowed armor until you really feel this is for you.

I presume you're in a BKA affiliated dojo?

[motlive]

Yeah I am in a BKA registered Dojo, or at least I will be.

I am not looking to buy any books yet, been burnt before by investing in materials and things for a hobby only to lose interest quickly. Checked my local library and they have a couple of books I saw on Amazon for £20-£30 each so going to borrow those and give them a read. I have purchased 1 thing, a kindle book, was only £1.90 so thought why not.

I did Eskrima Kali for a couple of years about 14 years ago (a long time), and that felt better when wearing the armour. I would train for ages without armour and thought I was getting good, then as soon as you put the armour on you realise your movement and stamina have gone out the window and it feels like starting over again. So I would like to start out in armour sooner rather than later, I asked my Sensei when does he get people into armour at the end of my sit in and he said there are 2 factors; when you feel ready to wear it and finance. He also said a lot of people just wear the body part to get used to it, but sometimes its best to leave it until you get your cutting movement down before progressing to armour.

Are there any brands to steer well clear off or any particular materials?

[MikeW]

In general asking what are best materials is like asking whats your favorite color, bound to get a lot of different answers. For me I'd say get deer leather for the leather bits such as kote palms and such, don't get anything with a tighter stitch than 3mm (4mm is fine actually). I'd get machine stitched to begin with. But I agree with the people that have posted already that I would wait and at least give it a couple of months of practice before you think about getting bogu even if your sensei is fine with you getting it out of the gate. Perhaps you will like it and stick with kendo for a long time but I can tell you that kendo has a horrendous drop out rate and there is not sense in buying a bunch of gear and then dropping kendo after a couple months. No harm in going without it for awhile and waiting will give you something to look forward to if you decide to keep at it. You should in the meantime see if your club has any loaner equipment and also you should ask your fellow members if you can check out their bogu and ask them how they like what they got and what would they get different if they knew what they know now when first buying their stuff. If you're truly serious about sticking with kendo there is no rush to get bogu.

[rfoxmich]

For stuff to watch... youtube search for All japan Kendo Federation to find the ZNKR official instructional videos broken up in to chunks. Search for kendo 8-dan championships for some bewilderingly great kendo.

I agree with the posters that say don't break your bank on stuff yet. Get a shinai, practice in sweat pants and T-shirt until you're really sure by experience this is what you want, and then start getting affordable equipment knowing that you'll eventually upgrade. That will help keep kendo balanced with the rest of life.

[NZ Kumdo player]

I'm in the same situation, sat in on the local Kumdo club's training last week, going again tonight to watch. The sensei wants me to have shinai, gi and hakama before i can start; I expect to take delivery any day now. He said to plan on buying bogu in a month or so, so I better work a few Saturdays to save the cash!
I expect to be fine in bogu, I have done Roman reenactment for a number of years both as a legionary and a gladiator.
The biggest issue I can think of is that my work takes me out of town from time to time often for 2 weeks or more at a time, so I will certainly end up at various Kendo dojo's from time to time. I'm not sure how they would take me arriving in bogu with not a lot of experience, from what I have read on here the kendo clubs take a lot longer to put members in bogu than the kumdo clubs do. I guess that finding and calling them will be another task that gets done when I organise the out of town roof jobs.