Kendo Competitions for women

[krys]

I have not seen an extremely aggressive girl, at least one that not afraid to get down and dirty with the guys.

But by down and dirty, I meant that they would try their hardest no matter if the person they are going up against is formidable or not.

Then yes, there are women who give it all when fighting supposedly stronger males.

[IndigoGirl]

If a tournament is big enough there will probably be a womens division. That is more fair. However with only a few women attending there may be no point.

More fair? Not necessarily. After nearly three years of going to varous tournaments I'd still rather fight a male kyu, no matter what size, than a woman who is 5th dan and on the national team.

[Neil Gendzwill]

More fair? Not necessarily. After nearly three years of going to varous tournaments I'd still rather fight a male kyu, no matter what size, than a woman who is 5th dan and on the national team.

Yep. At our local tournament that is exactly what happens. We just don't have enough women to make more than 1 division. Because of this we allow the women to fight 2 divisions if they choose.

[annoraderenart@]

Just like every match, whether male or female, you don't know what their kendo will be like until you fight. There are some very aggressive players, both men and women.

Some of the men will not know how to fairly fight you, so they will be too "nice" and you could win. Some of the men will fight you just as if you were one of the guys. If their kendo is good, you will be fine.

Some of the women can kick butt - anybody's butt.

However, stop worrying about it. Everyone has a very first match. Give it all you have and leave the court with no regrets.

[krys]

More fair? Not necessarily. After nearly three years of going to varous tournaments I'd still rather fight a male kyu, no matter what size, than a woman who is 5th dan and on the national team.

That's great.
How many do you know? One or two?

[UnimportantHero]

How many do you know? One or two?

Not to speak for her or anything, but I think IndigoGirl was simply making a point about the lower numbers in a typical women's division here in the States. Smaller numbers means the rank spread will - generally - be much tighter and the odds of a low kyu ranked individual going up against a higher dan ranked individual are much higher than in a men's division. More competitors, as in the divisions for men, will mean it is much more likely that someone will go up against people of their own rank and that closely ranked competitors should be around the same level despite any physical differences their genders may (or may not) present in a match.

Personally, I am with IndigoGirl. In a competition scenario, my preference would be to have at least a few matches with men at my level than being knocked out right at once by a fellow woman who dramatically outranks me. I stand a much better chance against evenly ranked men than high ranked women and the fact that I totally eat it, lose center, etc, whenever I go against Sensei's teenage daughter proves that. Of course I also like fighting with men in general and Sensei has called me a brute before (jokingly) so there is that.... but mental strength is just as much a factor as physical strength in any match. Gender less so, or so I would imagine.

[CauseImSmaller]

Here in Canada (Ontario specifically), Women's Division is much harder than Shodan/Mudansha divison. Most female beginners/intermediates at my dojo are told just to go for the Shodan/Mudansha unless they want to be matched up against a Team Canada member first thing or another high ranking sensei.