The Shinai club... Haaaaa... Look at these people

[Blue Bogu]

I personally think this is so disrectful to kendo. www.shinai.org

[Zaxser]

...except for the fact that it has nothing to do with kendo. If they wanna act like idiots, let them have their fun.

[not-I]

I personally think this is so disrectful to kendo. www.shinai.org

this link has been posted a few times already. they obviously have no kendo pretensions and seem to be having fun. i personally think it's nothing more or less than a good laugh.

[Musuko]

Wow, that's just really sad. I wonder how many of them actually think they are really sword fighting.

[Twobitmage]

well technically they are swordfighting...but are they swordfighting well? ahh..

[Musuko]

O_o

Good point.

I'm impressed that they have so many...um...members...

[Bleda]

Let the people have their fun. Aslong as they don't pretend to be real swordsman i don't really care.

[Serenity]

& -> "Shinai Club" -> offence form Kendo

I just hope that they don't get hurt.

Serenity

[GBN]

I don't see anything wrong with what they are doing. Is it insulting to baseball if someone juggles with some baseballs? No. They are using shinai to have fun. What's so wrong about that? They are not claiming to be kendo masters or anything of the sort. If I still lived in OC I'd go check out their scene.

Brian

[darkluc3]

hehe, would be funny to challenge them to a "battle" 20 kendoka vs. 20 of them, lol... or just looking the sensei fighting against some "warriors"...

but ok, if they want to be ridiculous...

[reitkt]

I've seen something similar on TV in Japan long time ago actually. It was a TV report(Japanese version of "Give me a Break") on "chambala" school and instead of shinai they were using padded swords. They actually had their own indoor facility and there was quite a bit of practioners too. The rule is you can hit anywhere and one looses after the second hit, similar to shiai.
Needless to say, it was entertaining to watch.

[Leon]

Ok people….to play the devils advocate….don’t you think we are getting a bit pretentious here. I find it quite humorous when we make fun of pseudo-swordfighting groups, when practically speaking, we are a pseudo-swordfighting group ourselves (albeit one that retains a high level of technique from the actual practice itself).

The paradox of practicing with a sword, against another opponent, is that we cannot engage in the ‘true’ activity without causing great harm to the person we are practicing with. The sole purpose of a real weapon is to destroy what lies on the other end of it. To simulate this endeavor, gaining skill without harming others, we must construct weapons soft or light enough to not harm the human body, or we must construct armor that is harder than the weapon (Newtonian physics at work). But in this attempt, having different equipment to contend with, we deviate from the techniques used in a real fight.

To emphatically state that kendo is the closest thing to ‘the real’ is, I believe, a fallacy. Like any pseudo-sword art, the techniques used in kendo have adapted and evolved over time. Many techniques used in ‘the real thing’ have been retained (body posture, correct suburi, etc.) Others have evolved as nuances of an indoor-competition environment, while others have evolved to maximize the benefit of the lightness of a shinai.

To look with disdain at these groups is akin to a certain level of snobbery. True, their technique (if any) is laughable. Yet, in some respect, they are closer to the real thing than we are.

For example, I have built and used many of those ‘foam swords’ that these kinds of groups use. They can be built to match the weight of a real sword (unlike a shinai) and, if made properly, can be swung with the same amount of force.

Also, they have access to any point on the body. Head, legs, chest, etc…etc….any thing is game. Archaeologists, excavating the battlefields of medieval Europe, have noted that the head and legs were the most damaged strike zones. In kendo, the legs are, of course, not permissible to hit. Thus, in this respect, we deviate from the ‘real thing’, not being able to hit this striking area.

To my point then. Every psuedo-sword art is a deviation from the real. It all comes down to a matter of degree. To make fun of other groups is in effect to make fun of what we do. It is perilous to tread in that critical arena, without thinking critically about ourselves.

Leon

[Hongsermeier]

Seen this before. I talked to someone who practices kendo who has been to this place. He said they wouldn't fight against us because we hit too hard. Apparently a light tap is all they allow. Interesting for some fun with friends. :

[Ren Blade]

They remind me of these guys. http://www.rsw.com.hk

[not-I]

[...] Every psuedo-sword art is a deviation from the real. It all comes down to a matter of degree. To make fun of other groups is in effect to make fun of what we do. It is perilous to tread in that critical arena, without thinking critically about ourselves.

Well said, Leon.

However, when critically considering our own motivations for practicing kendo, i think its status as a simulation of "authentic" or "real" swordfighting becomes a rather moot question, as kendo is much more than this. The more we practice, the more we become aware that kendo is a Way of cultivation of mind, body and spirit rather than just a sport, hobby or school of techniques.

The value of a well-executed men-uchi, for instance, is not to be found in its approximation of a "real" skull-splitting cut, but in the beauty, dignity and utter simplicity of its form.

As kendoka, we are in the priviledged position of being able to receive not only the techniques, but also the traditions, education and sensei-student relationship of kendo, passed down through generations. Because of this, we can sometimes be or seem arrogant or snobbish toward the less priviledged. Which is a shame, because in kendo we should be gradually cutting off our own egos rather than pumping them up at the expense of others.

There is no reason to look down on folks like the shinai people, as they're not really even in the same category. They're just having their fun, and their only vague connection to kendo is the weapon they use (and often modify). Judging the "shinai club" with kendo on the same scale of "real" sword technique would not be flattering to them, and it does no service to kendo.