colour or not colour.

[2 TEK]

I spoke to a visiting sensai form a club not to far away from ours and was asking him his advice on the do that i am soon going to own. You see the thing is that i am going to have a wood grain affect on the plastic and asked him what he thought to which he replied that it was fine but he whould rather get a plain black one so he whould blend in and not get picked out i.e look at that flash git i am going to see wether i can paste him around the room with my shinai, see my out look is rather differant, I do not whant to blend in, I want to stand out and ok if you whant to see if you can put me round the ring in taikai then fine lets go for it. The whole Kendo scene seems to be so cliky it is unbelivable. I do not think that the real samurai would whant to blend in, instead to stand out and arise to the situation that confronts him. Come on people lets remember the roots!

[meow]

There are no more samurai.

Our kendo teacher allows us to pick any do and mune-design we want. His oppinion is, if you want to wear fancy do and mune colours, just do it and you will soon get over it. ;-)

I do not yet wear bogu but when I get my bogu I will pick a simple black do and mune. I like the simple and classic stuff.

[2 TEK]

I know that, i was just stating that this was the attitude taken by the samurai and seeing that this is kendo's roots should we not take this attitude?

[Bleda]

Japanese culture is more inclined toward NOT standing out and conformity than individuality. By the same token you are not japanese(and neither am i) so to us we like being unique. I personally went for a doh with a slight tint of dark red to it (black rose they called it) with red and white mune. It doesn't look flashy or over the top but its still enough to make me feel not so robotic. To each his own though and be prepared for a bunch of peeps on this forum that are going to tell you how stupid it is to get color do etc.

[Pauly]

If your bogu keeps you from getting hurt, then it is good bogu.

As far as the other club members want to "paste you around", your bogu color will not make them better players.

I do believe, though, that if you take pride in your equipment, then you may devote more time to your kendo studies. In other words, get the wood grain-look. Feel good in your do. Feel good in your swings and lunges.

As for the samurai, they were servants who swore to protect their lords. Kendo is for you. Do want you think is best while maintaining respect for your sensei and fellow club members.

[2 TEK]

Thats cool my freind, they can have there view, i just think it is very narow minded.

[meow]

I know that, i was just stating that this was the attitude taken by the samurai and seeing that this is kendo's roots should we not take this attitude?

Hmmm....I think our attitude regarding kendo practice is much more important then the design of our bogu.

But in my opinion there is nothing wrong if you get a coloured do as long as your sensei allows it.

greetings

meow

[2 TEK]

you see this is my exact point you are right, so why do people get so on there high horses about it. Practice and dedication is more important so why do people kick up such a stink about coloured do?

[Neil Gendzwill]

you see this is my exact point you are right, so why do people get so on there high horses about it. Practice and dedication is more important so why do people kick up such a stink about coloured do?

Why are you bothering to ask? Clearly you've made up your mind. If you don't care about what other people think, get whatever makes you happy. If you do care about what other people think, I'll tell you that many think flashy bogu is inappropriate for beginners. My own point of view is if you're going to talk the talk, you'd better walk the walk. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down, as the Japanese say.

[Pauly]

you see this is my exact point you are right, so why do people get so on there high horses about it. Practice and dedication is more important so why do people kick up such a stink about coloured do?

Maybe they're fed up with rich-boy show-offs (sorry, I couldn't help the reference!).

Japanese companies make these colored do's. They want to sell them. We want to buy them. I see no conflict that the so-called purists can conjure. Get the do! And buy me one, too. With a sakura flower in the corner. I saw it on e-bogu...

[Hai_hai]

This is just a plain show-off. They make colored fiber do for the same cost as a black one.

[[Kensei 剣の聖者]]

colour is expression of feelings, kendo is expression of skill, its the skill that matters, so wether your feeling blue or black or green it doesnt matter , its all the same

[2 TEK]

The thing is that none of you know me and you seem to think that one I am a beginer and two not japanease what the hell do you know. I ask the question because i whant an answer. I am no rich boy I work hard for my money and i take Kendo very seriously I just wondered what the attitude was all about. Look at the response I have got all ready!

[cst]

Tell em all to !##*(off!!. Get the color you want...I tell my students to get the best they can afford, if not get it used...No body wants to get a POS 5mm cheapo armour from somewhere especially if they are going to use it for a while. If you look at all the many different kendo clubs out there you'll see many of them with black and many with different colors....no one cares and no one is going to give you a hard time about it...If they do they need to reevaluate what is more important...Getting better with kendo or wasting time whether someone is wearing something different...Look at HaiHai wasting these threads on such trivial things.

I tell em that the DO looks great...better "grow" into them...

[cst]

BY the way..what is a purist in Kendo? Only the serious Japanese? Look at Team Korea and look at the variety of bogu they wear...They are amoungst the best of the best....they arent purist?