Hey Has there been any documented deaths in kendo?

[Noe]

In one article I read it mentions one boy dying due to a heart attack.

It was apparently very hot and they didn't want anyone drinking water...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/...20040518f2.htm

Thats the article ^^

[Nishi]

that wasn't a kendo club. it looked like it was a fraternity, where if you wanna join you gotta pass an initiation and when you wanna quit they might even beat you up. they say that they do that because it was a "brotherhood thingy".

kokushikan university was a kendo club, they where competitive and successful on the university scene. Although I cant vouch for the truth, I heard related information that suggested, that the younger kohai slipped during uchikomi, the sempai kicked him to encourage him back to his feet. For whatever reason he didnt stand up straight away, the sempai's kicking turned to stomping.

[bluerecords]

The staves slipped through the bars of the mengane and pierced the brain through the eye cavity. This occured somewhere in Europe; France or Germany IIRC. They were the impetus for people to start wearing the plexiglas eye protectors. ...

Hello,

just for info.

In 1977 the japanese Sensei Dr. Gotoh died during Keiko in Duesseldorf City / Germany, because the oponent's staves slipped through the bars of his mengane through his eye into the brain.

What I have heard, ironically someone tried to pull out the staves, what he shouldn't have done...

You always have to have in mind, that at that time the whole german Kendo thing had been taught just 7 years long. The knowledge hadn't spread as it has today!

Whatever, since 1979 there is an anual tournament the "Dr. Gotoh Memorial Tournament" for aprox 150 Kyusha / Mudansha starting in three categories.

The Shinai control is very strict there. So many of the german beginners in competition have to pass through that control at least once in their life, which leads to quite good prepared shinais in their future. The tournament cup is a very valuable one and is quite admired here. It had been sponsored by the family of Dr. Gotoh, which was a very honourable behaviour in my mind especially regarding the circumstances.
The Cup goes anually to the best dojo ( my university won it 2002 + 2003 ).

I am not shure, if this accident, which - referring to my sources - happened not at a Tsuke, is the actual reason for the german 'lack' of Tsuke training, as a japanese contributor to this forum has written.

Beside that, a quite good friend of mine, coach of another University Dojo here in Germany, many years ago had been a few weeks/months in hospital with a damaged Larynx due to a bulls*** Tsuke. So please be careful with that axe, Eugene!

We were grown up in Kendo with the conciousness, that you first have to master most of all other techniques (and emotions) and become aprox San Dan before you start with Tsuke.

As we have learned now from the latest generation of japanese Senseis and from KW as well, there are "new" reasonable tendencies to "start" with Tsuke for a better control / center of the body.

Hope the story helps somewhat.

Best regards

[Lloromannic]

Here in Mexico there was also an accident in which a stave went through the mengane and into the other person's eye.
I know the sensei who suffered it (Adalberto Chavez) and he still practices kendo. He can't see out of one eye though. Thankfully it was not fatal.

[samurai999]

Damn... Those stave piercings are really bad... I recall one sensei telling me that the main cause of these accidents is due to a "defective" sakigawa or a worn or old one. But as long as you know that the sakigawa isn't worn or has holes in it, then it should be fine. If it does, then that shinai shouldn't be used until the sakigawa is replaced...

Tim

PS. By the way.. Was the death of the sensei in germany caused by a improper tsuki or a "failed" sakigawa? I know some people who scoop so that might be a reason why...

[samurai999]

now that i read it again.. tsuki at sandan? isn't that a little late? We don't learn tsuki at kyu levels but we are at least taught mune tsuki to learn how to seme and to control center..

Tim

[bluhawq]

Hmnnnn, I was fighting my sempai with nito and she went for kote, I tapped her shinai down to tare level and went in for men. Lets just say she kept center at tare level very well...yes, it was worse then being killed...she claims it was an accident...I still think it was a direct demo of tsuki ballz waza.

Now THAT is an excellent example of a good 'kote' cut....miahahhaa...argh..sorry..can't help meself!! =P

(just a quick translation..kote in Malay literally means ballz...=P)

[Andoru]

Aahahaha I will have to be extra careful with your "kote" cuts then!

[bluhawq]

Aahahaha I will have to be extra careful with your "kote" cuts then!

=P..Don't worry..I'll be too busy trying to get through to men...well..gotta keep centre rite???

[kendomushi]

Here is a new (happened a few hours ago today June 10, 2005 JST) death related to kendo....... though not actually from the practice of kendo. Its in the Mainichi Daily News online at http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20050...dm008000c.html

A 13 year old boy doing kendo practice at a shrine put his hands on a 2 meter stone lantern which fell over on to him. The teacher in charge of this junior high school kendo club was not watching practice at the time as he should have been.......

[piggy]

one of my sempais told me that our sensei (Marsten-sensei) was in texas and i dont remember the details but the opponent got stabbed by a broken shinai and died.

maybe its just a rumor...

[nostalgic jedi]

Ohh… Marsten sensei has regaled us with some of the gruesome kendo horror stories… especially that Germany incident.



I was fighting some kid on a Saturday practice and some splinter hit my face. It startled me, and I grabbed his sword and kinda glared at him. Only cause I was a little freaked… The kid felt bad and quickly changed his shinai… so it was okay.

[piggy]

if i put a splinter through somebodys head, i would feel bad.

[bluhawq]

I would feel bad too..not only when it's already inside someone's head, when its flying about in the air during kirikaeshi..especially when the other person is banging on ur shinai for all his worth. Which reminds me, must get new shinai~

[ShinKenshi]

My sensei told that for a time it was allowed to do a tsuki strike to the mune of the do but they stopped when a fatal accident occured. Apparently the person executing the tsuki strike hit so hard that he compressed the other person's chest to the point where their heart stopped. Scary to think that someone could exert that much pressure on a mune to cause that to happen.