Christ and kendo?

[DaQo'tah]

hi this is DaQo'tah

Im a Christian, so I dont go in for all the "inner force" stuff that so many in Kendo seem to push on students....

Im thinking about starting to take a beginners Kendo class this winter, but from what I have read about some of the ideas behind Kendo, Im not sure how my Christian faith will be able to sit still ....

I have been reading about some of the ways guys from Japan have for prayer or meditation,,,and it seems to go very much against my views as a Born-Again Christian....also if my kendo teacher tries to push that type of teaching on me, I may very well feel the need to "correct" his teachings to the class.

How do Christians work and learn within a system that seems very far from the cross of Christ...

I want to learn kendo,,,,I just dont want to have to listen to any stuff that goes against my Christian faith.....

How is this done?

[Kote-Men]

nooo i think you have misunderstood something...


we dont force religion on you!

and i have never heard of 'inner force'..... where'd you read that?

its true that we zen meditate but thats to clear your mind

We have a very strong Christian in our dojo, there isn't a problem

Japanese culture and religion has left its mark on Kendo, but we won't brainwash you!!! hehhehehehh

[Swissv2]

You will be meditating just to relax your mind, not to pray to a deity.

[DaQo'tah]

Inner force is my way of talking about .....(here you will see the reason I came up with inner force),,,,,talking about "Ge?...Key?.Che?..ghee?

something like that anyway....I have been watching a kendo video I got last week from Ebay,,,the whole tape is in Japinase with subtitles,,,but it did seem that the teacher worked his "inner power", or inner force,,,ideas into about every lesson on the tape...

also the tape dealt a lot with the meditation, the right way to sit on your feet,,the right way to hold your hands,,,I dont have a problem with sitting on the floor, nor with holding my hands in any odd ways,,,,But the "empty your mind" stuff seems to not really be something we do in my church,,,,

How do Christians meditate in a "helpfull to kendo" manner, yet not go into all the darker "ghee" teachings?

[Kote-Men]

hmmm i think maybe this inner force you mention might be kiai?


kiai=spirit. When you attack, you say (or scream) the target name.

In our dojo warmup, if you don't have good kiai, you do the whole suburi again!

*i hate doing Joua Suburi (misspelled) by myself 50 times in front of everyone

it seems to me like youre worrying about kendo a bit too much

you will be alright....

anyway, in the beginning, if you try to learn without a sensei present you might develop a bad habit!

[Kote-Men]

Wow, I would be really glad if you joined our dojo.


It is quite rarely that we get a studen that wants to learn something called kendo.

After Kill bill and the last samurai, dear lord..

80% of the students we now recieve want to be Tom Cruise or Uma Thurman.

80% of those students leave within a month. Kendo is not like what you see in the movies.

When sword-fighting was young, and something called guns werent around, fights lasted a couple seconds, rarely more.

In kendo, they are much longer, not at all like some 20 minute fight scenes we see in our major motion pictures.

matches are usually less then 5 minutes, but fighting for 5 minutes in that heavy bogu (armor) can get you tired!!!

[Nanbanjin]

hi this is DaQo'tah

Im a Christian, so I dont go in for all the "inner force" stuff that so many in Kendo seem to push on students....

The "force" is from Star Wars, not kendo. You are not the first person to confuse the two.

Im thinking about starting to take a beginners Kendo class this winter, but from what I have read about some of the ideas behind Kendo, Im not sure how my Christian faith will be able to sit still ....

Don't take a beginner's class then.

I have been reading about some of the ways guys from Japan have for prayer or meditation,,,and it seems to go very much against my views as a Born-Again Christian....

Don't meditate then.

also if my kendo teacher tries to push that type of teaching on me, I may very well feel the need to "correct" his teachings to the class.

Is kendo covered in the bible?

How do Christians work and learn within a system that seems very far from the cross of Christ...

No idea.

I want to learn kendo,,,,I just dont want to have to listen to any stuff that goes against my Christian faith.....

How is this done?

Again, no idea. I can't see the conflict that you are alluding to.
Maybe there is someone out there who understands what you mean.

[Kote-Men]

okay this is a bit randomn, but how do you get those boxes in that say 'quote:'


nanbanjim, Daquota *sry* is very open minded about kendo and is trying to sort something out.. try to havea little respect.


anyway...


kendo philosphy is not to be confused with religion. Meditate to clear mind. The only thing that should come outside with you is zanshin, and i think thats the only thing that kendo gives you helps to protect yourself. I mean when a gangsta pulls a knife on you, chances are you arent going to be carrying a shinken around, and

i think it's against the law to walk around in the street with a shinken





just bought a Yoko Kanno soundtrack , its great

[Sentunim]

Well, if you make some quick connections... Jesus born in the middle east, israel/palestine - the tribes of israel separate - one tribe, known as the monks of nara go to japan - japan invents kendo. So its not really that far off is it? Well kinda.

By the way I don't know if the monks of nara were really a lost israeli tribe, I just read that in a few places, but they seemed a bit seedy.

[Nanbanjin]

okay this is a bit randomn, but how do you get those boxes in that say 'quote:'

Start the quote with the word QUOTE in square brackets.
End with the /QUOTE in square brackets.
Start with QUOTE=Name in square brackets if you want the quote to have the "originally posted by Name" bit included.

[Kote-Men]

japanese people were originally from israel????


i

never

knew that....

they look a little

different.. That freaks me

out! My writing is shaped in a pyramid!

[Kote-Men]

hey it works

hehhe

thanks a lot

[Nanbanjin]

japanese people were originally from israel????


i

never

knew that....

they look a little

different.. That freaks me

out! My writing is shaped in a pyramid!

Your new age writing style is conflicting with my beliefs as a born again hater of new age writing styles. Please edit and repent before it's too late.

[Kote-Men]

[QOUTE] never!!!!! [/QUOTE]


Someone

Please Tell Me

If Subscribing To Kendo

World Magazine is Worth it,

Since it costs a lot, and issues dont

come that often, please answer.

[DaQo'tah]

yes, how do you make that quote box with my words in it?...

okay, I will meditate on things I need to think about,,,that should ork fine..after all, placeing a small child in his "Time Out" corner is about the same as telling the child to meditate anyway,,,LOL

I seek to learn Kendo for 3 reasons (yes, I have been thinking of this answer for a while now)

reason 1- it is a cool thing to learn, and it fits with my other hobby of knife and sword making.

many people have asked me about making a Japan long sword, and before I try that type of challenge, I wanted to understand a bit more about the deeper study of kendo. also, kendo is real,,,,I see a lot of the sword tricks on Tv and I see a Lot of long swords made to sell that are just junk, and I reject that stuff ,,,I want my study of the sword to be based in a "real-ness"...kendo allows the use of "full power"...and thats the way I think I need to go...

reason 2- kendo is a good workout. from what I have learned, kendo is good to get the blood pumping,,,way better than what I do now, (YMCA where I sit on a bike and peddle to nowhere)

reason 3....Might help calm me the heck down...

from my reading, the ideas and teachings important to kendo, also seem to help people be more calm, yet able to react faster....this is something I could use help with in my life....