new guy here

[amanharan]

so i've wanted to start kendo for a long time, then last week i see a sign posted at my college about kendo classes. I started last week, and convinced my wife to let my buy the bogu and gi. I'm really excited about starting this.

anyway, i'll be around more often just posting a hello.

Aman

[Zaphiel]

so i've wanted to start kendo for a long time, then last week i see a sign posted at my college about kendo classes. I started last week, and convinced my wife to let my buy the bogu and gi. I'm really excited about starting this.

anyway, i'll be around more often just posting a hello.

Aman

happy start to you, happy start to you, happy start dear aman, happy start to you!
welcome to the world of kendo ....just kidding
hello...don't give kendo up the next time...cause the starting time is the hardest time.
greetings
<rei>

[shirijin]

i´m new too! i just started and ì´m very happy^^ i also wanted to start a long time ago and i finally did it!!! and it really is hard but it´s worth it ^^

[taganahan]

so i've wanted to start kendo for a long time, then last week i see a sign posted at my college about kendo classes. I started last week, and convinced my wife to let my buy the bogu and gi. I'm really excited about starting this.

i think you don't need bogu yet if you're a beginner. anywho, i can relate to you too...i've longed to do kendo before for a very long long time. i only had the oppurtunity to do it here in canada when i moved 2 years ago. have fun! and hope you stick with it!!

~taganahan

[amanharan]

i know i don't need the bogu yet...but i wanted to go ahead and buy it while i can still afford it

[Neil Gendzwill]

If you're concerned about affording bogu, take the money you have and put it aside to buy bogu later. That way if you decide not to buy bogu, you won't have invested in equipment that you must then sell at a loss.

Consider this - a good 50% of people quit before even getting bogu. Of those that start wearing bogu, at least 50% quite within a month or two. So in my mind, 75% of beginners would be making a mistake by buying bogu right away. When you consider 1 year statistics, that figure rises to 90%. Whatever you may think right now, you won't know for sure if kendo really is for you until you've practiced in bogu for a while. If at all possible, borrow or rent club bogu first before buying.

[taganahan]

just like neil said, save it. you can also add 10 for every week for 12 months. after a year, you can decide if you really want to pursue kendo for the long term. 10x4=40x12=480.....after a year you have 480 more....which you can buy a rich-boy-show-off bogu.

~taganahan

[Zaphiel]

just like neil said, save it. you can also add 10 for every week for 12 months. after a year, you can decide if you really want to pursue kendo for the long term. 10x4=40x12=480.....after a year you have 480 more....which you can buy a rich-boy-show-off bogu.

~taganahan

....and can you yet say if it's agood bogu?
think about what happens if you buy some sort of s#*t.

[amanharan]

well...here's the way i saw it, because my kendo classes charge by semester, and it's only $15 a semester and $10 for the summer, $40 a year, the average cost of kendo in my city is about $70/month where when divided out the kendo through the school is about $3/month, so i took the 67/month and applied it towards the bogu/gi which looking at those figures will pay for itself in about 6-7 months. i had already ordered the bogu when i began posting here. i understand why kendo has such a high turnover rate, but for someone with the committment set into it and the patience it takes to actually get somewhere, they can stick with it, when i ordered my bogu i talked everything over with my wife and realized how committed i was to this. my sensei at first told me i didn't need the bogu for the first year, but understood my wanting to get it while i could afford it, then as we continued talking he began to grow more enthusiastic about me getting a bogu. Hoping that since i have one, it might spur some of the people in the class who cannot progress any further without getting one to get theirs. He is also planning on working with me to prevent the reason why so many people quit when they get to the point of wearing the bogu. it's entirely different from not wearing it, you suddenly have blinders on, cannot see everything around you and have quite a bit of added weight, it's like you're having to learn everything all over again. by teaching someone the basics and having them in a bogu a little bit while they are learning the basics, they will become more accustomed to the bogu.

i am no novice to martial arts, i have been in tae kwon do for the past 10 years, aikido for the past 8, and phillipino stick fighting for the past 6, i know the kind of committment it takes to stick with something even when things start getting frustrating and difficult, believe me, i am no tom cruise wannabe.

Aman

[taganahan]

that's good to hear from you. maybe you will stay longer then. anywho, welcome to the world of kendo!

~taganahan