Monday, March 19, 2007

Kendo

About a month ago, I was asked by one of my adult students to have dinner at her house. I went to her house and had a delicious meal, afterwards, she asked if I would be interested in watching her son do Kendo. Kendo is the Japanese Martial Art that is similar to fencing in our culture. I had never actually witnessed this sport in person but have always been intrigued by it, mostly because of the outfit worn by a Kendo player.

I was watching a bunch of kids under the age of 12 fight eachother with bamboo sticks, called shinai when one of the sensei's (teacher) asked if I would like to give it a shot. I agreed and went out there with the kids. I practiced whacking this stick over my sensei's head for the rest of the evening. In the end, I had felt so much stress relief that I asked if it would be okay if I came again the following week. That's how it started.

I've been going for a month now, only once a week but I am welcome to join them on any of the days that they meet. They meet Monday, Wednesday and Fridays - so last week, I went on Friday, too.

I'm not really good right now. I have a lot to learn - the proper way to sit, bow, scream, hold my shinai, perfect timing to stamp my feet and hit over the head, the Japanese commands for all of this. I guess there is that old saying, can you teach an old dog new tricks? We'll see. My sensei is a really patient man - his daughter married a man from Idaho two years ago so I think he has a little understanding with possibilities of language barrier and stuff.

I wanted to understand more about Kendo so I used trusty wikipedia.

According to that site,

The Purpose of practicing Kendo is:

To mold the mind and body,
To cultivate a vigorous spirit,
And through correct and rigid training,
To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo,
To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor,
To associate with others with sincerity,
And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.
This will make one be able:
To love his/her country and society,
To contribute to the development of culture
And to promote peace and prosperity among all peoples.

In the beginning, since I am the most recent learner of Kendo, I sit closest to the door. We meditate for a few minutes. Afterwards, we all bow to the student leader and then to our sensei's who are sitting in front of us. After that, it is about two hours of practice.

Kendo is really unique to me. You don't wear any shoes or socks, you are barefoot. You advance or retract from your opponent in a manner that makes it appear as if you are sort of hovering over the ground. During some thrusts or jabs, you are expected to let out screams and slam your foot on the ground at the same time. It's really hard to explain, so just watch this video. Focus on their footwork, it's amazing!



With that bit done, I am going to go get ready for Kendo practice! Maybe one of these days, I will get good enough to compete!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks challenging but fun. It looks like points are given for contact and when the opponent leaves the ring. Do they get points for yelling? What is the pushing against each others hands and arms? Does that give you leverage? Or are they trapping their hands. Good luck. But protect your head. You've already got a bump there!! Take Care, Schaefers from snowy Rochester NY.

Unknown said...

looks fun! you'll have to show me how to do it when i come!!!!

ollie said...

The still looks like Darth Vader.
Sounds like an excellent way to relieve the stress of teaching those special students.
Love AA