And suggestions for a warmer cold weather dogi?

I've been practicing Kendo for about 5 months now. At the conclusion of the last class, our sensei announced an upcoming tournament in February. He also mentioned that myself and several others would be in Bogu by then and therefore should consider entering.

Now, to be clear, I will NOT be entering. The location is far enough away that it would require one or more nights in a hotel, and with two young children at home, it's not possible.

In regards to Bogu, I'm considering the KendoStar Vanguard with colored Do, but the website says 10-12 weeks.

If I wait until I'm officially given the go-ahead, it'll be a LONG wait. If I order today, even if it arrives before I'm given the nod, I can keep it in the closet, but there's the slim possibility that my sensei could say "black only". I could message him and just explain the situation, but I feel like that is very close to the no-no of asking for permission.

Any thoughts?

Hi all, I’m an undergrad student interested in getting involved and learning a martial art as a complete beginner. However, I have a concussion history (two in the past, recovery lasting a long time for both), and am concerned about concussion risk / safety. I’ve been very interested in Kendo for a while, and, while not a martial art (or similar to kendo in etiquette etc.), maybe fencing if it is ‘safer’.

I will definitely talk to my doctor but was hoping for any of your thoughts on this, or any martial art types / similar practices you’d suggest trying that would have reduced risk of brain injury, if kendo is a concern.

Hey guys, I will be going to Japan next week and my sensei suggested bcs I wanted to buy a bogu and he told me that would be smart to buy it there bcs he said it's cheaper.

My question is, how does is work to bring a new bogu with the plane to Europe.

Thanks for the help already!

Hi. I am a Japanese returnee who lived in the states for 13+ years. I moved back to Japan in the summer and joined the school kendo club in October. I just got my bogu late last month and I have my first shiai this weekend. How can I strike effectively and catch the opponent off guard? I have been told that my men and kote strikes are excellent for someone with my level of experience. But my form seems to fail under pressure during practice shiais (tbf I had my first one this week). Another thing that I'm concerned about is my men, which almost fell off after I blocked my opponent during the shiai at practice today. I've been told my men is somewhat big for my head, even though it was tight enough for the rest of practice. Is there something wrong with my men or am I just not tightening it enough?

I understand that I can't expect a W on the first match. But if there is anything yall can help me with to increase my odds, that would be greatly appreciated.

I’m looking for a pair of tozando kote, and there is this choice. What does it mean and what’s better?

Hey all I was looking to start kendo. I am currently in South Etobicoke (Ontario). Anybody know any clubs in the GTA. Thanks.

A little step in my kendo journey, yet one I won‘t forget. Thanks to everyone in this subreddit for all the encouragement, posts and kendo wisdom in general!

After getting shodan in uni and taking a 20 year hiatus while dealing with life, I am proud to say that after joining a dojo with my young son this past may, I was able to achieve 2nd dan yesterday.

My hopes weren’t high getting smashed in practice by middle schoolers and my own speed wasn’t what it used to be, but somehow I made it!

This post is for those starting kendo late it life. It’s doable!! Now I gotta up my reaction time to get better at counterattacking. Time for old man kendo.

Today I passed my third dan exam!!!!!

The TKD academy that will host the kendo, jodo, iaido and naginata dojo that I train came to talk to us about organizing internal events between practitioners of the two modalities to help integration, including giving presentations of our arts during the end of training by TKD. What are the positive and negative points of this approach in your view?

So I don't do kendo and know very little things about the art. I trained martial arts for quite some years and recently began iai, so i don't have an idea outside of the iai point of view of kendo.

I was wondering, what is kendo about ? What is it's purpose, what was it created for, what is meant for ? It looks very competition oriented from the outside, but i saw some people say it's not a combat-oriented martial art, which i could agree, if it was, why wouldn't the art incorporate throws to destabilize opponents when they're close to you and you can't hit them, why not give point for hitting unarmored points like armpits, which are clear weaknesses in the armor, etc. But then, what is kendo about, what is the purpose of kendo, why does it seems so competition oriented while not a combat oriented art ?

Pessoal, quanto tempo demora para secar o Kendogi e o Hakama? Para eu não perder o próximo treino.

Hello, I've had ankle injury and I'm slowly starting to train again. I'm afraid of wearing hakama, cuz i don't want to stumble over it and fall.

Are there any alternative traditional pants i can use instead?

Edit: I had pretty bad ankle injury and can't move that foot properly. I'm making improvements but it's slow, it's long term run.

I discussed my participation on training with my senseis, doctors and physiotherapist.

Other reasont I want not so loose pants is to have better control over my movement, so i can rehab sooner.

One of my kendoka at the dojo indirectly called me stupid and they're right.

I have ADHD and I can't reproduce the movements that my master shows because I can't keep them in memory.

Slowing down my companions etc.

They tell me to do something but I can't (at least not immediately) reproduce it. I would like to improve and show others how hard I'm trying but my brain can't keep up.

When it comes to doing jigeiko, I do much better since there's nothing to remember, but still 90% of kendo is that: Memory. I'm seriously thinking about quitting and that kendo isn't for me. Not to mention all the maintenance part of the bokken and how to put on the men which I hate with all my heart.

I think I like kendo, even though because of depression I can't feel it, but I don't think it likes me.

After recently getting 6 Kyu, I fell ill and have been unable to attend kendo as I usually do twice a week, which has really knocked my confidence and has made me self conscious about my commitment. I know I need to rest up and be easier on myself, after all I do kendo for my well-being, not to be competitive, but I am someone who is a bit tough on myself and I find it hard to not view this as 'slacking off'. I also sustained an unrelated right wrist sprain at the very start of November and it just hasn't seemed to heal as of yet, I still have pain occasionally and it is not operating at full capacity.

I'm worried that I'm not only falling behind but possibly also losing the fitness I have built up, though I also know that sometimes I'm just not going to be able to attend kendo for whatever reason that is. Regardless, I head to class and I feel sluggish, like I'm falling behind my other beginners and that my technique is not improving. I know logically that it is, however it's still hard to convince yourself of that when you are feeling a bit out of sorts.

I feel like I'm possibly not making the most of my dojo sessions when I seem to forget or mess up basic skills. I want to build up stamina and practice good form//develop greater muscle memory so when I do attend class I make the most of it, so I'm wondering what might be more effective at this, using a bokken or a shinai.

All in all I imagine it's probably good to use both to develop different skills, especially since they seem to handle quite differently (to me at least), I just wished to ask for any suggestions on which may be better for certain things, such as if bokken may be better to develop stamina whereas shinai is more important for learning new form etc.

any advice is appreciated.

Hello, everyone. For context, I've been practicing several martial arts for a few years now, and I've had a few discussions with the older Senseis over where to tie the obi. I'm the only consistent woman on my dojo, and for anatomical reasons, I tend to tie my obi higher up the waist than my male counterparts, because if not, it would wiggle up my waist and loosen up. They tie it under their hip bones, but I tie it on or over my hip bones. I know that, traditionally, the knot should be where the hara is, but I believe that the placement of the hara in the body is more of an area that a specific point, so even if my knot is a bit higher, it still wraps around the area where I feel my hara to be, subjectively.

One of the arts I practice is kenjutsu, and seeing as it is a sister art with kendo, I wanted to ask here just to be sure or if anyone knows something that maybe I or my companions don't know: is there a "correct" placement of the katana, regarding the obi and hakama? I know that it's always placed on the left side, blade facing up. But because of where I tie my obi, my bokken and katana tend to "rest" on top of my hip bone, instead of being under it as happens with my male counterparts. Is this wrong in a traditional sense, or is it okay to do as long as it's comfortable for the user (in this case, me and other women)? Thanks.

Is anyone practising Kendo after a hip replacement? I have arthrosis in both hips (I am 44 and it is a genetic/hereditary issue) and will get a new hip on one side first.

I heard that some people are doing sports normally even with an artificial hip, but I was wondering about Kendo. My Sensei is very understanding and supportive but I had to quit training for the moment.

I am not a competitive Kendoka, 1. Dan, and usually in for the fun and the fellowship.

Thank you for any replies!

So obviusly I'm new. So new actually I haven't started quite yet. But I know I wanna do kendo. And I'm looking for any tips. And I don't know if this matters or not, but I'm left handed.

So, I've been training kendo for some time now (I've trained 2 years, then stopped for 6 months and came back beginning of this year) and all this time I've been using my dojo's shinais. Which is all great and all, but sometimes the 39 size is missing, the shinai lacks the tsuba etc. And so I wanted to buy a shinai of my own. The thing is that, Even after checking some old posts about it, I wasn't able to decide which places should I buy from. I'm not looking for premium shinais, just something that's good quality and if maintained right will last at least a year. I'm thinking about AllJapanBudogu, but I wasn't able to find any new reviews of their site. Are they still making quality equipment, or if not, where can also find some good and not expensive shinais?

hi all,

ever since i got my first bogu set (8 years ago) and today when i received my second bogu set, i've been dealing with an issue regarding my men.

My chin portrudes a little bit and isn't really in line with my fore head, resulting in my chin touching the chin pad of the men but my forehead not touching the pad for your forehead when my mouth is shut and my teeth are together. in this position the monomi doesn't line up with my eyes

If i relax / drop my jaw a little my chin aligns with my forehead better and allows my forehead to touch the pad while still having my mouth closed but without having my teeth together.

Did i do the measurements wrong? i measured my head 3 times with help, the measurement tape was snug but not too tight, and ofcourse i measured with my mouth closed and my teeth together.

has anyone else dealt with this? and is there a solution?

Excuse me. I just bought a new pair of Kote and want to put patch on them with my name. My question is quite simple. How should I mark them?

Should I mark my name in the left kote, in the right kote, or in both? Should I stitch the patch to the omote or ura side?

So I've been doing Kendo for around 1-2 years and have noticed some of the red paint in my Men coming of and I was wondering if there was any way to restore the colour on my Men? My Dojo usually supplies us with Bogu but I don't want to hassle them for a new one, Overall there is nothing wrong with my Men but I would like to give it it's Pop of colour it use to have, If so what should I use? Just regular paint or nail polish?

I understand suriage for men and kote strikes, but was curious if there was a way to use it on a do or tsuki strike. I know other waza might be more useful, but how would you attempt to pull it off?

My thoughts about using it on do strikes were that since your opponent lifts on the initial center line and then takes that slight step over, you might me able to catch the strike as it starts to come down on the initial center line

I'm so happy!! Started practicing kendo for a bit more than 1 year ago, and was so nervous that I'm not good enough yet. I practice 3 times a week, but now I have the motivation to do that more often because I want to try for 1st kyu in summer 💪🏻

I started kendo in early September and now 6. Kyu exam is next week. I am literally getting obsessed with it. I know it is a very tiny step in my kendo journey but I get so frustrated when I cannot attend trainings (it's usually 3x per week but usually manage to go twice, never less than that) and get instantly paranoid that I will lose momentum or that I am gonna fail it. Even this week I will have to skip a session and I am absolutely terrified I am going to fail.

When I started I was unemployed and having a bad time -struggling with depression- so kendo was literally my lifeline, and I threw myself into it. Now I have 2 jobs, but I still see it as extremely important and thus the exam turned into some sort of milestone way more than it should.

We had an internal tournament a few weeks ago and I became so frustrated with my performance, losing and coming last to a guy who trains since a bit longer but has way way lower attendance (and whose style I find awful and dangerous, but I am not a sensei so I shall not judge). I get very angry at myself when I feel like I am doing less well than him, and now that suddenly he started training more I am disappointed every time I am not there as well. He doesn't help, as he might have perceived my anxiety which prompts him to trigger me saying stuff like "oh if you think this session was hard you should have come to the other one... Oh but you weren't there", or trying to almost coach me when again, we both are rankless and beginners. His kid comes to practice too every now and then, but he seems far more invested in it than him and to be fair, he is not so soft with him, either.

I should mention I train abroad so language and cultural-wise it can also be a bit different.

How can I lower my stress and my competitiveness and see past all of this? I know it sounds dumb and I apologise in advance.

TL;DR below.

Hi together, for the next year I would like try out another martial art and got really interested in Kendo. Yet I'm a bit wondering if it is right for me. I know it's a matter of personal taste, but nevertheless you answers will probably help me a lot.

What I'm looking for is basically a heavily combat oriented weapon based sport consisting of lots of partner training, drills and sparring regularly. Something that really exhausts you physically. What I don't like are exercises where you just hit the air or run a sequence/kata on your own etc. Although it's fine to do so as a beginner, my expectations would be a more combat oriented approach once some basics are present.

How was your journey through kendo and what would you describe as a typical training session?

TL;DR: i'm looking for a combat oriented weapon sport with lots of drills and actual sparring, will I find this is Kendo and how is a typical training structured?

Thanks in advance :)

Hello everyone,

I observed my first Kendo class and decided to enroll in the beginner program starting next month. I am wondering about ways to build stamina and strength at home in the meantime, because it is going to be very demanding! I should mention that I am don't have use of one arm, so I'm definitely planning to continue strengthening my shoulder and arm. What else would you suggest?