I have a couple of extra Men, and looking for the best way to recolor the red inside the mengane to black. Has anyone “painted” the “red” of your mengane? I’m wondering if finger nail polish would work? Any help would be appreciated!

Chiburi

Is kendo safe in terms of brain health? It seems cool but I’m concerned over being hit on the head.

Hello everyone,

I've been practicing kendo for 14 years now. I have noticed that the more rigorous I train to push myself the more pain in my plantar fasciitis I end up with, usually rotating between both feet.

I know for a fact that pushing myself for my size can ultimately be harmful as I'm 189cm tall and 100kg but then I feel that improving one's kendo (as I'm also preparing for my 5th dan) is also a key aspect of kendo (usually I try to jump deeper with fumikomi ashi and push for my men to be as fast as possible.

Does anyone has any advice on how to manage to train hard without sustaining injuries or to lessen plantar fasciitis pain in order to prevent long term damage?

Thanks and looking to hear your advice!

Hello! I am doing 1st Kyu grading in late December, and since my university club is small no one is able/willing to practice bokuto with me consistently (we dont do the bokuto practice before class thing).

I have been trying to practice it by myself but its pretty hard to do without a motodachi. Is there any way or any tips to increase the effectiveness of doing this alone? Or should I just give up and try to persuade someone instead?

TLDR at the bottom of post.

Hi, everyone. Just prefacing this that I'm just a beginner to kendo, started doing it last June and been practicing at the dojo every week and only missing a session when my asthma was particularly bad and I needed to be nebulized.

I've also been struggling with depression and PTSD after I got cheated on in my last relationship, and while kendo allowed me to forget that through physical exertion and practicing of the basics, there are some days that it just hits extra hard, and I tend to feel worse coming into my appointment with my therapist when I got yelled at by tough senpai in the previous sessions.

About three weeks ago, our sensei had taught us uchikomi geiko for the first time, and while he was kind and understanding, saying that since that was our first time doing it, he also emphasized that we should do it properly in the next practices. He said that for our first time, since our stamina isn't too prepared for uchikomi yet, as long as we show proper spirit the first time, the form could be corrected.

On that day however, my depression was hitting particularly hard, and I had to contemplate even going to the dojo as I didn't sleep well, so I was exhausted, and just feeling terrible in general. I told myself to just get to the dojo and practice, as it was better than just me wallowing in my negative feelings the whole day. So when my sensei praised my spirit during uchikomi, I felt a little better.

He then instructed that we can do uchikomi on the senpai, and I unfortunately was paired with one of the tougher senpai. Since I was already winded from the practice the whole day, adding my exhaustion from lacking sleep, I resolved to show my spirit instead.

Unfortunately, I was yelled at the whole time for doing it wrong, with the senpai even saying that if my hits were to be graded, they'd all be a 0, and I would not pass my bogu exam that would be held in the end of November and early December.

So I was pretty much discouraged. I attended practice every week, and I did my suburi every other day since I wanted to do well, but after that last session where it seems like all my practice wasn't actually going anywhere, it just increased my self-doubt and hatred. On that day in particular, I just dragged myself to the dojo, and I didn't expect to be kicked while I was already down in the dumps.

For the first time after that session, adding a family emergency, I did not attend the next two, and the other beginners I were friends with passed their bogu exam, so overall, I feel like I no longer have any place in my dojo. Any advice or input from the experienced kendoka here would be appreciated, and I'm very sorry if this sounds like whining or whatnot, and I'm willing to delete this post if needed/wanted.

TLDR: Dragged myself to the dojo after depression that day hit particularly hard, got introduced on how to do uchikomi geiko for the first time, yelled at by tough senpai for having terrible hits, now I feel left behind by the other beginners and feel out of place and disconnected with the club.

All of the really skilled players I’ve seen have similiar zanshin,its the one where after you do a hiki cut you go back insanely fast or bouncing away from someone really fast after doing a normal cut.How do i practice or what can i do to obtain that level of zanshin?

I got around to watching the ippon compilation from the All-Japan's and I wanted to get some thoughts on a specific ippon from Goya-senshu in the 2nd round against Hoshino Hideaki (you can see it here: https://youtu.be/4wx5wuzKR10?t=32). He hits a really great hiki-men at the end of a long tsubazeriai, he even seems to nod like he wants to mutually disengage.

For those of you in the know, has there been any discussion about this in Japan? Namely, whether players are "gaming" the new rules in order to hit ippon when their opponent is disengaging (it is unlikely to be penalized). I mean, it was obvious to me that high level players started doing it immediately but I keep seeing inconsistent application of this particular rule at very high levels by the shimpan (myself included).

Hello, I am a nidan from Korea. I just flew into Vienna. I will be here during december and in Budapest during January and February. I just wanted to know if there are some taikai's that I can participate in during my stay. Thanks in advance!

So my sensei passed 6th dan on his first attempt. We were having the drink up last night. So apparently the test is 2 one minute fights. I asked if that is enough time to evaluate someone's kendo abilities. Sensei's response was that it takes about 10 seconds to evaluate and the other 50 just reinforced the initial assessment.

Im new to kendo and my sensei was showing me the men strike, especially how you need to accelerate the blade and not just passively move your arms up and down the whole time. He was facing me and as he did a men strike, a literal, quite powerful gust of wind hit me just a bit after he did it. It was surreal, I always thought wind gusts from blades were an anime overexaggeration, but no, its real.

I'm a kyu level adult beginner. One major limiting factor in my kendo is posture; my weak posture limits the quality of my weight transfer, exposes my men, and looks really bad.

Of course, more focused keiko and patience will help. In my home suburi I make posture a focus. But, my feet, calves, hands, and wrists get fatigued before my core does. I can only add so much keiko and suburi. So, my question is: what are some low-impact ways to improve kendo posture that have worked for you or the people you know?

Recently, I joined a beginner's course for Kendo at my local dojo. I really enjoy Kendo and am considering signing up for a regular membership. However, I’m hesitant because of my availability; due to my irregular work schedule and co-parenting responsibilities, I’m not always able to attend the two fixed training evenings. Adding a busy life on the days in between, I’m somewhat concerned that, especially as a beginner, I’ll need a lot of time to master the basics—specifically the footwork and swinging of the shinai, which I still struggle with a lot, as well as the exercises themselves.

I feel that if I could attend both training sessions each week for half a year, I’d make much more progress in developing a natural feel, to the point where I wouldn’t feel like I’m starting from scratch at each training session. But this is just not a option for me at the moment and I worry that I'll only end up wasting other people's time if I keep myself at a certain level.

Anyone have any advice for me on this?

Edit: thank you all for the advice, I am clearly overthinking where I should just follow my heart more and make it happen. And I will!

Do and Kote are the techniques I try least in jigeiko and matches the least because I am the least confident in them.

Obviously the solution is to practice them more, but regular Keiko doesn't work for me since kihon assumes you know exactly what went wrong, when I get 0 feedback on what went wrong or what was correct. And once I do get the opportunity to practice Do/Kote, by the time I get data and information on my technique we've moved into more kihon.

I'm also lucky that I get to practice 4 times a week since I'm a student, but because there are only 2 seniors (including me) and 9 beginners, I get 0 chance to practice a techniques I desperately NEED to practice.

How can I practice things I need to practice alone?

Hi everyone,

I'm an 1kyu and as I go deeper into my kendo journey there are so many things to work on it can get overwhelming deciding what to focus on.

So my question is this, what are some specific strikes, skills, waza to go after for each grade from 6 kyu all the way to perhaps 3 dan.

A roadmap would be greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to your responses.

Does anyone have a treatment/oil/etc recommendation for helping preserve the tenouchi on kote? I'll be storing a pair for a bit and I do not want the leather to dry out.
Thanks!

Hello, I'm new to kendo (just started a few months ago) and I'm looking to get a shinai. I've been loaning one from one of my seniors that is a size 37 either womens or juniors with a slimmer handle/grip (hes not sure which). I'm very short (4'11") and have very small hands that make it difficult to grip regular handles. My Sensei told me I could get a 36 but I feel like the 37 is an okay size for me since I'm fairly strong, even 38 would be fine I think (I used that before I loaned the one I'm using now). My issue is I'm having trouble figuring out what to get since I need something with a slimmer handle.
Do junior or womens shinai regularly have slimmer handles? Is there a good place to buy them? I'm in Canada and ordered my kendogi and hakama from Ebogu previously but I got hit with like 40$ shipping and 50$ in customs on a 100$ order (CAD) :( so if I can avoid this elsewhere that would be nice.

I'm interested in upgrading to a leather tsuba. Is there any difference between the compressed leather (looks similar to plastic tsuba), the rawhide one with circular stitching , or the white leather wrapped tsuba?

I'd appreciate any recommendations on which to get.

My plans are to work for the next few years in Korea. Of course I want to keep practice kendo in Korean clubs.

I would like to know if I can join and grading in Korea Kumdo Association?

I'm training for my 1-kyu exam which requires a lot of katas and I'm having a lot of issues getting far enough with my steps without bouncing a bit which makes a bad form and also makes it so the reach with the bokken isn't far enough to reach men in most cases.

Any ideas to improve the footwork? Any kind of excercises that could help my left leg/foot to push me farther?

Thanks.

Title,

It's not that the kendo master tells me anything, or that anyone tells me anything; I'm the one who feels absolutely guilty about not doing well after a session. I'm 3rd kyu and I feel like I'm a burden to everyone else in the dojo, for how I strike, for how I move, I always feel like I'm doing poorly and being a burden.

hi guys!! just wondering, what size should i be going for for the do if i'm 5'3 and have a 33in waist? for context, i am a woman. usually ebogu has suggested sizes u can use but without them i think im a bit lost. thank you all!!

I've heard many things, like they are "geeky" and stuff like that, is that stiff true? Or is it just a bias against them

Hey guys,

I'm a 5th kyu Kendoka who unfortunately is not able to attend the kyu gradings in my local area due to personal obligations (I live in Queensland). Is there any other kyu grading events happening in Australia over the next couple of months?

I started doing kendo two weeks ago and my dojo is not really beginner-friendly, They teach me the things briefly so whenever I attack I feel unsure about the way I do it. I want to watch videos that will explain me things better than how they do at the dojo. I don't have a shinai of my own yet but I think that even watching someone explaining it to me could help me get better and understand the basics more than I can do now. I feel that at the dojo they rush the things too much for me and I can't really understand what's going on.