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**Metrujectiktus** · 06-23-2006, 08:00 AM

Confound: I agree with you that spectator sports are retarded -- habitual watching of sporting events on tv is probably responsible for a lot of the health problems people have today. Watching the World Cup finals every so often, just for the heck of it while bending an elbow w/ your buddies, is OK in my book b/c it then turns into a social event.

BUT, I would disagree with you on two points: (1) that sports lack everything mental that kendo has, and (2) kendo is not a team sport.

Well, I can only speak from experience. Before kendo, I used to run. A lot. And I find that a runner's mind is a lot like a kendoka's. Over the course of a 26-mile race, you have to do a lot of thinking about your strategy against your competitors, particularly in regards to your pace and your energy reserves. How do you psyche out your competitor? How will you adapt your strategy to your competitor's pace changes throughout the race and still have enough to kick past him on that last mile? Can you correctly anticipate his pace changes and capitalize? There's no end to the amount of mental gamesmanship to running, just like there is in kendo. And well, running is a simple sport -- left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot... ad infinitum. I imagine in other sports like gymnastics, where skills are honed, there is just as much if not more of a mental aspect.

Throughout my running days, I'd have to say that I looked to my coach much like I looked to my sensei nowadays. And I looked to my seniors on the team for running tips, encouragement, the occassional chewing out, just like I look to my sempai nowadays. And I turned around and gave tips, encouragement and the occassional chewing out to my juniors, just like I do to my kohai nowadays. So the parallels are there.

As to kendo being an individual sport. Sure, it is mostly a one-on-one thing. But if you've competed on a team before, you'd know that there is strategy on the group level that makes or breaks a team. Who are you going to put in the sempo position to best counter the other team's sempo's style? If the matches are tied, the next guy up needs to win 2-0 to bring the game back and so on... so there is an implicit reliance on your teammates and that's what justifies kendo as a team sport, as well as an individual one.

And in regards to wine on the other thread... I like a fine wine, but I like a bargain even better.

06-23-2006, 08:00 AM	#22
Metrujectiktus Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 394 Senior Member	Confound: I agree with you that spectator sports are retarded -- habitual watching of sporting events on tv is probably responsible for a lot of the health problems people have today. Watching the World Cup finals every so often, just for the heck of it while bending an elbow w/ your buddies, is OK in my book b/c it then turns into a social event. BUT, I would disagree with you on two points: (1) that sports lack everything mental that kendo has, and (2) kendo is not a team sport. Well, I can only speak from experience. Before kendo, I used to run. A lot. And I find that a runner's mind is a lot like a kendoka's. Over the course of a 26-mile race, you have to do a lot of thinking about your strategy against your competitors, particularly in regards to your pace and your energy reserves. How do you psyche out your competitor? How will you adapt your strategy to your competitor's pace changes throughout the race and still have enough to kick past him on that last mile? Can you correctly anticipate his pace changes and capitalize? There's no end to the amount of mental gamesmanship to running, just like there is in kendo. And well, running is a simple sport -- left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot... ad infinitum. I imagine in other sports like gymnastics, where skills are honed, there is just as much if not more of a mental aspect. Throughout my running days, I'd have to say that I looked to my coach much like I looked to my sensei nowadays. And I looked to my seniors on the team for running tips, encouragement, the occassional chewing out, just like I look to my sempai nowadays. And I turned around and gave tips, encouragement and the occassional chewing out to my juniors, just like I do to my kohai nowadays. So the parallels are there. As to kendo being an individual sport. Sure, it is mostly a one-on-one thing. But if you've competed on a team before, you'd know that there is strategy on the group level that makes or breaks a team. Who are you going to put in the sempo position to best counter the other team's sempo's style? If the matches are tied, the next guy up needs to win 2-0 to bring the game back and so on... so there is an implicit reliance on your teammates and that's what justifies kendo as a team sport, as well as an individual one. And in regards to wine on the other thread... I like a fine wine, but I like a bargain even better.
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