[cestsennY]

"well, there are dans, and then there are dans who win tournaments...."

He summed it up right there. It's all about competition. Whether it's in the court or on the street for new people--winning is everything. What you described would be quite irksome. We're still new to kendo, but the people we've met seem to be pretty even handed between competition and fun, with the emphasis on learning straight kendo.

I do expect that things are similar in kendo politics as in everything else... There's always a couple of off color eggs. My wife and I are volunteer coaching volleyball for a middle school. We do it because we love the game, we love to play, and we love to pass that on by teaching others to play. It's hard to enjoy something you're terrible at. So, the focus is on learning skills and having fun--but not winning. Some parents have winning as the first objective. Those can be hard people to get along with at times.

Needless to say, I don't particular appreciate the winning is everything attitude. It seems to be missing quite a bit of balance--we can't all be winners all the time or there would be no competition...