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**BundEnhamma** · 08-01-2006, 11:52 PM

I think more people would be a good thing, the question is to what lengths do you go to make it more appealing? Do you put peopl in bogu in their first lesson? Do you develop kendo drills set to music? Do you let people where MA trainers in the dojo like the TKD people? DO you allow multi-coloured gi with myriad badges and patches advertising dietary supplements? Do you make regular appearances in crappy MA magazines showing kendo-based street-fighting techniques you can learn at home? DO you sell tie-in DVDs for home tuition? DO you have distance students who never visit the dojo but just watch the DVD and email you questions? DO you aggressively pursue parents of junior members for dojo fees in advance, using arguments that are pure emotional blackmail? Do you grade to shodan in 3 months?

All the things above and more are used by other (mostly non-weapons based) MA to increase their recruitment potential and hold onto numbers. Pretty much without exception, I'd say the answer to all the above is "no!"

More people doing kendo will happen, slowly. More dojos outside Japan will have half a dozen nanadan in regular attendance. Countries outside Japan will win the WKC. But along the way I think we need to just focus on our training, and be thankful of the fact that kendo attracts and holds onto the kind of people that it does. We should be thankful also that there is no "O-sensei" or "Soke" at the top with who we can all either deify, or storm off from and set up rival organisations.

Kendo is a wonderfully strange community: a hierarchical collective, Camelot with knights of the round table but no King Arthur. A surprisingly resilient structure.

b

PS - re the price of bogu, I have a theory that bogu prices, which have fallen by up to 50% over the last 20 years, will soon flatten out. Then one day, when China's currency is finally valued properly, and the new Chinese middle-class starts to demand real wage rises, then the cost of bogu will return to a more realistic level. Rising oil prices will also add significant $$ to the cost of imported goods. So my advice is buy several sets of bogu now for the future!!!

08-01-2006, 11:52 PM	#14
BundEnhamma Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 448 Senior Member	I think more people would be a good thing, the question is to what lengths do you go to make it more appealing? Do you put peopl in bogu in their first lesson? Do you develop kendo drills set to music? Do you let people where MA trainers in the dojo like the TKD people? DO you allow multi-coloured gi with myriad badges and patches advertising dietary supplements? Do you make regular appearances in crappy MA magazines showing kendo-based street-fighting techniques you can learn at home? DO you sell tie-in DVDs for home tuition? DO you have distance students who never visit the dojo but just watch the DVD and email you questions? DO you aggressively pursue parents of junior members for dojo fees in advance, using arguments that are pure emotional blackmail? Do you grade to shodan in 3 months? All the things above and more are used by other (mostly non-weapons based) MA to increase their recruitment potential and hold onto numbers. Pretty much without exception, I'd say the answer to all the above is "no!" More people doing kendo will happen, slowly. More dojos outside Japan will have half a dozen nanadan in regular attendance. Countries outside Japan will win the WKC. But along the way I think we need to just focus on our training, and be thankful of the fact that kendo attracts and holds onto the kind of people that it does. We should be thankful also that there is no "O-sensei" or "Soke" at the top with who we can all either deify, or storm off from and set up rival organisations. Kendo is a wonderfully strange community: a hierarchical collective, Camelot with knights of the round table but no King Arthur. A surprisingly resilient structure. b PS - re the price of bogu, I have a theory that bogu prices, which have fallen by up to 50% over the last 20 years, will soon flatten out. Then one day, when China's currency is finally valued properly, and the new Chinese middle-class starts to demand real wage rises, then the cost of bogu will return to a more realistic level. Rising oil prices will also add significant $$ to the cost of imported goods. So my advice is buy several sets of bogu now for the future!!!
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