DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**BigMovies** · 10-07-2006, 08:00 AM

Lastly, (I'm not disputing with Nishi but just making a point). If Koreans who practice kendo/kumdo (I really don't like differentiating the two as they're really the same) think "Well, we've sort of borrowed the equipment but our philosophy and root are different because we had swords first." Does that make sense? What if the Brits who practice kendo all of a sudden say "well, we're using Japanese bogu, but we would like to put our own spin as we had knighthood and advanced armor, etc. Let's change the hakama to knickers (what Americans call the puffy pants with knee-high socks. don't know what they're actually called in the U.K.) and change the men-gane to a all-steel helmet with just a little slat to look out of", what does that become? Is that an acceptable way of practicing kendo? To put "your own" spin on it and changing tens if not hundreds of years of tradition and claim ownership?

Just a thought.

On the other hand, it might have been an attempt to popularize Kendo in Korea. As you know, for a long period ( till late 80s or more ) Koreans did not like anything Japanese. So, for Kendo to survive an flourish in Korea, it may have been necessary to dress it up as authentic Korean.
Oh BTW, most of dojang (dojo) in Korea is run as business not by volunteer sensei. So getting a lot of student is very important.

What do you think?

Center..

10-07-2006, 08:00 AM	#36
BigMovies Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 459 Senior Member	Lastly, (I'm not disputing with Nishi but just making a point). If Koreans who practice kendo/kumdo (I really don't like differentiating the two as they're really the same) think "Well, we've sort of borrowed the equipment but our philosophy and root are different because we had swords first." Does that make sense? What if the Brits who practice kendo all of a sudden say "well, we're using Japanese bogu, but we would like to put our own spin as we had knighthood and advanced armor, etc. Let's change the hakama to knickers (what Americans call the puffy pants with knee-high socks. don't know what they're actually called in the U.K.) and change the men-gane to a all-steel helmet with just a little slat to look out of", what does that become? Is that an acceptable way of practicing kendo? To put "your own" spin on it and changing tens if not hundreds of years of tradition and claim ownership? Just a thought. On the other hand, it might have been an attempt to popularize Kendo in Korea. As you know, for a long period ( till late 80s or more ) Koreans did not like anything Japanese. So, for Kendo to survive an flourish in Korea, it may have been necessary to dress it up as authentic Korean. Oh BTW, most of dojang (dojo) in Korea is run as business not by volunteer sensei. So getting a lot of student is very important. What do you think? Center..
	Quote