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**leijggigf** · 11-11-2009, 01:53 PM

Salute,

Well I just started wearing Bogu. I thought I would be practicing without the Men for while, but I was wrong. I also thought that up to now my Kendo was quite sharp and quick, but last night a little 9 yr old kid kicked my butt all over the Dojo.

Problem #1 is that my Dojo is run by Japanese workers over here in Düsseldorf, so the training is all in Japanese, which makes things a little hard to follow.

But that aside, with Bogu on I feel like...."Crap". My speed is gone (but then I am 47), and its like starting from day 1 all over again. My response time to given open targets is so slow, and my posture falls apart very quickly. I basically feel very....Feeble and weak.

Is this normal for most folks ??

Ok have a think about this , I started kendo at about 10 and finished at 14/15ish , then came to iai in my twenties.

Because of being a kid I could move with lightning speed , totally fearless and got incredibly cocky.

One night my sensei ( who was in his early 60's then) took me aside and said that I would not be able to carry on at that speed.

It took me about 10 years to work it out, he didnt tell me directly but it occured to me one day whilst Iai training

Whilst at honbu, the sensei was demonstrating a point about distance and timing, I voluntered , and whilst facing a nanadan in his mid 60's and me in my mid 20's , I instantly knew I didnt stand a chance, because the sensei infront of me had done the dojo time and if need be adapted his technique with age, a child can go a million miles an hour but what if that child was the same age as you and tried it?

Perhaps then you would have the upper hand, what I somewhat taking ages and around the house to explain is that you cant do kendo/iai/100 m sprinting like you could at 15/30/40/80 years old , I find it constantly changes, agressive youth evolves in a mature well rounded technique, but we all still learning, and im still learning that lesson.

So dont be down, just steadily make it more difficult for your opponent, you may not win you may never win, but making it just that little more difficult each time is enough to keep going...

11-11-2009, 01:53 PM	#12
leijggigf Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 398 Senior Member	Salute, Well I just started wearing Bogu. I thought I would be practicing without the Men for while, but I was wrong. I also thought that up to now my Kendo was quite sharp and quick, but last night a little 9 yr old kid kicked my butt all over the Dojo. Problem #1 is that my Dojo is run by Japanese workers over here in Düsseldorf, so the training is all in Japanese, which makes things a little hard to follow. But that aside, with Bogu on I feel like...."Crap". My speed is gone (but then I am 47), and its like starting from day 1 all over again. My response time to given open targets is so slow, and my posture falls apart very quickly. I basically feel very....Feeble and weak. Is this normal for most folks ?? Ok have a think about this , I started kendo at about 10 and finished at 14/15ish , then came to iai in my twenties. Because of being a kid I could move with lightning speed , totally fearless and got incredibly cocky. One night my sensei ( who was in his early 60's then) took me aside and said that I would not be able to carry on at that speed. It took me about 10 years to work it out, he didnt tell me directly but it occured to me one day whilst Iai training Whilst at honbu, the sensei was demonstrating a point about distance and timing, I voluntered , and whilst facing a nanadan in his mid 60's and me in my mid 20's , I instantly knew I didnt stand a chance, because the sensei infront of me had done the dojo time and if need be adapted his technique with age, a child can go a million miles an hour but what if that child was the same age as you and tried it? Perhaps then you would have the upper hand, what I somewhat taking ages and around the house to explain is that you cant do kendo/iai/100 m sprinting like you could at 15/30/40/80 years old , I find it constantly changes, agressive youth evolves in a mature well rounded technique, but we all still learning, and im still learning that lesson. So dont be down, just steadily make it more difficult for your opponent, you may not win you may never win, but making it just that little more difficult each time is enough to keep going...
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