[Trotoleterm]

Sorry folks, I didn't mean to express my point of view so strongly, I guess it touched a nerve.

I don't know if it was a horrible situation. Even though it was not ideal, I made some good friends during that time, learned how to control my body a little better, and learned that the reality of martial arts (and life) is very different from the ideal. It also made me much more aware of the kinds of people who pursue training, and what to look for in a good training environment. It also made me deeply appreciate my kendo senseis very much.

Neil, I completely understand that in the everyday practical reality of martial arts such as judo or kendo, we're talking about a good solid set of wazas. While in graduate school demoing kendo, on a few occasions I watched other martial arts groups do their demo as well, and the narrator of another demo literally said "we will teach you 1001 techniques to deal with any situation". Its possible that it was simply a zealous beginner overselling, but that phrase just stuck with me as something that would have completely won me over when I was a completely new beginner in any martial arts training, but now as a kendoist just made me highly skeptical.