[Coededgeme]

From what you say I do agree that it sounded a bit rude......

Who even cares about a parkinglot, or walking 15 blocks or 10000 stairs........it kinda shows your commitment to kendo and the dojo you belong to.

well, there are dans, and then there are dans who win tournaments Yes there are dans, and then there are dans who win tournaments, but then there are dans that dont care donkeypooh about tournaments anymore; even have to forget about tournamentplay to achieve that level.....

[vipbunter]

...cut me off and said "well, there are dans, and then there are dans who win tournaments. It might take shorter time to get shodan from other dojos but if you get dan from mine, it really counts...."

Sometimes I don't even know if I want to go test to be "labeled...." I think it could be pretty fun too to be the lowest rank person in the dojo, but have great kendo... and sometimes it may be nice to go test to see what you could~ be... if you get to high of a rank, people would start to expect so much out of you... it's nice to have very little on your mind and take it easy.

[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...

[radicalvolume]

Your kendo dan is somewhat seperate from your tournament-winning ability. I can show you some examples of some 3-dan people who can beat 6-dan people in tournaments, but have no hope of passing 6 dan at this point in their career. And no, its not because those 6 dans have "honourary" dan.

[HootSnori]

If you watch that 30 minute documentary of 8dan in Japan you can see there is a difference between winning tournaments and achieving a given rank. Im surprised a sandan would say that.

[KevinDonae]

"well, there are dans, and then there are dans who win tournaments. It might take shorter time to get shodan from other dojos but if you get dan from mine, it really counts."

So either he is saying that the grading panels are giving away dan grades for nothing, or that his own teaching is substandard. I would be subspicious of any dojo that equals extra long training time to grade with quality.

[zithromaxlinks]

First, congrats with your shodan. Now back to the sandan without budo spirit. The sandan, shouldn’t have discredited other dojo. Some dojos are worth walking 1000 blocks. As most folks already said, gradings and winning tournaments aren’t always related. Besides that, kendo is a budo, not a sport (in my humble opinion). That doesn’t mean competition is not important. Winning shouldn’t be the main goal (I’m speaking from an iai perspective, but I assume that kendoka have the same view on this). This sandan doesn’t get the message. Weird that the guy got that far with an attitude like that. His sensei should teach him the meaning of humility (with a good ass whooping during a shiai ).

[Ufkkrxcq]

It sounds as if the guy is trying to "promote" kendo and get people to join his dojo instead of the others, although he sounds like a putz... could have used another word, but that would not be nice... I would be shocked at the person's rudeness too.

Tournaments mean nothing. They are fun. I like them because it is a different change of pace for a day, but people are not judged by their tournament kendo. Maybe some people do, but the top ranking sensei here and the ones I have met back home don't really play up that tournaments are the reason we do kendo. Compliments about how straight or big or whatever your technique is are meaningful. Hearing someone say that it felt good to be hit by you because it was just a clean and good timed cut are what matter. A plaque or trophy is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and usually people end up sacrificing their form and their "true" kendo so that they are more advantaged at a tournament. Those who win are impressive, but those who win and stick to big, basic kendo are the really impressive ones. These type of people are rare. The only true judge of one's kendo character is their day to day performance and behavior in the dojo, not how well they do at an event once a year. Besides, at a tournament of 200 people, how many actually win? I guess the rest of the people (the losers) are just crap, right?

[inilbowly]

In kendo just remember winning isn't everything. Learning is. No matter what dan you are or how many taikai you take (or don't take) a trophy home from good kendo doesn't come from winning, it comes from learning. Oh, and every one's good friend "ray" ie rei.