[pepBarihepe]

ok a while back i went to this dojo and i walked in and then a old hicked walked up. the first thing he did was mumble (like boomhower on king of the hill)crazy karate insanities. then i said "i want to learn kendo not karate" and he replied "you need to learn the karate foot work basics before you do the sword play" but it was more like this,"dhfshfmnlfhasljdkhfmsahdflkj" i just understood enough that he really didnt wanna teach kendo before he taught you karate. i just wanted to post this because its so retarted. heres the dojos website http://dentonmartialarts.com

[Fainnamoony]

don't need anything to start kendo. and karate and tkd (this guy's tkd heavy) has different foot work. according to his credit, he's shodan in kendo.. errr.. hmm.. i'm shodan in kendo, i just begin to call myself beginner. when i was mudansha, i considered myself lower than whale shit.

pete

[DP5Ups8o]

You don't need to learn karate, or any other martial art, before learning kendo. Many karate instructors have the viewpoint that weapons are "just an extension of the hand" and therefore are taught as an advanced class after learning basics. My view is that weapons, especially long ones, change things significantly and that basics need to be taught from that perspective. We don't teach anyone how to kick and punch before handing them a shinai. We teach them how to stand and move in the kendo manner, which is very different from the way karate people move.

I note that the head instructor claims shodan in kendo and iaido. As you have hopefully gleaned by now, those are beginner's grades.

[PriniMai]

"Over the years there has been constant inquiries from students about whether or not any written material exist on Shin-Toshi. Since the system is still so very new in so many ways the answer has previously been no."

Run, don't walk, away...

[CorpoRasion]

I would say the opposite to your old hick - I did karate and kendo, and found although the discipline & cardio-vascular fitness a plus, the movements and espcially footwork were not complimentary, quite the opposite. In kendo you fight square, in karate ( particularly contact ), you're moving more side-on, minimising yourself as a target, and distributing your weight differently. It caused me a few problems for a while training in both.

[cheapphenonline]

yah i thought the same as you guys, me and my dad got outa there asap

[Lidawka]

In my experience, previous karate or tkd experience will sometimes have a hampering effect on a fledgling kendoka's progress. The previous training gives them a preconceived notion of how to move their body, and thus their stance and movement suffers (at least initially). However, this can be and usually is overcome with time and perserverance. If you want to take both than either begin them at the same time or start the second with the mindset of knowing absolutely nothing about the arts mechanics.

[LarpBulaBus]

As someone who is currently practacing kendo, and someone who has practiced karate do in the past (Though, it has been a long time.) I can with all confidence say that that isn't true. Though, I can't say that my time in karate do hasn't been of any help to me in kendo.

[EspnaConCam]

Some people with previous karate experience have some trouble, some don't. I find that usually they are better at learning physical things (because they've done it before) and hard practice (ditto) but they carry some baggage with old stances, ways of movement and thinking. So overall it's kind of a wash.

[discountviagraman]

I've done 3 years of wado-ryu karate and because of the footwork that I was used to it took me longer to get used to the whole kendo footwork. It still happens every now and then that I do the diagonal thing.

The rest were already clear enough with their comments just wanted to add this.

[goctorsurger]

i'm shodan in kendo, i just begin to call myself beginner. when i was mudansha, i considered myself lower than whale shit.

pete

Come on Pete! You're going to make the mudansha feel bad! It's not that bad!

Although that raises an interesting thought in my head. Progression in kendo as regards to a whale. You start as mudansha, whale shit, progress up, through the whale, then come out as whale barf or "precious ambergris."

[Terinalo]

I would say the opposite to your old hick - I did karate and kendo, and found although the discipline & cardio-vascular fitness a plus, the movements and espcially footwork were not complimentary, quite the opposite. In kendo you fight square, in karate ( particularly contact ), you're moving more side-on, minimising yourself as a target, and distributing your weight differently. It caused me a few problems for a while training in both.

i agree, karate footwork has been a big pain in the ass to me getting better at kendo, i no longer practice karate, and my foot work is on the up.
Karate helped me in other area's tho, distance, timing, endurance etc

On the whole, tis a bonus. But i guess so would being an athlethe of any sort,

[Liaptoono]

My previous karate experience has mostly been good to me. I have also done karate parallell with kendo, but it hasn't caused any special footwork problems. If anything, I get compliments for being stable/grounded. My problems in kendo that is related to karate, is the way I sometimes use my hands and arms, going stiff wristed and too much kime, too hard and too much stop.

[vintsqyuid]

"Over the years there has been constant inquiries from students about whether or not any written material exist on Shin-Toshi. Since the system is still so very new in so many ways the answer has previously been no."

Run, don't walk, away...

One scary thing... his dojo is claimed to be a member of the Southern US Kendo and Iaido Federation and US Kendo Federation... if someone didn't check the actual AUSKF website, you would've thought it is legit!

[exeftWabreava]

One scary thing... his dojo is claimed to be a member of the Southern US Kendo and Iaido Federation and US Kendo Federation... if someone didn't check the actual AUSKF website, you would've thought it is legit!

nevermind, I misread...

[Lafclaria]

I have the feeling that the two disciplines somewhat are antagonic to the other.

The peasants developed karate technique to defend themselves against people with weapons.

I was told that karate is not as in high esteem in Japan, as it is outside of it.

I remember hearing about an elder japanese gentleman remark when asked about karate and his answer was " peasants train with their feet ( maybe hands) and gentlemen with the swords"

any way, I may be wrong in sensing this antagonism as such.

But some of it was confirmed by a friend that practicing kendo regularly (nidan) started to take karate lessons.

He told me that his Karate teacher was very incredulous about his sincere will to learn karate.

So, what do you think?

[ddwayspd]

I don't that it's so much antagonism between the arts as it is that here in the US, UK and Canada, there are dozens upon dozens of "karate/kung fu/ninjutsu" schools that exist to basically cheat people.

When people come to the beginners kendo class and the first thing they do is try to tell you why their karate/kung fu/ninjutsu experience makes them qualified to just jump in with the mudansha - you know they're not going to make it past the second class.

[Taunteefrurge]

"who smells like freaking porpoise hawk?" (futurama!!)

Isnt it interesting how sites like this use terms like "we teach true martial arts", like they are already on the defensive?

[Lerpenoaneway]

As a 20+ year Karate practitioner and a noob in Kendo at only 4 years, I find areas where both arts compliment and contrast each other. However, I practice Karate and Kendo each for their own's sake. Why do we have to believe that one should help or hinder the other? Does riding a motorcycle make you a better or worse driver in an automobile? They are both different modes of transportation with different approaches.

When I started Kendo, I did not approach it with any belief that my Karate training would bear any influence on my Kendo. Kendo was something I always wanted to learn.

Has my Karate helped or hindered my Kendo? I can't answer that because I have no way to compare. I know that I had issues with the longer maai and wanted to be closer to my opponent (much to my instant feedback of a fast men strike!).

[beriarele]

Has my Karate helped or hindered my Kendo? I can't answer that because I have no way to compare. I know that I had issues with the longer maai and wanted to be closer to my opponent (much to my instant feedback of a fast men strike!).

I think you can. You have clearly mastered the flight or fight reaction. I trust you have learned the value of staying calm in a confrontation and the sight of a person with a four foot stick, doesn't cripple you with fear. The odds are you know what it is to be hit and I'd guess that the adreneline starts to flow and your focus becomes keen.

Years ago I put a decade into Shotokan Karate. It trained my eye to feel an opponents movement and anticipate what was coming. Although the distances are different in kendo, the importance of distance and timing is the same. I'll bet you have a decent understanding of countertime movement and counterattacks as well as the fact that the first move in an attack is not always the intended blow. Thus you have a sense of attacks of the second or third intention.

I think you have not as yet understood the nature of kendo and therefore you don't see how some of your innate resonses will serve you well, if you continue.