[tq4F7YKs]

Ok, I am just wondering- is it possible to be very discplined in one thing and not another? Or does all discpline kind of go together, so that if a person develops more discpline (and less laziness) in Kendo, then it will shift to all aspects of his or her life? I'm going to try and read between the lines here, forgive me if I do a bad job of it!

While it is quite possible to be disciplined in one area, and not in others, it is also possible to increase your overall discipline through kendo. Does discipline in all areas of life simply happen because you discipline yourself in kendo? Absolutely not, no more than good discipline in kendo simply "happens". You can, however, use your training to your own advantage. One of my instructors told my a number of years back that the best training you get is when you're tired, or don't feel like it, and you have to force yourself to go to the dojo. He said that those are the days when you learn the most about both your art, and yourself. If you heed those lessons, you will be able to apply them to the other aspects of your life in the same way. All of those things that you don't want to do because you're tired or don't feel like it, you now know that you can make yourself do, just like you made yourself go to the dojo. Doesn't necessarily mean that you will, just that you can.

[97dYA9L3]

In my opinion this is one thread where perception is 90% of reality. How we perceive discipline and what it entails will skew our answer one way or another. Does kendo strengthens our discipline; does it make it permeate to other aspects of our lives? I truly don’t know. I think you will get a lot of opinions based on personal experience from this forum but at the end you will be the only one that will be able to answer your own question. If you think that it will, and you stick to it, it will most likely permeate to the rest of your life. If in your personal set of values you can accommodate dedication to one aspect without interaction to other actions in your life then it will certainly not make much difference.
What I am trying to say is that kendo will not be an all of the sudden life changing event. We are the product of nature and nurture. Our past experiences, how we dealt with them, what the outcomes were. And that is what determines your inner self. It will however be a cold hard mirror to evaluate this set of experiences that make you what you are, It will make you know yourself as you strive to understand and attain perfection in something as simple as the cut of a sword. Remember kendo teaches you the way of the sword. True it is a physical activity, true you body will be put to tremendous stress. But none of that stress will be much compared to the introspection that you must make every single day to improve your kendo.
I was trying to explain kendo to a friend of mine that is a highly advanced Tai Chi artist and he was awed at the simplicity of the basic movements yet he truly understood how it would take years upon years of practice to dominate or even begin to make sense of 5 basic strikes. 5 strikes that will take you a lifetime to understand. Is discipline involved? Certainly but I think that more that discipline is the willingness to know you that drives kendo. And is that knowledge of yourself that will spill onto other aspects of your life.

[NEronchik]

Interesting topic, personally speaking I don't find it is so much discipline as tenacity, or some combination of both. Discipline infers training through proper behavior in a controlled manner. While that certainly is a part of kendo I would think you need more tenacity to stick with it. One of the things that is most appealing about kendo for me is striving to achieve the next level or goal and the fact that it doesn’t come easy makes it all the more satisfying. In an overall view I would say I’m some what disciplined, but tenacity wise I would say I’m a sadomasochist and have some to spare.

[Xlkl9SFd]

By and large, I agree with other posters who have said you get out of it what you put into it. But this is an intruiguing question. I looked up the definition of "discipline" and I think it's quite interesting:

1: punishment
2obsolete : instruction
3: a field of study
4: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
5 a: control gained by enforcing obedience or order b: orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c: self-control
6: a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

So which did you mean? All of the above? Kendo certainly seems to fit all of those in some ways. I'm assuming from the tenor of comments that most people are looking at the fifth definition. By that token, not speaking for anyone but myself, I haven't yet noticed much greater discipline in other areas of my life since I started Kendo and I haven't noticed much more discipline in Kendo than I already had in other areas of my life. I've noticed that I'm in a little better shape, I have better posture, and I'm a little more self-confidence in other difficult areas in my life (mostly because none of them is as difficult as Kendo has been for me and it makes them all seem easier), but not particularly more disciplined.

I haven't been doing it long enough to see any long term changes, but maybe twenty years from now I'll look back and notice a big shift in my self-discipline between my pre and post-Kendo years. Maybe not.

[!!Aaroncheg]

Who are you talking about??
Should I even ask?

He was responding to atgm. It wasn't directed at you or your original post in the thread.

[vernotixas]

Ok, I am just wondering- is it possible to be very discplined in one thing and not another? Or does all discpline kind of go together, so that if a person develops more discpline (and less laziness) in Kendo, then it will shift to all aspects of his or her life?

You can never have enough structure in your life. Like one of my German friends said to me, we bear the burden of knowing what's best for everyone.

[conurgenceDen]

By and large, I agree with other posters who have said you get out of it what you put into it. But this is an intruiguing question. I looked up the definition of "discipline" and I think it's quite interesting:

1: punishment
2obsolete : instruction
3: a field of study
4: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
5 a: control gained by enforcing obedience or order b: orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c: self-control
6: a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

I meant 5 AND 4.

[pE71J5Sw]

I meant 5 AND 4.

You get #6 for free in this deal too.

[u8MmZFmF]

I would say I’m a sadomasochist....

Remind me to take a separate car to next practice.

As for discipline - when I started iaido (then kendo a year later) I was a 185lb smoker whose athletic days were long gone. Almost 5 years later I'm 140lbs, not smoking, in the best shape of my life and just finished a 6-month season of biking ~150 miles/week. The cause and effect is really unclear, but kendo couldn't have hurt. I think it showed me what I could do. The discipline was up to me. I'm still not disciplined in other parts of my life.

[AgJ5mNXM]

Remind me to take a separate car to next practice.

The next practice you have to ride in the trunk, with bogu.

[mpxricyNimb]

Not even a couple of months, but it doesn't take much kendo experience to read forums and see that some people don't seem to have much discipline when it comes to some things.

Especially when there's a Krispy Kreme restaurant next to the dojo!

[nebrarlepleme]

I'll use my favorite line from when I was a consultant: it depends...

As some people have already pointed out, I think it is a question of perception. If you identify kendo as a recreational activity and you devote yourself to it, you are showing discipline about something that you enjoy and are doing things even though they are not specifically enjoyable in order to be better at kendo. You are showing discipline in that you have identified certain activities as necessary for the attainment of your goal and are completing these tasks.

Once you can identify other tasks that may be necessary for your ultimate goal, you will probably be better able to complete them as you may have learned about forcing yourself to do even unpleasant things in order to achieve your ultimate goal which would be to do something you enjoy.

On the other hand, someone who can see no useful reason for specific tasks will still have no stimulus to complete them. I know one person who had a drinking problem most of his adult life. He did not perceive this as an issue until he had to choose between not drinking and not being able to do things he loved. He chose to stop drinking and hasn't had a drop in years. He shows discipline every day he stays dry but in order to do this, he had to have the right stimulus...

Sorry if this came out confused...

[LxtdK9i4]

Discipline and interest-in-something-motivation are very related. Think of kids and how they can be horribly distracted and obnoxious in one activity/class and then be totally focussed and work hard in another. I do think that you can be disciplined in one thing and not in another because I see it everyday at work.

[POMAH_K]

Sorry if this came out confused...

Yeah well you've been a consultant so it actually makes sense.

[blankostaroe]

I'll use my favorite line from when I was a consultant: it depends...

As some people have already pointed out, I think it is a question of perception. If you identify kendo as a recreational activity and you devote yourself to it, you are showing discipline about something that you enjoy and are doing things even though they are not specifically enjoyable in order to be better at kendo. You are showing discipline in that you have identified certain activities as necessary for the attainment of your goal and are completing these tasks.

Once you can identify other tasks that may be necessary for your ultimate goal, you will probably be better able to complete them as you may have learned about forcing yourself to do even unpleasant things in order to achieve your ultimate goal which would be to do something you enjoy.

On the other hand, someone who can see no useful reason for specific tasks will still have no stimulus to complete them. I know one person who had a drinking problem most of his adult life. He did not perceive this as an issue until he had to choose between not drinking and not being able to do things he loved. He chose to stop drinking and hasn't had a drop in years. He shows discipline every day he stays dry but in order to do this, he had to have the right stimulus...

Sorry if this came out confused...

For many people, it's very simple "To live"
My golf buddy had a cold and was coughling for weeks, the doc says "You have to quit smoking" The guy said " I need to smoke and your job is to keep me alive" One week later the doc says "Sorry, if you don't quit smoking, you'll die within a year". He quit smoking. Yes, we need the right stimulus to do or not to do things we do.