[ZXRamon]

No, not talking about the gi...

I kinda/sorta recall someone, somewhere, sometime referring to kendo in Japan as being more of a blue collar activity. Anybody ever hear of that, write that, think that, etc., and would be willing to explain?

-Charles

[tigoCeree]

Really?

Kendo always seemed more on the bourgeois side to me. The equipment is not cheap compared to other budo.

Kendoka don't resort to rolling around on the filthy ground with the proletarians (to say nothing of actually touching them). No sir, I've got a stick to keep the lower classes at an agreeable distance.

And c'mon, we're all snobish elitists at heart ("that kote was ok, but I've seen better").

Now please excuse me, I have to go whip my servants.

[vaalmerruutel]

No, not talking about the gi...

I kinda/sorta recall someone, somewhere, sometime referring to kendo in Japan as being more of a blue collar activity. Anybody ever hear of that, write that, think that, etc., and would be willing to explain?

-Charles

Maybe because it's so popular with cops in Japan?

[EscaCsamas]

It might have more to do with the fact that anyone can train hard and become good.

The funny thing is, MAG made a thread a while back asking why so many white-collar professionals were high rankers...

[Abaronos]

I think that was the thread where the whole blue-collar thing came about in the first place.

[theonsushv]

Ah, thankya:

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/sho...t-just-my-dojo

[Ngdyoysv]

I don't think of kendo as being about social castes or socio-economic status, but I do believe that in Japan kendo is still an activity with more allegiances to the right wing than the left. Outside of Japan it might be different, with perhaps a higher percentage of kendoka (not of Japanese decent) being what one might call 'seekers'. But kendo is more likely to be taken up, in Japan at least, by people who don't question the status quo and who are probably quite in favour of things staying as they are. Of course there are lots of exceptions to this and I've met a lot of them. But in general I think kendo in Japan often operates a bit like the "old school tie". If you do kendo and your boss does kendo then you're might likely to get the promotion. If you do kendo and play golf then you're a shoe-in for the job. They might even overlook the fact that you're a woman...

My $0.02 and all disclaimers apply YMMV, etc, etc.

b

[Grizli]

As with many things, I suspect the answer is "it depends". In many countries the kendo population tends to be too small for any sort of meaningful stereotype to emerge.

My experience with Taiwan, which has a comparatively large kendo population is that, rather than a divided between blue and white collar, some types of vocations feature more prominently than others. Police, army, teachers and doctors (especially amongst the higher dans), for some reason are really into Kendo. The reason for a strong show of force in the police, army and teachers are probably the same as those in Japan. The reason for there to be many doctors amongst the higher dans, as I have been told, was because back in the old days most doctors trained in Japan and picked it up as part of their schooling.

For some novelty factor, the ex-ex-president (Mr. Lee) is sandan and his brother (a doctor) is nanadan I heard.