[VQdeochratis]

This is a related issue to the "Kendo in the olympics" thread.

Most people who were dubious about kendo as an Olympic sport still said they could see benefits in the extra support kendo would receive from the exposure. Most people seem to take as read the expansion of kendo internationally as an inherently good thing.

I believe that it is, of course, a good thing to welcome newcomers to kendo and to make training sessions as accessible as possible to all regardless of age, gender, physical ability or financial situation.

However I would like to pose a caveat to the above statement. I believe it can be detrimental to a teacher's ability to teach kendo in the short term, and to the clear focus of the art in the long term, for too much emphasis to be placed on increasing membership.

This is the underlying isssue to the Olympics issue, the assumption that we might hate what the Olympics and TV might do to kendo, but we all recognise that the opportunity for the whole world to embrace kendo is one not to be missed.

Well I think we should, in those countries where it is the case, embrace the fact that we are a small community. This outlook does not, I believe, limit the number of people who might potentially start kendo in the future. Numbers will grow by themselves (the "if you practice, they will come" theory). But it recognises that it is often futile to go 'touting for business' when the potential marketplace for students is going to be relatively small.

It is much more important to look after the students that have come to kendo of their own volition (how many of you teachers out there have trouble remembering your students' names before they get into bogu?) than try and streamline beginners' courses, simplify grading requirements, valorise shiai over keiko, design glossy brochures/uniforms/websites or whatever strategy is deemed most effective to attract new members by making kendo more 'contemporary', 'Western', 'relevant' or 'less elitist'.

And we should face the fact that in many cases, our family and our closest friends are never going to understand what we do or why we do it, let alone the ability to endure the aroma of bogu!

I'd love to hear others' input on this issue.

B.