Back on track!
 

After long eight years of stop due to various problems - some personal and some others not so personal - I decided to take my old bogu out of the closet, beat the dust out of it and start to practice seriously again.
The first day of my return I was frightened by the possibility of having forgotten everything, but to my great surprise my body switched on [/automatic mode] and all the movements repeated countless times in the past went on on their own!
It was so strange, I mean, spending eight years doing absolutely different things than the ones you were used to in your kendoka days, not even one single kote or men delivered during these years, and then, all of a sudden, you enter a dojo again, put your bogu on, and just like time has frozen you restart exactly - more or less http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/rambo.gif - from where you took off.
Definitely kendo is like learning to ride a bycicle, you never forget!

Does anyone here had similar experiences?

Well, Yes... I do have a similar experiance, ony the timeframe was MUCH shorter.

Staring Kendo at 41 years old, I found (at long last) a form of excersise that suited my need for more than merely chasing a ball around... or running/cycleing/rowing to nowhere.

But early last year I had to lay Kendo aside to concentrate on earning enough money to pay my dojo fees (which are surprisingly small). Many months passed while I was in a kind of Kendo purgatory, unable to satisfy my new interest in whacking people with honorable intent.

Unable to drill myself like we do in class, I feel into a performance slump and even gained back a good deal of the weight I had struggled to loose... embarrassed to return without my back dojo fees... I felt awful.

Happily, I rejoined this year and have been blessed by the fact that NOT ONLY is our Dojo is going in corporate more Kata (a favorite of mine) but the Kendoka seemed to welcome me back in spite of my ballooning carcass and prolonged absence.

Indeed, the muscles (while complaining from all the extra weight) held up better than I expected. Kihone is as rough as it ever was (if not worse), but I find Jikeiko a welcome relief for my Kendo addiction.

Now if I can just keep my body intact long enough to make Dan...

Good work to the both of you! From my experience people are always happy to see the return of an old face.

with kendo, no.. i haven't had such a pleasure. if i miss even one practice, i'm off trying to find right balance. i first started kendo in 93. then picked it back up in 96, then stopped in 97, then picked it back up on 2004. i had to learn the whole thing all over again. with other things, yes i have had similar experience, and i actually got better.

pete

I havn't had that type of experience with kendo, whenever I take a few days off or more, I feel it. But I also have only been doing kendo for about 2 years, so its probably not as deeply ingrained as it might be for someone who had practiced much longer.

I am also the type of person that gets rusty realy fast, so I gotta stay in the dojo.

Yep, I agree, before quitting I had like eight years of intense practice, mostly focused on doing fundamentals, katas and lotsa iaido too. A kendoka with years of basics is like a tree with deep and strong roots.

Anyways, it is a great feeling being back in the kendo family, hitting hard with my shinai against kotes, mens and dos... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/devious.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/bandit.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/mad2.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/evil.gif

Thanks a lot for your kind regard.
I am happy too to meet again my old comrades (even if there were some changes... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/shocked.gif ).

Saluti.

good to hear that you are back into traning. I understand your frustration..after i started last year for about a month, i got into an accident on my scooter and messed up my right knee and ankle. That plus work getting all crazy i had to put a stop on Kendo. But i'm glad to say my first day back will be next week. I'm so excited!

Big CONGRATS to you!!!

I basically took a 17 year break from kendo. Needed to do some growing up...

By the time I came back, I had to relearn everything and adjust as I was no longer the same person I was at 17...

Best of luck to all of you.

Regards,

Nine years for me, I turned up at my local club after finally getting a car to get me there [nine years since driving too!] it was a beginners night so I ended up with them and yes it was like getting on a bike. After some basic footwork the sensei asked for us to do a men cut and nine years of contemplation of that one cut just exploded out of me. He wouldn't believe me when I said how long it had been, then he asked me to do kiri-kaeshi and he then said "yeah you have forgotten some things".

I can't believe how stupid I was not to come back to it earlier but luckily I've lost nothing of what I had learned just have to wonder about 'what could have been'.

Hey, thanks for the encouragement, I'm too totally excited at the idea of practicing again. That makes me feel happy... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/rambo.gif
And good luck with your restart too! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/wink.gif


Thanks my friend. See each other soon somewhere in Italia. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/happy.gif
Best regards.


This is the same exact thought that I am having these days... funny, isn't it?
I am happy to be part of the gang again. Meeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnn!!!