[SarSerceSaice]

trying ...

[ladleliDypenue]

Bloody hell!!!

If you guys want to chat with cute smart girls, at least choose a better pickup line.

This is waaaaaay too lame. I wish you had a wife.

wahahahhaha

p.s. I am gay.

[Azzi_Kahlila]

Originally posted by samurai999
If you are shodan, this is a certification that you have mastered the basics. Bwahahahahahaha!

Still working on the basics after 20 years...

[ResuNezily]

hi nancy , no he's not ,,he's the head sensei at Cypress Dojo..

and Nakauchi Sensei over at PCI dojo has a knockout yoko men with nito ryu also ,

[LOVEBoy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TheBraveFencer
[B] And unlike Mingshi who said that doing jodan and nitto and hassoku were useless and weak, my sensei encourage my senpai who do choose to use those styles and help them develop better techniques. Anyway, that's my spiel. Any comments? Support? Flames? Bring it on


why ask me Alex ?

[thomaskkk]

TBF........

I agree, a book alone is not the way to learn kendo. Nor does reading something specific like The Book of 5 Rings automatically confer any greater understanding of kendo or anything else. Though it can open doors of thought and imagination.

[ElenaEvgeevna]

Is the Korean sensei from from your dojo, Jamie?

[Frierlovene]

Originally posted by kendomushi
In learning kendo we have three steps on the path ( I forget off the top of my head how to say it in Japanese and since I'm supposed to be working don't have th time to look up the actual phrase):

The phrase is "shu ha ri."

I was told that not until sandan should you start thinking about the "ha" stage. I agree. Up until sandan you are pretty much just doing straight forward kendo, which doesn't leave much room for the development of individual style or interpretation.

[maks_holi]

Originally posted by Inouye02
man if mingshi thinks nito and jodan are weak i hope she seeks out Chinen , itokazu from Team U.S.A at WKC and asks to keiko with them maybe she might change her mind , I know the Korean Sensei I train with is not weak in nito ryu, Normally I'd let Mingshi respond to this for herself but given that her last posts seem to have been written under the influence of large quantities of alcohol I may as well jump in.

Where did she (or anyone else for that matter) state that jodan and nito are weak? (I believe miss Wan said that nito players are "Musashi wannabees", not the same thing).

I mean, granted, nito-ryu and jodan players are a bit on the defensive side when criticized because they practice what are essentially bastardizations of kendo. That and the fact that the phallic symbolism of the shoto probably accounts for some nito players being a tad touchy (who wants to be accused of fighting with a dildo afterall).
But these are not excuses for falsely accusing people of calling either jodan or nito "weak". I mean, they may be devoid of imagination but both those kamae are certainly not "weak". Please find where miss Wan said such foolish things and I will denounce her as well, either that or retract your accusation.

And if you take me seriously then you might be interested in buying a little bridge in Brooklyn I happen to know about.

[cinggooft]

ahh....ok i get it....yup u are right.....:-)

[GogaMegaPis]

D'oh!!!
Quote from wrong person. My bad. Sorry Inouye, I meant to slander TheBraveFencer not you...

As for dildo knowledge....insert your own disgusting remark here.

[fajerdoksdsaaker]

man if mingshi thinks nito and jodan are weak i hope she seeks out Chinen , itokazu from Team U.S.A at WKC and asks to keiko with them maybe she might change her mind , I know the Korean Sensei I train with is not weak in nito ryu,

[justashonglefan]

it's cool alex , i was just scratching my head on that one

[CULTDIAMONDS]

I sorta agree with TBF. Too much of one thing is usually bad and "majime-sugi" is sometimes bad. You close your mind to other things and become increasingly one-track minded.

I am also a firm believer of the fact that not all techniques are learned from a sensei. As what my sensei says, the kyus are usually for learning from sensei. You are learning basics and the such and should learn them properly. But! If you are shodan, this is a certification that you have mastered the basics. You then gradually progress into your own kendo. That is how you get your own flair or style. You gotta spread your wings to fly.
Sure, basics are ALWAYS gonna be a part of your practices and your routine when practicing. But, once you start ji-geiko, you practice things on your own and learn other things from other people. Senpai or sensei. That is what I think is neat about Kendo.


My 0.02$,
Tim

[mikapoq]

Balance and an open mind are essential to bettering ones kendo. We are not samurai, none of us alive today and participating in this forum are or ever have been samurai. But we are kendoka, and we should take what we do seriously. That does not mean only doing as your main sensei feels is most correct. In fact it means growing beyond that and pulling away from it. In learning kendo we have three steps on the path ( I forget off the top of my head how to say it in Japanese and since I'm supposed to be working don't have th time to look up the actual phrase):

First, we take in all that we are taught and hold it sacred. This learning comes from our sensei. It can be augmented by reading material but reading material cannot replace or be superior to that actual experience of having a teacher work with you to learn the basics of kendo.

Second, we start to see that there are other things that other instructors and kendoka do differently and that exactly what sensei does might not exactly fit our own concept or abilities in kendo. This doesn't mean we discard all we have learned up to now, we just see that there is more out there to learn.

Third, we form our own kendo. We draw away from what our sensei taught us and make our own understanding of ourselves and kendo work the best way we can. We make kendo our own and unique to us. All this we do while still holding firm to the basics and valuing what has been taught to us from our first day to the present.


I think those who follow this development become the strongest kendoka. Some of them use strange looking waza, or prefer to fight nito or jodan. How they do it doesn't matter if they follow the path above they tend to become strong formidable opponents and people we can all learn a bit more about our own kendo from.

Does that make me sound too serious? I hope not.

[rorsvierwelia]

Sorry about the double post guys.. But had to let one more thing out on this issue.

My cousin (on my mothers side) used to play kendo in middle school and part of high school in Japan. He quit to play soccer. I have heard through him that kendo is also losing popularity in Japan among the younger population because it isn't "cool enough". Complaints that are prominent among youngsters is that kendo is "too traditional" and they have to take things too seriously and it is boring. To put it in laymans terms? Squaresville. Sounds like whining? Ya definitely. But it is the truth.

People like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui have made baseball so popular that it is probably the most popular sport in Japan. The only thing that rivals that is the J-League. Since Japan did MUCH better than expected in the World Cup, lots of kids are flocking to soccer with dreams of winning the world cup or playing for one of the J-League teams. Either that or being in the "Dai-league" like Matsui or Ichiro.

Where does this leave kendo? As the trailer. Something that kids have to do with the parents tagging behind wagging the finger. So the point? Well, this is what happens when dojos or sensei project the view of kendo as JUST strict, and disciplinarian with no other views accepted. In other words, majime-sugi. Kendo is (to me) practiced in order to gain discipline, confidence, etc. But it is also about having FUN. Why go to a dojo and practice twice a week for 3-4 hours just to learn discipline when you don't have fun!

My more than $0.02,
Tim

[Lipitorseffec]

that'll be sweet ^_^. i'll ask him someday.

[juspimoubbodo]

i agree with kendomushi....just becos we are practising kendo doens't mean we do it in a 'common routine' kind of method. Sure we dont go to the extreme but we have to still take it seriously.....

[Anaerbguagree]

Originally posted by Confound
Amen, Neil. A sensei I know went to a pre-8dan practice in Kyoto, he says that all they worked on was kihon, kirikaeshi, men uchi and kote men. That's it. He said that kihon are the hardest part of kendo, and he would know.

When you stop working on kihon, it's entirely possible that you're either dead, or you've overestimated your abilities.

c Ahhh.. But I didn't say that you STOP doing basics completely. You have to practice kihon to stay at the same level or to improve. Read ALL the way through the post next time.

Tim

[duminyricky]

Ok. Maybe "master" was too strong of a word. At least that is what my sensei says. I guess it is more that you know what things are and when. If you don't know what a men is by the time you are shodan, then you have some problems...

You keep practicing to keep things at the same level or to improve. You DON'T really relearn anything. Does a 8dan sensei stand right next to a yon-dan telling him/her every step of the way what to do at every practice? Of course not!

Lastly, if your shinai and your foot hit "more or less together most of the time", by the time you are shodan then you also might need some more sensei assistance.

Tim