Advice for FAQ for beginners
 

Over the past few weeks, I've completely revamped our club's blog/website.
(It's really looking much better than our old format, if I do say so myself)..

All of this might be easier with a website, but we've been using the blog so long (giving out that site address, etc.), we don't want to go away from it.

Anyway, on the main page/blog, I've set up a link to a Beginner's Corner (a "sub-blog", if you will)... I really would like to make the single post on that page nothing more than an FAQ-type thing..
http://beginningkendo.blogspot.com/ .... is the direct link.

I think I've covered the basic questions for lurkers, but are there any questions you guys think be worth addressing there?

So far, I've got the following:
1. How do I find out more about kendo and the Memphis Kendo Club?
2. When/Where does the club meet?
3. Is kendo dangerous?
4. Am I too old/young to start kendo?
5. What do I need to start kendo?
6. What is kendo like?
7. What can I expect of training (as a beginner)?
8. When can I expect to wear bogu? Should I buy bogu NOW?
9. What about rank in kendo?
10. How much does it all cost?


Any thoughts/advice?

Thanks in advance...
tango

11. What should I do to train when I'm not at practice?

Awesome! Looks great!

Perry -- I didn't think to put something like on there... do you think it would really be beneficial for folks who are not yet in class, though?

oh.. anybody who might have seen our old page would certainly appreciate this new one...

day and night difference.
thanks for the props...

have also tried to take a little time to search the board here for some really good thread topics to include on the blog..
just hijack the questions and hand-select the responses from the really experienced folks here...
(see the "advanced kendo topics" section.... from the main page, right hand column, all the way down)...

the whole thing continues to be a work in progress...

Dude I just saw you new baby pic! Nice Kendoface! You need one of these...

Nice work. I might point some of our curious beginners to your blog.

Thanks, Paul!
(I keep re-reading the same stuff in there, especially in the beginner's section, to make sure I'm not flubbing something up with some bad/questionable info...)

obsessive/compulsive about it

designing the site has actually taken a bit of trickery with some of the items...
for example, the main picture on the page... I had to take individual images, attach them all to a word document, resize within the word document, insert a text box (to type in the club name).... then in order to save the image as a whole (as a .jpg), I did a screen print, "rectangle'd" the picture within the document, "saved as", and only then was able to put it in the header.....

We sure seem to get a lot of requests like that from people who sign up for our classes lately, and here at KWF for that matter.

Rogers... new site looks good.

Hi Tango-san,

I read the whole thing, and it looks very good to me. The only thing I'd suggest is to be clear about where to buy online kendo equipment. You only wrote:

These items can be purchased several places online and you didn't mention any reputable online places except your sensei's shop. So, for the new students who want to buy online, that won't help them. They might not realise that buying on e-bay or at a place like Century Karate for example, are not good places to buy shinai and that. I suggest that you put in links to the reputable online kendo shops there as well as your sensei's shop.(So nice he's got one right near you guys!) This way, you know the new students have access to decent equipment online as well as offline and will have bought quality stuff.

Otherwise, I think it was really well written! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

Kaoru

liked the "kendo foot" part...


puaj!

thanks.. i didn't think about that... probably because i've been using a carbon shinai for so many years now, i just haven't had to buy a bamboo shinai...

anyway... appreciate it.. thanks for the tip..

Carbon shinai last that long?? Wow. I knew they are strong, but not that strong.

Anyway, you're welcome! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif Your site is really very nice! Hope you're getting enough sleep with the new baby and all. I saw her pic above. Gosh, she's so cute!!! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

Kaoru

Looks great! Maybe a section on the role of shiai in kendo. I know this can sometimes be a little controversial, but after speaking to a beginner a few weeks back (who was of the firm opinion that the only role of shiai was to show-off and be the best etc etc thus he will never try) I thought its something that may be useful for beginers to read about. This could just be me thoughhttp://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

yeah, i'm surprised my carbon shinai has lasted this long, too...
couple other guys in class have had slats bust on them within 3 to 5 years... I think I'm going on year 7 now..

as for sleep... i was really dreading moving the clock back an hour to return to standard time tonight, but.. thankfully, we had a plan in place to get her back on track... tried to give the wife a break to see if the baby would take a bottle -- thankfully, she did -- around 3am.. and so, you see me now here wide-awake at 4:30 my time.. hehe

yeah, that's another good idea. i kind ran roughshod over that topic in the "what is kendo like?" part of the FAQ and when i get the time, i think i'll get into that in a little bit more (and better) detail.
another thing i'd like to develop better is an advice/tips section on shinsa..
so far, just have a couple thoughts on 4.dan shinsa from one of the old threads around here.

to everybody -- thanks for the suggestions so far.. hope to get some more!

Looks good, just a couple of comments:

In the section on injuries, the heavy emphasis on plantar fascitis makes it sound like the new student is at some great risk. I would reduce that whole thing to something like "aside from blisters, there is a chance of more serious injury to the achilles tendon or plantar fascia. These can be largely prevented by proper warmup and footwork."

I mean, we've had one achilles injury in over 25 years of our club, and maybe a couple of other sore foot things that may have been PF or some other condition.

The section on cost comparison is a little too wordy for my taste. I would restate it like "Many people are concerned about the costs of kendo equipment, but the fees you save over one year compared to a commercial studio could pay for all the equipment you need. Kendo is inexpensive when you consider the whole picture."

Also, do you really recommend $200 for a uniform for beginners?

thanks, neil.
yeah, i went back and forth on that section on injuries several times and tried to tone it down pretty well. i like your suggestion and i'll definitely make that change.
i've only been doing kendo 1/2 as long as you and in that time, the only serious thing i've seen is a single incident of a torn achilles tendon...

as for the section on costs... yes, it's wordy, but the head instructor wanted it outlined that heavily.
and no, we don't recommend $200 for hakama/keikogi ..only that if one bought really good stuff, he could easily pay that. your point is well taken, though, and i'll play around with that some more.

again, thanks.