Kendo – First Impressions
Thursday was my 1st Kendo practice. I had really been looking forward to starting Kendo, but for 3 days at work we had been battling a really persistent computer virus so most of my focus had been on that. My work week so far had consisted of twelve hour days without any breaks, but all the stress you could want. I was really starting to have doubts that I would make the first practice. In the past, this is something that I would allow to sabotage my Jiu-Jitsu training. Work stress would have me so mentally wigged-out and my body would be wound so tight, that I often couldn’t drag myself to practice. In reality, it probably would have been the best thing for me. I had enrolled son# 2 in Kendo as well and I called him from work and said, “Hey, we may have to miss the 1st practice because of work.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice, so despite my mental state – we made it to practice.
Upon arriving at the Y, I have to admit I felt pretty silly walking out of the locker room carrying a big wooden stick with me. But I figured that a good WHACK upside the head should be enough to silence most hecklers, so we made our way out of the locker room and headed for the dojo.
We bowed as we entered the dojo and went to the side to take off our shoes and do some stretches. Looking around I noticed a few other students standing around. From their awkward stances I figured they were new too. Two students were not standing awkwardly, but were wearing Kendo-Gis\Hakamas and seemed to know what they were doing. It was a small group: just myself, my son, 3 other new students, 2 senior students and the instructor (Sensei).
When Sensei showed up, we started doing some basic stretches\warm-ups. For each warm-up we would count to 8 in Japanese. I remembered some of this from my Judo days. In fact, I’m fluent in counting to 10 in 5 different languages. Maybe I should consider applying for a job at the UN?
After warm-ups we lined up, bowed, and did 5 minutes of Mokuso (meditation). I think it was at that point that Sensei introduced himself and asked us why we had chosen to learn Kendo. For myself, I’m looking for the structure and camaraderie I’ve always found in martial arts training. I also want something that emphasizes the “art” side of martial arts and is still a good workout.
We then officially started class by learning a good stance, which I believe is called Chudan-no-kamae. In future posts I will go into more detail about what we learn. For now I will just say that I was surprised at the amount of yelling in Kendo. I think it has something to do with demonstrating good “fighting spirit” or it could just be a way to warn others “Look out – I’ve got a big wooden stick and I’m itching for an excuse to use it!” I will say for now that my left calf was SORE for a day after practice. That stance is going to take some getting used to. Also, I found the instructor (I have trouble calling someone Sensei - guess I need to work on that) to be humble, but very capable in his abilities.
We ended class as we started: with bowing and meditation. After the beginner class, the senior students put on their Bogus (practice armor) and had their practice.
I was very happy after pratice. After 25 years of studying different martial arts, I feel like I’m on a path again. A path that requires learning, sweating, and struggling to reap it’s benefits. Just like life.
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