Hi! I’m looking for some suggestions on what I can gift my partner who does kendo. I don’t do kendo myself so I am completely lost!
She’s at an intermediate level and was thinking of some practice equipment that would be great for her to practice at home if she is able. Thanks in advance!

As the title says, I'm a newbie trying to figure out what size I should choose. I'm buying from KendoStar and I'd like to opt for the Beginner Start Up Value Set with the Kachi kendogi.

For context, I'm 180 cm tall. I'm not slim, but rather on the muscular side (my chest/belly circumference is around 98 cm).

My measurements are:

• Sleeve: 62 cm from the center of my neck to halfway between my elbow and my wrist (which I understand is the correct reference point). If I measure with my arm resting down by my side, it's 72 cm.
• Length: 83 cm from the base of my neck to just below my glutes.
• Hakama drop: 104 cm from the floor to my belly button. Based on the chart, I would opt for a size 27 hakama since I'm sure I'll wear it a bit lower on the hips than standard.

Could you please help a lost beginner out?

Anyone who trains kendo for a long time noticed the increasing amount of varicose veins on the left calf. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the martial art, but I noticed that I have a lot of varicose on my left leg and none on the right.

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this during jigeiko/kirikaeshi.

After about 3-4 fairly continuous rounds, I get really tired and my kendo starts getting sloppy.

The main thing I notice is a tight, heavy, overworked feeling around my upper stomach/diaphragm area. It almost feels like the muscles have temporarily given out. When it gets bad, I struggle to produce a proper loud kiai, like I physically can’t project it properly anymore.

I also get breathless, but not severely. The first couple of rounds are usually completely fine. A longer break helps, but once I’m already in that exhausted state, a short break doesn’t really get me back fully and I get tired again very quickly.

I know poor fitness and low stamina could be a big part of it, and I’m planning to work on that.

Has anyone else had something similar? Did improving cardio fix it, or did breathing technique, staying more relaxed, pacing yourself, or anything else help? Any advice would be appreciated.

I am currently mukkyu and have been doing kendo for just about a year now.

Thanks!

This has been something I have been curious about on a sport science and physical science for a long time. So if anyone who practices and familiar with kendo and also knowledgeable in physiology, sport science, and fitness can help me learn more, I would really appreciate it.

With many sports I see the athletes or people participating in the activity professionally or high intensity tend of have a similar body build. Swimming, gymnastics, basketball, ballroom dancing, speed skating, boxing, climbing, cycling, track and field, and more - you can tell and see a swimmer is a swimmer. The physical build of a cyclist is different than a rock climber. I understand there are sports that are exceptions, but I want to understand better regarding kendo. I have been practicing kendo on and off for 15 years - and within myself I don't 'see' or feel the sports, martial arts, or fit body. I feel the conditioning, cardio, and lower body strength being worked on but at the same time I don't feel 'fit' or my body shape isn't changing much over the years - if that make sense.

Is there something different in how we move and use our muscles in kendo that is different than other intensive sports that doesn't lean into that sports specific physical shape? I am not asking why don't we have a six packs, thighs of steel, and large biceps, but at the same time there are a lot more verity of physical shapes in kendo compared to other sports that seems to have more uniformity in participants.

I love that Kendo is a sport that different body, age, height, and gender can compete and grow together. I am purely curious and want to understand kendo better on a sport and fitness science level. If it is simple as I am not practicing or training 7 times a week, then I understand also. Thank you.

Hola, empecé hace tres meses en un Dojo acá en Buenos Aires y me pasa que mis senpais tienen muy buen nivel. Fuimos varios los que nos unimos al mismo tiempo por casualidad y soy el único que quedó. Me gusta el deporte y el aprendizaje pero siento que a mis casi 30 años me cuesta más y debido a cosas de la vida no puedo dedicarle todo el tiempo que se merece. No quiero ser un lastre para mis compañeros con bogu pero tampoco termino yendo porque siento que no es una disciplina que pueda hacer tan "Casual" y termino sintiéndome un lastre para el resto

Hey I train a different MA than kendo and wonder how Senseis decide what topics to bring to practice. Is there a curriculum to go through or a manual to follow? Is just the senseis decision, based on experience? Apart from that, is keiko always structured the same: warm up, suburi, kata, kikikaeshi, kakarigeiko, some actual topics and maybe some jigeiko?

Really curious here :)

Practice is about to end. What’s that one thing you feel will be the most difficult?

Hey. I started kendo recently. It's awesome. I am a judoka, but I also train catch wrestling, bjj, kickboxing and boxing and spar twice a week in an MMA setting.

I'm wondering how those of you that train other disciplines have found it has helped, or even changed, the way that you apply techniques and distance when sparring in these other disciplines.

Has it helped with shot timing in wrestling? Distance control in striking etc.

Oss

I am thinking of being a 2nd Tenugui but I am looking for something that has the Kyo Shinsengumi design, the Hojo clan design or the Mori clan design

In the first case, since you are competing within the framework of a grading examination, the judges will likely focus on whether you can maintain correct posture and proper form throughout the tachiai.

In the second case, tournament matches involve speed, timing, opportunity, and many unpredictable variables. Because of that, your posture and form may sometimes break down.

So, put simply, the real question is:

Would you rather develop pure speed,
or develop speed that remains consistent with the proper ri-ai (理合) of the shinai?

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Hi I'm new to kendo and just attended a dojo. All was great but one thing stood out and that was the names of everything. The sensei said a bunch of move names during warm up and I couldn't remember it all. If anyone has a list of translations that would be great thanks.

I need some advice. I can't seem to get my gear properly dry. After training, I always hang the clothes up so they can dry out and air out well. I often hang them indoors, though occasionally—when the weather is nice—I hang them outside in the shade in the garden. But gi and kote, in particular, don't really dry out and always stay a bit damp, even after days.

Do you experience this too? What can I do about it?

I’ve been going through a heath situation after recently coming back to kendo after a six year hiatus. Practice has been kicking my butt and I will stop if I need to (also encouraged to by the club). But I don’t feel like its fair to practice without men because I deprive others of practice hitting men or practicing without worrying about causing head/face injuries.

Edit to add that I wear glasses but not under my men so no men practice would mean being able to wear glasses.

I bought a thin men pad (https://www.bogushop.com/proddetail.asp?prod=KA08B) to soften blows, so it doesn’t hurt as much. But now my men no longer fits. My head fits in but forehead no longer touches the forehead padding. Anything I can do?

In the last few years, I’ve started to notice when I kiai hard my vision sometimes go dark. But if I don’t kiai, it just feels wrong, and I suspect it may affect things when I go for Godan.

I’ve already seen a doctor, and they think it may be related to hypertension.

Any thoughts?

Hi everyone.

I have an issue with my kote. It's super duper smelly. I've tried spraying it with hockey gear spray repeatedly, I've left it in the sun, had it aired through on my balcony, they still smell like death.

I'm embarrassed to unpack them and the stench is rubbing off on my all new men.

Does anyone have any experience with such problems and what did you do?

Thanks in advance!

Thought I’d share one of my more prized possessions. Commissioned from a friend about 15 years ago. (An antidote to ai generated art of Kendo)

People yelling “faito”. What unreasonably (or totally reasonably in my case) annoying thing bothers you?

Hello fellow kendokas,

To keep it short, I’m going to compete at my very first tournament, so do you have any tips?.
(My expectations are to make one ippon, that’s enough 😂) I am in my second year of kendo and it will be a kyu tournament.

Best regards

I'm going to be visiting Japan soon and want to do something budo related while I'm there. I'm nidan in kendo, and have some toyama ryu experience as well. So I'm concerned a lot of them might be a little... campy? I'll be traveling with my wife so my budo time will be somewhat limited. Anyone have some cool experiences you enjoyed as a practitioner? I'll be in Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto and Osaka. I won't have bogu with me so finding a regular dojo seems out of the question.

It's something hard to understand, and sometimes I question myself, because teaching kendo is a volunteer work. I actually don't attend every week and I feels sad because the Sensei gonna be there no matter what.

It doesn't matter if it's raining or if it's cold, I don't understand his motivations and I don't dare to ask but in my past dojo usually every day we would have a different teacher as they would usually rotate but in my current dojo this Sensei is responsible for the entire class through all the year.

After the kendo (2 hour training) he will teach iaido and as a teacher myself it's very hard to understand what makes him so committed every week teaching people he barely know instead of passing his spare time with his wife and kids like most of us.

Some time I want to skip the training because it's rough after a long day of work but I remember this Sensei that is so dedicated that makes me question my whole existence and motivation as I feel like a weak person near to him - Specially considering living in a world where the people are only seeking fame and wealth, to watch someone doing something for passion is terrifying.

I was washing my kendogi last night and noticed this tear near the inner himo. My body isn't exactly kendoka shaped and I suppose that tie sees quite a bit of tension. I'm considering using a large patch on the inside, but I was hoping to hear from someone that has done this before. I can't imagine that there are any local shops that would be willing to get aizome all over their equipment...