What is Kendo to me?

At the moment, I have not fully understood the value of Kendo. In other perspective, I gotten different perspective of myself. I found that Kendo has allowed me to open to people and become more intiative. Mentally, I feel different and I became more aware of my surroundings, not only for myself but to others as well. I am looking foward to gaining all three aspects of kendo; body, mind and soul(keykentai).

Kumdo and Kendo

Kendo and Kumdo, they are both form of swordmanship, using curved sword. I started out with Kumdo but continued my study as a Kendoist. Kendo comes from Japanese swordmanship whereas Kumdo is Korean swordmanship. They are very alike, they both have Kaiko but their teaching is different.

Kumdo in my perspectice focuses more on the sports part of the swordmanship. I noticed myself doing over 1000+ cuts for every class at one point. First class of Kumdo was just doing MaehRi (Men) cuts for 2 hours straight. Next class was ShonMok (Kotie)and HelRi (Do). It was a lot of repetition but the process was quicker than expected. I began with the skills but there was one thing missing, my mind and soul. I had not connection with my opponent to be aware of my growth. All I remember is a lot of practicing the same thing and less focus on the idea of perfect practice makes perfect. It seemed, there was a sacrifice in the beginning of martial training stage. I think there was sacrifice of traditional swordmanship for the sports value. I'm not saying that this is truth but this is what I felt as a kendoist.

During some period of Kendo career, I have made choices to practice or not. When I started off with Kumdo, I was not pleased with what I was doing. I did not know the meaning of the art. (What it thought or what it is for?) When I came to kendo, I thought it was the same. I beg to differ now. I am overwhelmingly confident that Kendo has allowed me to see new passion. Knowing to teaching that is passed down from Sensei can allow relation between my life. Kendo can be a simple terms, martial arts but what it comes with the training is understanding to be humble by understanding yourself first. Kendo, what is the importance to me? (unsure but hope to find out)

If you guys want to read more on kendo and kumdo, I found an interesting link but please do not take a word by word as written. It is for your enjoyment but the endless debate of kendo/kumdo and which is the correct form is endless. http://www.sfu.ca/~woojinc/kendo/kumdo_kendo.pdf

Things I Realize

I was thinking about my problems and trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I was frustrated and was unsure about all the techniques and keihon exercise of the practice. In a way I felt awkward. I realized now that, we cannot think and reminding myself the wrong but rather doing that, we can go with the flow. Understanding adaptation will allow my kendo to improve from my interpretation of the practice.

Kendo is not about cutting objects nor is it a violent martial arts. It's a teaching of life. I think everything can be interpreted in kendo. Aggression in kendo can lead to aggression in social life but understanding your flaw can rescue you from a black hole. To become strong is not to think you are strong but understanding your weakness. Rather trying to improve by understanding your strength, it may be better to improve by understanding your weakness. Kendo and Life, what is the difference? What is there to think it's different, it boils down to interpretation of individual.

Some thoughts I had

- Lets love everyone around us.

- Enjoy it, cherish every moment of it.

- Smile, you'll be younger.^^

- Think young, why think old. Yak

- Be polite and respect everyone, especially to your elders.

- If there are bad days, there would be good days to look forward to.

- Be more influential and take the initiative.

- Karma surrounds our lives.

- Take one step back to aid others to take one step forward.

- One long strive is equal to many short steps.

- It takes 2 for relationship but it takes 1 to start it.

- If you are unsuccessful on the first try, try again and don't stop until you succeed.

- Know your path and go with it.

- Wrong and Right, which side are you on? Do you have to judge?

- I can take a long jump to the finish line but I can also take few little steps to the finish line.

- Looking at one thing may blind our judgement of truth.

Video Clip

(Warning: may contain some gore)

- Amazing 9th Dan, 82 years old Daniguchi sensei (for like master)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-myBW-ubCiU

- 8th Dan Examination Documentary (47 min long)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXMfPPWkMVY

- I found some interesting clip from the movie, "The Sword of Doom" from 1966. I think this would be most exciting clip I have seen so far. Go check it out on Youtube:

http://youtube.com/results?search=the+sword+of+doom+1966&search_type=search_videos&search=Search

- I came across a clip from "Seven Samurai"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yf7skjzDS0

- Making of Katana (the right way)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ofKvsMDgc

- Making of Katana (the wrong way)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_JcP0AASFw

To be continue...