We have already seen some thoughts on what is Kendo. This post, and the following thread, I hope, will perhaps expand a little on what we think is what we would call "Good" Kendo. I mention this because if you ever watch a lot of people play, you will often hear people comment and say how someone plays "good" Kendo, while you may also hear people badmouth particular Kendo styles of play and tactics.
My personal opinion is that Good Kendo is a culmination of a lot of things. As discussed, Kendo itself can be a lot of things such as a sport, a martial art, a method of communicating. What makes it good, or bad, is how this sport, martial art or communication is conducted. In reality, there is never always black and white in this world, but a very large area of grey in-between, to say a definite good or bad is very difficult and so I would expect people to have quite differing opinions.
From a component breakdown, Good (or Bad) Kendo can be looked at in terms of the technical capability of the Kendoka. It can also be looked at in terms of the non-technical components (such as spiritual), and then it must be looked at in terms of the sportsmanship of the person. In this day and age, Kendo ultimately is played at competitions as a sport to win. Yes, you will find people who never compete, and they will focus upon their journey and spiritual growth. If that is the case, then that is fantastic, and you can not label them as Good or Bad, but only as technically competent or incompetent. To explain.
Technical ability can be used to describe good and bad playing. Someone who has good footwork, is able to control their and their opponents' maai, someone who can execute a strong powerful proper 'good' cut as discussed in the other thread, is technically good, and therefore you can call them good at playing Kendo. If they have poor footwork, can not control maai, can not make appropriate cuts, then, they can be easily labelled as a bad player.
Non-technical ability, is a little harder to use as a distinguishing factor. It is hard to judge someone's spirit, though from kiai and zanshin, you may be able to tell a little about it. Kata though can be used to determine spirit, because besides the technical aspect of Kata (which, in theory is quite easy if you have a good memory), you must display a force of spirit in your cuts and kiai. This is quite a grey area. This is also why Kata is so important in grading when you get to Ikkyu and Dan levels because the technical components are judged from jigeiko, and your spiritual is looked at in Kata (at least in my opinion). Due to this, if you never play competitions, when you grade, you get a pass or fail because you are considered competent or incompetent in jigeiko and kata.
Then, we come to the last item, sportsmanship (sports-person-ship if you really want to be politically correct for all of you out there). If you train hard, work hard, play hard, and compete hard, then you will know about sportsmanship. These awards are given in almost every single sport, and even in non-sports events too.
Sportsmanship is all about accepting results in a good natured way, regardless of the outcome, and appreciating what the competition you have been in has done with their efforts and training. If you complain about Shimpan calls, or how your opponent was cheating, or something like that, then that is bad sportsmanship. If you take all of the judgement calls and accept them with a good nature, then that is excellent sportsmanship. Besides sonkyo after your shiai, if you congratulate or thank your opponent afterwards, then that is also excellent. What happens on the court should stay on the court, and not go any further.
For those who have good, excellent sportsmanship, even in training, where they will take the missed cuts to their body, or receive clubbing cuts from beginners and not get upset, then they display, to me, good Kendo. Those who don't, should take the time to self-reflect. Why? We were all beginners once. Our sempai's and sensei's have taken those missed cuts of ours, and with good grace, and allowed us to continue to do so until we have learned how to cut properly. We should not be so arrogant to be higher than our sempai's and sensei's and say, no, you are not allowed to hit me wrongly without me getting upset at you.
Someone who has good technical, spiritual and sportsmanship all together is an excellent Kendoka. For most of us though, we are still working hard and developing the first two. The last one, everyone should be able to have. This in itself makes us good Kendoka. We might not make championship titles, or be in representative teams, but we will embody the virtues of Kendo.
Taken from the St Catharines Kendo Club website here:
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My personal opinion is that Good Kendo is a culmination of a lot of things. As discussed, Kendo itself can be a lot of things such as a sport, a martial art, a method of communicating. What makes it good, or bad, is how this sport, martial art or communication is conducted. In reality, there is never always black and white in this world, but a very large area of grey in-between, to say a definite good or bad is very difficult and so I would expect people to have quite differing opinions.
From a component breakdown, Good (or Bad) Kendo can be looked at in terms of the technical capability of the Kendoka. It can also be looked at in terms of the non-technical components (such as spiritual), and then it must be looked at in terms of the sportsmanship of the person. In this day and age, Kendo ultimately is played at competitions as a sport to win. Yes, you will find people who never compete, and they will focus upon their journey and spiritual growth. If that is the case, then that is fantastic, and you can not label them as Good or Bad, but only as technically competent or incompetent. To explain.
Technical ability can be used to describe good and bad playing. Someone who has good footwork, is able to control their and their opponents' maai, someone who can execute a strong powerful proper 'good' cut as discussed in the other thread, is technically good, and therefore you can call them good at playing Kendo. If they have poor footwork, can not control maai, can not make appropriate cuts, then, they can be easily labelled as a bad player.
Non-technical ability, is a little harder to use as a distinguishing factor. It is hard to judge someone's spirit, though from kiai and zanshin, you may be able to tell a little about it. Kata though can be used to determine spirit, because besides the technical aspect of Kata (which, in theory is quite easy if you have a good memory), you must display a force of spirit in your cuts and kiai. This is quite a grey area. This is also why Kata is so important in grading when you get to Ikkyu and Dan levels because the technical components are judged from jigeiko, and your spiritual is looked at in Kata (at least in my opinion). Due to this, if you never play competitions, when you grade, you get a pass or fail because you are considered competent or incompetent in jigeiko and kata.
Then, we come to the last item, sportsmanship (sports-person-ship if you really want to be politically correct for all of you out there). If you train hard, work hard, play hard, and compete hard, then you will know about sportsmanship. These awards are given in almost every single sport, and even in non-sports events too.
Sportsmanship is all about accepting results in a good natured way, regardless of the outcome, and appreciating what the competition you have been in has done with their efforts and training. If you complain about Shimpan calls, or how your opponent was cheating, or something like that, then that is bad sportsmanship. If you take all of the judgement calls and accept them with a good nature, then that is excellent sportsmanship. Besides sonkyo after your shiai, if you congratulate or thank your opponent afterwards, then that is also excellent. What happens on the court should stay on the court, and not go any further.
For those who have good, excellent sportsmanship, even in training, where they will take the missed cuts to their body, or receive clubbing cuts from beginners and not get upset, then they display, to me, good Kendo. Those who don't, should take the time to self-reflect. Why? We were all beginners once. Our sempai's and sensei's have taken those missed cuts of ours, and with good grace, and allowed us to continue to do so until we have learned how to cut properly. We should not be so arrogant to be higher than our sempai's and sensei's and say, no, you are not allowed to hit me wrongly without me getting upset at you.
Someone who has good technical, spiritual and sportsmanship all together is an excellent Kendoka. For most of us though, we are still working hard and developing the first two. The last one, everyone should be able to have. This in itself makes us good Kendoka. We might not make championship titles, or be in representative teams, but we will embody the virtues of Kendo.
Taken from the St Catharines Kendo Club website here:
**
| There are seven folds in a kendo hakama which represent the virtues of bushido, the samurai code. They are: Jin: Benevolence, kindness to your fellows Gi: Honour and righteousness Rei: Courtesy and Etiquette Chi: Wisdom or intelligence Shin: Trust and sincerity The pleats at the back have a legend associated with them: In Japanese mythology, two powerful warrior gods helped the goddess of the sun to create a unified Japan without the use of weapons. They used only their dignity. The left pleat represents Take-Mikazuchi-no-kami, whose shrine is Kashima-jingu, and the right represents Futsunushi-no-kami, whose shrine is Katori-jingu. The stiff center part represents Amaterasu-Omikami, the sun goddess, and creator of Japan, who binds the two and keeps them in balance. The back pleats represent this legend and it’s lesson of Wa – balance and harmony. |
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Jin: Be kind to your fellow Kendoka (Sportsmanship in receiving missed cuts and alike)
Gi: Have some honour in your actions (Sportsmanship, where you don't cheat in comps or badmouth your opponents)
Rei: R E S P E C T (Sportsmanship, full stop)
Chi: Understand your fellow Kendoka, the work they have put into their training
Shin: Trust in their ability, especially if you are a motodachi, and receive their cuts properly.
As much as this is a long winded post, there is a simple way to condense everything that I have written. Attitude. If you have a good attitude in Kendo, then you will be a good Kendoka. If you have a poor attitude, then you will not succeed very far.
Enjoy your Kendo, as Mark said. If you have a good attitude, and enjoy your training, for the physical exercise, the spiritual gain if you believe in it, the camaraderie between your fellow Kendoka, then you will get the most from it. If you have a poor or bad attitude, then it will foreshadow you, and not only will you not enjoy your Kendo, but the people around you will keep away from you, not respect you, and not enjoy their Kendo with you.
My (long) 2 cents.
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