Any love for kendo here?
I've been trying to find people who do it around campus but haven't had much luck so far.
Tips on loosening up? Even after 6 years I still tend to tense up occasionally in the shoulders.
>>754648
You're gonna have be more precise than "occasionally" if you want some actual tips m80. "Loosening up" usually just means "using just the right amount of force at the exact right time" and depends on what your trying to do.
Generally I find that it comes naturally once I know a technique good enough. It helps me to practice it without an opponent, when I can do it properly by myself I find it easier to understand where I go wrong once I try it on an actual opponent.
I used to do kendo but switched to spot fencing because it was too ritualistic. Plus the whole barefoot thing grossed me out.
>>754684
this.
the whole shouting thing messes up my voice for a few hrs afterwards.
barefoot kinda sucks too.
maybe its just me. barehanded striking arts feel more... "natural" than weapon arts.
that or i just didnt stick it otu with kendo long enough.
>>754782
I don't really get the problem with bare feet, but shouting messing up your voice is probably just you not used to it. How long did you stick with it for?
>>754804
a month.
learned the basics. footwork, basic strikes.
what caught me off balance was the scoring method of hitting at the same time as the stamp and the shout. kinda dont get the rationale behind it.
>>754865
It's not that strange if you think about it. European fencing has a similar footwork where you lunge as you strike, it's simply the fastest way to advance on you opponent (provided you're on flat ground, Kenjutsu/Iaido generally don't have the same footwork). The screaming is mainly to help you breathe correctly, I think boxing has a similar thing where you breathe out as you punch, kiai is basically just a vocalization of that.
So are there any uses of stances besides chuudan no kamae and joudan? Nito ryu too I guess, though it's rare to see. Like, do stances like gedan no kamae and such serve any practical purpose/see use in competition or are they just relics from an older era?
>>754906
stances like gedan are'nt used in kendo competition because they dont like up with kendo targets. There is no rule against using them, but doing so makes no sense.
They are still in the kendo kata, so they are part of kendo, but they are not integrated into all of kendo
>>755189
line up* not like up. sorry
>>754648
i started to loosening up only after i started to do a thousand men cuts a day
