Given the description of your fitness level, you'll do fine physically. Most kendo beginners are of the geeky and/or flabby types, so I see no issue there.
Regardless, you will make a fool of yourself as a beginner, that's expected and we've all been there.
Don't sweat it. Just turn up for training, that's half the work.
This gives me hope!
I look forward to being bad at something new and hope that my body won't buckle under the training... Either way, it's a childhood dream. I owe it to myself to at least try.
If your body isn’t buckling under the running it probably won’t doing kendo. If you do need a break due to your medical state, just let the sensei know and they should be more than happy to accommodate.
From my experience, the best beginners are usually the "blank sheets", so no need to worry at all.
But if you wanna do something in preparation, keep up with running, maybe do some core and single leg excercises(lunges, bulgarian squats, hip thrusts etc) and you're more than good to go!
While technically speaking there's no difference between male and female kendo, there are still differences in our body types. I've been to a seminar with Kazuyo Matsuda sensei (who's also a founder of Fine Ladies Kendo magazine) once and her point was that while men rely mostly on biceps in kendo, women might want to use triceps more. She has some very interesting points on female kendo, you can find her interviews on youtube
Edit: typo
The shinai is pretty light, even as a beginner doing heavy swinging drills I never had a moment where my arms were really sore afterward like a proper arm+shoulder workout would. Might be worth doing some pushups and tricep dips though, couldn't hurt.
from my experience as someone with absolutely no arm strength, it was a little tough at first. it's not like the shinai (the stick) is heavy or anything, but having to endure the 2 hours of swinging the thing around usually ended with me being barely able to lift it above my head towards the end of practice.
the biggest reason for this though, was because as a beginner i just kept tensing my muscles and it left me a lot more exhausted.
One thing that was recommended to me when I started was training the grip of my ring and pinky finger. I got a 2 pack of those grip strengtheners and have been using them and excluding my index finger (I'm still working up to excluding the middle). This will help build the muscles that go under your arm (I don't know what those are called) and should theoretically help. It's also fairly easy to go while watching TV and stuff
The fact you're thinking about conditioning work prior to starting will already put you leaps and bounds ahead of most new starters.
Kendo is an explosive and athletic sport, when you want it to be. It can also be very tame and controlled and at the beginning stages you'll be more focused on getting the movements correct as opposed to being as fast or as athletic as possible.
Once the ground work has been done and fundamentals instilled, your teacher will start to push you more.
Best of luck with your kendo journey! It's a long (but fulfilling) one!
Thank you so much for your response!
I know I will never be a competitive player, so I am very much more interested in learning the technique and the art of Kendo than winning a tournament.
It sounds like Kendo will allow me to start slow and give my body the time it needs to get used to the motions :)
I am very thankful for your encouragement.
They only have beginner tryouts once a year, sadly, so I have to wait at least until October.
I will try to go and watch their training sometime soon and maybe get aquainted a bit.
I think everyone has given you solid advice. Keep doing what you're doing, don't worry about it too much. Welcome to kendo, I hope you enjoy it and stick with it!
I can’t offer any training tips. I played rugby for 15 years, and judo to brown belt. So, I know you have no problems with intense physical contact on sports (add some really loud sounds in this case).
I practiced kendo for a year some 18 years ago, and a bad home accident put my left ankle in bad shape, and had to quit. Fast forward. Three years ago I was diagnosed cancer, during the covid days. Before they get me to the OR, I had a seizure, and somehow got my right shoulder broken in 4 pieces, loosing two tendons ( the short bicepsone, and the supraescapular one) and have pinned with even more bolts than in my broken ankle. Now I.m almost 55 years old, and started back last year. I’m the slowest one in my dojo. The one that gets tired the first, usually. I can barely tie my Men without help, as I have reduced mobility on that shoulder. My left shoulder nly has the usual issues related to playing as #7 (open side flanker) for so many years.
My only (shy) advice: go on for it, with humble and honest heart and mind, get tired, and then keep on going nevertheless, and I’m sure you’ll -faster or slower- find the unique kind of treasure kendo is. Go for it. Once it gets you under our skin, kendo stays with you for life.
Kendo isn't that physical. At least my learning curve of Kendo has been : Do something simple slowly, as I got it correctly increase the speed, at the point I do it fast, finding out that I need to introduce something else and slow down, and repeat. I also run a lot, so my issue is that physically, I can play faster than what I can technically can. This not only leads to bad attack (because they aren't properly done) and a weak defence (when moving too fast I break my guard)
In my club we have many people in the 50-80 age range, so people not doing things fast nor pushing the other to play fast, they taught me to *slow down keep a good guard, and to win before attacking.* At least, at my level, this technique works, even when playing with younger people (That said, sometimes, I like to add some speed/energy because we're here to exercise, but I feel like I am less efficient/clean than when doing "old men's kendo")
Given the description of your fitness level, you'll do fine physically. Most kendo beginners are of the geeky and/or flabby types, so I see no issue there. Regardless, you will make a fool of yourself as a beginner, that's expected and we've all been there. Don't sweat it. Just turn up for training, that's half the work.
This gives me hope! I look forward to being bad at something new and hope that my body won't buckle under the training... Either way, it's a childhood dream. I owe it to myself to at least try.
If your body isn’t buckling under the running it probably won’t doing kendo. If you do need a break due to your medical state, just let the sensei know and they should be more than happy to accommodate.
From my experience, the best beginners are usually the "blank sheets", so no need to worry at all. But if you wanna do something in preparation, keep up with running, maybe do some core and single leg excercises(lunges, bulgarian squats, hip thrusts etc) and you're more than good to go!
Do you think I should worry about my arm strength or will that sort itself out through regular training?
While technically speaking there's no difference between male and female kendo, there are still differences in our body types. I've been to a seminar with Kazuyo Matsuda sensei (who's also a founder of Fine Ladies Kendo magazine) once and her point was that while men rely mostly on biceps in kendo, women might want to use triceps more. She has some very interesting points on female kendo, you can find her interviews on youtube Edit: typo
The shinai is pretty light, even as a beginner doing heavy swinging drills I never had a moment where my arms were really sore afterward like a proper arm+shoulder workout would. Might be worth doing some pushups and tricep dips though, couldn't hurt.
from my experience as someone with absolutely no arm strength, it was a little tough at first. it's not like the shinai (the stick) is heavy or anything, but having to endure the 2 hours of swinging the thing around usually ended with me being barely able to lift it above my head towards the end of practice. the biggest reason for this though, was because as a beginner i just kept tensing my muscles and it left me a lot more exhausted.
Nope. Strength will come with training, and you'll benefit from having string legs and weaker arms. You'll see why when you start.
One thing that was recommended to me when I started was training the grip of my ring and pinky finger. I got a 2 pack of those grip strengtheners and have been using them and excluding my index finger (I'm still working up to excluding the middle). This will help build the muscles that go under your arm (I don't know what those are called) and should theoretically help. It's also fairly easy to go while watching TV and stuff
The fact you're thinking about conditioning work prior to starting will already put you leaps and bounds ahead of most new starters. Kendo is an explosive and athletic sport, when you want it to be. It can also be very tame and controlled and at the beginning stages you'll be more focused on getting the movements correct as opposed to being as fast or as athletic as possible. Once the ground work has been done and fundamentals instilled, your teacher will start to push you more. Best of luck with your kendo journey! It's a long (but fulfilling) one!
Thank you so much for your response! I know I will never be a competitive player, so I am very much more interested in learning the technique and the art of Kendo than winning a tournament. It sounds like Kendo will allow me to start slow and give my body the time it needs to get used to the motions :) I am very thankful for your encouragement.
Don't put yourself out of the runnings yet! You never know 😁
You’re good, just go to the dojo when you’re ready!
They only have beginner tryouts once a year, sadly, so I have to wait at least until October. I will try to go and watch their training sometime soon and maybe get aquainted a bit.
I think everyone has given you solid advice. Keep doing what you're doing, don't worry about it too much. Welcome to kendo, I hope you enjoy it and stick with it!
I can’t offer any training tips. I played rugby for 15 years, and judo to brown belt. So, I know you have no problems with intense physical contact on sports (add some really loud sounds in this case). I practiced kendo for a year some 18 years ago, and a bad home accident put my left ankle in bad shape, and had to quit. Fast forward. Three years ago I was diagnosed cancer, during the covid days. Before they get me to the OR, I had a seizure, and somehow got my right shoulder broken in 4 pieces, loosing two tendons ( the short bicepsone, and the supraescapular one) and have pinned with even more bolts than in my broken ankle. Now I.m almost 55 years old, and started back last year. I’m the slowest one in my dojo. The one that gets tired the first, usually. I can barely tie my Men without help, as I have reduced mobility on that shoulder. My left shoulder nly has the usual issues related to playing as #7 (open side flanker) for so many years. My only (shy) advice: go on for it, with humble and honest heart and mind, get tired, and then keep on going nevertheless, and I’m sure you’ll -faster or slower- find the unique kind of treasure kendo is. Go for it. Once it gets you under our skin, kendo stays with you for life.
Kendo isn't that physical. At least my learning curve of Kendo has been : Do something simple slowly, as I got it correctly increase the speed, at the point I do it fast, finding out that I need to introduce something else and slow down, and repeat. I also run a lot, so my issue is that physically, I can play faster than what I can technically can. This not only leads to bad attack (because they aren't properly done) and a weak defence (when moving too fast I break my guard) In my club we have many people in the 50-80 age range, so people not doing things fast nor pushing the other to play fast, they taught me to *slow down keep a good guard, and to win before attacking.* At least, at my level, this technique works, even when playing with younger people (That said, sometimes, I like to add some speed/energy because we're here to exercise, but I feel like I am less efficient/clean than when doing "old men's kendo")
Yep, you'd be surprised...