karate then kendo

[tranquil]

hello

i am just curious about his mater and i apologize in advance.

I have done jka shotokan karate-do for awhile and i am interested in cross training mainly due to my girlfriend going to grad school.
( i have quite a bit of free time now lol)

but how similar are the two?

would it be a natural transition from karate to kendo? are the stances similar?

thank you.

[jubaji]

but how similar are the two?

Not very similar at all.

[ScottUK]

Chalk and cheese. Knowledge of karate terminology may help your transition into kendo, but not by much...

[Toudiyama[NL]]

Chalk and cheese. Knowledge of karate terminology may help your transition into kendo, but not by much...

Well knowledge of Shotokan may not help much for the transition
Style with roots in traditional koryu budo like Wado or Shindo Jinen Ryu (RyoBuKai) will help as they will not only have simular stances but will also apply the same principles (like nagashi, noru, nogare, irimi etc etc)

[The_Judo_Jibboo]

i think kendo would be to striking very much what aikido is to grappling. that is to say, it's not where you want your skills to be based but it's a good platform for fine-tuning and getting a better grasp on theory. i'd say go for it as a supplemental art.
quick example of what kendo might have to offer for you. i do judo and my best friend does kendo. now, i pride myself on having quite good balance. my balance is probably actually my strongest point, as it tends to cover up a lot of other mistakes in randori i'm pretty much impervious to single leg takedowns and the like, because as long as i can get some of my weight down on even one leg i'm pretty solid. so, whenever my buddy and i are standing around waiting for something (e.g. the 8 hours we waited to get into the sneak preview of 300 last week... i know, i have no life) we play this game. you stand about a foot and a half apart, facing each other. the rules are you can only hit each other's hands, and the first guy to move a foot loses. my kendo buddy kicks the crap out of me in this game every time! his timing and anticipation are perfect, alot of the time getting me to throw myself off balance trying to push him. even when i get a good solid shove it's like pushing against a post and i just have to take a step backwards.
so yeah, kendo has some really cool stuff to offer. you won't see many direct relationships to karate, but you'll get things out of it that will help in any martial art.

[jubaji]

in randori i'm pretty much impervious to single leg takedowns and the like.

No you're not. That kind of thinking will only get you in trouble.

[jubaji]

the rules are you can only hit each other's hands, and the first guy to move a foot loses. my kendo buddy kicks the crap out of me in this game every time! his timing and anticipation are perfect, alot of the time getting me to throw myself off balance trying to push him. even when i get a good solid shove it's like pushing against a post and i just have to take a step backwards.
so yeah, kendo has some really cool stuff to offer.

That's all well and good, but you're describing your friend, not Kendo.

[The_Judo_Jibboo]

No you're not. That kind of thinking will only get you in trouble.

i said pretty much but your point is well taken, and maybe a poor choice of words on my part, but i was just setting the stage for my example.

That's all well and good, but you're describing your friend, not Kendo.

indeed, my friend's current abilities are partly the natural attributes he brought to kendo, but they are also partly the result of studying kendo. i'm not saying your balance and timing will necessarily be as good as my buddy's if you take kendo as long as he has, but it's evidence that kendo has something to offer in training these attributes. your end result will be a mixture of what kendo has to offer and your own natural attributes.

[Toudiyama[NL]]

We actualy play that game in the dojo during Wado Karate training, standing in a stance called Tate Seishan and then trying to bring the other off balance without using power, Sensei is great at it, barely touches you and you still lose balance
Now this is a static balance as in you are not allowed to move your feet, I'm more of the balance in motion as most likely is the case with Judo Jibboo
Heck I can't even stand still when waiting 5 min for the bus, I keep pacing up and down

My Sensei has 5th Dan Wado Karate and Kobujitsu (Taira/Inoue lineage)

Now the original question was about the transition from Karate to Kendo, not about the possible benefit Kendo might have on ones Karate

The answer to the first is that from Shotokan Karate the transition is a difficult one
Answer to the second is that it will have a possitive influence on the way you move

[akio123]

wow karate to kendo...karate knows how to strike and now for kendo wielding a weapon. cool but the principles remain the same. and that is for the good character

[ScottUK]

wow karate to kendo...karate knows how to strike and now for kendo wielding a weapon. cool but the principles remain the same. and that is for the good character

Character buiding, yes, but I doubt that kendo teaches you how to 'wield a weapon'...

[tranquil]

hey

thanks i would have responded earlier but my computer broke and i just managed to get another one.


i have yet to try kendo but i value all of your opinions.

i am pretty shocked to find out that karate will not help me advance in kendo

i figured that both arts would have similar stances like the front stance , back stance or horse stance etc

[ScottUK]

i figured that both arts would have similar stances like the front stance , back stance or horse stance etc

Not at all. There are no real 'kamae' in kendo.

[Toudiyama[NL]]

Not at all. There are no real 'kamae' in kendo.

You probably mean no real "stances" in Kendo as kamae are the complete body "position"( for lack of a better english word)
like jodan no gamae, or hasso no gamae

Dachi is stance and this only applies to the feet and legs, none of the upper body influences what stance it is

Kendo doesn't really talk about stances

[ScottUK]

Agreed.

No 'stances' in kendo...