Kyoto Budogu Blog

Friday, May 30, 2014

Ignorance is blister.



I have been practising Kendo for two thirds of my life, which, being a European kenshi, puts me safely in the category "Survivors".
I have been travelling a lot, thanks to Kendo, too, and I can surely say I have seen much.
Now that I live and work in Japan, though, I discover myself prey of strange and unusual fits of fury. I cannot find a better word to describe my reaction to the daily, continuous discovery of new equipment items, be they custom-made shinai, high-tech summer kendogi or shiai-hyperspecialised kote.

It is a fact that in Japan the availability of new items is not something of today. In Europe we were still struggling with finding a bogu (any bogu) to start practice, while here the master craftsmen were creating all possible variation of  armour. Now we think that globalisation and internet shopping have changed all this, but believe, from where I stand, this is NOT true.

There are two main reasons: both of them are cultural and, in my opinion, both should be corrected, because they are in the way of our Kendo progress.

The first reason can be summarised in the "I-am-not-good-enough-for-it" Syndrome. "Would I look arrogant if I buy a bamboo Do?" "Will my sensei get angry at me if I buy a hand-stitched Bogu?" these are REAL questions I had to answer in my daily work. Apart for giving me a lot of thought regarding the moral standing of a sensei with an envious side, if the economical aspect is within your possibilities, striving to have the best equipment possible would be considered obvious in any other physical activity, make it ski or tennis, but even simple WALKING (would you go for too small or too large shoes?).
In Kendo, for some strangely ingrained attitude, it is good to suffer with wrong sized Bogu, it is healthy to bleed in badly padded and worn out Kote, it absolutely reasonable to get epicondylitis using too heavy, wrongly shaped shinai. Yes, because we are the descendant of the Samurai and suffering is our destiny.
Let me immediately tell you that the real descendants of the Samurai use equipments that fit their needs perfectly and if they have to show endurance you can be sure that is about fighting with all their heart and their might against the opponent, not against their equipment. Suffering because we have been sloppy (or extra-money-tight)  in selecting or sizing our Bogu is NOT GOOD.

The second cultural reason is, appropriately, lack of culture, meaning lack of information regarding what is available out there. There is A LOT. And be warned, there are also fashion items and badly thought-of inventions, but that is part of the game in a mature and extensive market, that offers so much.
When I started Kendo, oh gosh, it was lucky to receive one of the second-hand, student bogu the AJKF would donate every year. The Men was too big? a bit of padding et voila`! The Kote were torn? Endless afternoons of fun, punching your fingers with a needle. The Hakama was too short? Naked ankles are sexy after all. THOSE TIMES ARE OVER!
Just ask, the information are available, if you are searching for the right item for you, probably it is already OUT THERE! Ask, and do not buy blindly: there are reason why items have different prices even if they look the same, there are possibilities of customisations that not necessarily are reserved to kenshi millionaires, there is even room for some quirkiness, because we are individuals, even if we are all striving to hit Men-uchi in the same way.

2 comments:

  1. Haha, back when I started, I had to order my bogu from China due to it being the cheapest option and me being a college student. As luck would have it, my bogu mysteriously vanished en route, leaving me two months behind my peers, until my sensei finally loaned me a set. The tare was too small and the men was moldy, but what can you do? You work with what you have.

    What I'm impressed with here is repairs. Back home, we had most of our club members repairing holes in kote and snapped leather strappings by hand. When the loop on my do broke last year I was sure I'd have to pay an arm and a leg to get it replaced, but the shop did it for free, after I purchased the item. Super happy about that.

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