Trial and Error: Rookie’s Introduction to the Martial Art

”What did I get myself into?” An inspiring beginning, isn’t it? Jokes aside, those words represent the real thoughts I had in mind, when I started the basic course of kendo. To give some background for this situation, I’ll go a bit backwards. When the year 2024 started, I was about to experience my final semester in the university and wanted to do something special for the sake of it. And kendo certainly seemed to be special, since I barely knew about its existence. You could say that my prior knowledge of Japanese martial arts in general was quite stereotypical. In my mind, people doing these things included overly strict old mans yelling commands and eccentric Western people who were little too curious of Japan. Not an ideal image, right? But then again, I thought that getting to know some parts of Japanese culture and handling a sword sounded interesting – and the armours kind of looked cool, too. All in all, the following question popped up in my head: why shouldn’t I give kendo a chance? As the Finnish saying goes, ”rohkea rokan syö”, or in English, ”the brave one eats the pea soup”. What I mean with this weird idiom is that if you’re too cautious, opportunities (like that delicious soup) can fade away. With this attitude, I decided to join the basic course.


From here, we get back to the very beginning of this text. In order to be in training sessions on time, I had to change my habits and wake up at six o’clock. Practising barefoot, I had to get my feet with dry skin used to sliding on the floor, which was not an easy task. The most challenging part for me, however, was a culture shock. While you may sometimes hear that the Finnish and the Japanese cultures are similar to each other, I can say that being in a room with unknown people shouting loudly was something unfamiliar, almost a little bit frightening to a peaceful Finn like me. Needless to say, all of this made me to think of the decision I had done. Regardless of the concerns I had, my stubborn side took over me and refused to give up that easily. Therefore, I set passing the first kyu exam as my goal: after that, I could continue with this martial art or make new plans.


So, what exactly did I decide to do? Well, I’m currently writing this text after passing my second kyu exam, so that tells you something. I’m still not totally used to early mornings, but nowadays I don’t really pay attention to shouting, unless it concerns my own performance. And what can be said about the people practising kendo? Contrary to my old beliefs, they seem to be normal and sane people (at least in relative terms). After completing the basic course, I’ve been using the whole set of bogu, which has allowed me to participate in duels – generally I lose these matches, but gaining even one successful strike against the opponent can be a thrilling experience, which makes you eager to wait for more.


As we’re heading towards the end of this text, I guess this should be the part where I share the wisdoms that I have learned from kendo. As my knowledge of the philosophy of this topic is still rather limited, I’ll skip that part and use my own words instead. I think that when you are doing kendo, you’ll have to take it seriously and at the same time not seriously. While this idea sounds confusing, there is a certain logic behind it. In order to learn new skills, it’s important to focus on the advice you are given, because otherwise you’ll rely only on your assumptions and gut feeling: in the worst cases, this can lead to undesirable outcomes, such as hitting the wrong part of your opponent’s body. At the same, you should keep in mind that your learning track won’t probably be flawless: you should try to aim for the best result, but don’t be disappointed if you experience obstacles on your path (I’m an expert on this topic, so you can trust me). In short, just be patient.


Time to wrap this one up. If you think that I’ll recommend doing kendo, you’re right, but only partially. You can try kendo like me, but you can also get yourself introduced to another hobby to find, if you could see yourself practising that in the future. Dramatically speaking, my journey into the world of kendo has just began with plenty of adventures ahead.

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