Kendo is all about me me me.
But the attention that 'me' will enjoy is about criticism, defeat, failure, the blunt reminder that the 'me' is so hopelessly imperfect.
'Kokki' 克己 means 'overcome your own weakness' and this motto is often printed on a tenugui. It's nothing new. I bet the Romans and the ancient Greeks had something similar, but in the modern society, such value is getting rarer.
Even in a competitive setup, kendo is all about me, not about your opponent. Once you stop thinking about your opponent and think about what YOU are doing, that should make more sense.
Your opponent/partner is almost incidental, just a mirror, the mirror that reflects you.
You need them, but they are not the end purpose.
Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts
9 September 2016
17 April 2016
Why Kendo will never become a mainstream sports
I talked about kendo with my colleagues who have no exposure to it.
They were impressed by the non-commercial nature of kendo and said "gee, why I've never heard of such a good activity?".
Simply, there are not enough instructors to make kendo mainstream.
Kendo is chiefly a qualitative activity, and it's time consuming to become even a vaguely competent kendo practitioner to teach other people.
Grade is just a minimum requirement to open a club, but the grade itself is not a reliable indicator of the actual skill. Many organisations issue a grade out of leniency - to keep the organisation viable.
You should be able to tell a good kendo practitioner when they move. Not by their grade.
YouTube & forums are useful but these medium cannot troubleshoot individual issues that are caused by a person's unique set up such as physical and mental dispositions.
The kendo skill has to be transferred from one person to the other manually, which means teacher & students both have to be present in the same space for a considerable length of time.
You can't copy & paste (nor Skype) kendo skill. You & your teacher have to be in one place to make you understand the subtlety of kendo movement, because just 'wacking a target with a stick' isn't enough to call it kendo.
So, perhaps this is the reason why kendo remains a slow-growing activity and would never become mainstream.
But I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing.
Kendo exists because it's a culture that we can share the joy of. Not because it's commercially profitable.
If you practice kendo anywhere in the world, it's a great privilege as well as serious responsibility. The responsibility towards your forebearers also towards your successors.
I think such format is very rare and precious in this day and age.
They were impressed by the non-commercial nature of kendo and said "gee, why I've never heard of such a good activity?".
Simply, there are not enough instructors to make kendo mainstream.
Kendo is chiefly a qualitative activity, and it's time consuming to become even a vaguely competent kendo practitioner to teach other people.
Grade is just a minimum requirement to open a club, but the grade itself is not a reliable indicator of the actual skill. Many organisations issue a grade out of leniency - to keep the organisation viable.
You should be able to tell a good kendo practitioner when they move. Not by their grade.
YouTube & forums are useful but these medium cannot troubleshoot individual issues that are caused by a person's unique set up such as physical and mental dispositions.
The kendo skill has to be transferred from one person to the other manually, which means teacher & students both have to be present in the same space for a considerable length of time.
You can't copy & paste (nor Skype) kendo skill. You & your teacher have to be in one place to make you understand the subtlety of kendo movement, because just 'wacking a target with a stick' isn't enough to call it kendo.
So, perhaps this is the reason why kendo remains a slow-growing activity and would never become mainstream.
But I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing.
Kendo exists because it's a culture that we can share the joy of. Not because it's commercially profitable.
If you practice kendo anywhere in the world, it's a great privilege as well as serious responsibility. The responsibility towards your forebearers also towards your successors.
I think such format is very rare and precious in this day and age.
5 December 2015
Kendo value-system
I believe the value-system in kendo has a lot to offer to enhance modern living.
Problem is that not many kendo practitioners are taking it.
If you remove such value-system / philosophy, kendo is only a brutal sword fighting discipline, and I no longer see the point of it.
Problem is that not many kendo practitioners are taking it.
If you remove such value-system / philosophy, kendo is only a brutal sword fighting discipline, and I no longer see the point of it.
14 September 2015
Institutional abuse in kendo community
From my observation, there is a worrying tendency in kendo community which attracts (and sometimes promote) anti-social and abusive behaviour.
These abuses are often take place thinly disguised as part of kendo discipline, and we were led to believe that some unpleasant, manipulative and devious behaviours are part of kendo culture, so, shut up and put up.
But after a few years of regular practice in various dojos, seriously questioning my own findings and some in-depth discussions with experienced practitioners, I now feel that I'm able to distinguish abuse from discipline reasonably well, so I decided to share my concern with wider kendo community.
I believe this phenomenon exists due to the misguided perception of kendo - brutal, archaic, hierarchical & somewhat exotic discipline that (incorrectly but often romantically assumed) operates outside the norms & boundaries of everyday life.
This is far from the image the mainstream kendo community wants to portray, but the reality is that often hierarchical culture in kendo is used as a platform to exercise one's petty authority and inflict abuse on junior members by senior people of undesirable traits.
This issue is not limited to far-flung obscure dojos. Reputable and established dojos in big cities are equally susceptible to this type of insidious problems.
Allowing such devious behaviours poses a risk to the entire kendo community in the eyes of the wider society.
In short, our reputation is at stake.
The institutional problem here is that the victim often feels powerless due to the hierarchical nature of kendo.
Grade and past achievements are highly respected and such prestige culture is a big discouragement for the victim to challenge their senior, and even when they plucked up the courage and complain, they meet with dismissive or indifferent response from their peers and seniors.
Too often their voice is not taken seriously due to the myth that in kendo the higher rank you get more righteous you become.
Such simplistic association is unrealistic yet the kendo community quite readily accepts such naive view when it comes to its members.
There's also a critical flaw in the system, such as the grievance procedure set by the national umbrella organisation which designated the dojo leader as the first point of contact for any grievances - it is wholly inadequate if the dojo leader themselves are causing the problem.
There is also no anonymity for the victim to report an incident, and their complaint is very rarely investigated by the umbrella organisation. Such record simply vanishes into the void.
Given that kendo community is highly intertwined - almost incestuous, even talking to a complaint officer from other dojo risks victim's welfare if the complaint officer is happened to be well-connected to the accused.
They could gang up on the victim and make it impossible for the victim to practice kendo wherever they are present.
Alongside such weak system to prevent abuse, too many aspects of dojo management is left to the discretion of dojo leaders that could be used to conceal internal abuse.
Some dojos carry an air of cult such as blatant hostility towards other dojos and demand excessive devotion to the club from its members. Such controlling atmosphere breeds unhealthy attitude & often resulted in abuse.
Some seniors routinely take advantage of their position to harass junior members of the opposite gender.
When such concern is voiced, typically the dojo leaders (who are not the accused) are disinterested in dealing with such issue and put most of their effort in silencing the victim or sweep the matter under the carpet, or even throw out the accuser from the dojo.
If an adult can be abused like that, more vulnerable group are equally at risk if not grater.
Any of these behaviours are totally against the mainstream kendo value, but the obscure presence of kendo in society, weak internal system and naivety amongst the member are currently allowing such institutional abuse to continue and its victims to suffer in silence.
Such injustice should not be associated with kendo whatsoever, but sadly, that's the current situation from my observation.
And since the abusers are getting away with it, this culture could attract people with similar undesirable dispositions.
It is this indifferent attitude that needs utmost urgent change, and I believe the solution is quite simple.
Think this in terms of acceptable behaviour in a workplace.
Albeit kendo is primarily charity/volunteer activity, that doesn't warrant harmful behaviour. Volunteer activities can be done in a professional manner and such professional culture would attract more people with the right idea into kendo.
The bottom line is, when a type of behaviour is unacceptable in the wider society, it's still unacceptable regardless of whether someone has an exotic hobby or not.
It is rather puzzling that may people within the kendo community seem to think that there's a different law operating inside the kendo community therefore they are exempt from the normal rules & regulations. (a cult-like mindset)
Such misconception is not only irrelevant but also dangerous.
In order to promote healthy & mainstream image of kendo and deliver on it, all of us are responsible to identify and tackle such institutional problems.
I would suggest 3 points below to be introduced and maintained. This level of openness and firm attitude towards abuse would send a strong message to the entire community that kendo will not tolerate abusive behaviour and the perpetrator will face the consequence regardless of their reputation, connection, grade or past achievement.
- acknowledge potential risks and raise awareness amongst its member (education)
- set a clear and fair grievance procedure by the umbrella body (system)
- any incident reported should be anonymised and (with a permission of the victim) shared with the entire community annually as case studies (feedback + preventative effect)
Challenge authority if there's a valid reason.
Kendo should taught you to make a good judgement and act upon it without hesitation.
These abuses are often take place thinly disguised as part of kendo discipline, and we were led to believe that some unpleasant, manipulative and devious behaviours are part of kendo culture, so, shut up and put up.
But after a few years of regular practice in various dojos, seriously questioning my own findings and some in-depth discussions with experienced practitioners, I now feel that I'm able to distinguish abuse from discipline reasonably well, so I decided to share my concern with wider kendo community.
I believe this phenomenon exists due to the misguided perception of kendo - brutal, archaic, hierarchical & somewhat exotic discipline that (incorrectly but often romantically assumed) operates outside the norms & boundaries of everyday life.
This is far from the image the mainstream kendo community wants to portray, but the reality is that often hierarchical culture in kendo is used as a platform to exercise one's petty authority and inflict abuse on junior members by senior people of undesirable traits.
This issue is not limited to far-flung obscure dojos. Reputable and established dojos in big cities are equally susceptible to this type of insidious problems.
Allowing such devious behaviours poses a risk to the entire kendo community in the eyes of the wider society.
In short, our reputation is at stake.
The institutional problem here is that the victim often feels powerless due to the hierarchical nature of kendo.
Grade and past achievements are highly respected and such prestige culture is a big discouragement for the victim to challenge their senior, and even when they plucked up the courage and complain, they meet with dismissive or indifferent response from their peers and seniors.
Too often their voice is not taken seriously due to the myth that in kendo the higher rank you get more righteous you become.
Such simplistic association is unrealistic yet the kendo community quite readily accepts such naive view when it comes to its members.
There's also a critical flaw in the system, such as the grievance procedure set by the national umbrella organisation which designated the dojo leader as the first point of contact for any grievances - it is wholly inadequate if the dojo leader themselves are causing the problem.
There is also no anonymity for the victim to report an incident, and their complaint is very rarely investigated by the umbrella organisation. Such record simply vanishes into the void.
Given that kendo community is highly intertwined - almost incestuous, even talking to a complaint officer from other dojo risks victim's welfare if the complaint officer is happened to be well-connected to the accused.
They could gang up on the victim and make it impossible for the victim to practice kendo wherever they are present.
Alongside such weak system to prevent abuse, too many aspects of dojo management is left to the discretion of dojo leaders that could be used to conceal internal abuse.
Some dojos carry an air of cult such as blatant hostility towards other dojos and demand excessive devotion to the club from its members. Such controlling atmosphere breeds unhealthy attitude & often resulted in abuse.
Some seniors routinely take advantage of their position to harass junior members of the opposite gender.
When such concern is voiced, typically the dojo leaders (who are not the accused) are disinterested in dealing with such issue and put most of their effort in silencing the victim or sweep the matter under the carpet, or even throw out the accuser from the dojo.
If an adult can be abused like that, more vulnerable group are equally at risk if not grater.
Any of these behaviours are totally against the mainstream kendo value, but the obscure presence of kendo in society, weak internal system and naivety amongst the member are currently allowing such institutional abuse to continue and its victims to suffer in silence.
Such injustice should not be associated with kendo whatsoever, but sadly, that's the current situation from my observation.
And since the abusers are getting away with it, this culture could attract people with similar undesirable dispositions.
It is this indifferent attitude that needs utmost urgent change, and I believe the solution is quite simple.
Think this in terms of acceptable behaviour in a workplace.
Albeit kendo is primarily charity/volunteer activity, that doesn't warrant harmful behaviour. Volunteer activities can be done in a professional manner and such professional culture would attract more people with the right idea into kendo.
The bottom line is, when a type of behaviour is unacceptable in the wider society, it's still unacceptable regardless of whether someone has an exotic hobby or not.
It is rather puzzling that may people within the kendo community seem to think that there's a different law operating inside the kendo community therefore they are exempt from the normal rules & regulations. (a cult-like mindset)
Such misconception is not only irrelevant but also dangerous.
In order to promote healthy & mainstream image of kendo and deliver on it, all of us are responsible to identify and tackle such institutional problems.
I would suggest 3 points below to be introduced and maintained. This level of openness and firm attitude towards abuse would send a strong message to the entire community that kendo will not tolerate abusive behaviour and the perpetrator will face the consequence regardless of their reputation, connection, grade or past achievement.
- acknowledge potential risks and raise awareness amongst its member (education)
- set a clear and fair grievance procedure by the umbrella body (system)
- any incident reported should be anonymised and (with a permission of the victim) shared with the entire community annually as case studies (feedback + preventative effect)
Challenge authority if there's a valid reason.
Kendo should taught you to make a good judgement and act upon it without hesitation.
30 January 2015
War and Peace
inset: a child in kendo armour
Grateful for the circumstance that allows to practice kendo.
25 January 2015
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