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Question for OP and any other fencers out there: do you know anything about Torao "Tiger" Mori? He was a pretty pro Kendo player who moved to USA and studied fencing, and within 6 months came first or second in the national tournament. Ended up coaching or something. He said "kendo and fencing are exactly the same". I have been doing kendo for 7 years, and upon trying (modern) fencing, I find it so different! In kendo, it's all about moving the body in first, and the hands/sword last. In fencing it seems to be the other way around, to establish "right of way". I'm guessing this comes from fencing being purely a sport. Any comment on the "unrealism" of modern fencing, or what Torao Mori said?
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Jan 11, 2015 01:37
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Crazy Achmed posted:There's a kendo club that uses a room at the gym directly above where I usually fence. I always see them on the way to training and am pretty curious about the structure, techniques and rules. thrakkorzog posted:Right of way makes sense, if you consider not being stabbed is more important than stabbing someone else. After all, if you get stabbed, you're kind of hosed, but if you can stab someone without getting stabbed yourself then you're golden. In Kendo, your middle guard stance points to the throat, so it is entirely possible to impale your opponent if they come in recklessly. However, despite this, great players in Kendo are able to move in and strike without getting hit themselves. Here's an example of "ippon" compilations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaObX3mcy-I Note that in most cases, the players are able to pick the right time to strike their opponents when they're caught unaware, or got "tricked" into moving somewhere vulnerable. Also note that these are mostly old farts - younger players fight faster and more aggressively. One of the criteria for a score in Kendo is having "awareness", i.e. you can't finish a hit with a super cool pose, but rather you need to position yourself in a way that your opponent is not able to attack you - generally by running past them, away from them, or running in close to go into a "guard-lock" position. I guess essentially a "right of way" in Kendo exists as well, but it's not part of the rules - just that it has a direct impact on judging whether your strike scores or not. Here's a question - Kendo is mostly two-handed, so as a result we fight square-on facing the opponent. The left hand holds the sword at the bottom, and the right hand just under the guard. Generally it is said that "left hand is power, right hand in control" - because using the right hand for power results in a "bashing" motion, as opposed to slicing. If Kendo players must choose a hand to fight with, I think most would pick their left. Fencing however, only uses one hand. While I'm right-handed, my left hand is stronger. What sort of benefits/difficulties would I have with left-handed fencing? Should I try switch around and learn to fence with both hands (so I can reenact The Princess Bride)? Another thing to keep in mind is that in Kendo, the left foot is behind the right, and is the one doing all the pushing. However since fencing is fought sideways, and thus the back foot is perpendicular to the line, I'm not sure which side would be better. Any advice? Thanks again for the thread and sorry for the questions.
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Jan 15, 2015 02:30
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Here's a question which I hope isn't too rude. In general, how fit are fencers? I'm asking because the last club I went to (as a beginner) had a very strange number of people with... odd body shapes. Most of them were either thin/lanky teenagers, or older men with beer guts (or some sort of disproportionate lumps). There were maybe two or three adults with athletic bodies. The coaches didn't look too fit. Is this normal for many advanced, non-competitive fencers? Or is this an early warning signal to look for a different club?
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Jan 22, 2015 07:10
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