Search - Beginners Guide to Kendo and Iaido - d on DVD

Good content very very poor DVD quality

J. Leigh | chicago | 05/22/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Pros:Good introductory video providing a broad overview of the area and delivers everything that is outlined on the box cover.Lots of good demonstration of the movements.Cons:No chapters so there is no easy way to jump to specific portions of the video. It would have been good to organize the categories of movements so you can jump to the chapters and review them.It would have been better if each motion could be repeated several times, one after another, so that you can watch first the arm movements, then the leg movements, then the two together. That's how I learned Tai Chi and Tai Chi sword. Instead you will need to use your DVD remote to zip back and forth. This is not particularly easy to do when you are holding a boken (unless they can build a DVD remote into the boken ;^) But of course the only real way to learn Kendo or any martial arts is to work with a sensai.Audio quality is very very poor. This is particularly problematic when he utters Japanese terms and the audio has dropped out.I have played this disk on my Xbox and at the 35-minute point the disk is completely unreadable.I then played it on my laptop and it was viewable but audio was extremely stuttery.So be warned that you may experience playback problems."

Do NOT waste your money ...

Paul | Dallas, Texas | 01/10/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Hmmm ... where to begin. While the author may be a successful martial artist, it is painfully obvious from watching this video that he has NO knowledge of kendo at all, and very little of iaido. The movements and techniques that he espouses as correct are so sloppy as to be almost unrecognizeable. His movements and precision are laughable. Combine this with the terrible quality of the video, and it wasn't even good enough to enjoy for its comedic value, although I did laugh out loud several times.

Definitely a waste of time and money for anyone that is truly interested in the Japanese sword arts.
"

Not worth either your money or time

David Chin | Wayne, PA | 09/17/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"While I can't speak for his skill in other martial arts, I know for a fact that this man knows next to nothing about kendo. His technique is sloppy at best and all of his movements are laughable. He may have had some training but it is obvious that, at the most, he attended a handful of practices, thought he "mastered" kendo, and decided to produce this film and make money off of it. Please, do yourself a favor and do not waste your time on this man or this DVD."

Who is this guy?

Ringo | Los Angeles, CA USA | 03/27/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Just by looking at the cover, I can tell that this person knows nothing about kendo. If this is for beginners, then he shouldn't even be bothering with joudan no kamae. Besides, it's all wrong. When you hold a bokken, the left hand doesn't grip the end of the handle. Basic joudan no kamae is done with the body essentially square to the opponent. His right hand is in a useless position. His left hand is too far from his forehead. It is also too low; his hand is blocking part of his field of view. In basic kendo, both hands are supposed to grip the sword evenly. You control the swing of the sword with your pinkies and the ring fingers. Because his right shoulder is so far back, his right hand is gripping with his index and middle fingers. If I attack from the direction of the camera, he'll have to shift his body around so he can use both hands to swing. Or he'll have to try a kata te waza, which is not a beginner's waza. And I can tell you right now, he would miss. His left wrist would turn out, and his blade would veer off to my right.

Don't waste your time with this. You can't really learn much from a video without real, personal instruction. Until just recently, all the sanctioned kendo dojo in the U.S. were non-profit organizations. I don't know why it changed. But in any case, the really good sensei are volunteers. So, the fees are very minimal. If you're really determined to learn correct kendo, you'll find a sensei who will teach in Japanese. Kendo is not something you master in a year. Even people who have been doing it for 20 years are called beginners. Just my opinion."