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- Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
- Path: sparky!uunet!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!agate!ames!pacbell.com!att-out!cbfsb!cbnewsb.cb.att.com!osan
- From: osan@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (Mr. X)
- Subject: Re: Kendo Newbie Question
- Message-ID: <1992Dec30.162306.12192@cbfsb.cb.att.com>
- Sender: news@cbfsb.cb.att.com
- Organization: Twilight Zone
- Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 16:23:06 GMT
- Lines: 33
-
- In article <hurd.725661494@sfu.ca> hurd@fraser.sfu.ca (Peter L. Hurd) writes:
- >Hi, I'm planning on taking up Kendo after an intercontinental move this
- >month, and have some questions.
- >
- >Like,
- >
- > What will I be expected to bring to the dojo? Will a gi suffice or is
- >armour required? If armour is required is it wisest to buy it in Sweden,
- >or might it be cheaper to buy it in Vancouver and mail it across? Same Q
- >for other obvious equipment (such as the bamboo sword whose propper name
- >keeps falling out of my head).
-
- You will probably not need the armor for a while since you should
- be spending your first month or two (at least!) learning the basic
- strikes (not as easy as it sounds). If they have you a xabanging away
- right off, I'd say there was something seriously wrong with the
- instruction, though I could be wrong .
-
- As for armor, stuff like that seems to be very expensive in Europe.
- I'd try to get a handle on prices here and there before making any
- decision. Here, you can get workable armor for around $400. That
- is not top notch stuff, but should be serviceable for several years.
-
- A good shinai is probably worth the money, though. It will be strong
- and well balanced. Shinai will run you anywhere from about $14 to
- $350, depending on quality, or percieved quality. I am honestly not
- an expert on these, so I could not tell you if such an expensive piece
- of work is worth it. Kiyota (in Baltimore) has lots of nice items, but
- I'll warn you that they are a bit pricey. If you need the address,
- let me know and I will dig it up for you.
-
- -Andy V.
-
-