Fitness For Kendo?

My Sensei has a saying: Don’t do Kendo to get fit but rather be fit for Kendo.

So I started running and doing some normal exercises. I was wondering if you can recommend any other exercises that can be done to improve fitness for Kendo at a Gym.

Answer:  Thank you for your post.  You are a very good student, following your sensei’s instructions!

First of all, I suggest you to read the thread, how to increase my stamina for kendō. It will give you some ideas about exercise for kendō.

Train your lower body parts; feet, legs and lower back.

There is a tendency that men use the upper body strength more.  So if you are a man,  train your lower body instead of upper body.

It does not mean you should not train upper body but more training of the lower body.

Cycling is another good exercise for kendō. Swimming too.  

I like “lunges”. I cannot do it much due to my knee injury but I found it very effective and it also helps us to maintain our posture, if we do it right.

In the video below, he shows how to do lunges. If we keep the back leg straight instead of bending as shown in the video, it becomes our striking posture.