How old do I have to be to start kendo?

I've really developed an interest in kendo lately, and I want to learn kendo, but I'm only 14 years old. I don't have any kendo experience and I'm afraid that I won't be able to learn fast enough, or keep up with more experienced people.


Answer: Thank you for your question. You should start right now. The earlier, the better, if you want to learn kendo movements quickly.

If you don't learn, you will never get experience. You don't have to learn fast you have to learn it correctly. If you don't learn it correctly, your kendo won't improve as fast as you think you should.

You don't have to keep up with more experienced people at the very beginning. But you have to learn from them.

As you become used to the kendo movements, you'll be able to enjoy kendo more.

Hope this helps.

Click here to read or post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.

Am i too old to start?

I'm 20 years old and I'm really excited about kendo. I've seen competitions of it and really want to practice. Am I too old to start now?

Answer: Thank you for your question. Never too late. If you want to compete and do well, you need to be fit. And of course, it depends on how well you can learn things and I do not know your physical abilities. So start learning and decide it on your own.

Kendo can be practiced even when you become physically deteriorated. Kendo is one of the rare martial arts that people in their 60s, 70s and even 80s can practice with young people and still beat them.

If you are competitive, you will probabely be attracted by the fact those older people beat you and you will want to find out why. That’s when your real kendo practice begins :)

Hope this helps.

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.

how old do you have to be to start kendo?

by Alex cunningham
(hereford herefordshire)

I'm 11 and I was wondering how old you have to be to start kendo?

Answer: You can start right now. People start at any age. Please refer to “How old do I have to be to start kendo?

Hope this helps.

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.

How old do you start kendo at?

by caleb morris
(America, Pensylvania, Hallstead)

At what age must you be to learn kendo?

Answer: It varies. The youngest I heard is 3 years old. The oldest is 55 (my father). I started kendo at the age of 7. Hope this helps.

Click here to read or post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.

How old

by Claytypus
(Wichita, Virginia)

How old do you have to be to start kendo?

Answer: Thank you for your question. Some start at 3 years old. Some starts in their 50s and 60s. Usually a dojo (training place) has their rules on age as well. My dojo in Japan used to tell us to start at the age of 7. That is because there were a lot of students already and they thought if started too early the kids might have hurt themselves.

In my opinion, students must have an ability to follow instructions since kendo can be very dangerous.

Hope this helps.

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.

Older Newbies to Kendo

I'm thinking of taking up a martial art and after a lot of reading would like to learn Kendo. I wanted to learn something using swordsmanship that was likely to have a Dojo in my area, so Kendo fits the bill.

However, I'm a forty-something female and although not overweight, I'm not the most athletic nor strongest person you will have ever met!

Is kendo right for someone like me? How hard is semi-contact in terms of damage to older bones? Do you get many older people starting this?

Currently I train at home using a mixture of stationary bike, light weights and kickboxing.

Thanks in advance for answering this question.

Kendo-Guide.Com: I am glad that you show interest in kendo. You sound very fit so there is no problem. However, you will realise that if you have to have physical strength and endurance for kendo. These will develop as you train. This article, How to increase my stamina for kendo?, is helpful.

Age is not a problem. Of course, you cannot move as people who have trained kendo since they are children. However, you have more life experiences and more importantly you can give a lot to those children.

My father started kendo when he was 55. He made it to 5th dan. The year he died to cancer, it was the year he was going for his 6th dan. It was not easy for him to train with other kendo-ka who have done kendo for almost entire their lives. But he improved a little by little. His story can be read here.

We never throw punches and kicks to our opponents. We do not have any throws. So I really think that kendo is the safest martial arts to practice. But you have to know though. Even though we are well-protected by armour, sometimes people accidentally hit you hard on armour or off armour. This is the only ouch moment in kendo.

Again kendo is the safest budo and you can do it through your life. The more you do kendo, more interesting it gets.
Good luck! If you have more questions, do not hesitate to ask!

Click here to read or post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.

Am I to old to start kendo?

by Simon
(Florida )

I am 55 years old. Is it too late to start training?

Answer: Thank you for your question. No you are not. My father started kendo at the age of 55. And please read these articles too.

Hope this helps.

Click here to read or post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Any Questions about Kendo.