Yes, but because of the recent market volatility, bullet shares will be slashed and Katana’s will see such high point gains that the entire future of warcraft as we know it will be effected. I’m putting all my money on leather and silk body amour companies as they are obviously the only future with big government spending about to go through the floor. This of course will offer Japan their big chance to take on North Korea and perhaps even take back some of their old territories in the West of China.
Got to get your finger on the pulse man. The world’s going back to basics big style!
Buttercup: Ah! You should check out the kendoworld forums. Lots and lots of great info there.
I lived in England for a while. My principal club was Mumeishi in Hounslow, London. There are a lot of really great players there. I was the bottom of the heap and I was a shodan! If you can go there, you should. Terry Holt Sensei, the main teacher, is very good. He does a lot of seminars all over the world, and he’s just a top guy also. A really nice guy. A lot of other sensei train there regularly too from other clubs in southern England. It’s also quite an international club, or was when I was there (people from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Austria, France and Italy). You know they hold the Mumeishi 3s competition every year which is an international competition? When I went in it, there were teams from Scotland, America, Poland, Germany, Sweden and France there, as well as lots from all over England. Mumeishi also has a sister club in my home city of Melbourne, Australia.
I also trained at Hizen and Wakaba regularly (they’re sister clubs – Wakaba is the children’s club). Both are good clubs also. I can’t remember the name of the sensei at Hizen, but he is very good also. He’s a really hard guy. The teacher at Wakaba (Sahla sensei) is a really great teacher, one of those young, inspirational guys.
There’s also this club in south London. I think it’s Nenriki, but I can’t remember. They have really, really traditional kendo there. Very old school and really different fighting those guys.
Elastic exercise bands work for me, as well as hand weights.
Sharon Mann has some awesome videos that you can use at home with weights and bands to help build your upper body strength (as well as the rest of your body). I use her videos religiously, as does my sister who is a police officer and personal trainer, and my aunt who is also a personal trainer.
Here’s Sharon Mann’s site: sharonmann.com/sharonmann/mall/main.htm
Highly recommended! 
I’m surprised this thread has gone on so long. MONSTER gave the following response within 7 minutes of the OP and I felt nothing more needed to be said after that.
[quote=“M0NSTER”]Cut a broom handle down to about a foot in length. Stick a tack firmly in the center of the broom stick. Find a length of rope/twine about 3/4 length from the floor to your waist. Grab any old shopping bag. Attach rope to broom stick by making a small loop around the nail or tack. Make sure that the rope/twine is firmly in place around the tack. Fill shopping bag with books and what not. Tie the other end of the rope to the bag’s handles.
Roll up slowly and roll down slowly using your wrists only.[/quote]
I made something like that back in the States and found it to be an outstanding exercise. You’ll feel the burn immediately and see results within days. The only thing he neglected to mention is that first you roll it up one way (rotating the stick in a forward direction), then after unrolling it all the way you roll it up the other way (rotating the stick in a backward direction). When you’re actually holding the thing it should be clear what I’m saying. Also, I used a dowel with larger diameter than a broom stick and I would think that’s preferable, but I’m sure a broomstick should work too.
Does good advice from one poster ever stop others from adding theirs?
To be honest, I kind of turned off after ‘cut a broom handle’. Where the crap am I going to get a broom handle and a saw?
Does good advice from one poster ever stop others from adding theirs?
To be honest, I kind of turned off after ‘cut a broom handle’. Where the crap am I going to get a broom handle and a saw?[/quote]
OK, buy a broom with a round wooden handle. Lay large book down on the floor, rest the head of the broom on the book and the tail of the broom on the floor. Put on boots and jump on the handle with all your might. It should break into a more useable size. It doesn’t have to be exactly one foot. Two or three will also work.
Remember kids: Strong forearms=dirty floor
My brother could lend you a saw. He lives in Oxford and he’s rather good at woodwork. Come to think of it, doing woodwork is probably very good for building forearm strength.
My brother could lend you a saw. He lives in Oxford and he’s rather good at woodwork. Come to think of it, doing woodwork is probably very good for building forearm strength.[/quote]
Gosh, it’s all getting a little complex. Thanks for the offer, though.
Had tons o’ fun, yesterday. The British national team coach was visiting, and talked to us. He did a training session with the advanced guys, and his colleague came and checked out the beginners’ practice. He corrected my posture, grip, swing, and pretty much everything, really. Spent half the class swinging the shinai with just my left hand which hurt lamf, but hopefully improved things. My left pinkie hurts!
btw, any of you who are thinking of trying this stuff; just jump in and do it. I was too inhibited to try for a long time, and now I have faced this fear (which must seem silly to a lot of you), I’m loving it. Women, especially! It makes you feel stronger and more focused and is good fun.
I have to work on my shouting, now.
Move to America and go to a gun shop.
… oh, you said f[color=#FF0000]o[/color]rearms… not f[color=#FF0000]i[/color]rearms… 
Buttercup: When I trained at Wakaba, we (the yudansha, black belts) were basically whipping posts. All these Japanese kids (who were really disrespectful – wouldn’t stand in the right place in the line, wouldn’t bow properly to you, and wouldn’t take any advice) would pull all sorts of shoody tricks on me and I was too nice to do mean things like tsuki them if they just ran in at me. Then we’d get some time to practise kata with each other, and then there were the local teenage boys. It was a little while after The Last Samurai came out, so there were scores of teenage boys who wanted to take up kendo. However, they considered a good cut to be a hard cut, so they’d take these running swings at you that were wildly inaccurate and felt like they were trying to cut down trees. You’d be sucking in the breath and trying not to grimace as one after another did that for the whole lesson. You’d have so many bruises the next day.
Ah, the good old days!
Anyway, a training tip: try doing 1,000 suburi. It sounds crazy, right, but you’ll find that after a while, your body will find the most efficient (therefore, the best) technique because it will get tired. You won’t have any wasted energy and you’ll do good cuts by the end. It should take you 20-30 minutes to do, so it’s not that bad. I think the guys at Nitaidai (the sports university in Japan) do 3,000 every single day. They have really, really amazing cuts too. Big AND fast.
what are you, a girl? jk.
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i second monster’s rope and weight roll-up and roll-down. One of the best exercises out there. build you cowboy arms in no time.
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at work, I have one of those v-shaped things where you can practice grip (squeezing motion). That builds forearm. and is convenient anywhere. sometimes, I just carry a notebook, floss, keys, cash, and this grip thing.
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If you’re doing something like Kendo, then just do more. Yes, you will shake at first, but shaking is a good sign too (means you’re not cutting corners - good for you!). I also recommend for straight strength practice, to get a tire, set it upright and anchor it, and practice your swing with a long iron rod (the size of the shinai) by hitting the tire. That will build arm strength quick. That’s what we did for aikido (bokken practice). or just use a shinai x1000.
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reverse wrist curls (sp?) where you have a weight in hand, palm down, forearm resting on flat surface and wrist hanging off edge. then you lower and raise the hand by bending wrist 90 deg.
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try exercises where you use just the last 2 fingers. A lot of people rely too much on index and middle finger.
i hear bull riding is also tremendous for building forearm.
Jack Burton: Good advice. Reverse wrist curls are a good one. Another one is to get a tennis ball (or a softer ball such as one of those stress balls if it’s too hard, or a kind of old and slightly deflated tennis ball) and just squeeze that. It’s probably easier on the joints in the fingers, hands and wrist than lifting weights (especially for a girl or someone who hasn’t had much experience lifting) or using a grip machine. The last two fingers (particularly on the left hand) are where the grip should be. The other fingers and thumb should be fairly relaxed.
[quote=“GuyInTaiwan”]
Anyway, a training tip: try doing 1,000 suburi.[/quote]
Yeah, I was coming to the conclusion that that was what I needed to do. Figured out that my arms aren’t that wimpy, it’s holding the shinnai with those two fingers that is hurting, with the temptation to over-grip.
Thanks all.
yes, definitely use some sense when using weights especially with the wrist joints. Those babies are hard to fix, trust me.
for a beginner girl, maybe a 1-2 pounder would be OK, just up the reps.
TTIWWP
Show us your guns!