Whitehill to get Kendo Club

Mar 14 2008 By Richard Mooney

WHITEHILL Neighbourhood Centre will be getting its very own Kendo class, beginning April 9th.

This week I went along to a Kendo demonstration session in the neighbourhood centre to see what exactly the class will have to offer.

The art of Kendo is rooted in ancient Japan where, during the feudal era, Samurai warriors ruled the land.

Peace would later to come to Japan and because of this the Samurai developed the art of Kendo as a means of focusing their warrior spirit.

Gareth Spiers, Whitehills Kendo instructor, explains that although Kendo is similar to traditional European fencing, both arts are very different.

He says, “On a purely physical level western fencing is a stabbing art as it is based upon rapiers.

“Kendo is based on the Japanese sword which is a two handed cutting weapon, rather than a stabbing weapon.

“On a mental level Kendo is not a sport as most would regard western fencing to be.

“Kendo is definitely a martial art despite its competitive aspects, so it offers a lot more to the practitioner in terms of discipline and pure spiritual growth.

“In western fencing your growth is getting faster, whereas is in Kendo getting faster is not the be all and end all.

“Becoming smarter and having better timing is much more important so there are very big differences despite the superficial similarities between the two arts.”

One major difference between Kendo and other martial arts is that you can be of any fitness level to take part.

Gareth explains, “What counts is that you’re willing to put everything into it. Your fitness will improve naturally as a cause of doing Kendo.”

“It’s not going to be like attending a gym everyday, but it will do good things for you.”

Within Scotland the Kendo community is very close knit. It is not as popular as other martial arts, but the calibre of teaching is very high according to Gareth.

“In Glasgow alone we have five fifth Dan Kendo practitioners. They’ve all been doing Kendo for around 20 to 25 years and they’re good at what they do.

“We’re very lucky to have many higher grade teachers so very close to us here in Lanarkshire.”

The new Kendo club will start on Wednesday April 9th and will run from 8pm-10pm.

Entry costs £5 and it is advisable that first timers where loose clothing (i.e tracksuit bottoms).

For a more in depth look at Kendo, you can check out our podcast with Gareth, our video about Jigeiko (free sparring Kendo) and our image gallery.