Why did you pick up Kendo amongst all other martial arts and sports in the world?

Why did you pick up Kendo instead of something else? Asked my uncle. "Why the sword, of all arts?"

It was just yesterday. He came over to have dinner at my place. Like me, he's a martial arts enthusiast. He goes to the local gym for bozing lessons and used to learn Muay Thai, the brutal art that was developed during Siam's tumultuous history.

That question really did stop to make me think. Why did I pick up Kendo in the first place?

The answer goes back to when I was thirteen, still in Form One. I was looking for a uniform body that didn't involve marching in line. I hated marching. So my only option was the martial arts groups in school. They were silat, Shito-Ryu Karate-do, taekwondo, fencing, and finally, Kendo. At that time the club was mainly composed of very very few people, and only a small percentage of the school knew about it's existence. I overheard my friend complaining that he had used up all of his energy after a Kendo practice in the dojo. Curious, I decided to check it out myself.

Mainly, I just joined the club because I wanted to fill in my co-curricular marks. Nevertheless, I bought myself a shinai, the very same shinai that I'm still using now, but I never was really serious about it. I was still very actively involved with the taekwondo club near my house. I was only a blue belt, but able to compete with the red and black belters. I thought that taekwondo was the art for me.

When I was in Form Two I only attended Kendo practices for like, once every two months like that. I began to lose interest. However cool and Star Wars-like Kendo may be, it proved to be very difficult for me to get up at 0630 on Saturdays just to go to school again

And the years passed by. In form Three I think in the whole year I attended prac only twice or thrice. My excuse: busy with PMR. My shinai lay in my room, begging to be used.

But it was also in Form Three that I stopped practicing taekwondo because of my PMR. And after PMR, I never bothered to continue again. Maybe it was my changing brain, or maturity, I don't know, but I lost interest totally i taekwondo. I found out that I no longer liked beating up people using techniques that people have died to pass on. So I didn't do any Kendo nor taekwondo.

No exercise results in a weak body. When I was in Form Four I realized I needed to do something to maintain my fitness level. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body after all. So on one night my gaze fel upon my shinai. So I decided; why not? Why not resume Kendo? My basics, like ashisabaki and kamae, are still somewhere in my subconscious. Alright. So with my friends, Danson and Weng Seng, later to become my best friends (my kanashimi brothers) went for Kendo practice every week.

My life changed. I met people who would become the closest people in my life, like Hakim and Davis and Zul. Every week I grew more and more in love with the art of Kendo. It is very interesting, how we must arrange our slippers facing outside; how we must bow before entering the dojo, how we must seiza to drink water... I started to enjoy Kendo. I began to covet it. Danson and Weng Seng and I came every week. And after that we went for makan. I did not just gain skills in Kendo, I gained valuable friends.

Towards the end of Form Four, Hakim nominated me as Club President. I was really honored. Everyone agreed to it, and the EXCOs were later chosen. That's when I really got obsessed with Kendo. I finally bought a hakama and gi, after four years of Kendo. I found out that I could manage a Club with the aid of good people. I got to learn lots of things and mature in the process.

Enter Form Five. My number one obsession was KENDO!!! My slogan became subete wa kendo no tameni: everything I do is for Kendo. Sometimes for no reason, I entered kamae in public. In class I would use my pen to mimic the movements of a shinai as the teachers were teaching in front. I accustomed myself to sitting in seiza posture for long periods. I saw Kendo in everything and I saw everything in Kendo. 

I went for my first grading in July 2008, and saw how awesome the Japan Club Kendoka were. I thought I could get 7th Kyu but  I only reached 8th. Never mind. Resolve burning brighter than ever, I trained even harder for my next one in January 2009 (I got 7th Kyu). Even one week before SPM I would go for training. Heck, DURING SPM ALSO I WENT!

And here I am now, waiting for my bogu to arrive after being ordered from Kendoshop.com, stronger, and wiser than before I took up Kendo.

So why did I pick up Kendo? It's because Kendo matures the body and mind at the same time. Because of Kendo's centuries old tradition. Because of its unique etiquette.

Irregardless of why all of you do Kendo in the first place, we should all strive to do our best in this art. We must be all that we can be, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Kendo changed my life. Has it changed yours?