Anyone practice Kendo or Iaido here?

[Chojin Man]

I was thinking about getting into Kendo and was wondering if anyone else here practices it. Any tips for a beginner? How much does the armor cost? How many months of practice does it usually take before you are even ready to wear the armor? What is the difference between Kendo and Iaido anyways?

[HoppysMag]

well i looked into it, i donno about the armor, but you got a LONG time before you will need it.

[Zygote]

Iaido doesn't involve any sparring. It's all kata and you use a real blade instead of a shinai. I looked into kendo at one point, found it was too expensive, and decided to take aikijujitsu instead.

[Chojin Man]

Thats one thing i'm arfraid of the cost. i think the place here is $45 a month plus some for yearly dues. how much were you paying for it zygote?

[Zygote]

I never joined. Just sat in on a class. In addition to whatever dues they charge (my aikijujjitsu class costs $90/month) you have the cost of the gear, which for kendo armor will be a couple hundred dollars. I would watch a class and see if its something you'd like before you drop the big money on it.

[Sooky]

I've been doing Iaido for a couple months now.

While I am far from very knowledgeable yet, and I haven't tried Kendo, I think Kendo is more like western fencing. Iaido always starts with your sword in the saya, and each waza puts you in a situation where you are either in a standing or sitting position against one or multiple opponents (imaginary opponents). You start with your sword in the saya, and finish with it in the saya.

I've only recently advanced from doing basics to learning waza, and am using a boken. Eventually you use an iaito (metal practice sword which basically looks like real katana), and after a few years you can progress to practicing with an actual shinken (live blade).

I'm lucky enough to have an Iaido club at my university (open to anyone). It only costs me ~180 CDN for the entire calendar year (the club only gets $10 per person each month for activities and seminars, the rest is for univ. insurance). You'll eventually wear a Hakama (split skirt type thing), and Gi jacket. I think they cost me a total of 150-180 CDN.

I've really been enjoying myself so far. Lots of people come to try out a class or two, but not many stay for long. It's definitely something to look into if your lucky enough to have the chance...