Kendo and Marketing

Personal opinion warning!!! This post is mostly about my views on Kendo and how it helps through everyday life.

I don’t want to talk too much in depth about what’s Kendo in the very beginning. I’m affraid I’ll bore you with my old man Filip’s Kendo tales. Simply put, Kendo helps you become a better human being. This is a grand statement for something that seems to be a mere physical activity. Although it’s true.

You’re not going to gain a Bruce Lee body from doing Kendo (although that happens, shame I’m not one of those people). There will be no light-saber duels after practice the practice is over. Instead, through Kendo, you’ll be given a chance to work on yourself and your weaknesses. Practiced correctly, Kendo becomes a tool to shape oneself to be better, less flawed, person.

Huh, the last sentence sounded a bit unrealistic and even somewhat spiritual. Kendo has that “mind over body” aspect planted deeply in its learning. Over the years of practicing you start to see how your body is limited and how it has a strong tie with you mind, or/and spirit. Seemingly, a purely physical activity of sword fighting becomes a way of improving the state of mind.

On the other hand, it does have physical benefits. Kendo is great cardio, it sharpens the senses in the everyday situations, shortens reaction time and helps develop a deeper focus. Strong mind, strong body.

Enough from me. Time for a shortcut. Tadammm, here’s a video. Probably the best introduction to Kendo for people who have never heard of or seen Kendo before.

disclosure: it may seem intimidating, painful or even funny watching

One more, trust me it’s worth watching.

OK, now that you have seen Kendo in action and heard explanations on Kendo, from people that have a deep understanding of Kendo, I can share some of the experiences and thoughts of my own.

###Simplicity

One of the first lessons you learn in Kendo is simplicity. Simplicity is the way. The other lesson you learn when you practice Kendo is that achieving simplicity is hard. O’boy is it hard.

Complicating things just isn’t the way to go forward. Even if something is flashier, with all of the bells and whistles around it, it’s not necessarily better, contrary. It’s the opposite of that wich makes something/someone great. This applies to Kendo, everyday life, and, of course, the art of marketing.

In Kendo, the simpler your moves are and the simpler your strike is the better fighter you become. In marketing, the simpler you write, the clearer you message is and more customers get to understand it. Simplicity is hard to achieve, sure, and it takes a lot of work, but taking the easy path is never the best path. At least, I see it like that. Right?

Doing something as simple as possible is a challenge and a hard one — simple is (very) difficult. Within the art of Kendo and all things marketing, you can treat simplicity as a weapon/tool in the arsenal. Kendo develops a sense of simplicity, letting you polish it in the Dojo, and then you get a chance to use those same principles to achieve simplicity outside the Dojo as well.

Insanely Simple is a short and a sweet read for all marketing folk. It gets you right in the action at Cupertino and how the principle of simplicity is used to develop a superior product and marketing.

###Playing the “mind games”

As a beginner, you start noticing that with Kendo as you practice your body, you start practicing your mind. As you progress you start to practice the mind more and more and the body on the same level (better be said you keep it at a constant level). This is the real game changer in training Kendo. Realizing that in a physical discipline, you train the mind more intensively than the body.

“If your mind breaks, your body breaks as well and you die. If you can’t predict what your opponent is going to do, you die. If you can’t keep focus, you die. So much of kendo is about your mental abilities.” Sounds drastic, but Kendo was developed with the goal of becoming a better warrior and not getting killed on the battlefields. Remember the Samurai? Kendo has a deep tie with the Samurai past, I’m not going to talk further about this, for obvious reasons.

When your body can do the basics of kendo pretty well, this becomes the thing that differentiates people who are “okay” and people who are actually good. Your mind and its abilities are what matters if you want to evolve. For me, this is the essence of training Kendo.

Mind games are, for sure, one of the core aspects of Kendo and one I found most beneficial in daily life. After years of Kendo, you start to see how you can affect other people’s decision with your mind if you train it right. It’s like using the force, but not as cool. You start to be calmer in stressful situations. You are harder to “read” and your reactions are more controllable. In Kendo, you use your mental abilities to provoke your opponents actions, anticipate their moves and stay calm and focused. After some time, it gets easy to apply what you have learned in Kendo in the daily. This a great perk of Kendo, developing that sense for other people’s actions.

Every move in Kendo is an opportunity to make the mind stronger. In fact, a strong mind means that you’re able to push your body further, which makes your body stronger too. If you don’t have the mind(set), you can never develop further.

###Humility - I’m a beginner for life

After only practicing Kendo for more than 12 years I feel as an absolute beginner. I’m liking it that way. :)

I want to be a beginner for life. I really don’t know much about Kendo or for the matter of fact neither about marketing, or life. But, I want to learn and find out more.

Personally, and probably most of Kendo people would agree with me, ego is the biggest problem. Ego is the one that stops from you acknowledging you are a beginner. Ego stops you advancing. Kendo is the terminator of one’s ego. It lets you see your flaws and helps you see yourself in a more objective way.

Humility and ego have close ties. Achieving humility you must eliminate the ego, as much as you can. Simple.

###Is Kendo for you?

Probably not. Why? I’ve seen a lot of beginners come and go. Kendo’s concepts are hard to grasp and it’s techniques are hard to master. This is often a detour for beginners, as they don’t see any “visible” progress for months.

All that being said, you should definitely give Kendo a try. Find a local Kendo club. See the practice live. Give it try. Stick it out (unintended pun) for more than 6 months, trust me. We may be doing Keiko together one day, I hope we will.

Here is a good way of finding a local Kendo club - Budo Finder.

Fun fact: Kendo has been an inspiration for the Star Wars saga. Mark Hamil will tell more.

###In short

For me, Kendo is that endless spiritual journey. It has a much deeper meaning than I could even begin to describe or write about. It helps me evolve. It’s a force that keeps me going through the toughest of times.

I’m thankful that I can do Kendo and I’m deeply grateful to all before me that made it possible for me to practice it.

If you’ve read the article so far, please read also the official concept and purpose of kendo developed by the All Japan Kendo Federation

Concept

Kendo is a way to discipline the human character through the application of the principles of the katana.

Purpose

• To mold the mind and body.
• To cultivate a vigorous spirit,
• And through correct and rigid training,
• To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo.
• To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor.
• To associate with others with sincerity.
• And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.
• Thus, will one be able:
• To love one’s country and society;
• To contribute to the development of culture;
• And to promote peace and prosperity among all peoples.

‘till next time, arigato and sayonara! 🎌🌊