Folks,
Ooh, it's getting bloody in the Koryu / Japan threads. I thought of a topic that might help us find some common ground in th gendai/koryu thing.
How many koryu practitioners posting here also currently practice a gendai budo? The Skoss' mention their training in jukendo, and Meik recently told me he was practicing Judo again. Mr. Lowry has written a lot on gendai budo, though I do not know if he is currently training in a modern art. My own teacher requires concurrent practice in a modern grappling system. Tony Peters said in the other threads that his teacher does not practice gendai budo, and seems to be saying there is no need to practice gendai with koryu.
I do not think there is a NEED to practice gendai along with koryu. But what BENEFITS are there? I would ask Diane and Meik if they would be willing to share what they gain from jukendo practice that they feel supplements their koryu, or that theycannot find in koryu? Is it shiai?
And what are the problems encountered in practicing both? Are some arts completely incompatible?
And let me cut short the whole "koryu is combat, gendai is sport" notion. The vast majority of koryu AND gendai practitioners do not use their art combatively. There are people that use a lot of gendai for actual combative purposes (and it works), so let's not go down that road. I mean specifically in terms of system, training methods, etc.
Kit LeBlanc