[paulaglober]

Do you mean arbitrary as in which foot one is on was a random decision (which I would disagree with since switchstance is more difficult than one's normal stance) or do you mean it has no bearing on board sports since regular footed tricks are just mirror images of goofy footed tricks so footedness does not affect one's performance (which I would agree with)?

In kata I find hidari stance not particularly awkward but then in kata we're using ayumi-ashi. But okuri ashi in hidari stance is definitely more awkward. But this wasn't something I thought about until a couple of years after starting kendo so I can't go back in time and compare to how awkward one stance would be compared to the other for a complete beginner. I nevertheless suspect that my footedness does make some kinds of footwork more natural compared to others.