I'm 5'8" (not sure if those are the right signs), I'm in the 14-17 division, theres dudes that are 6'5". It may not look as bad as you people with height lower than 5'6", but when you just stand there up close, its just crazy. Hard to do much. The good thing is, I'm good at de-kote and do's.

I'm a 5'6" guy. I think short people have to work a bit harder at kendo. If you're tall, your reach is very good and I think you can hit men easier than shorter people. So, sure, size doesn't matter in a match, skill does, but I think a short person needs more skill when going against taller people just to compensate for the height difference. Hmm...are British bathroom scales set to read out in stones? I'm honestly curious.

Hank.

Size does matter...?
 

I dunno if someone posted this before, but here I go. The other day my boyfriend and I was talking about how I was doing in Kendo, then he brought up this interesting thought.

He asked me when I actually get to fight someone, do we have like different groups (such as age and sex)? I know in tournaments we go by age, sex, but what about body size? Is it fair that a 5"2 guy to go against a 6"2 giant? But then again, I think the little guy has more advantage to move quicker...? I remember back in Taewando (sp?) during the tournament I had to fight someone higher rank than me, and they were way bigger than me. I remember I was fighting a black belt and I was like a yellow belt http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo.../confused2.gifhttp://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/scared.gif When I saw that guy (he was like 6" tall! and I was only 5"2 back then), I was like "are you kidding me?!!" Though, I managed to score a few points on him and pulled off with third place. I meant when you see the size of someone already gives you advantage (if you're bigger than your opponent), I guess we little ppl have to do more kiai to scare your opponent than bigger guys eh? hehehe I haven't seen or been to a Kendo tournament yet, so how it goes in Kendo?

Yeah my scales read in stones lol i can do KG but im used to stones rofl

136.4 lbs, according to the formula 1kg = 2.2lbs.

I was in my first shiai last month in NY when i went up against a very short women. I believe she was second dan and i was only 6th keup. It seemed to me, just like shin kenshi said, that she was not able to get close enough to hit. Actually i dont remember her actually even attempting to hit me. I hit her like 30 times(slight exxageration), but no ippon, i was very suprized, she just kept running at me whenever i hit so it didnt look like my zanshin was good.

Last year at a shiai in Indianapolis, I watched a young man who was probably 10, and all of 4'10" or so, take on an older opponent, who was about 6'2". I was impressed at the younger man's waza, especially when he kept advancing toward the opponent, who kept backing up until he had backed out of the ring.

I have also fought against a much smaller and younger opponent, and got my butt kicked. I didn't expect to win, since it was my first shiai, but it did teach me that a more experienced fighter will more often than not win against a mere shoshinsha.

I agree with Paikea, IMHO size and weight won't matter if the goal is fine tuning your reflexes to adapt to whatever situation you're facing. You have a shinai and wear a bogu so does your opponent, the difference should be made on skill and alertness.

No, there are no weight divisions like in wrestling. However, I am privledged watch a 5' 4" 110lb chinese woman beat the daylights out of 6'+ 220lb guys with panache and a smile on a regular basis.

ROFLOL I didn't beat the daylights outta him, he beat me. I only scored a few points! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif though, I know guys would love that, lol

There is nothing more frustrating than when this person is "on" and letting you have it. Speed and timing beat size and strength.

I am 5'1'' height (1,59m) and 62kg (don´t know in lbs).
I´m Male!!
And I´ve managed to win shiai against some 6' heights guys both in points and on taitari.
There´s a woman in my country, she is 5' something" (a bit taller than me)
she is yondan and is one of the best
On the other side, her brother is around 6' something and is also one of the best.
I think is about the skill, not size.

I suppose an appropriate phrase would be, "Good things come in small packages." http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif. But seriously, I suppose that it really depends on the situation. I've seen a very small woman (barely 5 feet tall and a sandan) go up against a man who was probably close to 6' and she just couldn't get close enough to make a hit. Alternatively I have seen taller guys lose to shorter opponents. Just another one of those "it depends" situations I guess.

This is the message for all gentlemen out there:

No matter how many times your ladies told you that size don't matter.

HEAR THIS

SIZE DOES MATTER.

This has been proved by MUGU

Kendo is all about size

ROFL that's true http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/biggrin.gif Make Kendo even more interesting, lol

Thanks for all the interesting inputs http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

What he said.

To answer the original question: most of the time adult tournament divisions are by rank. Common divisions are mudansha (no dan), 1-3 dan, 4+ dan, but they can vary depending on region. Often there will be a ladies division but it is seldom divided by rank because of limited numbers, at least outside of Japan. Ladies are often allowed to enter the men's divisions, where they would go into the appropriate rank division. Kids divisions are usually divided by age.

Sometimes adults are divided by age but in that case there's usually no rank division. Vancouver Kendo Club tournament is an example of that, I think the divisions there are roughly by decade.

I've never heard of divisions by weight or height.

Im the smallest of my dojo and only female.

Im 5'2, 9 stone lol

Fighting bigger people are more fun. =D It's like slaying the mystical dragon! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

But seriously, skill and speed > size.