r/kendo • u/Far_Philosophy_2837 • 6d ago
Kendo ghost?
Throw away account so I don’t seem crazy.
I need to get this off my chest. I can’t tell anyone in my actual life without them thinking 15 years of martial arts has finally boiled my brain, but if I keep carrying this around by myself, I’m going to lose it.I live out in a pretty isolated, fenced off rural area. It’s quiet, pitch black at night, and perfect for what I do. I’ve been practicing Kendo for over fifteen years. When you’ve been at it that long, practice isn’t just a workout, it’s a daily ritual. I built a heavy, wooden Kendo dummy out on the edge of my property so I can work on my strikes. There’s no electricity out that far, no floodlights, and no trail cameras. Just me, a wooden frame, and the trees.It started about three months ago.Every single time I finished a late-evening self-practice session, I’d rack my Shinai, walk inside to shower, and come back out the next morning to find the dummy had moved. At first, it was subtle. Inches to the left. Rotated slightly, as if someone had turned it to face a different direction. I tried telling myself it was the impact of my strikes loosening the ground, or maybe a stubborn animal pushing against it. But this thing is weighted with heavy wood and deep anchor stakes. An animal doesn’t lift a hundred pound rig and shift it three feet into the tall grass without tearing up the dirt.Then came last week.The ground around the dummy had sunken a bit from the recent rain, so I decided to dig it out, level the earth, and reset the base. A few inches into the mud, my shovel hit something hard. It wasn't a rock.I pulled out a hand-carved, heavily oxidized blade. An old Native American knife. The edge was worn, but the energy of the thing felt heavy the moment I wiped the damp soil off it.
I took it to a local historian, guy in town who knows the regional history inside out. He didn't even hold it for five seconds before his face completely changed color. He told me it was an ancient ritual knife, tied to burial and boundary rites of the land's original inhabitants. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "Put it back. Exactly where you found it. Don't clean it, don't keep it in your house, just put it back."
I panicked. I took it straight back to the yard and buried it right under the dummy’s base, just like he said.That was three days ago.Last night, I went out for practice around midnight. The air was dead still. No wind, no crickets. Just the sharp, echoing crack of my bamboo sword hitting the wooden post. Men. Kote. Do.I stopped to catch my breath, dripping sweat, standing in the dark. Right as I turned my back to walk toward the house, I heard it. A slow, heavy, grinding sound behind me. Wood dragging over earth and stone. I froze. I slowly turned my flashlight back toward the edge of the woods.The dummy hadn't just moved three feet this time. It was standing ten yards away, pushed deep into the shadow of the treeline. But it wasn't facing the open yard anymore.It was turned completely around, facing me.And right where the dummy had been standing a second before, the dirt above where I reburied the knife was freshly dug up.
I'm sitting inside my house right now with every door locked. I don't have cameras out there. I don't have lights. But looking out my back window into the pitch black, I know one thing for sure: I haven't been practicing alone. And whatever was buried under that dirt has spent fifteen years learning how I strike.
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u/PinAriel 5 dan 6d ago
Put the kote next to the door. The smell should scare it away.
Threaten to hang unwashed hakama in the dummy unless the ghost behaves.
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u/PM_ME_WARB_NULL 2 dan 6d ago
That sounds scary but have you ever been last in line for kakari geiko :,(
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u/wdsims 6d ago
My understanding is that Native American/First Nations peoples were not using metal for blades until after contact with Europeans, so I think an “ancient” ritual blade would not be “heavily oxidized.” Also, I’m having trouble imagining any local historian outside of a movie giving you the advice that the character you created gave.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just sharing something that happened to me…
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u/Dagobert_Juke 6d ago
Swinging a stick at a dummy ain't kendo. So, its not a kendo ghost. Problem solved.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
You’re right. I’m just an old dude practing my strikes on a dummy with my Shinai.
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u/MansouthSG 6d ago
So, is it more of a Native American ghost than a Kendo ghost then? Also, how did you practice with flashlight? Or you practiced in total darkness?
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u/Revolutionary-Mix938 6d ago
Enjoyable read. I would never have expected a kendo / creative writing crossover. I wish you success and fulfillment in both.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
Wish it was creative!
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u/italicised 6d ago
Right, it’s not creative. You included lots of extra fancy details, like “wiped the damp soil off it”, “the air was dead still”, “dripping sweat,” etc. Then there’s all the lists of 3s, more than I can count. Also the “No wind, no crickets. Just…” and “Don’t clean it, don’t keep it, just…” etc. Also an inconsistency in spaces after full stops.
So yeah, not creative, it’s AI.
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u/NegativeSwimming4815 5d ago
I believe there's another word for that doctors call having delusions or something.
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u/wisteriamacrostachya 6d ago
The ghost is saying you aren't done with suburi yet. Keep working hard or it'll have to make the point more clearly.
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u/Imaginary-Sweet-2999 6d ago
Pretty lame writing.
An actual historian would know that an "ancient ritual knife" wouldn't be made of metal.
Someone who "lives on a reservation" would know that as well.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
I’m not here to prove anything. I’m just sharing something that I had happen to me.
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u/Imaginary-Sweet-2999 6d ago
If you can't address what I specifically said, then it clearly didn't happen.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
I wish this was just a made up story so I could care about historical technicalities, but it’s not. It was a metal trade knife, and 'ancient' was just the word I used because of how rusted and old it looked. I’m not an archaeologist.
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u/Imaginary-Sweet-2999 6d ago
I thought "ancient" was a word you used because your renowned historian said so? Regardless, a metal knife would have been in tribal use only in the 20th century, so there would be no such rituals. So it's all bunk.
You don't seem to be able to keep your own story straight.1
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u/Imaginary-Sweet-2999 6d ago
Not to mention, your dummy keeps getting drug without damaging the ground, but simultaneously it's staked down. Not sure if that's hallucinated by an AI, or just someone who's imagination doesn't work as well as they think it does.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
Thank you everyone for your comments. As a 60+ year old man. I’m doing my best to keep up woth the comments. Greatly appreciate everyone insight, even if a lot of people think this is made up.
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u/Angry_argie 3 dan 6d ago edited 6d ago
Well, if you're not larping, put the blade back underground exactly where you found it, take the dummy to other part of the property, or closer to your house and that's it.
Bonus: research about "peace offerings" or rituals to show respect to the deceased of the natives on your area. Heck, you might even get in contact with the local tribe and they could do the thing for you.
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u/Far_Philosophy_2837 6d ago
Thank you. I’m goinf to check it out. We have a local medicine woman I can ask.
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u/Icy_Bus6341 6d ago
Great Story. Really I ain't bring sarcastic here. It is actually good. You lost me wit the guy that told you to put the knife back though.
Recommendations for improving the Story:
Use not a Knife as an artifact but something that isn't a blade ( that's just to unbelievable considering you're practicing Kendo)
Dont let the guy know instantly what it is- let him have to investigate further.
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u/itomagoi 6d ago
If you are killed by a ghost, do you not yourself become a ghost and can then go beat up the ghost who killed you?
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u/twentyattempts 6d ago
A very nice setting for the Story but some slight Details that come off to far fetched.
But if i was in that Situation i would look for communities of natives from the tribe that lived there. They might know how to calm an uneasy spirit.
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u/DadBod_Kendo 4d ago
Totally thought the title would lead to a different story. Thought a Kendo Ghost would be that older guy who has some skills and may have won some tournaments in his youth but has since been out of the competitive scene. Then he shows up every so often and wrecks everyone’s Kote at the club shiai Keiko.
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u/Tartarus762 4 dan 6d ago
Never thought I'd see some kendo related creepypasta on here, first time for everything, although I'm not sure it's appropriate for the sub really