How do you express "try"?


I know that -てみる can mean "try", but my understanding of it is that it means
"try it and see what it's like" or "give it a try". But is there a way of
expressing "try" that emphasizes that effort was made to succeed?

As an example, saying "I am trying to do Kendo" in Japanese:

> 剣道をしてみる。

sounds like I'm going for a brief "trial" to see how I like it. How would I
express that I am making a strong effort to succeed at it?




As a native speaker, I would say:

> 剣道をがんばっている。

or

> 剣道でがんばっている。

But, these are a little bit colloquial. When I want to be more formal, I will
say:

> 剣道に励んでいる。

or, simply,

> いっしょうけんめい剣道をしている。




As a native speaker, I would say:

> 剣道をがんばっている。

or

> 剣道でがんばっている。

But, these are a little bit colloquial. When I want to be more formal, I will
say:

> 剣道に励んでいる。

or, simply,

> いっしょうけんめい剣道をしている。

