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Foreword

Thiscollectionof themostpopularpostsfromwww.kendoinfo.netcontains52articlesonvariousaspectsofkendotechniqueandattitude.Itssubjects includetrainingmethodsandkendotechniquesaswellastheattitudesandphilosophiesthatmakekendoalifetime’spursuitformanypeople.Ithighlightssomeofthedifferences between kendo training in Japan and other parts of the globe andincludessomelight-heartedcommentaryonthismartialsportfromtheauthor.

ThiscompilationalsoincludessomedirecttranslationsofthewordsofthelateMatsumotosenseiHanshikyudanandincludesinsightsandadvicegleanedfromsome of the leading contemporary kendo teachers including Inoue Yoshihikosensei,ChibaMasashisensei,SumiMasatakesenseiandIwadateSaburosensei.

Thisisnotaninstructionmanual.Itisofferedwiththeintentionofentertainingandstimulatingthoseinterestedintheartofkendo.

1.TheAimofKendo

byMatsumotoToshio,HanshiKyudan

This document was written in Japanese by Matsumoto Toshio sensei andtranslated in 1976 by YamamotoHisami. The original translationwas formybenefit; andat the timeMatsumoto senseiwasnot satisfied that thedocumentwas of a high enough standard to put his name to.Unfortunately, neither theauthor nor the original translator are with us today and, feeling that thisdocumentisworthsharingwithotherkendoenthusiasts,Ihavetakenthelibertyof rewriting it inmore colloquial English. Any errors and inconsistencies aremine.

Theaimofswordsmanshipinancientdayswastoovercomeopponentsthroughthe application of sword techniques and physical power, but this has changedwiththeprogressionof time.Evenso,kendowasbornfromtheartoffightingwithswordsandeventhoughtodayit isplayedwithbambooswords, itcannotbesaidtobekendoifitispractisedwithouttheconceptofbeingafightwithrealswords.Youmusttrainforkendowiththeunderstandingthatifyoucannotcutyouropponent,heisgoingtocutyou.Inotherwords,initsessence,kendomustbepractisedwith theextreme instabilityofmind thatwouldoccur ifyouwerefacinglifeordeath.

Thereisnodoubtthattheartofkendoistostrikedownyouropponentsandnotto be struck down by them.However, in order to be always ready to give aninstantstrikewithoutmissinganyproperchancestoattackwhilststillkeepinga

perfect defence position, youmustmaster the techniques and skills of kendo.Thesehowever, canonlybewellperformedwhenyoumaintainacalmnessofmindwhichenablesyoutofullydisplayyourtrainedtechnique.

Therefore, it is the trueaimofkendopracticenotonly to try to improveyourtechnique, but also to train yourmind and spirit to find the rightness ofmind(“nomind”/mushin),sothatyourmind,whichis thesourceof thetechnique,willnotbeboundbyanything.

In the practice of kendo, it is most desirable that the training of mind andtechnique should always progress hand in hand. A strike should not bemaderecklessly, but you should strike when the opponent’s mind is disturbed.Ineffectiveorhurriedstrikesarethecausesofselfdestruction.Thefollowingarecitedasgoodchancestoattack:

1.Nottoattackwhenyouropponentisinrepletecondition,buttrytoattackwhenheisunawareandoff-guard2.Attackjustbeforeyouropponentstartstotake(initiates)hisaction3.Attackwhenyouropponentissettled4.Attackwhenyouropponenthasexhaustedhistricks5.Attackatthetimethatyouropponenthasdoubtinhismind6.Urgeyouropponent’sactionandattackthecreatedoff-guardposition

Thethreepointsthatwouldbeinexcusabletooverlookare:

1.Justwhenyouropponentinitiateshisaction2.Whenyouropponentparries3.Whenyouropponenthasexhaustedhistricks

Theseareagaintimeswhenyouropponentisoff-guard.

Inkendo thereare fourmental states thatmustbeovercome.Thesearedread,fright, doubt andperplexity– all ofwhicharedisturbed statesofmind.Whenyourmindisdisturbed,yourpostureisalsodisturbedleavingyouoff-guardandallowingyouropponent thechance toattack.Unlessyouareconstantly in fullspirit, keeping your mind calm and open, you cannot instantly strike your

opponent off-guard, even when his spirit is no longer alert. If your mind isinnocent (free of preconception), you can see through all your opponent’sactionsandstrikefreelywithoutanyhesitation,catchingeveryavailablechance.

InZenBuddhism,“voidness”issometimesexplainedas“Thetruewayoflifeistoalwayskeepyournormalmind”.Itisconsideredtobeastateofmindwhichhas no preconceived ideas, free and active without being bound by egotisticinterests.Youmaythinkthat it isextremelydifficult tohaveaninnocentmindandthatitisthehighestconditionofmindandimpossibletoattain,butonewhoisexperiencedinkendotoaconsiderabledegreeshouldachieveasimilarmentalstate

When reflecting on a keiko or shiai, one sometimes realises that he hasunconsciouslymadeaveryfinestrike,althoughsuchexperiencesarerare.It isbecausetheperpetratorwasinfullspiritand“innocent”,enablinganunintendedandunawarestrike.Youmustmakeeveryefforttoincreasetheseopportunities.

From a reversed perspective you need to maintain an undisturbed “ordinary”mind inorder todefendwellwithoutbeing struckbyyouropponent.Tokeepdisturbancesfromyourmindyoumust:

1. Masterthebasicformsofkendo

2.Understandandappreciatethetheoryofkendoandtrytoimprovekendotechniques3.Haveafirmbeliefthatyouareperfectlyinvincibleagainstanyassault

As stated above, the ultimateway of learning kendo is, both in attack and indefence,tohaveaconstantordinarystateofmindthroughthetheoryofthewayofkendo. I believe that it is a virtueofkendo tobring toour social lives thisdevelopedordinarymind,richandlevelwithoutegotisticinterestandemotionalinfluences.

Makingbestuseofsuchanattitude,youwillbeabletotakegoodadvicefromother people and clearly differentiate right and wrong, allowing for effectiveconductinyourjobandatthesametimeworkingtowardsselfperfection.

2.Kendonokata–thedeepermeaning

The spring grading examinations are looming and I am getting a number ofrequests to teach kata or to act as a kata training partner for candidates. Imentioned in an earlier post on the subject, that I share the guilt of manykendokainnotpractisingkataoftenenough.WhenIdomaketheeffort,Irealisethatkata is a superbvehicle todemonstratenot just thewhole rangeofkendotechnique,butitalsoteachesseme,distanceandtiming.

Kata, in the right frame of mind when you can truly harmonise with yourpartner, is a joy. Ihavehad twoexperiencesofkata thathavehadaprofoundeffectonmyunderstandingofkendoandthewayIviewtheworld.ThefirstwasquiteafewyearsagowhenIwaspreparingforthe5thdangradinginJapan.Asensei fromNishinomiya inHyogoarranged for the twoofus toperformkataprivatelyinthelocalhachimanshrineasdawnwasbreaking.Thesecond,morerecently, was again a one on one session. This time with a friend who waspractising for theopeningkataat a taikai inNara.Wedid thiswithmogito inUegaki sensei’sTaisho period dojo inYoshino,withUegaki sensei correctingeverymove.

Both these experiences were made special as much by the spirituality of thelocationasbythequalityofmyopponent.IwasalsofortunatetoattendakataseminarinOsaka,givenbythelateIkedasenseiwhoexplainedindetailtheriaiofkendonokata,demonstratingthekodachisectionatalmostarunningpacetoshow that the possessor of a short sword would do his utmost to close thedistance with an opponent using a longer weapon. This riai (or the theory orreasonforeachmovement),iswhatmakeskatameaningful.

Togiveanindicationofthedeepermeaningofkendonokata,Iquotefromthepaper submitted byKenseiHiwaki of Tokyo InternationalUniversity, entitled“Abreakthroughinthedilemmaofwarorpeace–Theteachingsofkendo”.TheauthorborrowsfromthephysicaldescriptionofthekatafromHiroshiOzawain“Kendo the definitive guide” and themental aspects fromYoshihiko Inoue in“Nipponkendonokatanoichikosatsu”.

In this section the author discusses the lesson taught by ippon me, the firsttechniqueofthekata:

The first kata beginswith jodan no kamae. The person on the rightassumestheroleofteacher(uchidachi)andtheoneonthelefttheroleofstudent(shidachi)inthetrainingforkata.Astheteacherexecutesafrontal attackwith an indomitable fighting spirit, the student parries(sic)anddeliversafrontalstrike.Inthiskataexercise,boththeteacherand the student attack each other from the “overhead” postureimplying a clash of justice against justice.The first kata ismeant toteach that one defeats the other with the difference of relative skillcultivationthatcorrespondstothelawsofnature.

Theauthorgoesontoexplainthat,

Thefirstlessoninkendomeanstrainingfortheself-acquirementofthephysicalmovementandmentalattitude,aswellas thecultivationfortheself-manifestationof justice. Inaddition to theself-manifestation,the first kata teaches the importanceof repentance for thekilling. Inreal combat, the loser dies and the winner who survives must haverepentance. This mental attitude in part represents the assertion ofzanshin.

Hethenillustratesthemeaningofthesecondandthirdkatainthesamefashion.Of course this is a farmore profound view of kata thanwe often take, but itcertainlystartstogivemeaningtowhatareoftenmeaninglessactionsbasedon“onetwothree,yah-toh”.

3.Fudōshin不動心

Achieving fudōshin is one of the long term objectives of kendo practice.Literallymeaning“immovablemind”,fudōshinistheabilitytoremaincalmandimperturbableunderpressure.FudōshinissymbolisedbytheShingonBuddhistdeityFudōmyōō,oneofthefive“KingsofWisdom”andapatronofwarriors.

Fudōshin is the protection against the “shikai” or four sicknesses of kendo:surprise, fear, doubt and confusion.Akendoka should not lose his composureunderpressureorprovocation.Inpracticaltermsthismeansnotflinchingunderthepressureof a sudden strongattack,or reactinghastily to a feint. It equallymeans not losing your temper when reacting to off-target blows or physicalcontactandinhavingthecourageandcommitmenttofinishanattackonceyouinitiateit.

Forallbutthemostexperiencedkendoka,thissoundsworthy,butsimplisticandhard to achieve. However, the ability to approach kendo practice with animmovable mind, even for a small proportion of the time, makes forimmeasurableprogress.Unfortunatelythereisnoinstantsolution,noristhereaway to reach fudōshin by reading or thinking about it. Like most aspects ofkendo,thegoalisreachedthroughrepeatedkihonpractice.

Breaking it down into its components, one can see that uchikomi geiko andkakarigeiko focus the attacker on striking the targetwithout fear of failure orcounter attack. Drills to repetitively practise oji-waza help you meet youropponents’ attack without fear. Butsukarigeiko helps build a robust attackingspirit, which is not put off or offended by the occasional knock. Kirikaeshidevelops the ability to breathe whilst attacking continuously, allowing you tokeep the pressure on without being overwhelmed by your opponent. In fact,these basic drills should be the buildingblocks for your kendo and jigeikonomorethantheopportunitytopolishandtesttheskillsyouhavedeveloped.

Of course, kendo is finally about the interaction between two people and theoutcome of shiai is dictated by your comparative levels of skill and mentalstrength,butyouonlystrengthenthesethroughrepeatedbasictraining.Thereisno quick fix, but just a tip: if your mind, body and the tip of your shinaicontinuouslymoveforward,youaregoingintherightdirection.

5.“Afeatherinahurricane”

Withoutthebenefitofaprivatedojofortoshikoshigeiko,myfirstpracticeoftheNewYear took place yesterday. This hatsugeikowas a greatway to get backintotheswingofkendoand,withmywristinjurynowmending,Iamonceagainabletocallonsomeojiwazatouseagainstmyfitter,fasterjuniors.

Perhapsbecauseoftheholidaybreak,ormaybebecauseitisareflectivetimeofyear, a numberof people askedme tohelp evaluate their keiko.The commonthemewas thatwe all seemed to be operating at a single rhythm, bywhich Imeanthattherewasnorealdifferentiationbetweenthespeedofapproach,attackandfollowthrough.Thiscould,ofcourse,beattributedtoasurfeitofChristmaspudding,butmorelikelythecauseisjustgeneraltensionandinabilitytorelax.

Many years ago, I was given some advice by the lateKikuchiKoichi sensei,formerVicePresidentof theBKAandmorerecentlyofShibuyadojo, that thefeeling in kendo should be “like a feather in a hurricane”. This has been aconstantlymemorable image, signifying tome that kendo should be light andflexible but driven by a great elemental force.What sets great kendo playersapartistheabilitytoinstantlytransformfromatotallyrelaxedstatetoexplosivemovement.

Mostofuswillneverachievethis,buttherearecertainlywaysinwhichwecangetclosertotheideal.Goodpostureandbalance,andarelaxed,flexiblekamaeareallnecessities.Correctfootworktooisessential,withtheabilitytodriveofffromtheleftfootassoonasyouseetheopportunity.Most importantlythecutitselfmust be donewith relaxed shoulders, elbows andwrists. If you use toomuch shoulder power, it makes your attack heavy and slow. The feeling onmaking the attack should be as if you are being pulled upward and forward,acceleratingthroughthestrikeintozanshin.

This is all very easy to describe but very difficult to do. The ability to relax,particularlyinstressfulsituationssuchasshiaiandshinsa,needsstrictmentalaswellasphysicalpreparation.Youneed tocontrolyourbreathingandputasidethekendosicknessesofsurprise,fear,doubtandperplexity.Whilsttheidealof“afeatherinahurricane”maynotbeachievable,youmayavoidlookingmorelikeapuddinginablizzard.

6.Chibasensei’sadviceonchudankamaeandcuttingmotion

ChibasenseiisbackintheUKforhisannualvisit.Hehasanunerringabilitytoquicklyspotwhatneedsfixingandtoofferaremedy.Aftertwodojovisitsforkeiko,hereachedtheconclusionthatmanyUKkendokasufferfromthelackofcoordinatedki-ken-tai-itchi.Thisstemsfromanumberoftimingproblems,butmainly fromusing toomuch shoulder power and leaning in, causing the rightfoottocomeupratherthanforward.

Over theweekend,he thenrana twodayseminar.Usingaseriesofdrills thatprogressed through the range of shikake and oji waza at different speeds anddistances, he made people work on developing a natural kamae and cuttingmotion to eliminate this problem. The theory is quite simple: that you shouldrelax your arms and shoulders in chudan leaving your inner arms close to thebody so that you cannot see daylight between your inner arms and your dou.Yourlefthandshouldbeatnavelheightandturnedinatananglewhereyoucaneasily support the weight of the shinai. Your right hand should be held at arelaxedanglewithoutbeingforced,sothatyoucanmovetheshinaieasily.Thegripfrombothhandscomesfromthelittleandringfingersonly.

Youshouldstepintoyourown,one-stepcuttingdistancewithafeelingofseme,andattherighttimeyoushouldlifttheshinai,bendingyourelbowsandwristsin

a natural fashion.Howhigh you lift the shinai depends on you. If you are anexperienced kendoka you should be able to cut in a very smallmovement. Itneedstobebiggeramotionifyouarelessexperienced.Thekeypointisthatthefinalpartofthemotionwithyourwristsiswhatgivesthestrikeits“snap”andifyourwristsaresuppleenough,youshouldbeabletocutfromalmostastandingstart.AsChibasenseihassaidinthepast,whenyoustrikemen,youshoulddosowiththeintentionofcuttingthroughtothechin.

Intermsofgettingthefootmovementpartoftheequationright,youshouldnotmoveyourrightfootbeforeyoustartthestrike;however,justbeforeyoudoso,bendtherightkneeslightly.Notonlycanthisprovokeyouropponenttomove,italignsyourlegsothatwhenyoumakeafumikomistamp,youwillpainlesslyhitthefloorwiththeflatofyourfootratherthanriskbruisingyourheel.

Assimpleasthetheorymightbe,formanyofusitwilltakequiteafewhoursinthedojobeforewecanputitintopractice.

7.Tenouchi

ItouchedontenouchiinanearlypostonholdingtheshinaiandinmyreportonChiba sensei’s firstUKseminar. Imakeno excuses forposting about it againbecauseitisanimportantaspectofkendoand,inmanycases,thefinalpieceofthepuzzlethatdecideswhetherornotatechniqueresultsinippon.

Tenouchi translatessimplyas“the insideof thehand”andinkendomeansthesqueezingactionofbothhandsatthepointofstriking.Ifyousqueezetoohardortooearly,thepointoftheshinaiwillnotextendforwardsufficientlytostrikethetargetcorrectlyandcrisply.Insomekendojo,peoplewere,andmaybestillare,taught to wring the shinai between both hands at the point of cutting.Unfortunately this has the effect of causing the point of the shinai to rise onimpact, so itactuallydefeats thepurposeofusing itasanaid to finish thecutcorrectly.

Likeeveryothercomponentofkendo, tenouchi shouldbe relaxedandnatural.Rather than create an artificial action at the end of your cutting swing, youshouldstartthemovementholdingtheshinaicorrectly.Thatis,withtheendofthe tsukafitting into theheelofyour lefthand, the little fingerandringfingerapplyingslightpressure,withthemiddle,indexfingerandthumbbarelymakingcontact.For therighthand thegrip is thesame,but ifanything lighterand theknuckleoftheforefingershouldlightlybrushthetsuba.Ifthisisuncomfortable,chancesareyourtsukaistoolong.Icannotoveremphasisethatyourgripshouldbelight.Ifsomeonetriestopullyourshinaiforwardoutofyourhand,itshouldslideforwardwithoutprotestorfriction.Afurtherkeypointisthatyourwristsshould turn in slightly, so that the centre of the V formed by thumb andforefingerofeachhandshouldbeata90degreeangletotheground.

Holding theshinai in thisway,youshouldaimtocut through themen tochinlevel and kote through the thickness of thewrist and squeeze lightlywith thelittle and index fingers after the point of impact.You should not change yourgripatanystageofthecut.

8.Kigurai

VincentLongof theIrishKendoFederationaskedforsomehelp inexplainingKigurai to his students. At first, this appeared to be a fairly straightforwardexercisebut,aswitheverythingrelatedtokendo,themoreyouthinkaboutit,themorecomplicateditbecomes.

IneverydayJapaneseitmeans“pride”andhasaslightlynegativeconnotation–it could be taken tomean haughtiness. In kendo there are various definitionsranging from the late Ando sensei’s “loftiness of mind” to the ZNKRdictionary’s “the strength or commanding presence derived from confidenceacquired through repeated practice”. When you break down the originalcharacters to “mind” and “grade” you can see the logic behind these morepositivekendodefinitions.

I am starting to get rapidly out ofmy comfort zonewhen thinking about thesubtle difference between “kihaku” strength of mind, “fukaku” depth andkigurai, but to get back to Vinnie’s question, kigurai can mean confidence,grace, the ability to dominate your opponent through strength of character.Kiguraicanalsobeseenasfearlessnessorahighlevelofinternalenergy.Whatitisnotisposturing,self-congratulatingorshow-boating.

MostofushaveatsometimeseenKurosawa’sSevenSamurai.Inthefilm,oneof theprotagonistsgets involved inadualwithbokken inwhichhisopponentloudlyinsiststhathismenattackhadbeatenthenukidouofthequietlyconfidenthero.Forced into a replaywithkatana, our heromodestly repeats theprocess,watchingthebaddy’stwohalvesgooffindifferentdirections.Hethen,withoutshowinganyemotion,putshisswordawayandwalkson.Thistomeisagreatexampleofkigurai.

Kiguraibecomesarequiredelementtodisplayingradingexaminationsfrom4thdanupwards.ThisunderlinestheZNKR’sviewthatkiguraicanonlybebuiltonextensive keiko. You may well be able to explain the concept, but withoutputtinginthethousandsofhoursofrequiredpractice,itisunlikelythatanyonecandisplaykigurai.

However, anyone can start to build it from day one. Taking dojo etiquette

seriously,makingthemostofseizaandmokusoandrepeatedlypracticingkihonwithalevelmindandgoodposturearewaystolayfoundationsforthesplendidkiguraithatyouwillnaturallyshowinyouryondanexamination.

9.Kendofootworkforbeginners

Idonotoftenteachbeginners,butIdonoticefromtimetotimethatindividualswhoarenowwellpast thefirststagesof learningkendostillhaveproblemsinmakingcorrectfumikomi.

TeachingatthelastseminarinIrelandwasilluminatingastherewereanumberof new kendoka who were working very hard to establish the basis of goodkendofootmovement.Thismademereflectonhowimportantitistoperfectthebasicsbeforeyoucanmoveontolearnmorecomplexkendotechnique.

Certainlyfromawesternperspective,theconceptofsuriashi,(slidingfeet)andokuriashi,(movingthefootfacingthedirectionyoumovein)isalien:Welearntowalkheel-toe, liftingthelegfromthekneeandtransferringtheweightfromthebacktothefrontofthefoot.KendofootmovementdevelopedinJapanatatimewhenpeoplewereusedtowearinggetaandzoriandneededtoslidetheirfeetforward.

The repercussions of heel-toe walking are still obvious, with many beginnersinstinctivelypullingfromthefrontfootratherthanpushingfromthebackfoot.

Thekeypointstorememberarethatthebacklegshouldbetensewiththeheelonlyslightlyraised(just15degrees).Thekneeofthefrontlegshouldbeslightlybentandthefootshouldbeparalleltotheground,asifathinsheetofpaperwerebetween it and the floor. In the words of Matsumoto Toshio sensei, themovementshouldbe“likeacatwalking”.

Everyoneistaughtthatthetoesoftheleftfootshouldbeinlinewiththeheeloftherightandthatthereshouldbeafist’sdistanceinwidthbetweenthem.Ithinkthatthiscanvary.Ifyouhavesufficientlegpower,thenthereisnoreasonwhyyour feet should not be further apart. The width between them should alsodependonyourownbodyshapeandsize.WhatIamtryingtosayisthatyourfeetshouldbeinapositionthatfeelscomfortableandstable.

Inmyview,themostimportantelementishikitsuke,theprocessofdrawingthebackfoottoitsrelativepositionwiththefrontfootassoonasyoumoveforwardormakefumikomitostrike.Inthiswayyoumaintainbalanceandtheabilityto

moveforwardinstantly.

10.Tame

The two comments on “tame” received in response to my post about Chibasensei’sseminarwereinlinewiththereactionofmanypeopleattheevent,whohaddifficultyinunderstandingtheconceptof“tame”.

ImentionedthistoChibasenseiat themealafterhisfarewellpractice,andhisreplywasthat“youshouldapproachtheopponentinthespiritof,‘Iamcuttingnow’andwaitforhisorherreactiontodeterminewhichtargettostrike.”

This is agoodexplanation,but for thebenefit of readerswhoarenot familiarwith“tame”,letmeaddwhatlittleIcanonthesubject.

Firstly“tame”isanextensionofseme.Ihavewrittenaboutthisbefore,buttheactofmovingintoyouropponent’sdistanceorinvitingthemintoyoursisseme.Seme,andthetechniquethatfollowsitshouldnot,however,becontinuous.Ifitwere thatwould showpremeditationon theattacker’spart tohit, for example,men,when his or her opponent couldwell react differently and show anothertarget.

“Tame” is the intervalbetweenapproachingandstrikingwhereyoudetermineyouropponent’snext stepandchooseyour target. Ofcourse thismakes it allsoundveryleisurely,wherethatisfarfromthecase.

So practically, you step in and staying relaxed, maintain your pressure andreadinesstoattack.Yourchudan,(explaining“tame”fromjodanisbeyondmyability),shouldbefirmlyfixedonyouropponent’scentre.Youneedtomaintainthe tension inyour left leg so thatyoucanpush forward instantlyandcontainyourbreathinyourabdomensothatyoucanmoveexplosivelywithstrongkiai.Assoonasyouropponentmoves–attack.Thiscouldbewithanyshikakewazaif he or she breaks their kamae, orwith ojiwaza if they choose to attack.Ofcourse,theymaychoosetodoneither,inwhichcasetheonlysolutionistomovebacktosafedistanceandstartalloveragain.

Ihope thishelps.For further information there isa translationofanarticleonsemeandtamebyLorenzoZagoontheBKAwebsite,orbetterstill,findaclipofChibasenseionYouTubeandwatchhowhedoesit.

11.TheNitokodachiconundrum

Iwashappilybrowsing through thenewOfficialGuide forKendo Instruction,noddingsagelyattheexplanationsofthingsIknew,whenIreachedthesectionon yuko datotsu. Having refereed internationally on many occasions andattended all the regional referee training courses, I like to think that I have afairly clear idea ofwhat constitutes ippon.My confidence started towaiver alittle when I read the description of yuko datotsu for nito, particularly theexplanationofipponfortheshoto.

ForgivemeifIdonotgivetheexactquote,asIamtravellingwithoutthebookat themoment,but toscorewiththeshotothedaitomustbeholdingdowntheopponent’s shinai whilst the arm holding the daito (the long one) is fullyextended.Just toclarifythispoint, itmeansthat theopponent’sshinai isbeingsuppressedatadistanceequatingtothelengthofthearmplusa38shinaiwhenyoustrikewiththeshoto(thelittleone).Iamveryfarfrombeinganitoexpert.Ihavenever tried it andhave no intention of doing so, but if I amnotmissingsomething,therulemakesitimpossibletoscorewiththeshotounlesstheplayerhasatwometrearmoratelescopickodachi.

IwroteaboutnitobeforeandmentionedthatIhaveneverseenippongiventoakodachi strike. I have also heard a variety of explanations from refereeinstructorsandshinpanchoaboutthedifficultyofmakingyukodatotsuwiththekodachi, because nito is “different frommainstreamkendo”, but thismakes itpatentlyclearthattheshotoisnotmeantforscoringwith.

12.Tsuki–factorfiction?

Backin2009Iwroteapieceabouttsuki.Sincethen,IhavecontinuedtoseetheoccasionalYouTubevideoofthistechniqueresultinginbrilliantipponintheAllJapanChampionships,butIneverseethetechniquepractised.

I have enjoyed keiko on four continents (I still hope to get toAustralia), andhave hardly ever seen anyone doing tsuki drills. I have witnessed numerousuniversity practices and the occasional police tokuren session in Japan wheretsukihasbeenignored.Thisbegsthequestion–howdothoseathleteswhoexcelintsukigettobesogoodatit?

Therearelotsofimplicitembargosontsuki.Itshouldnotbedonebybeginnersor children, or used by more experienced players against the same. It is alsothought to be impolite to do tsuki against a senior teacher. This does actuallymake sense, askeikobetween instructor and student tends to take the formofhikitategeiko,wheretheseniorpartnersubtlymakesopeningsforthejunior.Inthissituationitwouldbeextremelyrudetochargeinwithaheart-stoppingtsukiwhensenseikindlyopensforyoutoattackmen.

There isalsoafeeling,althoughIhaveneverheardanythingdefinitiveon thispoint, that tsuki should not be attempted in grading examinations. Havingwatchedthehachidanshinsafiveorsixtimes,Ihaveonlyseentsukifromoneindividual who has become a minor legend. At every grading, his reputationcauses aknotof anticipationwhere thewatchersgo througha “will he,won’the?”speculation.EverytimeIhaveseenhiminaction,hisveryimpressivetsukiemergesbeforetheendofhissecondtachiai.Iamalongwayfrombeingabletounderstand whether this is the reason for him not getting through to the nijishinsa,buthiskendolooksprettygoodtome.

PerhapsIampaintingtoonegativeapicture.Tsukiisincludedinmostcoursesandseminars,butnormallyitsinclusionisbriefanditseemstobethereasthetokenfourthtechnique.Neverthelessthekendoworldseemstobesplitbetweenthosewhocan’tdotsukiandthosewhoexcelatit.Itisprobablytheresultofmyover-activeimagination,butIhavethesuspicionthatthosewhocanspendtheirnightsawayfrompryingeyespractisingtsukiinthedark.

13.KendoTraining–frequencyandintensity

A regularly asked question is, “How often should I train to gain maximumimprovementinmykendo?”Myhonestanswerwouldbe,“Atleastthreetimesaweek.”Onceaweekandyouarenotgoingtomakeanyrealprogress,twiceandyoumayimproveslightlyifyoualreadyhaveastronggrounding,buttrainthreetimesaweekandyouareabletoreinforceyourgoodhabitsandlearnnewskills.

This is, however, an unrealistic goal for many people. Busy working lives,family commitments and the lack of local dojo often make the ideal trainingscheduleuntenable.

Theotherpartoftheequationishowyouuseyourtimeinthedojo.Ifyouturnup, shoot the breeze for half an hour then enjoy one or two leisurely jigeikobeforeretiringtothepub,youarenotgoingtoimprovemuch,evenifyoutrainonadailybasis.Tomymind,anintensehour’spracticewithatleasthalfofitdedicatedtorigorouskihon,includingdrills,kirikaeshiandkakarigeiko,withtheremaining time dedicated to jigeiko, is the ideal session. Most Japaneseinstructionmanuals constantly refer to “correct technique” and “in full spirit”,which reading between the lines suggests that you should do it to the best ofyour ability and with your utmost energy. Of course the other element thatsignificantlyaddstothevalueofyourtrainingistodoitunderthewatchfuleyeofagoodinstructor,onewhocanhelpyoucorrectmistakesandpraiseyouwhenyougetitright.

ElitekendokainJapanoftentraintwiceadaywithabreakatmiddayforamealandanap.Thisnormallyhappensfivedaysaweekwiththeweekendsreservedforcompetition.Therearealsoanumberofhappilyretiredkendokawhoattendmorningandeveningpracticefiveorsixdaysaweek,butforworkingamateurswithamortgagetopayandkidstofeed,thisremainsthestuffofdreams.

Therehasbeensomerecentdebateonanumberofkendogroupsaboutthevalueof cross training and I honestly believe that anything that increases stamina,speedandflexibilityhasgottobeworthdoing.Ontheotherhand,noamountofrunning,cyclingorswimmingisgoingtoimproveyourkendotechnique.

Youcanofcoursetrainathome.Suburiandfootworkexercisescanbepractisedinmostplaces.However, lookingatmyownhistoryof smashed light fittings,

annoyedneighboursandadisputewithmyformerJapaneselandlordsoverfloordamage,Iwouldcounselcaution.

14.Kaeshidou

Asmostpeoplewhopractisewithmeknow,Ilikekaeshidou.Tryingtoteachit,though, is not a simplematter. To be honest, I have not seenmany kendokabelow4thdanattemptitsuccessfully.

Dougenerallyisadifficulttechnique.Againstcorrectchudan,thereisrarelyanopportunity for tobikomi dou. Hiki dou works if your opponent is intent oncoveringhisorhermen; someyoungercompetitorsdoagood jobwithgyakudou,butthemostcommonsuccessfulapplicationofdouisasanojitechnique,eithernukiorkaeshidou.

The two are not dissimilar, but Imuch prefer kaeshi dou as the blocking andreturningmotion allowyou to hit douwhilst you are directly in front of youropponent. Inmyview, there are anumberof factors that arekey tomaking asuccessfulkaeshidou:

Makesurethatyouapproachthetechniquewithanattackingmind!Donotwaitforyouropponenttostrikemenandthenreact.Ensureyourpostureiscorrect,butwithyourbalancejustslightlyforward.Theblockandstrikeshouldbeonesmooth,continuousmovement.Aswithallojiwaza,makesurethepointofyourshinaiisgoingforwardratherthanliftingupandback.Hitdouwhilstyouareinfrontofyouropponentandthenmovediagonallyforyourzanshin,donothitafteryouhavemoved.Keepyourlefthandinthecentreandonlybreakyourrighthandgripasyoumovediagonally.Makesureyouhitthesideofthedouanddonotjustscrapeacrossthefront.Havecorrecthasuji,thebottomtakeandstringshouldbeat45degreestothedou.Keepcorrectdistancesothatyouhitwiththedatotsubu.

Alloftheseelementsareimportant,butinmyview,attackingmindisthemostsignificant;pullyouopponentinandmakehimattackinyourspaceandtiming.

Successfulkaeshidoutakesalotofwork,butitisgreatwhenitcomesoff!

15.KendoAttitude

I havehad a fewdays rest fromwork andkendodue to a tummybug, so amfeelingalittlemorereflectivethanusual.Ire-readanarticlebyInoueYoshihikosensei onKendo andLove. In this very erudite article, Inoue sensei examinesthrough kendo and Buddhist philosophy, the way we evolve through kendotrainingtomakeapositivecontributiontosociety.

Idonotconsidermyselfremotelyqualifiedtocommentonteachingthatisbasedonsuchadepthofpracticalandphilosophicalkendoknowledge,butIstartedtothink whether or not we are starting to lose some of the spiritual and moralvaluesofkendoalongwiththeoldergenerationofkendoteachers.

ThefactthatIamevenwritingthisisindicativethatIthinkweare,butthatisfrommy perspective as awesternerwho does not read Japanese. I suppose aquestionthathasbeenatthebackofmymindforalongtimeis–Wasmodernkendoformulatedtofosteraloveofmankind(asthemissionstatementsays),ordidsomeonedoagreatjobofcreatingarationaleforanowirrelevantformofswordplay?

Havingpractisedkendofor40yearsandwiththefirmintentionofcontinuingtodosountilIamnolongerable,Ido,ofcourse,believethatIgainagreatdealofmental and physical benefit from regular keiko, but it is impossible to saywhetherornotIamabetterpersonforit.

Thanks to the internet, there is now much more English language kendoinformation available. Much of it is either news about kendo events ordiscussionsontechnique.Whatismissingisthephilosophicalelement!Thisisprobablydueto thefact thatmostpeopleputtinginformationoutonblogsandwebsites,(meincluded),arenotqualifiedtodiscussthemoreesotericaspectsofkendo. There is also theZen conundrum that you do not reach a state of “nomind”bythinkingaboutit.

What does seemclear is that as kendogrows in popularity, particularly in theWest, it ismovingmore towardssportandfurtherawayfromtraditionalbudo.ByjoiningGAISFandwiththerequirementfordrugtestingatthe14WKC,weappeartobegoinginthesamedirectionasJudo.Myonlyhopeisthatthrough

thisevolution,wedonotlosethedisciplineandreihothatseparateskendofromothersports.

16.Explainshuhari

MostpeopletakingaKendo3rdor4thdanexamination,whereawrittentestisrequired,havebeengiven this instruction.Mostknowthat theanswer isalongthelinesof“Shuisfollowingoneteacher”,“Haisbreakingawaytolearnfromothers”and“Riisestablishingyourowntechnique”.OK,sogiventhatourexampapersgotmarked,wewouldallpass,butIforonedonotreallyunderstandtheideainpracticalterms.

Thereareawiderangeofinterpretationsofthisconcept.“Shu”isprettystandardthroughout them all. “Ha” varies in people’s understanding, from seekingoccasionalhelp fromother sensei, to leavingbecauseyouhaveoutgrownyourteacher. “Ri” iswhere the going gets tough…with explanations ranging fromdevelopingyourowntechnique,toachieving“mushin”or“nomind”,tostartingyourownschool.

Itisinterestingtoseethatwithsomeothermartialartsthereisindeedatendencyforexponentstostarttheirownschools.Ihavebeensuitablyimpressedbyfolkin their20s and30swhohaveachieved the rankof10thor12thdan,but thishappensveryrarelyinKendo.Soclearly,fewofusfeelthatwehavereachedthestateofindependencedescribedbythemoreextrememeaningof“Ri”.

Aswithmost things in life, reality is lesscutanddried than the theory.Whenyoumoveonto“Ha”dependsonyourownlevelandthatofyourinstructorandthe depth of your relationship.Most people spread theirwings gently, gettingexposuretootherteachersandnewideasatseminarsanddojovisits.Thosewithaspirationstobestrongshiaiplayersusuallygettoattendnationalsquadtrainingand learn fromcoacheswhocan take them in thatdirection. Ihaveheardofafew dojo leaders who expect their students to cut themselves off from otherinfluences,butthisismoreoftenthannotduetotheirowninsecurity.Ibelievethatonceakendokahasstartedtoputhisorherbasicsinplace,heorsheshouldtrytolearnasmuchastheycanfromasmanypeopleaspossible.Havingsaidthat, it isgoodtohaveonespecialsenseiorsempai,whosekendoyouadmire;whocangiveyouadvicebasedondeepknowledgeofyourkendo.

Overall,theprocessofimprovinginKendoisoneofinterdependence.Welearnfrom our seniors, our peers and our juniors, and if we are lucky enough we

shouldbeabletodoallthree.InEuropeitdoesbecomemoredifficulttopractisewithseniorsonceyouachievetherankof6thor7thdan,but it isessentialforone’s development so the onus is on us to attend seminars, to make trips topractisewithstrongsenseiandtoensurethatourownkendocontinuestogrow.

Asfor“Ri”,askmeagainifImakehachidan.

17.Kihaku

I am trying to recover after four days and five nights of keiko with Sumi,Uegaki,TashiroandMorisensei.

WehavejustfinishedtheannualSumiseminarandbythefinaldaytherewasaclearlyvisibleimprovementinthestandardofKendoforallparticipants.Onthelastdayweheldagradingexaminationto5thdanleveland,forthefirsttimeinmy experience, 100 percent of the candidates passed. Of course the senseiworkedonimprovingtechniqueandpostureandalotoffocuswasputoncorrectfootwork,but inmyview, thebiggest improvementmade toeveryone’skendowasthroughimprovedkiai.

I sincerelybelieve that in theUKwefail to teachbeginners the importanceofcorrectbreathingandstrongkiai,andthatthishasamajorimpactontheabilityto finish waza correctly. Whereas if correct breath control is taught, thetechnicalities of finishing a technique tend to take care of themselves. Ideally,youshouldbreathe insharplyandhold theair inyourabdomen, then letoutasmall amount of this air as kiai or kakegoe before you enter cutting distance.Youshouldthenexpeltherestofyourbreathsharplyasaloudkiaiatthepointof striking. The difference betweenKendowith andwithout this is similar tocomparingaboutbetween twoprofessionalheavyweightboxersandafriendlyslappingmatch.

As we get older and move up the grading ladder, kiai – or perhaps moreappropriately kihaku (the strength of our spirit) – becomes more important.Muscle power decreases, sowe need to resort to the strength of ourmind orspirittobreakanopponent’scentreaswemakeanattack.

WatchingpeoplelikeSumisensei,whoIhavehadtheprivilegeofknowingformanyyears,youcanseethistransformation.Whereas20yearsagoIfearedthespeedofhisattack,oneisnowtransfixedbythestrengthofhiski.

So,comingbacktoourmoreimmediatekiaiconcerns,what is thebestwaytotrain?Theanswergivenloudlyduringtheseminarwaskirikaeshi.Deepbreath,kakegoe,shomenandfiveyokomenwithkiaiwithoutbreathinginagain–thenstretch to shomen and seven yokomen.When you can do that, go on to the

wholeforwardandbacksequence inonebreath. Ithurts!But itwillmakeonehellofadifferencetoyourKendo.

18.TraininginJapan

It seems likehalf thecurrentand recent formermembersof theBritishKendoSquadareeitherin,planningtobe,orhavejustreturnedfromJapan.CheapairtravelandmorefrequentchancestomakefriendswithJapanesekendokabeforeyougo,maketraininginJapananeasieroptionthanitusedtobe,butyoustillhavetoberesourcefulenoughtoarrangeajoborscholarship,orsimplystashthefundstofacilitateanextendedstay.

Having done it in the past, I am frequently asked for advice, although thingsmoveonandkendokacurrentlyinJapancangiveamuchmoreuptotheminutepicture than I can. Nevertheless, here are some general thoughts on kendotraininginJapan,(Iassumeyouhavealreadyworkedouthowyouaregoingtolivewhilstyouarethere.)

Firstly, find a dojo where the training is in line with your kendo objectives.There is nopoint in trainingwith elite police tokuren, (even if theywould letyou), if you are a middle-aged beginner. Equally, it would be a waste ofopportunityforahighpotential,nationalteammembertotrainexclusivelyinalocalkinpendojo.Thinkabouthowhardyouarepreparedtotrainandhowfaryouhave toprogress tobeable to trainonanequal footing toothermembers.Theoptionsare:

Highschool/Juniorhighschooldojo–fineifyouareapupilorteacher,butadultsneedtogetsomeseniorpracticeaswell,oryoubecomeaprofessionalmotodachi.Localpolicestationdojo–goodplaceforbeginnerstopractisefromscratchwiththekids.DonotgetconfusedwithotherbigpolicedojolikeSonezakiinOsaka.Localareakinpendojo–again,oftengoodforbeginners,butalldependsonthesenseiwhocanrangefrom4thdantohachidan.Universitydojo–varyinkendoreputation,butmosthavestrongsenseiandareverygoodplacestodevelopgoodkihonhabitsandstamina,idealifyouareinroughlythesameagebracketasthestudentpopulation.Alsoagood

placeforseniorOBstopracticeojiwaza.Companydojo–therearesomereallystrongcompanydojolikeMitsubishi,Hankyuetc.andsomethataremorelikesocialclubs.Privatedojo–notwoarealikeand,again,thelevelofinstructionvariesenormously,butbereadyforsomeseriousone-on-oneobligationwiththeshihan.Amongsttheseprivatedojoyousometimescomeacrossthosethathaveaparticularinterestinteachingkendotonon-Japaneseandgoasfarasactivelyrecruitinggaijinfromotherdojo.Iseetheadvantageforpeopleforwhomthelanguageisstillamystery,buttheydonotalwayshavethehighestlevelofinstruction.PersonallyItakea“GrouchoClub”(Iwouldnotjoinanyclubthatwantsmeasamember)attitudetotheseestablishments.Machidojo–myfavourite!Normallypublic-financed,centraltowndojo.Usuallytheyhaveagoodmixofgradesand,dependingonyourlevel,youcannormallyfindsomeonetotakeyouundertheirwing.IspentthreehappyyearsinOsakaShudokan.Centralpolicedojo,likeKeshichoorOsakaFukei–greatifyouareadvanced,young,fitandcapable,orlikeme,oldenoughtobeallowedtositwithacolddrinkandwatchthetokurensweatforthefirsttwohoursandjoininattheendforaleisurelykeiko.

Thisisanotexhaustivebutfairlydauntinglistofoptions.Inmyviewthebestwaytoselectadojoistogetintoucheitherdirectly,orthroughintroduction,toanyseniorsenseiyouknowintheareaandtrusttheirjudgementinhelpingyoufindtherightdojo.Onceyouareknown,allsortsofotherpracticeopportunitieswillpresentthemselves.

Althoughthedaysofsittingonthedojostepsforthreedaysbeforetheyletyouinhavepassed,itisstillnotadvisabletowalkinoffthestreetjustbecauseyouhearkiai.

19.Shodanshinsa

Sometimeback,Iwroteapostonhowtotrainforgradingexaminations.Havingsatonthe4thand5thdanpanelinBrusselslastweek,andasIamscheduledtobeanexaminerfortheIrishNationalGradingthiscomingweekend,Ithoughtitmightbeusefultohighlightsomeofthepointsthatthepanelwillbelookingforontheday.

Thepurposeof thekendograding examination is to allowyou todemonstratewhatyouhavelearnedandwhatyouarecapableof.Itisunlikelythatyouwillpullsomethingoutofthebagthatyoucannotdoinyournormalkeiko.Youneedto have put in the quantity and quality of practice since your last grading tojustify promotion.There are somepeoplewho treat the shinsa like a lottery –turnupoftenenoughandyournumberwilleventuallycomeup.Thechancesareifyouaredoing thesame thingsyoudid the last timeyoufailed,youwill failagain.

Therearesomeexcellentguidesavailabletotellyoustepbystepwhattodoforeachgrade,sothisisjustaquickoverviewofthepointsthatcatchanexaminer’seye:

Chakuso–cleanunfadedhakamaandkeikogi.Hakamashouldbetherightlength,keikogiwrinklefreeattheback.Bogushouldbetiedcorrectlywithmenhimoofthecorrectlength.Shinaishouldbeingoodconditionwithnoprotrudingtsuruornakayuiandthetsubashouldreachthebottomofthetsuka.Entryandexit–makesurethatyouunderstandthepatternforenteringandcrossingtheshinsajooperatingatthatgrading.Eitherwatchthepeoplebeforeyou,orifyouareinthefirstgroup,ask.Sonkyo–bowcorrectlyandmakeastrongconfidentsonkyowithastraightback.Ifyouhavekneeproblemstelltheorganisersandmakeanalternativesalutation.Kamae–keepastrongkamaeandmakesureyourleftheelisofftheground.

Fullspirit–giveyourselftimetosettleandmakeastrongkiai.Attackattherightopportunity,withfullspirit.Ifyouropponentcountersorstopsyouwithhisshinai,donotletitbreaktheforceofyourattack.Donotshowemotionat,oracknowledge,youropponent’ssuccessfulattack,justgoontotakeormaketheopportunityforyourowntechnique.Correctposture–keepyourposturestraight,donotducktoavoidbeinghit.Ki-ken-tai-itchi–rememberthatyourhandsandfeetshouldworktogether.Seme–takethecentrebeforeyouhit.Ifyoucanmakeyouropponentmovefirstandtakedebanawaza,youshouldimpressthepanel.Zanshin–showgoodzanshin,donotshowboat.Ensurethatyouturnandgoforwardtothecorrectdistanceaftereachattack.Mostimportantly–keepaclearmindanddonotpanicintoattackingwhenthereisnoopportunity.

Goodluck!

20.Kendoforseniorcitizens

Manykendoclubsadvertisekendoas“suitableforpeopleofallages”.WhilstIdo not disagreewith this, I think there are some serious caveats. Those luckyenoughtostartatarelativelyyoungagehavehadtheluxuryofadaptingkendoover theyearsand, toparaphraseMochidasensei,allowingphysicalspeedandstrength tobe replacedby techniqueand laterbykizeme,basedonstrengthofmind.

For people who take up kendo in latemiddle, or old age it ismore difficult.Thereareexceptions,ofcourse,butinmostcaseslatestarterslackthestrengthandflexibilitytostartwith“youngkendo”anditisimpossibletocramdecadesofexperience intoa shortbeginner’scourse.Evenseasonedkendokacanhaveproblemsafteralongbreakfromtraining.

IrecentlymetanexperiencedJapaneseplayerinhis30swhoreturnedtokendoaftera10yearinterval.Withinminutesofrevertingtouniversitylevelfootwork,he experienced Achilles tendon problems. So what should the more maturekenshidotogetthemostgainwithouttoomuchpain?Firstly,findasympatheticinstructor who understands the limitations of his students. Work on correcttechnique and cutting, and keep your posture correct. Try to make goodfumikomi,butdonot takesuchbigsteps thatyoustrainyourAchilles tendon.Alwaysbringyourleftfootupquicklysothetoeisinlinewithyourrightheel.Aboveall,relax.Ifyoufeelanysuddentwinges,stop!

Beingprudent,however,doesnotmeanyoushouldnotpractisewithfullspirit.Itisnotallbadnewsforusoldies.Someonetoldmeabouthisdadwhostartedat60andreached5thdanwithoutfailingasinglegrading.Ialsohaveafriendwhorestartedaftera27yearbreakandreached7thdan.Sogiveityourbest,butdonotoverdoit.

21.Sensei!

AfriendwhoteachesKendointheUK’sWestMidlandstoldmeaboutanotherlocalmartialarts(nottellingyouwhichone)instructorwhohasthewordsenseitattooedinlargegothiclettersonthebackofhisbaldhead.Tomymind,notagoodmove.Aswellasthepotentialproblemofapermanentredundantlabelifhe gives up (a bit like tattooing a lover’s name before you get chucked), itdemonstratesacompletelackofunderstandingofwhatthewordmeans.

Sensei is a courtesy title, so you can’t apply it to yourselfwithout looking, atbest, confused. The literal meaning is “born before” and in normal Japanesesociety it is reserved for doctors, teachers, lawyers, politicians etc. If you areinside one of these groups, youwould use the sensei title for senior ormoreexperienced colleagues, whilst using san or kun as appropriate for juniors. InJapanese,senseiisasuffix,sothecorrectusageisaftertheperson’sname.ItisSmithsensei,notsenseiSmith.Inkendo,senseiisusuallyreservedfor6thdanupwards and, even then, implies that he or she is older ormore experienced.Fighters in theKyotoTaikai are announced as such and such sensei,whereasyounger elite kendoka are announced as so and so senshu in the All JapanChampionships.

Sempai, too, gets a great deal of misuse. In its natural setting it indicatessomeoneolder,yoursenioratschoolorperhapssomeonewhostartedkendo,oratthedojobeforeyou.IntheUK,thetermisappliedtothepersonattheheadofthestudentlinewhoshoutsinstructions.Withintheoriginalmeaningofsempaiand kohai (the juniormember of the partnership), relationships are fixed on alifelongbasis,regardlessofeventualstatuschanges.Iwasunfailinglyamusedtoregularlyhearan80yearoldaddressinga79yearoldaskunandkimi(honorificnormally used for young boys and “you” form used for children). Of course,bothsidesofthepartnershiphavetheirownresponsibility.Thekohainormallypacksandcarriesbogubagsandthesempaisoftenstheblowofregularcriticismbybuyingthedrinks.

22.SteppingBack

Ihavealwaysfoundthattheeasiesttimetohitsomeoneiswhentheystepback.Thisisnormallybecauseintheactofdoingsotheybreakconcentrationandlosetheir kamae. Theoretically, if your chudan is correct it is impossible for anopponent tostrikeyou.However,whenyoustepbackwards,particularlywhenyoudosotoavoidyouropponent’spressure,youriskmovingthepointofyourshinaifromthecentre.Thisisaperfectopportunityforyouropponenttoattackmen.It issurprisingthatevenstrongplayersmakethismistake.Inmostcases,theydoso togive themsufficientdistance tomake theirownattack,butoncetheyareonthebackfootitisrelativelysimplefortheotherpartytotakeanextrastepforwardandstrike.

It is not difficult to avoid this problem: simply do not step back. If you thinkabout keeping the point of the shinai forward at all times it is easier to applycountertechniquesandtheworstthatcanhappenisthatyoubothmoveforwardintotsubazeriai.Nowyoucanmovebacksafelyintofightingdistance,butdosowatchingyouropponentandcoveringhisshinai.Most importantly,ensure thatyou keep your left heel off the ground as, once your heel is planted, you areunabletomoveinanydirectionandagainbecomeaneasytarget.

I realise that this advice is taking a somewhat negative tone in being a list ofthingsnottodo.Lookingatitinamorepositivelight,yourobjectiveistokeepmovingforward.Constantlytakethefighttoyouropponent’shalfofthecourtorpracticeareaandbreakhisorherpostureandkamaebystronglystepping intotheirdistance.Whenwetalkaboutthis,thequestionmostoftenaskedis,“Whathappensifyouropponentalsocomesforward?”Thisdoesandwillhappen,butyourmindsetshouldbethatyouwilldominateand,ifyoureallybelievethat,thechancesarethattheotherplayerwillcrumbleunderthepressure.

23.DifferentPaths

Despite the panic of trying to complete my December work load beforeChristmas, Iaminagoodmood.MainlybecauseIhave justhadmyhachidankeikofix,whichshouldkeepmegoingintothenewyear.

Wewere very fortunate to have Iwatate Saburo sensei, supported byHayashiTatsuosensei,inLondonforaweekendseminar;theyalsobroughttwonanadansenseiwith them,Nishioka andSuzuki sensei, the latter being one of the fewfemale7thdanstohavevisitedtheUK.Whatmadetheseminarspecialformanyof the attendeeswas thatHayashi sensei isAmerican educated and acts as anofficialinterpretertotheIKF,sotranslationwasaccurateandfluent.

Asalwaysontheseoccasions,thelocal6thand7thdansareaskedtocheckthatpartipants are doing things correctly and getting themost from the drills, so Idiligently listened to both Iwatate sensei’s words and Hayashi sensei’stranslation.Whatstruckmefromtheoutsetwasthatdifferentteachershaveverydifferent approaches to the same endoutcome.Our lastUK seminarwaswithChibasensei,whoadvocates smallcutsandaparallel styleof strikingdou forbeginnersup.Iwatatesenseiisanevangelistforabigcuttingmotion,practisedwiththeshinaitouchingyourbottomonthebackswing,evenfordou.

The logic is irrefutable.Bycutting in thisway,you learn touseyourshoulderjoints in a relaxed manner. As the seminar progressed, sensei explained anddemonstrated that as youprogressedup thegrading ladder, your attacks couldthen become smaller whilst retaining the suppleness gained from bigmovements.Anotherimpressiveelementwasthewaythat,throughoutthedrills,senseimanagedtoincorporateandbuildupontheelementsofkikaiandseme.

So, an excellent seminarwhich, I am sure, did a lot to improve the kendo ofmost of the people there. I, however,wasmost impressed by Iwatate sensei’sclosingwords inwhich, almost as if he readmymind, he explained that in alifetime’skendoweallgetvariedinformationandinstructionfromavarietyofteachers. In hiswords, the trick is to judge in your ownmindwhich of theseapproachesandtechniquesisrightforyouandtobuildonthemaccordingly.Tosumupinmywords,therearesomegreatteachersoutthere,butonlyyoucanmakeyourkendoworkforyou.

24.Enzannometsuke

Thesequenceofperceptiontowazainkendoisdescribedasichigan,nisoku,santan,shiriki.

One–(gan)sightTwo–(soku)feetThree–(tan)abdomen(centre/courage)Four–(riki)power(technique)

In my understanding, we see the opportunity, immediately push off from theback foot, committing thewhole of our power from tanden, and complete thetechniquewhenwereachthetarget.

Notwithstanding tales of Zatoichi (the blind swordsman), sight is the firstelement of any kendo technique and the way that we watch our opponent iscrucial to the success of our attack. If we stare at the target we are going tostrike,wegiveouropponentobviousnoticeofourintention.Ifwelookjustathisorher face to try tounderstand their next action,wemaymiss the signalstheygivewhentheystarttomovehandsorfeet.Ifwelookjustatfeetorhands,wecanbeeasilytrickedbymovementdesignedtogetourattention.Ifwelookatthepointoftheshinai,thereisevenmorechancethatwemaybefooledbyafeint. We therefore use enzan no metsuke, (the way of looking at a farmountain).

As the name suggests, enzan no metsuke is a way of looking at the wholepicture: the overall shape of your opponent, his body, hands, feet, shinai andface,particularlyhiseyes.

Atfirstyoumayneedtotrainyourselftodothis.Hopefully,withexperience,itbecomes second nature. Enzan no metsuke requires a clear unfettered mind,sometimesreferredtoasheijoshin(normalmind).Youshouldnotanticipateorsecondguessyouropponent’saction,butinsteadyourmindshouldbeamirrorthatreflectshistrueactionsandintentions,allowingyoutoactinstantly.

Nomatterhowperfectyourperceptionbecomes, it isoflittlevalueunlessyoucan develop technique that flows equally instinctively; you can only do thisthroughregular,concentratedkeiko.

25.Sportskendoversusshugyo

I was gratified by the high level of feedback to the article on “The Aim ofKendo”byMatsumotosensei.Iknowthatmanyofthepeoplewhocommentedare active shiai participants. This bolsteredmy view that an understanding ofkendo philosophy is a natural bedfellow for hard training and ambition to dowellinshiai.

Sometimeago,whenIwasmakingoneofmyuncharitableonlinerantsagainstIai, I received a good natured comment giving an Iaidoka’s view of therespectivequestionslikelytobeaskedbyfollowersofeitherart:

Iai keiko – “Did I manage to cut kasso teki; did I incorporatekankyukyojaku when attacking; did I exhibit fukaku throughout myembu?”

Kendokeiko–“DidIgocommandotoday?”

Icertainlytakehispoint,buttobehonestIwouldassumethat,inthetruespiritofzenmartialarts,youeitherexhibitedkankyukyojakuandfukakuoryoudidn’tand, in the sameway, you eitherwent commando or you didn’t – and if youdidn’tyoushouldbeashamedofyourself.

ThepointIamtryingtogettoisthat,asMatsumotosenseisaid,“Itisthetrueaimofkendopracticenotonlytotrytoimproveyourtechnique,butalsototrainyourmindandspirittofindtherightnessofmind(“nomind”/mushin),sothatyourmind,whichisthesourceofthetechnique,willnotbeboundbyanything.”So,inshort,weshouldtrainwithoutbeingovertlyanalytical,butshouldreflectonhowweachievecorrectkendoattitude.

Sowhere does shiai fit in? Surely it is the opportunity to test how you haveprogressed, both in the development of technique and the strength of yourmentalattitudeinascloseasituationto“real”shinkenkendoascanlegallybeengaged in.When you are under pressure in shiai, this is the time when theconsciousmind shutsdownand the reflexesgained throughhard training takeover.

Somedojowill tellyou,“Wedonot teachshiaikendo.Ourapproach isbasedupon traditional kendo.” This seems to me to be based on slightly strangereasoningaskendodevelopedasameanstosettle“lifeordeath”contests.

I have a view that what these “traditionalists” are really against is the use ofcheap tricks towin in shiai. This is a sentimentwithwhich I wholeheartedlyagree, but I also believe that in high level shiai it is the kendoka who haveinvestedthousandsofhoursofgruelingbasicpracticeandwhoavidlyreadabouttheexperiencesandphilosophyofpreviousgenerationsofsensei,whotriumphintheshiaijo.

26.Dou–collectivehanshiwisdom!

Manypeoplewhocanconfidentlyhitmenandkotecontinuetohavedifficultywithdou.Thisisnotsurprisingas,whilstmenandkoteareobvioustargetsthatonlyrequireyoutoraiseandlowertheshinaiinastraightline,douishardertoseeandhit.

There is some confusion overwhat part of the dou constitutes the target. Therightsideisthecorrectstrikingareaandthefront“haradou”isnotcountedasavalidstrike.Themainreasonfordoutofail,however,isbecauseofpoorpostureorbecausehasujiisincorrectwhencontactismade.

HavingrecentlybeenshowndoubybothChibasenseiandSumisensei, Iwasrelievedtoseethateventhoughtheirkendostylesandapproachtoteachingarevery different, the key point on dou-uchi made by them both is absolutelyconsistent.“Yourrighthandmustbepushedforwardsothatitisdirectlyinfrontof you at the point of impact.” This is regardless of which timing andopportunitytheattacktakesandthedirectionofyourfootwork.

Ifwelookat thechancestostrikedou,wecanoccasionallymakeasuccessfulshikakedouattack; thiscouldbeasadebanaorhikibanatechniquewhenyouropponentstartstolifthisarmstohitmen,orasahikiwazaifhepusheshishandsuptocounteryourdownwardpressureintsubazeriai.

Dou,however, ismore likely tobesuccessfulasanojiwaza,eitherasnukiorkaeshidouagainstamenattack.Withnuki-dou,youmoveyourbodydiagonallyto the right to avoidyouropponent’s strikewhilst at the same timehittinghisdou.Inthiscase,itiscrucialtopushyourrighthandstraightforwardasyouhit,eventhoughyourbodyismovingawayfromthecentre. Ifyoudonotdo this,youwillhavetodropyourhandsandshouldersasyoucutacrossthefrontofthedou. This will make you lean over to the side and force you to cut downdiagonallywithbentarms,achievingnopowerbehindthecut.

For kaeshi dou against men, you need to block and return the attack in “thetimingofone”,whilstdirectlyinfrontofthetarget.Onlyaftermakingthestrikeshould you start to move through to your right. One of the points that Sumisenseimakesisthatit isalsoperfectlyacceptabletomovethroughtoyourleft(opponent’sright),totakezanshinforkaeshidou.

Chiba sensei’s unique spin on dou-uchi is that the path of your cut should beparallelwiththefloor,sothatyoustrikewiththebottomtakeoftheshinai.

Whetheryourpreference isforkaeshiornukidou, ifyoumovethroughto theright you need to either release your left hand or slide it up the tsuka as youmovethrough.Youshouldalsokeepyoureyesonyouropponentuntilyouhavefinishedtheattack.

27.Humility

The AJKF states that, “The concept of Kendo is to discipline the humancharacter through the application of the principles of the katana.” One of thevirtues thatweaimfor in thisprocess ishumility.This isnoteasy toattainassuccessandgrowthinkendocallsforconfidenceandself-beliefand,intheeyesofmanypeople,thesequalitiesdonotsiteasilywithmodesty.

Through blogs like this and through comments on social media, it is easy toinstantly express feelings about our kendo. I often read posts from friendsreturning fromagoodpractice that readalong the linesof: “Iwason fire”, “Iacedit”,“Ismashedit”etc. Iknowfrompersonalexperiencethatwhenkeikogoeswell,particularlyifyouhavejust“brokenthroughthewall”afteraperiodof frustration, youwant to tell theworld, but I am still not sure how to do itwithoutsoundingboastful.

Blowingyourowntrumpetisworsewhenitisdonebymoreexperiencedkenshi.Ifafter30or40yearsof“shugyo”wearestillshowingobviousbasiccharacterflaws,somethingisnotworking.LastyearattheKyotoTaikai,Iwasaskedbyasenior sensei what I thought of my performance after losing my tachiai, IstupidlymentionedthatIwassatisfiedwithmyperformance.ImeantthatIhadtriedmyhardest,buthavingphraseditthewayIdid,Irealisedimmediatelyhowconceiteditsounded.

There isaJapaneseproverb thatsays,“Minoruhodokobenosagaru inahokana”実るほど頭のさがる稲穂かな–“Theboughthatbearsmost(fruit)hangslowest”. This seems to be illustrated continuously by the really great kendoplayers, who let their actions speak for themselves. Kenkyo (modesty orhumility) is of course central to Japanese culture, so people from countrieswhere more direct communication is the norm may be forgiven the oddinadvertentboast.Nevertheless,kendovaluescomefromBuddhist /Confucianrootswherehumilityandobedienceareprized.

Likemost things, humility can be overstated. There are certainly caseswherefalsemodestycanbeasannoyingasboastfulness.“Ohno,Iamonlyabeginner”soundsabittriteafteryouhavejustwonamajorinternationalTaikai.

Modesty is, of course, not just a Japanese trait. In the paraphrased words ofRudyardKipling’spoem“If”:“IfyoucanmeetwithTriumphandDisaster,Andtreatthosetwoimpostorsjustthesame:you’llbeaMan,myson!”

28.Ippon

Following the15WKCreferees’ seminar in Japanand theParisTaikai, and inpreparation for theWKC, I am in the process of crystallisingmy thoughts onwhatisandwhatisn’tippon.

Aswithanyotherelementofhighlevelkendo,beitscoringthepointyourselforvalidatingthesuccessfulstrikemadebyanother,alargeamountof“mushin”isinvolved.Whilst there are clear objective criteria forwhatmakes a point, theactionhappensataspeedwhereaninstantaneous,subjectivereactionisrequiredfromthereferees.Theonlyquestionthatthereistimetoansweris–Isitippon?

Of course, the elements required tomake a point are documented in the rulebook.Toachieveipponaplayermusthavetheintentiontohitthepoint.Hemuststrikethecorrecttargetareawithfullspiritandcorrectposture,thestrikemusthavesaeorsnapandzanshinmustbeshownafter theattack.Fromareferee’sperspectivethesepointsarelaw;however,inthetimeittakesanathletetoreachthetarget,therefereehasnotimetogothroughthecheck-list.Hemustmakeaninstantdecision.

Areferee’sevolutionissimilartoachild’s.HestartscopyingMumandDadandhisflagsdutifullygoupwiththoseoftheotherreferees.Hethenmovesintotherebelliousteenageperiod,wherehisdecisionsaremostlikelytheoppositeofhistwopeers.Finally,onmaturity,heaimstoharmonisewithhisteammates,(butnotattheexpenseoftruthasheseesit).

With experience, he learns to move so that he is better situated to see thecompetitors’movementsand the reactionsofhiscolleagues,even toanticipatetheplayers’actions.Nevertheless,whenanattackismadeaninstantdecisionisrequired,anditiswhatfillsyoureyesandearsatthetimethatdictateswhethertheflagisraised.

Withthatinmind,wazaneedstobesharp,accurateanddeliveredwithpurpose.Zanshin should be full of spirit without celebration, otherwise you riskwithdrawalofthepointwithtorikeshi.Aboveall,ipponshouldbedeliveredwith100 percent commitment. If the player does not believe in his actions, it isunlikelythathecanconvincetherefereestodoso.

So,refereesandshiaishagambatte.

29.Wasabi

Sometimes,whentalkingtonewerkendokaabouttheobjectivesandcultureofkendo, I am remindedof amanzai comedy sketch I sawmanyyears ago.Theprincipal comedian asked a supposedly non-Japanese sidekick about hisunderstandingofwabisabi(theJapaneseaestheticofimperfectionandonenesswith nature). The foreign straight-man replied that he lovedwasabi (Japanesegreenmustard)andhowwellitwentwithsushiandnoodles.

The fact thatwevery seldom“get it” fromdayone, is not surprising!Kendo,whilst a sport, is built on amulti-layered philosophy incorporatingShinto andConfucian and Taoist thought, augmented by the principles of Zen. Thedifficultyinfullyunderstandingtheethosofkendoisnotreservedforbeginners.Kendo’scultureissimilarinsomewaystomyMicrosoftOfficesoftware.Mostofusgetreallygoodusefromabout30percentofitsfunctionalityandseldombotherwiththeother70percent.

Motivationsfortakingupkendoarevaried:fromaloveofStarWarsorMangatoaninterestinZen,orthefactthatitsimply“lookedcool”.ForsomepeopleofJapaneseheritageoutsideJapan,it’salinkwiththeirroots.InJapanthereasonsareequallydiverse:“Mummademedoit”,“Itwascompulsoryinschool”,“Itwas a way to get fit after the kids graduated from university” etc. Kendo,however,hasawayofdrawinginitspractitioners,sothatonceintheroutineofregulartrainingitishardtostop.Thereasonsforkeepinggoing,ifeventhoughtabout,areverydifferentfromthereasonsforstartinginthefirstplace.

WhenIstartedkendoinJapaninthe1970s,mostofmypeershadcontinuedonapaththatstartedintheschoolsystemandhadgivenlittleconsciousthoughttotheirreasonsfortraining.SomeoftheseniormembersandteachershadstartedkendobeforetheSecondWorldWarandhadbeenthroughtheOccupationandthe resultantbanonmartial arts. I imagine that thishiatushadcaused them toseriouslyreflectontheirmotivationbeforerestartingpractice.Atthetime,Ididnot have the temerity to ask directly about their experiences and the fewconversations I hadwith them on the subject at drinking partieswere hard torememberafterwards.

Withhindsight,IwishthatIhadaskedmorequestions,althoughIdoubtthatI

wouldhavereceivedanymoreanswers.Theethosatthetimewasthatitwouldhavebeenbeyondimpertinenceforabeginnerintheir20stoaskforjustificationfrom a master in their 70s. The response to philosophical questions wasexpressed physically. The treatment that I received, however, was alwaysconcernedandcourteous.Iimaginethat,atthetime,theremusthavebeensomeinternal debate between curiosity as to why a foreigner was interested insomething so intrinsically Japanese, and the desire to evangelise the values ofkendo.

Ihave reached the conclusion thatwhateveryour ethnicbackground, themostimportantthingisstartingkendointhefirstplace.Ofcourse,thedrop-outrateisenormouslyhigh.90percentofthosewhostartkendobeginners’classesgiveupwithinsixmonths.Butforthosewhostickwithit,theprocessofregularkeikodoesmore toclarify themeaningofkendo thancouldanyreadingmatter.TheZNKRPurposeandPrinciplesofkendo isagoodreferencetokendo’svalues,buttoquoteNike’sadvertisinggurus,thebestwaytoachieveknowledgeis“Justdoit”.

30.Chakusoforshinpanor“Ataleoftwobuttons”

IgotanewblazerasaChristmaspresent,shortlyafterhearingofmyselectionasarefereeforthe15WKC.Ihadlostalittleweightsincebuyingmylastblazer,sodecidedononewithasmarttailoredfit.IdecidedtobreakitinbeforetheeventandworeittotheParisTaikai.

Feeling that Iwas lookingas sharpasanykendoshinpancan look, I tookmyplacein thesportshallsome30minutesbefore thebeginningof theeventandthoughtthatwhilstthecompetitorswerewarmingup,Ishoulddoafewstretchesofmyown.Istartedbythrowingmyarmsout to loosenmyshouldersandthetopbuttonofmytwo-buttonblazertookoff.

Fortunately, I had some time before the first shiai, so I persuaded the nearby

bogusellertosewtheoffendingbuttonbackinplace.Ithenmovedtomycourtforthefirstmatch.Allwenttoplanforthefirstfewcontests,butlater,asItookmy position as shushin, disaster struck. As one of the competitors exited theshiaijo, I raisedboth flags to call yame; as I did so, the topbuttonagain tookflight andhit the timekeeper.Fortunatelyhewasusing awhistle rather than abell,otherwiseitmighthavebeenthefirstandonlyexampleofashushincallingyameandringing“time”simultaneously.

Workingonthepremisethatthebestwaytocontinuewaswiththeminimumoffuss, I fastened the remaining bottom button before awarding hansoku andrestarted thematch.Withinafewseconds, redscoredadecisivemenariandIandmy twocolleagues raisedour flags for ippon.Asmyflagwentup I feltadraughtagainstmyshirtfront.Theshushininthenextcourtstoppedhismatch,pickedupmysecondbuttonandreturnedittome.Now,ofmytwobuttons,onewasonthetimekeeper’sdeskandtheotherinmyinsidepocket.Fortunately,redscoredagainandasthiswasthetaishomatch,thereplacementrefereeteamtookover.

Afterahurriedgrouprei,Icollectedmyremainingbuttonandconsideredwaysofgetting throughthedaywithout lookinga totalslob.Luckily theemergencyserviceswereonhand.TheParisAmbulanceServiceverykindlywentthroughtheirmedical kit and foundme two big safety pinswhich heldmy buttons inplacefortherestoftheday.

I have now reverted to “Plan D”. On returning home I went to the sewingsupplies shopandbougha reelof elastic thread.Aftermakinga totalmessofsewing on the buttons, I enlistedmywife’s help and now have the springiestblazerbuttonsinkendo.Iwill,ofcourse,takemyblazerforanothertestdrive;otherwiseitisbacktotheoldmodelforthe15WKC.

31.Kendoandteamsports

Anyone who lives in the UK is subjected to regular Monday morningconversationsaboutfootball(orsoccertomyNorthAmericanfriends).Myownknowledgeof“thebeautifulgame”issomewhatsketchy,havingavoidedplayingthroughout my school career. I do, however, accept that many people arepassionateaboutthesport.Whereverpossible,Iresistthetemptationwhentoldthat“We”wonthreenil,toask,“What,apartfromeatingpiesattheground,orwatching with a cold pint on the big screen at the pub, what was yourcontributiontotheresult?”

I am, though, becoming more exposed to football, although in a less thanobviousway. There is a sports field complex at the bottom ofmy garden, sorecently,whilstdiggingoutthevegetablebeds,Ihavebeenwitnesstoanumberofjuniorgames.Theconifersscreenoutalotofthevision,butIcertainlygetthefullaudioexperience.Ihavethe(perhapsmisguided)impressionthatforeveryplayeronthefieldtherearetwopeopleneededtoshoutconflictinginstructions.On Saturday, a youngman calledCurly seemed to be the centre of attention,with people simultaneously shouting, “Go forward,Curly”, “Go back,Curly”,“Gettheball,Curly”and“Getridofit,Curly”.Allofthesecommandsmayhavebeen relevant,but they resulted inpoorCurly,whocouldnothavebeenmucholderthanseven,runningonthespotandcrying.

I,ofcourse,mademynormalcomparisontokendoandrealisedthatnomatterhowhardwecoachedCurlybefore theevent,oncein theshiai johewouldbemaster of his own destiny. The other obvious difference is that although hemightberepresentingthehonourofhisdojoorhisschool,hewoulddosoasanindividual.

32.BrakeandAccelerator

I was asked to suggest a theme for this weekend’s Watchet seminar and Idecided on braking and acceleration. No, I have not started giving drivinglessons,butbasedonobservationofhighqualitykeikocomparedwiththekendoof less experiencedkenshi, I amconvinced thatwhat sets the two apart is theabilityexplodeintoactionfromastandingstartandtostopinasimilarlyshortinterval.

Shiaiarewon in theblinkofaneye.Assoonasanopportunity iscreated,weneedtopushoffandhitinthetimingofone.Oncewehaveachievedippon,weneed to stop our forward movement and assume correct zanshin equallyinstantly.Formanypeopleintheearlystagesoftheirkendocareer,thepatternof their attack is along the lines of – lift the shinai, step forward, hit and runthrough,buildingmomentumonlyafter thestrike.Mostpeoplehaveheard theexpression ichi-byoshi; this means to lift and hit in one smooth motion. Theability toachieve thisreliesnotonlyoncorrect footworkandposture,butalsoonaccuratebreathcontrol.

Theidealsequenceis to takeadeepbreathwhilststill insafedistance,releasesomeof it as kakegoewhilst retaining the remainder in your abdomen as youstepintoyouownpreferredstrikingdistance.Onlywhenyouseetheopportunitytoattackshouldyouexpeltherestofyourbreathbywayofkiaiasyoustrikethetarget.Yourfurikaburiandstrikeshouldbeinonesmoothmotionasyoupushoff fromthe left footandmakefumikomiwithyour right,smartlybringingupyour left foot in hikitsuke. In the case of amen attack,where your opponentobligesbysteppingasideafteryouhit,theexplosionofyourwazashouldallowyoutosmartlymovethroughtoasafedistancetoturnandassumezanshin.

Withkoteortsukithisisnotalwayspossible;youneedtostopinfrontofyouropponentinastrongkamae,without“runningon”andpotentiallyputtinghimorherindanger.Thisiswherethebrakecomesintoplay.Stoppingwhenyouareinfull spirit dependsongoodbalanceandposture.Youneed to ensure thatyourweightisbetweenyourfeetandthatyouhaveastraightbackandalowcentreofbalance.Ifyouleanforwardyouwillloseallcontrol.

Getthesetwoelementsrightandyoumovefrombeingthekendoequivalentofa

three-wheelervantoshapinguplikeasparklingnewLamborghini.

33.15WKCReferees’decisions

The15WKCisover.Kendopeoplefromaroundtheworldarearrivinghomeandsharing their impressions of the event with friends in their home countries.Athletes,coachesandsupportersarestillbuzzingwitheuphoriaornursingtheirdisappointmentand starting to thinkaboutdoingaswellorbetter inTokyo in2015.

After my first WKC as a referee, I came away with mixed feelings ofexhaustion, relief that I have so far not been featured on the refereemistakesvideos onYouTube and surprise that I got homewith allmy possessions andnone of my room-mate’s after packing for the early morning airport bus justhoursafterthesayonaraparty.

For the referees it was a long week. We started with a referee seminar onWednesday to reinforce theworkwedid in Japan inFebruary, and then spentthreelongdaysinthearena.OnSaturdaywearrivedat8.00inthemorningandgotbacktoournearbyhotelat9.00atnight.Theactivitywasconstant;ImaybeacandidatefortheWorldSpeedEatingPrize,havingdemolishedafour-courseItalianlunchinafive-minutebreak.

The referee team inhabited a parallel universe for the course of thechampionship.Wewereeitherintheshiai-joorsegregatedinourownhoteland,other than briefly socialising with each other over dinner and breakfast, didnothing apart from referee and sleep. Even amongst ourselves, there was nodiscussionontheaccuracyofdecisionsmadeoncourt.Atthetwoseminarsprior

to thecompetition,yukodatotsuweredissected indetail,butat theevent, realtime decisions are made in seconds, are incontestable and further debate isirrelevant.

IworkedonCourtAwithagroupofKorean, Japanese,Taiwanese,Americanand European colleagues. When we were sitting in the queue we stole theoccasionalglanceattheperformancesofourowncountries’teams,but,byandlarge,remainedemotionallydetached.Whenoncourt,everyonemadetheirownseries of split-second decisions with sincerity and without bias. My overallimpressionisthateveryonegavetheirallandthatthecallsmadeinthecentreofthearenaunderthescrutinyoftheaudienceandtheworld’smediaweremadetothebestofourability.

Itiseasytomakejudgmentswhenyouarenursingacolddrinkinthebackrowofthestands,butslightlytougherwhenyouareinthespotlight.Therehavebeendebates about electronic bogu and video evidence to decide ippon.When youtake into account the elements of distance, posture, intention, sae, hasuji,attackingspiritandzanshinthatare integral toyukodatotsu, thereseemstobelittlealternativetothecurrentsystem,humanerrorincluded.

34.Keikowithseniors

Now with the excitement of the 15 WKC behind us, I have returned to theroutineofkeikoinmyregulardojo.Unfortunately,untilSuenosenseiarrivesintwoweeks’time,Iambackonthemotodachiside.

As the saying goes, it is better to give than to receive. I very much enjoypractising with senior kendoka, be they more experienced nanadan, or betterstill,hachidansensei.Havingspentmuchofmykendolifeonthejuniorsideofthedojo,Iamcomfortablewithmyobligationaskakarite.Inshort,IknowthatIneed to constantly attack any target that I see, be it hard fought for orgratuitouslygiventome.Theoldkendoadage,“seeit,hitit”iscrucialtobeingagoodstudent.

Ifyouseesensei’smenyoushouldstrikewith100percentofyourenergyinthefeelingofsutemi(throwingawaytheseeds).Ifhetakesawayyouropportunityandreturnsyourstrikewithkaeshidouitdoesn’tmatter.Thepoint is thatyousawthechanceandmadeaconcerted,sincereattack.

Mostkendokaunderstandthis,butthereareafewwho,regardlessofopponent,treat every keiko like a shiai, where not losing points ismore important thanmaking them.Thisattitudeencouragesblocking theopponent’s techniquewiththe shinai without the intention to counter.More bizarrely, I see people whodroptheirelbowstotheirsidestoavoidhavingtheirdouhit.Perhapstheworsthabitengenderedbythisapproachisthatofalwaysholdingback.BythisImeanstarting an attackbut beingprepared to stop itmid flow if the receiver tries acountertechnique.

I believe that training in thisway does not allow anyone’s kendo to develop.Unlesswe are able to attackwholeheartedlywhenwe see an opportunity,wewillneverachievetheholygrailofmushin.Asformotodachi,heorsheistheretohelpyou.Inhikitate-geiko,whichisbyandlargethemostcommonformofkeiko between senior and junior, the objective is for motodachi to stay justslightlyaheadofkakarite.

After fighting for shodachi, or first point, the teacher will normally create anumber of subtle opportunities for his opponent to attack. This can be

particularly useful if these openings stimulate techniques that kakarite do notnormallyuse.Forinstance,ifheorshetendstorelyoncountertechniques,thensteppingbackasyoucreateanopeningwillencouragetheuseofhikibanawazaandamoreforwardgoingapproach.

Ofcourse,motodachideservessomefunfromtheprocess,soapositive,fearlesskakaritewho is not constantlyworrying about being countered, allows himorher thechance tocrack in theoddkaeshidouor suriagemen.Aboveall,bothpartnersshouldrememberthatthepurposeofkeikoisforallofustogrowanddevelop.

35.Theimportanceofsuburi

Suenosensei,hanshihachidanand1979All JapanChampionshipwinner fromKagoshima, is currently in the UK and has just given us a very interestingseminar.At theopeningstage,hestressed the importanceofcontinuingsuburithroughoutyourkendocareerandmadethepointthat“Ifyoucan’tdosuburi,nomatterhowlongyourkendoexperience,youcan’tdokendo.”

Heinstructedthatthepathoftheshinaiinsuburishouldbesmooth,inlinewiththe centre of the body and close to the head, and thatwe should use all threejoints:shoulders,elbowsandwrists.Healsoinsistedthatweshouldensurethatwe use themuscles in the underside of our arms rather than those on top.Toachieve this,weshouldpullourarmsbackpast themidpointof the topofourheadsand feel thesemusclesengagebefore starting thedownswing.Once thishas been achieved and themusclememory kicks in,we are able tomake ourupswingsmaller and smaller; inkeikoor shiai, thecut canbeas small asyouwish as long as it has impact..We should not pull our elbows out and armsshouldremainrelaxed.Whenviewedfromtheback,ourshoulderwidthshouldnotchangethroughoutthewholestrikingprocess.

Sueno sensei also talked about the old, commonly taught concept of shibori(wringingthehandsoncompletionofthecut)beingincorrectandthatweshouldnot change our grip from beginning to end of the cut. He explained that thehands throughout the cut should be in kirite (cutting hand) position, althoughtheycouldbeextendedinnobite(extendedhand)formtolengthenourreachonimpact.Healsotorpedoedtheoldmyththatweshouldstraightenourrightarm

oncuttingmenbydemonstrating thatdoing thisgaveafour tofivecentimetrereachadvantage,butthattheresultantbodyimbalancecausedustolose30or40centimetresofdistancefromourfootwork.

Sensei then went on to take us through a sequence of waza geiko, uchikomigeikoandkakarigeikoexercises,constantly reinforcing theconceptofaccuraterelaxedswing.Theotherkeypointthatwasaccentuatedwascorrectbreathing.When you breathe in, you are open to attack so, before you enter fightingdistance,youshouldbreatheinquicklyandconserveyourbreathinyourtandenuntilyoucanconcludeasuccessfulwaza.Finally,hemadethepointthatifyoumisswithyourattackyoushouldkeepgoinguntilyoumakeasuccessfulstrike.

AlthoughIwasthereinanassistantinstructorrole,thetemptationtotrythingsmyselfwasoverwhelming.ThehighlightoftheseminarformewasakeikowithSuenosensei,whowas,ofcourse, impossible tohit.As theold songgoes,“Itdon’tmeanathing,Ifyouain’tgotthatswing”.

36.Kotesimplified

During his recentUK seminar, Sueno senseimade the point that “kote attackshould be in a straight line”. Sumi sensei backed this up during his visit lastweek,andChibasenseihascertainlysaidmoreorlessthesamething.Sowhy,whenwegetback toournormalhanshi freekeiko,dopeople revert tohittingkotefromavarietyofoddangles?

Beginnersinparticulartendtostanddirectlyinfrontoftheiropponentandmovethetipoftheshinaitotheirlefttoattackkote.Thishastheeffectofdiagonallycuttingacrossthesofttsutsupartofthekoteratherthanmakingacorrecthitonthekotebuton.Theothercommonmistakeistorotatetheshinaiunderthekotewhichleavesthelefthandtoolowtomakeacorrectstrike.

Thekeypointtobearinmindisthatwhenwetalkaboutcuttingdirectfromourcentretothetarget,itdoesnotmeanthecentreofourbodyshouldbedirectlyinlinewiththecentreofouropponent’sbody.Itmeansthatthecentreofourbodyshouldbeinastraightlinewiththetargetwearestriking,beitmen,do,orkote.

Auseful tip for strikingkote is tomoveyour right footover asyoumake thekoteattacksothatitlinesupwithyouropponent’srightfoot,ratherthanhisleft,whichwould be the correct position fromwhich to strikemen.Bydoing this,yourbody is facing the target,althoughyouarenowpositionedslightly to theleft of your opponent. Your shinai should be in a straight line from your lefthand,whichshouldbeinfrontofyournavel,toyourpartner’skote.

Another thing toremember is thatwhenyoumovefromthecentre tohitkote,youonlyhave tomove above theheight of your opponent’s shinai tip andnomorethanthewidthofhisshinaitotheleft.

With this inmind, it is tempting to leave your left hand in place and just userighthandpowertomaketheattack.Thisiswrong!Yourlefthandshoulddothebulkoftheworkandtherighthandjustkeepsitoncourseandsqueezesgentlywithequalpressuretothelefthandtomaketennouchionimpact.

A final caution!You only need to cut through the thickness of your partner’swrist. So the force of the attack should be forward. As Sumi sensei once

eloquentlyputit,“likeachameleon'stonguecomingouttocatchafly”.

37.Kendoequipmentandchildlabour

I havebeen asked for adviceon a number of occasions about thebestway towashhakamaandkeikogi. Ifyouwashthemtoooften theylosecolour; ifyoudon't wash them often enough they become smelly and crusty. Putting bothkendogiandboguouttodryinthesunshinehasadeodorisingeffect,butaswehave had so little summer sun in the UK this year, washing has become anecessity.

Kendo clothing should ideally bewashed by hand in coldwaterwithout soappowder,sotodothistobesteffect,andtofindmygrandsonausefuloccupationin the school holidays, I have developed the "Small Boy Kendo WashingMachine"or"ShonenKendoSentakuki".Thekeycomponentsareasmallboy,abucketandahosepipe.

Toavoidbluedyeinthehouseandtheresultantdiscussionswithnon-kendokapartnersorhousemates,thegarmentstobewashed,theboy,bucketandhosepipeshouldbetakensomewhereinthegardenwheretheycanbehungouttodry(thekeikogi,thatis,nottheboy).

Thekeikogiandboyareplacedinthebucketandheisgiventhehosepipeandinstructionstohalffillthebucketwhilstjoggingonthespot,andtokeepgoingfor20minutesandanumberofwaterchanges.Hemayneedsomehelponthisoneandhavetobeliftedoutateachwaterchange.

Oncetheboyhasdonehisbit,youneedtoensurethatyourinsethebluedyeoffhisfeetbeforeyouhandhimback.Todryhakama,it isbest touseaclip-typehangerandturnthekoshiitadowninlinewiththefrontwaistband.Youcanthenpull the pleats in place before it dries, minimizing or avoiding the need forironing. Keikogi should be turned inside out and dried on a pole that passesthrough both sleeves. Special keikogi hangers that extend to the correct shapeareavailablefrommostbudostores.Myfavouritemethodistotakeaslatfromacarbon fibre shinai, drill two holes in the centre and attach a hook through astring.Come to think of it this is, tomymind, the best use of a carbon fibreshinai.

Iamsurethattheserevelationswillcauseconcernamongstrightthinkingpeoplewho shun the exploitation of minors, but rest assured I make the task lessintimidatingwithaplentifulsupplyoficelollies,JaffaCakesandFizzyFangs.

38.“Boysbeambitious”

I am no longer surprised by beginnerswho, after a fewweeks in armour, arebursting to take up nito or jodan. Everyone who starts kendo does so with avisionofthekenshi that theywishtobecome.Ofcourse,havingagoal toaimforistotallyworthy.WilliamS.Clark’spartingwordstothestudentsofSapporoAgriculturalCollege,“Boysbeambitious”,becamecommoncurrencyinJapan,andarestillquoted130yearsafterhesaidthem.

Weliveinaninstantage.Whereassingersandmusiciansusedtoachievefameafter years of learning their trade by gigging in pubs and clubs, today’s“superstars”reachtheirdreamsbyappearingontalentshows.Clearlythisviewisslightlycolouredbymystatusasa“grumpyoldman”,butasamemberofthe“me”generation,IamprobablyasmuchtoblameasisSimonCowell.Tofacefacts,therearenoinstantgainsinkendo.Skillisbuiltonyearsofhardtraining.

I have discussed the challenges of building patience into the kendo learningprocesswith a number ofmybetters, particularlyChiba sensei.His view as ajodanplayeristhatuntilyoucaninvariablyproduceaccuratewazafromchudanwith correct ki-ken-tai-itchi, you should not move on to the more esotericaspects of kendo. If you can’t control one sword then you are doubling thedifficultywithtwo,andifyourfeetandhandsdon’tworktogetheryouwillnotsolve theproblembyreversingyourfootpositionwhenyou take jodan. Inmyhumble (and Chiba sensei’s less humble) view, good kendo is built on thefoundation of following good instruction and repeatedly practising basictechniquesinchudan.

Thestageatwhichpeopleshouldembarkonashiaicareerfollowssimilarlogic.Itisadmirabletowanttotestyourskillincompetitionagainstothers,butunlessyoucandobasictechniquescorrectly,youriskdevelopingbadhabitsthatcouldspoilyourfurtherdevelopment.Oneortwoearlyexposurestocompetitionwillprobablyhelpconfirmyourplaceinthekendouniverse,butwithoutagoodbasisofaccuratefundamentalkendo,continuedtrainingwithshiaiinmindwillharmratherthanhelpyourfuturedevelopment.

Sofaritallsoundsrathergloomy,buttomymind,thejoyinlearningkendoisintrainingforitsownsakeandwhensomethingfallsintoplacethenthepleasureofachievement is enormous. Of course, when you have assembled your kendo

toolkityoucangoontobecomeagreatshiaiplayer,whetherinchudan,jodanornito.AsgoodoldBillClarkmighthavesaid,“Boysbeambitious,butgiveitabitoftime”.

39.Sutemiandshishin

Most kendoka have heard the term “sutemi”. Whilst usually translated assacrifice, the literalmeaningis“throwawaytheseed”.Theconceptrefers toapoemdescribingahorsechestnutinafastmovingstream.Ifleftwhole,itwouldsink.Ifthekernelisabandoned,thehuskwouldfloatwiththecurrent.Inkendo,sutemi means committing yourself one hundred percent to an attack withoutfearingtheconsequences.

Shishin,on theotherhand, is thestatewhere themind ispreoccupiedwith,ordwellsonaparticularaspectof,youroryouropponent’skendo,whichmakesitimpossible for the body tomove freely.No prizes for guessing that sutemi isregardedasadesirableelementinkendoandshishinisnot.

Correct tobikomi men is a practical illustration of sutemi. We enter ouropponent’sdistanceandlaunchourselvesforwardwithfullspiritandnothoughtother than hitting men. If our opponent moves away or counters, it doesn’tmatter.Onceyoustartatechniqueyoushouldcompleteitwithallyourenergy.

In uchikomi-geiko or kakari-geiko it is easy to take this do or die attitude; inshiaior jigeiko it ismoredifficult.Veryoftenweworryaboutouropponent’sreaction toourattack.Forsomepeople thiscausesageneral fearofattacking.Forothers,itresultsinthemstoppingmid-techniqueratherthangivingawaythepoint.This“stopping” ismypethate inkeiko.Notonlydoes it stranglemanypotentially successful shikake waza at birth, but it also robs the stopper’sopponentoftheopportunitytopractiseoji-waza.

Manypeople take theviewthatshiai isaboutnot losing,butsurely thereasonfortakingpartistowin.Itcouldbearguedthatbothequatetothesamething,but the mindset of winning is about courageously exploiting any opportunitywithallyourmentalandphysicalpower.

Inkeikowetalkaboututte-hansei,utarete-kansya(reflectiononhowwemadeasuccessful strike and gratitude for being hit). This does notmean thatwe aremasochists, but thatwe learn asmuch from our opponent’s success aswe dofromourown.

Of course, we do not start any keiko with the intention of being hit. Ourobjective is to strike first or to break our opponent’s attackwith a successfulcounterattack,butwecanonlydo this ifwehaveanattackingspirit from theoutset.

40.Sae

Iambackfromaweekendofkendo.OnSaturdayIranacoachingsessionforthe British Kendo Squad and on Sunday I refereed The British OpenChampionships. Itwasan interestingcombinationof events as the seconddayallowedeveryonetoworkonputtingtheoryintopractice.

Ihavewrittenaboutsaeonanumberofoccasions.Thistermdescribesthesnaporsharpnessnecessarytoturnastrikeintoasuccessfulyukodatotsu.Thisandseme were the themes of the squad training session. Whilst we looked at anumberofshikakeandoji techniques,wepaidparticularattentiontobothhowwemadetheopportunityforandhowwefinishedeachattack.

Sae,intheory,isaproductoftenouchi,(theinsideofthehands),orthewayyoucompletethecutbysqueezingthetsukaoftheshinaiasitmakescontractwiththe target. Inpractice, thepathof thecutalsohas tobecorrectandki-ken-tai-itchihas tobringall theelementsof footwork,postureandkiai togetherat theexactpointofstrikingthetarget.Saeisnotsomethingthancanbeappliedasanafterthought.Ifyourhandsareinthecorrectpositionthroughoutthestrikethenitissimplyamatterofsqueezingwiththelittleandringfingersofbothhandsonthepointofimpact.Iftheyarenotand,forinstance,yourrighthandisholdingtoostrongly,thenregardlessofwhetherornotyousqueezetheshinai,itwillnotresultinippon.

Chiba sensei talks about making tenouchi for men once the shinai is at chinheight.Theconceptistohitthetargetandthensqueezeafter,sothatyoustrikewith full force and complete the technique sharply just below the point ofimpact.This isnot as aggressiveas it sounds,because if theuseof shoulders,elbows and wrists are correct, the strike will be quick and sharp rather thanheavy.

Atyesterday’staikaiwesawvaryinglevelsofsae.Thereweremanylongenchowherebothfightersmadenumerousstrikes,butfewweresharpenoughtomaketherefereesraisetheirflags.Attheendofthedaywewerepresentingprizesandcleaningthehallat thesametime.Therewasofcoursesomeenjoyablekendo.MrYamazaki,fromHokkaidoUniversitytookfirstplace,demonstratingmysaetheorywithsomeexplosivetechniques,includinganexcellenttsukiinthesemi-

final. I was also delighted that two of our regular Mumeishi students, AlexHeyworthandAlanThompson,respectivelytooksecondandthirdplacemedals.

On a completely different subject, I had a Skype chat with a Japanese kendofriendwho recently returnedhomeaftermanyyears in theUK.Hevisited theShudokaninOsakaandmentionedthathehadtowait45minutesforkeikowithahachidansensei.Nothingchanges!

41.Waitinginline

IbrieflymentionedinmylastpostthatafriendwhorecentlyreturnedtoJapanwassurprisedathavingtowaitfor45minutesofaone-hourpracticeforkeikowith a hachidan sensei in the Osaka Shudokan. George, who witnessed andcommentedonthescene,will,Iamsure,backmeupwhenIsaythisisnotanunusualsituation.

AttheShudokan,oranyofthebigcivicdojoinJapan,youhavetobequickanddeterminedtopractisewithanyoftheseniorsensei.Theruleofthumb,whenIwasregularlytrainingthere,wasthatyoucouldhavetwokeikowithhachidan,fourwithnanadan,oruptoeightatpeerlevelintheallottedhour.

Gettingface timewithseniorsensei isanacquiredskill.Youneed toputyourmenonfaster thananyofyourrivalsandbepreparedtoruntopositionwhilstpullingyourkoteon.Somekendokatrainthemselvestotietheirmeninrecordtime,othersdevelopingeniouswaystopre-tietheirmensothatitcanbeslippedoninstantly.

TheseskillsareequallyusefulforthemonthlygodokeikosessionsattheNipponBudokan or asa-geiko at the Kyoto Taikai. Even though there may be 200+hachidaninattendance,thechanceofgettingtoyourfavouritehanshiisclosetonil.Ononeoccasion inKyoto Imade itmygoal tobe first in linewithSumisensei. I gotupat4.30am,arrivedalmostanhourbeforepracticestartedandplaced myself approximately in front of the spot where he would be sitting.Fortunatelyforhim,notsoforme,hehadbeenawardedhanshithepreviousdayso,whilstheinitiallysatfacingthespotwhereIwaswaiting,hewaspushedupthelinebythelongertimeserved,butstillkyoshisensei.Ihadtorunanextra20metrestobeatthequeueandfinished5thinline.Nevertheless,Igotmykeiko.

Keikowith senior teachersoffers twoopportunities: one topractisewith themandbenefitfromtheiradvice;plusthechancetowatchthemwithotherstudentswhilstyouwait.Thewatchingormitorigeikopartbecomesmore interesting ifsensei’sopponentsareotherkodansha.Thedownside is thatusually theyhavetherighttoqueuejump.Thisisasensiblearrangementasitallowsthemtogetbacktoactingasmotodachiwithaminimumofdelay.Ifhoweveryouarelastinlineand there is fiveminutesofkeiko time left and someone steps in frontof

you,youmaynotseeitthatway.

Returning to the challenges ofmaking themost of your time in the dojo, theJapanese system for adult kendoka is essentially, well, adult. You can investyourtimeinwaitingtotrainwiththetopteachersor, ifyouthinkit isneeded,youcan stayat the shimoseki endof thedojoandpractisekihongeikowithabuddyofyourowngrade.Aslongasyoutakeyourkeikoseriously,no-onewillmind.

42.Tsubazeriaiintoplevelkendo

I have just returned from the keiko after theMumeishi 3s.Thiswas a full-ontwo-and-a-halfhoursessionwithsome200peopleinattendance.Iwasremindedthat inmy lastpost Iunderestimated themotodachi countbyone7thdan,butevenwitheightofusplusone8thdanandnumerous6thdansitwasstillhardwork.

Thepreviousday’staikaiwentwithoutahitchandMumeishi’s“A”teamwon.Thiswasagreatwayfortheclubtocelebratetheevent’s40thanniversary.Myjobwas that of shinpan-shunin, running “A”Court under the direction of ourshinpan-cho, Sumi sensei. The overall standard of shiaiwas excellent and therefereesdidagoodjobinkeepingeverythingmoving.Myonlycomplaintswerein the few cases where overzealous referees stopped shiai too frequently forminorpoints.Sumisenseidid,however,letmeknowthatweshouldhavedealtmorestrictlywithonecaseoftsubazeriaiinfringement.Ofcoursewhenahanshitellsyousomethinglikethis,youanswer“Yes”andmakesurethat itdoesnothappenagain.

Sumi sensei, however, is a very approachable hanshi and later at the aftercompetitionpartywetalkedfranklyabouthowstrictly thetsubazeriairulesareenforced.ImentionedthatIhadattendedthetwoWorldChampionshiprefereeseminarsthisyearandtheinstructorshadmadeitclearwhatwasandwhatwasnotacceptablefortsubazeriaiandwhatcountedasacleanbreakonwakare.Ineffect,tsubazeriisonlylegaliftheshinaiarecrossedatthetsubaontheomoteside.Theshinaishouldnottouchyouropponentandneitherofyoushouldtouchyourownoryourpartner’s jinbu.Onwakarebothpartiesshouldbreakcleanlysothattheshinaiareclearofeachother.

Nevertheless, at theWorld Championships numerous examples of the playerseithercoveringtheshinaifromtheuraside,orattackingbeforemakingacleanbreakoncommandwereallowedbyhighlyexperiencereferees.

Sumisenseimadethepointthatatthisyear’sAsiazonerefereeseminarthemostaskedquestionwas“Whyshouldwepenalisethisbehaviourwhenitisbecomingnormal practice at the All Japan Championship?” Quite a difficult point toanswer,Iimagine.

There is obviously a divergence between the theory of good kendo and thepracticalities of not getting beaten, which needs to be resolved at the highestlevels. In themeantime,wecanstartbyencouraginggoodkendobyenforcingtherulesinourlocalcompetitions.

43.Hidaridemotsu!

Ioncespentanenlightening30orsominutessittinginseizalisteningtoapostkeiko lecture from Kaku sensei in Nara. Kaku sensei’s theme was Hidari demotsu, hidari deutsu “Youholdwithyour left (hand) andhitwithyour left”.The driving force behind the lecture was that Kaku sensei had observed thatmanyofthestudentsatthepracticewereusingtoomuchrighthandpowerandwerethereforenotstrikingeffectively.

Theextendedseizamusthavehelpeddrivethislessonhome,becauseitiseasytoseethatmanyoftheproblemsofoverextension,poorpostureandinaccuratecuttingarecausedbytheapplicationoftoomuchrighthandpower.Thestiffnessthatwelookedatinmylastpostisoften“onesided”causedbytheoveruseoftherightarm.

Manypeopleoverusetherighthandinanattempttomakesmallwaza.Thelefthandbecomesafixedpivotandtheircuttingactionisbasedonpullingtheshinaibackandpushingitforwardwiththerighthandalmostasiftheyweretryingtotouchtheirownnosewiththeshinai.Whilstthismightappeartomaketheattackquicker,ittypicallyhastheoppositeeffect.

Correctcutting,whetherlargeorsmall,reliesonthelefthandraisingtheshinaito a pointwhere it canbebrought downon the target.The right hand is verymuch the junior partner; it follows the left hand on its upward path and onlymakes a real contribution by squeezing to make tenouchi after the point ofimpact.Inthecaseofmenuchi,thismeansraisingthelefthandtoapointaboveyourownmenganeandthenstrikingdown.Therightarmshouldberelaxedandnot over-straightened on the point of hitting. There should be a very slightflexioninyourelbowandbothshouldersshouldbesquare-ontothetarget.

Withsmalltechniquessuchaskote,thelefthandshouldplayitspart,evenifitistolifttheshinainohigherthanthepointofyouropponent’sshinai.Inthiscaseitisamatterof strikingsharply forward rather thandown,but it is the lefthandthatdoesmostofthework.

The benefits of doing this are enormous. It allows you to stay relaxed and tokeepyourposture correct and remain squareon toyouropponent.Whenyourposture is correct you can push more easily from the left foot, maintaining

correctki-ken-tai-itchiandtheshinaiismorelikelytohitthecorrectpartofthetargetwithsharpsae.Theaddedbonusisyouusefarlessenergy.

So whilst my knees complained at the time, I owe a vote of thanks to Kakusenseiforthelecture.

44.Aggressiveojiwaza

Acommentonanoldpostonsuriagemenarrivedyesterday.This,plusasessionthatIraninthedojothisweekonojiwaza,invigoratedmyinterestinexploringthesubjectalittlemore.

Aprofessionaleducatorfriendtoldmenevertotellpeoplewhatnottodo,buttoaccentuate the positive actions that they should be taking. Nevertheless, I amgoingtopointoutwhatdoesnotworkwhenmakingojitechniques:

BringingthepointoftheshinaibacktowardsyourbodymakesitimpossibletoachievecorrectsuriageorkaeshiwazaDroppingthepointofyourshinai,unlessforukenagashi(whichwealmostneveruseinshinaikendo),isano-noBlockingandcuttingintwoseparateactionsalsodoomsyoutofailureItisnearlyimpossibletomakesuriagewazaagainstoverlylarge,badly-timedoroff-centrecutsWaitingforyouropponenttoattackbeforeyoureactisawasteoftime

At the risk of confusing readers, oneof thebiggest problemswe encounter inojiwaza practice drills is in starting your counter attack before the opponentstartshisstrike.Becauseitisadrillweobviouslyknowwhatiscoming,sowearetemptedtoattacktooearly.Ioftenseewhatshouldbesuriagementurnintodebanamen.

WhilstIcanthinkofsomanydon’ts,Icanonlythinkofthreeimperative“dos”:

Alwayspushthepointoftheshinaiforwardwhenmeetingyouropponent'stechnique.ThisappliestoallsuriageandkaeshiwazaAlwaysmakeojiwazain“thetimingofone”slidinguporblockingontheupstrokeandcuttingdowntothetargetinthesamemovement,usingjustonestep

Alwayscontrolthetimingbyinvitingyouropponenttoattack

Thislastpointappliesequallytodrillsandtojigeikoandshiai.Iffromchudanyousqueezetheshinaigentlywiththelittlefingerofyourrighthand,yourpointwillmove towardshis lefteye.Moreoften thannot, thiswillmakehimattackyourmenata timewhenyourenergy is focussedandyouareable to respondimmediately with suriage men or kaeshi dou.Move the shinai slightly to hisrightandheislikelytoattackyourkote,leavingyousetuptomakekotesuriagemen.

One effectiveway to practise ojiwazawas taught byChiba sensei. The classformsgroupsofbetweenfiveandnine.Everyonetakesaturnasmotodachiandtherestof thegrouparesplit into twosmallergroups,onefacinghimandonebehind.Eachmakeseitheramenorkoteattack,eitheratrandomorthegroupinfront attacks men and the group behind kote. Motodachi faces each in turn,turning from group to group and makes the appropriate oji technique,rememberingtoinvitetheattackinhisorherowntiming.

The key point is to control the timing of the attack by holding and breakingcentreinthewaydescribed.

45.Encouragingbeginners–orhowtobeasuccessfulmotodachi

Mylocaldojoislookingatwaystohelpnewkendokamakethetransitionfrombeginners’ course to taking part in regular keiko sessions. To this end, I amrunningseveralmotodachitrainingsessionsforthemoreexperiencedmemberssotheycanhelpandencouragetheirnewercolleagues.

Manypeoplewhostartkendodosothroughstructuredbeginners’courseswheretheyhavethecomfortoflearningnewskillsasagroupandwheretheyarenotexpected to go one-on-one in competition with experienced players. Aftergraduation from a brief period of learning basics, they are trussed up inunfamiliarboguandlefttotaketheirchanceinjigeiko,oftenwithinexperiencedmotodachi,whoaremoreconcernedaboutimprovingtheirowntechniquethanhelpingthenewbie.

This invariably results in lossofconfidenceandadds tokendo’sexceptionallyhighattritionrate.Thekendodiaryofmanyaspiringkenshirunsalongthelinesof:week1–startbeginners’course,week6–buybogu,week7–decidenottogotodojo,week8–advertiseboguoneBay.

Thinking about the effort involved in starting such a challenging hobby askendo,itseemsashamethatwelosesomanystudentsthroughourownlackofempathy or knowledge of how to best develop them. Traditionally, in Japan,mostkendokastartedaschildrenandthereisanaturalprogressionthroughtheschoolsystem.Teachingadultbeginnersisarelativelynewaspectofkendo,butitisparticularlyimportantinthewestwherepeoplebeginkendoatallages.

Fornewkendoka,kihondrillsinoroutofboguarenotparticularlythreatening.It is when they begin to line up for motodachi geiko against their moreexperienceddojomatesthattheexperiencecanmakeorbreakthem.Oneofthebiggestproblemsisthatmostofusarenottaughttobemotodachiandwelearnthrough trial and error.There are correctways to receivekirikaeshi, uchikomigeikoandkakarigeikoandweneedtolearnthesetogetthebestoutofstudents.Mostimportantly,weneedtolearnthatjigeikoisnota“onesizefitsall”activityand that we can break it down into gokakugeiko, which takes place betweenpartnersofequallevel,andhikitategeiko,whereaseniorleadsajunior.

Hereareafewsimplemotodachitips:

Forkirikaeshi,makesurethatyoureceivethestrikesclosetoyourmen.Thiswayyouencouragekakaritetoattackthecorrecttarget.Inuchikomigeiko,waituntilkakariteentersthecorrectdistanceandtrytobuild“mindpressure”beforemakingtheopening.Ifyoushowthetargetwhenheisoutofdistancehewilldevelopthehabitofrunningin,ratherthanlearningtomakeonestep,onecut.Inkakarigeiko,keeparelaxed,softchudanandallowkakaritetomakehisownopportunities.Inhikitategeiko,trytokeeponlyhalfadan’sdifferenceinlevelbetweenyou.Keepyourownsemeandpressureandbyallmeansgoforthefirstippon“shodachi”,butencouragekakaritebyallowinggoodstrikestoconnect.

Actingasmotodachiisnotjustaone-sidedactofcharity,youcandevelopyourownkendowhilsthelpingothers.

46.Hikitategeiko

Oneof thebenefitsofwriting thisblog is that Iget feedbackfromkendoka inotherdojoandothercountriesaboutthewaytheydothingsandthechallengestheyface.ThisoftenstimulatesideasthatIusewhenphysicallyteachingkendo.Thomas Sluyter’s comments on kirikaeshi following my last post helped merefinethedrillsforourgroupatSanshukan.

Onethingbecomingobviousaswegothroughthesesessionsisthatthetheoryisrelatively easy to explain, but that it takes constant practice to developmotodachi skills. Hikitategeiko, in particular, is an area where experience isessential.Nomatterhowwellyouunderstandthetheory,unlessyouareabletoreadyouropponentandbuildandrelax the tensionbetweenyou, it isunlikelythatyouwillreachthedesiredoutcome.

Just to reiterate, hikitategeiko is jigeiko between a senior and junior partner.Motodachiusestheopportunitytopractisehisowntechniquewhilstencouragingkakaritetodohisbest.Itworksifthemoreexperiencedplayersetsthestandardreasonablyclosetothejunior’slevel,sothatheactsasifhehasonlyhalfadangradeadvantage.Bythis,Idonotmeanthathistechnicalkendostandardshouldbelowered,morethatthecompetitiveadvantageisnarrowed.

At thebeginningofeverykeikoyoushouldtreateachopponentwith thesamelevelofrespect.Ithereforethinkthatitisyourdutytofacehimearnestlyandtotryforshodachiorthefirstpoint.Youmaybesurprisedthatthejuniorplayeristhefirsttoachievethis.Nomatterwhotakesthefirstippon,thisisachancetostudyyouropponent:howhemoves,hisstrengthsandweaknesses.Youshouldcontinuetomakeyourownopportunities,usingseme,topenetratehiscentreandmaintainkizeme(mentalpressure)toputhimatadisadvantage.When,however,hemakesastrongattackyoushouldallowittoconnect.

Thisistheidealopportunitytopractiseyourojiwaza,sousehikidasutoinvitehisstrikesandthenrespondwithsuriageorkaeshitechniques.Donot,however,break his spirit by countering every attack. It goes without saying that youshouldnotblock,physicallystophimwiththepointofyourshinai,orresorttomis-timedorsneakywazatomakeapoint.

Depending on kakarite’s level, therewill come a point in the keikowhen thetension between you breaks down. This is normally because his level ofconcentration and focus is starting to diminish. By now, you should haveevaluatedanybadhabitsormistakes,somakethetransitiontouchikomigeiko,makingopportunitiesforhimtostrike.Dothisinawaywhereyouusepressureto control distance and opportunity so that he strikes with correct timing andmaai. Use this chance to make him correct any errors. You may have todemonstrate how to do the technique yourself, but do so quickly and keepconversationtoaminimum.Ifitrequiresalongdebate,haveitinthepubaftertraining.

Ifkakariteisrelativelyskilled,perhapsuchikomigeikoshouldbereducedtojustoneortwotechniquesattheendofthekeiko.Itmayevenbethatyoufinishwithippon shobu, but if kakarite is that strong, we are moving into the realm ofgokakugeiko.

47.Gradingexaminationsforolderkendoka

ReflectingontheBrusselsgrading,Iamremindedthatthehigheryourage,themore difficult it becomes to pass. In my experience, this is not just true forEurope,butapplieseverywhereincludingthekodanshagradingexaminationsinJapan.

Now, Idon’t foramoment think thatkendo isageist.Weareprivileged tobeable to participate at ages that would have exceeded the retirement points inmanyothersports.Nor,whenlookingatthearrayofvenerablesenseionsomegrading panels, do I think there is any bias against senior candidates. It is,however,anirrefutabletruththatitbecomesmoredifficulttoforceyourbodytodogoodkendoasyoureachyour50sand60s.

Knees and ankleswear out, particularly after years of training on hard floors.Forwardmotionbecomesmoredifficultandsomeolderkenshistarttorelymoreon upper-body strength to hit the target. Unfortunately this is not the wayforward.

IwasfortunatetoreceivesomeconcertedcoachingfromChibasenseiwheninmymid50sthatmademerealisethatIhadtoadaptmykendotomyage.Thekeypointswerethatyouneededtofindyourowndistance,keepyourfootworklight but still forward, and use your opponent’smovement to your advantage.Ratherthanmakingyourattacksbiggerandharder,theyshouldbesmallerandlighter.

Themoreyouadvance ingrade, themore important semebecomes.Thisdoesnot mean that you should constantly push in to take shikake waza, but youshouldalsousehiki-dasutomakeyouropponentmovetowardsyousothatyoucan execute debana and oji-waza. The logic is thatwhen your opponent stepstowards you, you need only take half a step to reach the target. And it’s notalwaysnecessarytomakefumikomi.Aslidingstepforwardcanbesufficientifyouhavegoodki-ken-tai-itchi.Zanshinis,ofcourse,important,butyoudonotneed togallopacross thedojo tomakeyourpoint.Twoor threesteps throughwithgoodpostureandkamae,beforeturningtore-engage,shouldbeenough.

Kizemeisanecessity.Mochidasensei’softenquotedtruththatwhenyourbody

becomesfrailyouhavetorelyon“indomitablespirit”tosubdueyouropponent,is key.You should use yourmental strength tomake the opponentmove in adirectionandtimingwhereyoucanhithim.OneofmyotherfavouritequotesonthissubjectisfromKikuchiKoichisensei,whosaid,“AsIbecomeolderImovemoreslowly,butIalsoseemyopponent’smovementmoreslowly.”

48.DifficultDou

IreturnedlastnightfromtheFrenchOpenChampionshipinPariswhereIwasactingasareferee.Thisisaverybigandpopulartaikaiwithindividualandteammatchesheldovertwodays.AswellascompetitorsfromalloverFrance,IsawplayersfromSweden,Italy,theUKandfromJapan.

Eventslikethisaregreatopportunitiestocatchupwitholdfriends,andinParisthereistheaddedbonusofgoodfoodandwinetofinisheachday.

Fromareferee’sperspective,it isinterestingtoworkindifferentenvironmentswith referees fromother countries.Although of course,wherever you are, thebasicsofjudgingyuko-datotsudonotchange.

RefereesonmycourtwerefromFrance,Belgium,JapanandtheUK.Overthetwodaysweraisedourflagsforhundredsofmenandkoteandquiteafewtsukiari.Wealsosawnumerousattemptsatdouforwhichwegaveonlyoneippon.Talking this overwithmy colleagues, the reasons for not awarding a point tomost dou attacks is that they do not have correct hasuji, or they hit with thewrongpartoftheshinai.

Aswithmenandkote,itisessentialthatthedatotsubuoftheshinaistrikesthecorrectpartofthetarget.Thatistosay,thetopthirdofthejinbushouldhittheright side of the dou with the bottom take making contact. Most of theunsuccessfulattemptswesawwere“hirauchi”,wherethesideoftheshinaihitsthe dou. There were also a number of occasions where the front of the doubecamethetarget.Normallythisisnotintentionalbuthappensbecausethecutis

made as the opponent is coming forward and there is not sufficient distancebetweenyou.

Mypettheoryastowhysofewdousucceedisthatmostpeopleviewkaeshidouornukidouasa reactive technique. Ifyouropponenthasalready launchedhisattack and you attempt dou, you will be too close to complete the techniquesuccessfully.If,ontheotherhand,youforcehimtoattackmenandthenhitdoujustashestartshisattack,youshouldbeabletohitthecorrectpartofthedouwiththerightpartoftheshinai.

Ithelpstothinkaboutpunchingforwardwithyourrighthandwhiledirectlyinfrontofyouropponentandinturningyourrightwristinsothatthebottomtakeconnects.Thenyoucanmoveelegantlypastyouropponentandwatchallthreeflagsgoup.

49.Applytensionandrelax

One of our newer members is a professional musician. His kendo is visiblyimprovingfromweektoweek,but likealmosteveryonewhostartsasanadulthetendstousemorephysicalpowerthanheneedsto.

Tryingtofindaneasyanalogy,Ithoughtaboutmyexperienceasanincompetentbedroomguitaristandrealisedthattheinabilitytorelaxwasthemajorreasonformy lackofprogress.Whenyouwatchgreatmusicians they seemable to chillcompletelyandjustcomeinonthebeatwithlightestoftouches.Amateurslikeme,on theotherhand, canbe seen staring intently at the fret-boardwith theirtonguespokingoutastheymanfullyprodatthestrings.

Inkendo,relaxationisequallyifnotmoreimportant.Youhavetorelaxinorderto keep an effective kamae and to be able tomove easily. Shoulders, elbows,wristsandyourgripontheshinaimustbelooseandmustremainsothroughoutthe striking process. People are often confused by the instruction to applypressure,or tension, and relax.What isgenerallymeant is thatyour legs,hipsandabdomenshouldbebraced,but thatyourchest,shouldersandarmsshouldnotbetense.

Togetthisfeelingyoushouldpushyourshouldersbackasifyouaretryingtomakeyourchestfeelwider.Thenyoushouldcheckthatthereisspacebetweenyourupperarmsandthesidesofyourbody.Elbowsshouldbebent.Thereisnoreasonwhyyour left arm should not rest on your dou.Your right arm shouldcertainlynotbestraight,assomepeoplebelievethatitshould,asitwouldpullyourrightshoulderforwardandspoilyourkamae.

Yourleftwristneedstobeturnedslightlyoutwardstosupporttheshinai,butthisdoesnotmeanthatitshouldbetense.Yourrightwristshouldbeinacompletelynatural position.Your grip should be relaxed.You need to grip onlywith thelittle and ring fingers of each hand, with the other fingers following withoutmakingintentionalcontactwiththetsukaoftheshinai.Thepointsofcontactforthegrippingfingersarethefingertipsandtheopposingpointofthepalm.Youshould not apply pressurewith the inside surface of the fingers. Finally, yourtenouchionstrikingthetargetshouldamounttonomorethanasqueezewithoutchangingyourgrip.

Ofcourse,withkendoandmusicand,Iimagine,anyotheractivitythatrequiresphysicaldexterity,themoreyoupractisethemorerelaxedyoubecome.MaybethereisachancethatifIkeepplayingmyscalesImaybecomeanotherCarlosSantana or Eric Clapton. At the current rate of progress it should only takeanother120years.

50.Topushornottopush

To mix a number of metaphors… The road to kendo satori is paved withconflictingadvice.Wehavetochooseor,morelikely,wearetoldeithertoputourtenuguiinsideoroutsideourmenbeforeorafterpractice,tomakeoursuburibiggerorsmallerandtouseornotusetai-atariaspartofkirikaeshi.

The kirikaeshi question is an interesting one. For such a standardised, widelypractisedexercise, there isconsiderablevariationbetweenthewaysit is taughtindifferentdojo.Distance,speedandtimingtendtovary,therearetwoschoolsofthoughtastowherethebreakincontinuousbreathingshouldbe,butthekeypointofcontention iswhetherornot tomake tai-atari after the shomenstrike,beforestartingontheyoko-mensequence.

Ifyouareakendostudent,thechancesarethatyouwillhavenosayinhowyoudo the drill. The way you go about it will be dictated by your instructor’spreference.Having said that, a thoughtful instructorwill take your experienceandskilllevelintoaccount.

Tai-atariinkirikaeshireplicatesthesituationinkeikoorshiaiwhentheopponentremainsinfrontofyouafteryourfirstattack.Youneedtomoveintotsubazeriaiand push him backward and attack again, either with a hikibana or hikiwazatechnique. So it’s a useful thing to practise. On the other hand, unless yourposture is developed to a level where you can constantly keep your hips andcentreengagedwhilerelaxingyourshoulders,makingtai-atariimmediatelyafteramenattackcausesyoutoleanforwardanduseyourshoulders.Thismakesyouunstableandthereforeunabletomovequicklytothenexttechnique.

WhatIamtryingtosayinarather long-windedway, is that ifyoucandotai-atari correctly, then do it. Thismeans that your posture should be completelyupright, but when you make contact with your opponents’ hands you shouldloweryourhipsandpushdownlightly,notrelyingonupperbodystrength.

If,ontheotherhand,thisisnewtoyou,thenthebestwayforwardisnottopush,buttoremaininthepositioninwhichyouhitmenasyourpartnerstepsbackintothecorrectdistanceforyoutostarttheyoko-mensequence.Insomedojothisispractisedwithanemphasisonmotodachicreatingasmuchdistanceaspossible–

toencouragekakaritetostretchtoreachthetarget.

Mypersonalviewisthatthisno-touchapproachwillservemostpeoplewellupto3rddanlevel,butagain,yourinstructorshouldknowbest.

51.Creatingopportunitiestostrike

I have been asked to put some thoughts together on the theory of creatingopportunitiestostrikeinpreparationfornextweekend’sWatchetseminar.Withkendo being such a well-trodden path, this requires very little creativity fromme; it’smore a question of opening the kendo books on the correct page andreadingwhatourpredecessorshadtosayonthesubject.

Thewhole spectrum of attacking opportunities in kendo is summed up in theSansappo(orSansatsuho),whichtranslatesas“thethreemethods”.Theseare:

Kenwokorosu–killtheswordWazawokorosu–killthetechniqueKiwokorosu–killthespirit

Whilethesetermssoundsuitablyesoteric,ifyourearrangetheorderandgroupthetechniquesthatrepresentthesecategories,yougetabasic,common-senselistofwhichwazaworkinwhichcircumstances.

Kiwokorosu–equalsseme.Usingyourwholebodyand,moreimportantly,yourmentalstrength(kizeme),youpushfirmlyintoyouropponent’sspaceanddestroyhismentalcomposure,creatingtheopportunitytostrike.Kenwokorosu–youbreakhiskamaebymovinghisshinaiwithyourown.Waystodothisincludeharai,osae,uchiotoshiandmakiwaza.Effectively,yousweep,push,knockdownortwisthisshinaiawayfromhiscentre,leavingthedooropenforyourattack.Wazawokorosu–thiscoversthewholerangeofojiwaza.Youmakehimattackandtaketheopportunitytodestroyhistechniqueandbeathimwithyourown.Todothisyoucanselectfromamenuofdebana,suriage,kaeshiandnukitechniques.Whichyouusedependsonhowadvancedhisattackisbeforeyoustrike.Debanawazaisusedwhenhestartshisattack,suriage

wazawhenhisshinaiisonitswaydown,andkaeshiandnukitechniqueswhenhiscutisalmostthere.

Usingthesansappotoordertechniquesinthiswayhelpsmetoputthemintoaframework,butthereareanumberofotherusefulwaystounderstandthetheoryof timing andopportunity.The concept ofSen,SennoSen andGonoSen isequallyeffective.Thisrelatestostrikingbeforeyouropponentdoes,ashestartstostrikeandfinallyafterhestartshisattack.

Anotherwaytothinkaboutitisbyputtingyourselfinyouropponent’splace.Inthis case, the Shikai or four sicknesses of surprise, fear, doubt and confusion(kyo,ku,gi,waku)canbeexploitedasattackingopportunities.

Withkendo’slonghistory,successivegenerationsofteachershavegivenusthebasis tounderstandhowandwhywedo things.Thechallenge formostofus,though,isnottounderstandthetheorybuttoputitintopractice.Inthiscasetheansweris“morekeiko”.

52.SemeandTamerevisited

IhavewrittenaboutsemeandtameseveraltimessinceIstartedthisblogandIfeelmotivated todo soagain.Thesearedifficult concepts formanypeople tounderstandanditisevenmoredifficulttotranslatethemintophysicalaction.

Wehavehadnumerousconversationsaboutsemeatmylocaldojo,andbeforewritingthisIscannedsomeofthecommentsonthewebrelatingtothissubject.IcameacrossaveryinterestingthreadonKendoWorldForumsthatstartedwithapostaboutmakingsemeandwaitingfortheopponenttoreact,andhowthisdidnotwork againstmore experienced opponents.Obviously the poster is on therighttrack,butperhapsthecluetowhyit’snotworkingisintheword“waiting”.The missing ingredient is “tame”. If you step into striking distance withoutmaintaining the spirit to attack then it ismore than likely that youwill be theloserintheencounter.

Thinkingthroughthewholeprocess,youshouldtakeabigbreathinandlethalftheairoutaskakegoebeforesteppingintoyouropponent’sspace.Yourattitudeshould be confident and aggressivewith the aim of breaking his physical andmentaldefence(migamaeandkigamae).Postureneedstobecorrect,withyourhipsengaged,andyoushouldswiftlypullyourleftfootupassoonasyoustepforward with your right. The left heel should be slightly off the groundthroughoutandthereshouldbeafeelingoftensionatthebackoftheleftknee.The right knee should be slightly bent. If, while doing this, your opponent’skamaebreaksunderthepressure,don’twait,justattack.

If, on the other hand, your opponent maintains his guard, you need to takefurther action to create an opportunity. This is done by keeping an attackingmindandcentringyourbreath inyourabdomen.Youmaintain thepressure inyourleftfootandkneeand,bymovingthetipofyourshinaiveryslightly,invitehim to attack.As soon as he starts an attackingmovement, you can push offfromyourleftfootandmakeasmallsharpstriketowhichevertargetheshows.Usetheremainderoftheairinyourtandentomakeabigkiaiasyoustrikeeitherkoteormen.Welcometotheworldofdebanawaza.

TheKendoWorld threadwenton tosay that itwasdifficult tomakeeffectiveseme against more experienced kenshi. Duh, why wouldn’t it be? They have

been doing it better for a longer time. You will also find it difficult againstbeginnerswhohavenotyet refined theirbasic technique toa levelwhere theycanmake“mindcontact”.

Withtheselessexperiencedplayersyoucanpractisetamebybuildingpressurethen relaxing it for them to attack you. With seniors, if all else fails, dokakarigeiko.

TheAuthor

Geoff Salmon holds the grade of 7th dan and is one of the fewwesterners tohavepassedthenewAllJapanKendoFederationkyoshiexamination.HespentthreeyearsstudyingkendoinJapaninthe1970sandregularlyvisits tofurtherhistraining.

GeoffteacheskendointheUKandthroughoutEurope.Hehasheldanumberofkey kendo posts including that ofChairman of theBritishKendoAssociationandManageroftheBritishNationalKendoSquad.Hewasadirectorofthe12thWorldKendoChampionshipinScotlandwherehehadthehonourofwelcomingHerMajestyQueenElizabethandHRHtheDukeofEdinburgh.

Geoff is familiarwith high-level kendo as a competitor and referee,with fourrecent appearances at the Kyoto Taikai to add to his track record of earliercompetitionintheEuropeanandWorldChampionships.Hehasbeenarefereeat numerous European Championships and at the 15th World KendoChampionshipsin2012.Geoffisanactiveblogger,www.kendoinfo.netandtheauthorofKendo,AComprehensiveGuidetoJapaneseSwordsmanship.

InhissparetimeheisapartnerinaheadhuntingfirmandlivesinSurreyintheUK.

TableofContentsForeword1.TheAimofKendo2.Kendonokata–thedeepermeaning3.Fudōshin不動心4.Thoughtsonmaai5.“Afeatherinahurricane”6.Chibasensei’sadviceonchudankamaeandcuttingmotion7.Tenouchi8.Kigurai9.Kendofootworkforbeginners10.Tame11.TheNitokodachiconundrum12.Tsuki–factorfiction?13.KendoTraining–frequencyandintensity14.Kaeshidou15.KendoAttitude16.Explainshuhari17.Kihaku18.TraininginJapan19.Shodanshinsa20.Kendoforseniorcitizens21.Sensei!22.SteppingBack23.DifferentPaths24.Enzannometsuke25.Sportskendoversusshugyo26.Dou–collectivehanshiwisdom!27.Humility28.Ippon29.Wasabi30.Chakusoforshinpanor“Ataleoftwobuttons”31.Kendoandteamsports32.BrakeandAccelerator33.15WKCReferees’decisions34.Keikowithseniors

35.Theimportanceofsuburi36.Kotesimplified37.Kendoequipmentandchildlabour38.“Boysbeambitious”39.Sutemiandshishin40.Sae41.Waitinginline42.Tsubazeriaiintoplevelkendo43.Hidaridemotsu!44.Aggressiveojiwaza45.Encouragingbeginners–orhowtobeasuccessfulmotodachi46.Hikitategeiko47.Gradingexaminationsforolderkendoka48.DifficultDou49.Applytensionandrelax50.Topushornottopush51.Creatingopportunitiestostrike52.SemeandTamerevisitedTheAuthor

TableofContents

Foreword1.TheAimofKendo2.Kendonokata–thedeepermeaning3.Fudōshin不動心4.Thoughtsonmaai5.“Afeatherinahurricane”6.Chibasensei’sadviceonchudankamaeandcuttingmotion7.Tenouchi8.Kigurai9.Kendofootworkforbeginners10.Tame11.TheNitokodachiconundrum12.Tsuki–factorfiction?13.KendoTraining–frequencyandintensity14.Kaeshidou15.KendoAttitude16.Explainshuhari17.Kihaku18.TraininginJapan19.Shodanshinsa20.Kendoforseniorcitizens21.Sensei!22.SteppingBack23.DifferentPaths24.Enzannometsuke25.Sportskendoversusshugyo26.Dou–collectivehanshiwisdom!27.Humility28.Ippon29.Wasabi30.Chakusoforshinpanor“Ataleoftwobuttons”31.Kendoandteamsports32.BrakeandAccelerator33.15WKCReferees’decisions34.Keikowithseniors

35.Theimportanceofsuburi36.Kotesimplified37.Kendoequipmentandchildlabour38.“Boysbeambitious”39.Sutemiandshishin40.Sae41.Waitinginline42.Tsubazeriaiintoplevelkendo43.Hidaridemotsu!44.Aggressiveojiwaza45.Encouragingbeginners–orhowtobeasuccessfulmotodachi46.Hikitategeiko47.Gradingexaminationsforolderkendoka48.DifficultDou49.Applytensionandrelax50.Topushornottopush51.Creatingopportunitiestostrike52.SemeandTamerevisitedTheAuthor