Dealing with Kote Strikes in Jodan No Kamae

#kendo #jodannokamae #swordsmanship
Kendo - Jodan No Kamae Study
In this video I address a viewer's question regarding dealing with younger, faster opponents who keep striking the kote.
In the video I reference this movement lesson from Alexander Bennett Sensei (Kyoshi Nanadan), please go check it out if you haven't already: • Techniques Against Jod...
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[@KendoSwordsman]

#kendo #swordsmanship #jodannokamae A viewer of the channel asked for some advice on how to handle younger and faster opponents who keep stealing his Kote from Jodan. I sincerely hope this helps and I ask any other Jodan players to leave their takes on this in the comments for others to study.

[@gluebox1]

Never retreat. If you're stepping in, you should be ready to strike and if you have time to step back, you have time to strike.

[@KendoSwordsman]

@@gluebox1 In principle I absolutely agree. However I think in order to do that you first have to understand the maai and you need to be able to understand where they will miss from to be able to use the Nuki men for instance. Also you need to know you can move in any direction. So while its all well and good to say never retreat as the ideal, in practice, most of us mere mortals will have to retreat to some extent in order to learn more precise control of the distance. A sort of "learning to walk before you can run". Its a similar situation with blocking in Kendo I find.

[@Deathborn_]

Thank you for this video! I’ve learned a lot especially about controlling the distance which is my biggest issue so far in my journey. I have an injury mostly in my left but I do suffer chronic plantar fasciitis and it makes me being to move much even more difficult. With that being said I’m going to try give these a test. The retreat is something my sensei said to do seldomly, and to move more off axis rather than just straight back. I can’t hikiwaza to save my life but I know I’ll have that in the bag of tricks if I find myself retreating that way. Thank you once again!

[@KendoSwordsman]

Yeah, retreat is far from ideal. The idea is not to become stuck in one spot and to be as mobile as possible. If you can understand the maai to the point where it's tempting for them to strike but not easy, then you can apply your waza more easily. The ideal situation is to enter issoku itto and not have to step out of it. However you shouldn't simply stand there and be struck either. I think once you know you're maai with precision, you can bait with the kote more successfully. At first for many people they use the Nuki men, but once you're confident you find yourself going forward more. So like Chiba Sensei would say, be prepared for the aiuchi (same time attack). It's very difficult to fence against a Jodan who seldom backs off. Its much easier to beat one that has weak Ashi sabaki and is fixed in one spot or that fences from too close. Maybe I'll do a follow up video to clarify this,because people's level will vary who watch this. Thanks for the feedback.