Step Up and Strike! Kendo Basics |

[@Kendotips]

What is your plan of attack when approaching your opponent?

[@Koggelxander]

... "And, when there is an opportunity, I do not hit - it hits all by itself." - Bruce Lee This is my plan of attack. ❤‍🔥

[@agentapathy]

Advancing with your right while keeping your left leg "cocked" has done wonders during jigeiko. It made me hit "faster" in a sense that I was able to strike at the moment my opponent is about to react. I'm still ikkyu and there are terms that are still beyond me, but this approach helped me understand instead of over-analyzing my opponent.

[@Kendotips]

Nice!!! I'm glad that you are seeing progress in your kendo at your level. Keep it up. What have been some of the struggles you have faced in Kendo?

[@SirConto]

I really liked this description from the book "Kendo, inherited wisdom and personal reflections": "The whole spectrum of attacking opportunities in kendo is summed up in the Sansappo (or Sansatsuho) , which translates as “the three methods”. These are: Ken wo korosu - kill the sword Waza wo korosu - kill the technique Ki wo korosu - kill the spirit While these terms sound suitably esoteric, if you rearrange the order and group the techniques that represent these categories, you get a basic, common-sense list of which waza work in which circumstances. Ki wo korosu - equals seme. Using your whole body and, more importantly, your mental strength (kizeme), you push firmly into your opponent’s space and destroy his mental composure, creating the opportunity to strike. Ken wo korosu - you break his kamae by moving his shinai with your own. Ways to do this include harai, osae, uchiotoshi and maki waza. Effectively, you sweep, push, knock down or twist his shinai away from his centre, leaving the door open for your attack. Waza wo korosu - this covers the whole range of oji waza. You make him attack and take the opportunity to destroy his technique and beat him with your own. To do this you can select from a menu of debana, suriage, kaeshi and nuki techniques. Which you use depends on how advanced his attack is before you strike. Debana waza is used when he starts his attack, suriage waza when his shinai is on its way down, and kaeshi and nuki techniques when his cut is almost there. Using the sansappo to order techniques in this way helps me to put them into a framework, but there are a number of other useful ways to understand the theory of timing and opportunity. The concept of Sen, Sen no Sen and Go no Sen is equally effective. This relates to striking before your opponent does, as he starts to strike and finally after he starts his attack. Another way to think about it is by putting yourself in your opponent’s place. In this case, the Shikai or four sicknesses of surprise, fear, doubt and confusion (kyo, ku, gi, waku) can be exploited as attacking opportunities. With kendo’s long history, successive generations of teachers have given us the basis to understand how and why we do things. The challenge for most of us, though, is not to understand the theory but to put it into practice. In this case the answer is “more keiko”."

[@Kendotips]

Thank you for sharing this, you gave me ideas and home work at the same time. I like how you break it down. I always try to stay away from Japanese words as to not confused people getting into kendo, but I like how you made a practical application with this!! Thank you for taking the time to share all of this, this is what we need for kendo to grow and get better!

[@Not-so-cool-name]

Thank you

[@Not-so-cool-name]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@nanookofthemex]

Gracias!

[@MultiSkippy101]

Great video

[@Kendotips]

Thank you very much for your support, sorry I didn't see this earlier.

[@Kendo_is_fun]

interesting video. can I hear your understanding of tame?

[@Kendotips]

Well as I said I think it deserves a series of videos hahaha. But I was debating the use of the word pressure because tame also involves pressure. I can say too is a moment of holding off while keeping the pressure but I don’t want people confusing it with waiting. The translation of the word if I got it correctly is to “amass” which to me this is what it feels like to me. Actually if you google it Kenshi247’s blog has one of the best descriptions and how it relates to seme. (I hope this helps) but what about you what are your thoughts on it?

[@Kendo_is_fun]

@@Kendotips Thank you for your answer. Now I think that Tame is connected with the willingness to strike an opponent at the moment of his reaction to Seme. Therefore, Tame is associated with the left foot and the feeling of hitting at any moment. As Chiba-sensei said, "you should approach the opponent in the spirit of, “I am cutting now” and wait for his or her reaction to determine which target to strike."

[@DragicaPekeč-e9k]

❤