Understanding what Fumikomi does in Kendo

Breaking down what fumikomi does and the benefits of doing good footwork for your kendo and kendo technique.
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[@Kendotips]

What are your thoughts? Also Check out this video if you would like to also learn how to move your sword effectively in Kendo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpDJiKuFhtJ6Zpo

[@Corey91666]

For me fumikomi does something even more important in my opinion and funnily enough it perfectly shows here. When you do fumikomi your aim should also be to put your body weight into the strike. So how is this achieved you may ask. When hitting the men (or any other target) while your body is in the motion of "falling" into the right foot you increase the strength of the strike as your body continues to move towards the ground. On the other hand, looking at the second strike the right foot lands before the shinai. This has following Impact: When the right foot hits the ground before the strike lands the body will naturally move upwards as 1 of the effects of fumikomi is to reverse your initial fall when attacking. This means your body moves against the direction of your striking motion severely weakening it. I see this as one of the major short comings of international kendo as most people are so caught in the idea of hitting the target together with the fumikomi that you dont realize how beneficial it is to hit the target slightly before you land still making it close to simultanious actions. In fact i believe this fact is what diffirentiates modern kendo from a little bit more traditional style of Kendo. If you look closely all top level kendoka in and outside of japan strike like this and use this timing if their kendo resembles top level japanese kendo (koreans as well). My thoughts regarding fumikomi. I actually started teaching this concept for about 2 years and my students very much improved.

[@Kendotips]

Thank you for sharing this. It is something I’ve talked about at the dojo and my streams but definitely a good reminder for me to include it in a more complete video. Just to be clear when you mention the second strike you are referring to the bad example correct? The one where is shown that all the weight is forced into the front leg ? I agree with you and some times is very evident how it affects negatively to the strike when they “stand up” against the shinai. Thank you for your comments and attention to detail, I hope we can practice together some time soon.

[@Corey91666]

@@Kendotips yep for the second strike im referring to that strike of the beginner ("Bad" example) I feel that this kind of teaching is not very common at all. In fact i never heard about it from any sensei and really realized it during the pandemic trying to come up with non contact training contents. So i focused on stuff most people struggle with at the start (and many for god knows how long) which to me is tenouchi, ki ken tai ichi and all things regarding body "language" in kendo. I would love to have keiko with you at some point. Living in germany though but mb i manage to compete in wkc next year (if i am able to get my shit together that means). However if you come to europe for whatever reason, we might get a chance. PS: to me your content is engaging, however i hope to not come around as arrogant or mean. Just like you and many others being around 4th dan and upwards (especially 5th and Higher) i tend to have figured out my way of kendo and hopefully be able to reach my own expectations xD

[@alexanderjamesINC]

I really appreciate your videos. Could you do a really deep dive video into fumikomi? A similar video to this but explaining exactly what part of your foot hits the ground, how to make a good sound, how to keep good posture, how to NOT bruise your heel, etc. Some slow motion of the feet would help too. Fumikomi is a constant struggle as your trying to match body mechanics of other high ranked kendokas but what we think we are doing and what our bodies are actually doing are usually 2 different things.

[@Kendotips]

Thank you very much for the support. I have been thinking about this for a while, so maybe is time I make my self do this video. In the meantime feel free to ask me any questions, you can even join the kendo tips discord server and message me there: discord.gg/x5rBSZHnx3 Thank you again for the motivation.

[@louislamonte334]

Thank you so much for this, my friend! I hope you're really well!

[@Kendotips]

Thank you I hope you are well too and we keep improving in our kendo!

[@louislamonte334]

@@Kendotips Ah, thank you for your encouragement!!

[@Janisurai]

thanks

[@Kendotips]

You're welcome! I'm sorry I didn't see your comment before!

[@gonzaloruiz7234]

Hola, práctico kendo desde hace más o menos 2 años y todavía me cuesta entender la forma del Fumikomi, que ejercicios recomendarías para practicar lo que comentas hoy en el vídeo.

[@Kendotips]

Si puedes pasa un día por mi stream en vivo y recuérdame y capas te pueda ayudar. Mientras en mi canal tengo varios videos pero Capas este video te ayudé: Tips and Exercises for Better Fumikomi (Subtitulos en Español) kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3vNY5ZvrJuZZtk por favor déjame saber tu opinión del video y bueno seguiré haciendo más con este punto en mente.