Archive for 2013

Luciano Pavarotti.

This is Luciano Pavarotti. You may perhaps be wondering why there is a picture of Luciano Pavarotti on this Kendo blog?

Read on to find out why!

Recently I was told by a visiting Sensei to be more mindful of my breathing. We had just finished kihon practice before jigeiko and I was breathing heavily through my mouth to catch my breath. M. Sensei noticed this and told me to be careful to always breathe in through my nose and not through my mouth.

This is not new to me of course, but I was breathing like a bull at the time! Our breathing in kendo should be calm. We should try not to take big gulping breaths that show our opponent that we are tired and give him a chance to attack us. In both seiza and in keiko, and even out side the dojo, we should aim to breath calmly. In through the nose and out through the mouth.

So, your still asking what has this got to do with Pavarotti, right??

When I was in my fourth year of secondary school (that's about 16 years old) I was, like many folks at that age, in a band. I had been playing the guitar for a few years and I began to take singing lessons with the aim of becoming the worlds next big thing.

The first and most important thing when learning to sing is breathing. And I'd like to share the breathing exercise I learned which I believe can be useful in learning how to breath in Kendo.

Inhale quickly and deeply, into the lower lungs.

The key to breathing in singing and in kendo is inhaling quickly and deeply into the lower lungs. As we all know we should breath into our gut or tanden during kendo practice. I have said before in another post, which can be found here, that by breathing into our upper lungs we end up making our shoulders stiff and restrict our movements.

The first step is to take a breath. Go ahead, in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Which part of your body moved, did your chest swell or did your stomach? If it was your chest, then you are breathing incorrectly.

The next step is to lie down on the floor on your back and try the same thing again. Chances are that your stomach will rise and fall as your breathe. Its usually easier to breathe correctly while lying down. Take a few minutes to lie on the floor and relax, breath in deeply through your nose, and out through your mouth. Get used to the feeling of breathing down into your stomach and not just into your chest.

Ok, lets start improving our breathing!!

Stand up straight, no slouching please! Spread your feet about shoulder width apart. Relax your body, let your arms hang loose at your sides and release the tension from your shoulders (hey, that's just like kendo!!).

Imagine that the air that you are about to breathe is extremely heavy and that when you breathe in, it will sink down into your body.

First, take a few deep breaths in through your nose, holding it in your tummy (tanden, whatever) for a few seconds and release it through your mouth. Focus on the breath going down low, past your belly button and filling your lungs from the bottom up. Your chest should not move at all, but your stomach (and lower back) should swell out and in as your breathe. Keep doing this until you feel like you are breathing fully and deeply into your lower lungs.

Second, we need to increase the speed in which we inhale. Do the same as above, but breath in quicker through your nose. Make sure that your breath is still going down to your belly button. Most will breathe into their chest when they try to breathe quickly. Keep practicing until you feel like you are getting a good amount of air into your lungs in just 1 or 2 seconds.

Finally we need to increase the volume of air that is coming into our lungs. Singers, like our pal Pavarotti, need to fill their lungs to capacity very quickly, giving themselves enough breath to belt out that chorus. Kendo players also need sufficient breath to maneuver, strike, kiai and return to a ready position.

This is the exercise I started every lesson with.

Stand as above, feet shoulder width apart and body relaxed.
Breathe in once sharply through your nose, filling your whole lung.
Breathe out through your mouth, making a "shhhhhhhhhh" sound.
Keep breathing out, push every last bit of air out.
Keep breathing out!!! Go until you literally have nothing in your lungs and have to take a breath.
With the idea of breathing down into your stomach, past your belly button, breath in sharply through your nose.
Breathe with the feeling of filling the lungs from the bottom.
Try to fill up your lung with just this one quick breath.
Hold the breath down in your tanden for 3-5 seconds and breathe out making a "shhhhhhhhhh" sound.
Continue breathing out untill you cant possibly breathe out any more. Take a sharp breath through your nose and repeat the process.

When breathing out try to breathe at first for at least than 10 seconds, keep increasing this number as your get better.

I practiced this for about 5 minutes at the beginning of each singing lesson, and at home before going to bed too.

By practicing in this way, I think we can learn the correct method of breathing in Kendo. Breathe in sharply through the nose, hold the breath in the tanden, release some of the breath in an attacking kiai, strike and release your breath while kiai-ing the name of the target.

By breathing this way we limit the chances for our opponent to attack us at our weakest, when we inhale. Try striking one of your dojo mates next time he or she takes a big lurching breath, they wont be able to react. We also remove the bad habit of breathing as we raise our hands to strike.

I think this exercise could be thought to beginners to help them to learn the correct way of breathing in. And could also be thought to more advanced students to help correct bad habits.

Once this method is mastered, we can move on to improving lung capacity and stamina, through endless Kirikaeshi and kakarigeiko sessions! Hurray!

There are many other things about breathing in Kendo that I haven't talked about in this post. If you would like some more content on breathing, let me know in the comments below, or on facebook or twitter.

So, there you have it. Pavaortti and Kendo, they do have something in common after all!

Thanks as always for reading, If you like the content of this blog please share it! Comments and discussion are always welcome!

Doryoku.

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Written by John Doherty

In this post I will detail an uchikomi pattern that is being used in our dojo to prepare members specifically for grading exams. It's and excellent exercise and you can adapt it to use for your own grading (or even shiai) preparation, or just to add to your regular keiko program.

This pattern was introduced in our dojo by a visiting Hachidan Sensei (S Sensei) during a number special grading practice sessions which he lead at Michinoko Dojo. These practice sessions we held to help members prepare for upcoming grading exams from 3rd dan to 6th dan. Most of the people will be grading in the Tokyo Budokan (see image below).

You can find a post about S. Senseis other visit toto Michinoko and break down of his kihon keiko here.

Grading exams in Tokyo are large events, with daily participants often numbering well over 1000.
Image from http://www.tokyo-kendo.or.jp/shinsa_kekka/2007-11-45dan-meibo.html

Uchikomi Pattern.

This uchikomi follows the principal that each cut in keiko should be performed as in a real situation. The motodachi and kakarite should approach the drill with complete focus.

To begin with both players assume their kamae, the motodachi will make a predetermined number of men or kote attacks, to which the kakarite will reply with oji-waza. Kakarite should make seme inviting the motodachi to attack. Motodachi should attack when they feel the pressure from their opponent.

This is a continuous exercise, there is no break when changing roles.

Example set one.

Motodachi - Men, Kote, Men, Men
Kakarite - Debanna men, Ai kote men, Debanna kote, Nuki/kaeshi dou.

Simply put, motodachi responding to the seme of his opponent attacks with the above attacks. Kakarite attacks with the listed oji-waza trying to score correct ippon each time.

After the four attacks the roles reverse and the pair should move into the next set of four without pause.

S Sensei recommends getting a lot of practice with these four waza to help pass your grading, be it 3rd Dan or 6th Dan. He believes being able to perform these waza at your level will make your shinsa easier.

Example set two.

Motodachi - Men, Kote, Men, Kote, Men.
Kakarite - debanna men, suriage men, debanna kote, kaeshi men, nuki/kaeshi do.

This set simply introduces some more waza, suriage men and kaeshi men against a kote strike.

Variations: You can of course make up your own sets, adding or taking away waza, or giving the kakarite a chance to choose their own oji-waza.

Key points

Both should ensure that each cut is made with correct seme, attacking with full spirit and performing zanshin. The feeling of zanshin should be maintained through to the next cut, and should not be released, but instead carried through the entire exercise.

A key point here is that the seme, mind contact and zanshin built up in the exercise should not be broken between attacks or even when the roles change. After making his final oji-waza attack, kakarite immediately becomes motodachi and turns to attack his opponent.

I said above that the exercise is continuous, but this does not mean that it is fast paced. For some there may be a tendency to rush, or for inexperienced motodachi to attack their opponent too early in an attempt to "win". Instead focus on kakarite maintaining zanshin and correctly making seme for each cut.

Thoughts

I think that this is an excellent drill not only for shinsa preparation but also for general practice　too. By having the participants focus on maintaining their spirit and zanshin and building up each attack rather than rushing, I believe Sensei's drill can teach us a lot about how to fight our opponents, whether its in ji-geiko, shiai or shinsa.

Question

What kind of practice do you do at your dojo to prepare yourself or your students for grading examinations?

Thanks as always for taking the time to read the blog.

If you have any comments, id love to hear from you.

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Written by John Doherty

Ichi byoshi, refers to cutting in a single motion, in the timing of one.

Nagashima Sensei has been focusing on this kind of men cut for well over half a year now at Michi no Ko. Id like to introduce the idea and talk about some of the exercises we can do to improve our cutting technique.

Most beginners learn to cut men by learning it in either a two or three step motion,

Swing the sword up before stepping forwards,

start from chudan no kamae, raise the sword above your head to jodan,
step forward with the right foot and begin to cut down wards,
bring the left foot forward with hiki-tsuke and finish the cut with kiai.

Or alternatively

Swing the sword while moving,

move the right foot forwards while swinging the sword to jodan,
draw up the left foot while completing the cut with kiai.

While neither of these methods are wrong, and I would teach beginners in this way too, I think its important after a certain stage to introduce a different method of cutting.

Swing the sword at the last moment,

Start from chudan no kamae, push your right foot forwards, keeping the sword down,
Without pausing, we begin to cut when the right foot is about half way through the forward step,
Quickly cut men while the right foot finishes its forward step and the left foot snaps into place with hiki-tsuke.

With this method of cutting we will learn to cut men while our body is moving forwards, and without raising our hands too early. This is important for successfully cutting small men.

If we take this into our bogu keiko we can practice both large and small men using the same principal.

Again, many Sensei will practice cutting men in different ways, and none are wrong. This is just one way to practice cutting men.

Big men with ichi-byoshi timing: this should be done slowly at first, pausing after stepping into distance, and quicker once you get the hang of it.

Assume the correct kamae, posture upright and relaxed, chin tucked in and feet correctly placed,
Start from to-ma (far distance) step into your own issoku itto no maai (one step striking distance) or a little bit closer to begin with,
Be sure to draw the left foot up correctly, don't bring it too far forwards, or leave it too far behind,
From issoku itto no maai, push off with the left foot towards your opponent, at the very same instant swing your shinai in a large movement to cut men in one motion,
Your fumikomi should be followed instantly by correct hiki-tsuke.

Important points that Nagashima Sensei has corrected us on;

be sure to step into a distance you are comfortable cutting from,
make sure your feet are in a correct position at all times,
don't swing up the shinai before pushing off, your cut and forward motion should be as one
don't raise your right foot too high while making fumikomi,
relax your upper body, or there is not a chance of you cutting quick enough!
ensure your posture is correct at the moment of cutting by drawing up your left foot instantly.

This can be a bit difficult at first, for me all of my instincts told me to swing up before pushing off, I still sometimes found it awkward and difficult to coordinate. But from both watching Sensei and persevering, I've begun to get the hang of it.

Small men with ichi-byoshi timing: this is definitely where cutting in one motion becomes important.

Most kendo players cut small men by making a very slight (or very large in some cases) movement in their arms before extending to cut men, this is called okori-bana in Japanese and is the ideal point for a nice debana waza!

The most common type of okori-bana is the lifting of the right hand, my sempai in Ireland would take kote from me 5 or 6 times in a row during keiko, because I continuously took my kensen out of the centre by lifting my right hand.

This relates back to how we cut men during suburi, if you don't do a correct big cut, your small cut wont be good either.

This method of cutting small men is pretty universal, watch videos of Takanabe or Eiga Sensei to see them cutting in the tiniest of motion.

Start from a correct chudan no kamae, posture upright, feet placed correctly and chin tucked in.
Step from to-ma into issoku itton no maai (or slightly closer to make sure your posture is correct while cutting)
Without raising your sword, push off from the left foot.
Your right foot should be moving towards your opponents centre, just above the floor,
At the very last moment, push your left hand forwards to cut men using the snap of your wrists
Make fumikomi at the moment of cutting, snap the left foot up with hiki-tsuke and push through your opponent.

Important points:

step in to a comfortable distance,
ensure you left foot is drawn up to the correct position,
dont raise your right foot too high for fumikomi,
dont raise you kensen untill the last moment,
dont lean your head forwards, keep your posture upright,
make sure to keep good posture by snapping your left foot into place with hikitsuke
higher grades should close the distance from to-ma with smaller steps, make the situation real.

By learning to attack men in this way we create less openings for our opponent. Keeping the sword down and the kensen pointed towards the opponents throat or left eye will make it harder for them to see your attack. The closer to their face you get the more difficult it will be for them to see your kensen.

I think one of the most important aspects of this style of cutting is being relaxed. I will make a post on suburi in the coming weeks focusing on keeping the upper body relaxed.

Thank you for reading and good luck!
John

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Written by John Doherty

This is Luciano Pavarotti. You may perhaps be wondering why there is a picture of Luciano Pavarotti on this Kendo blog?

Read on to find out why!

So, your still asking what has this got to do with Pavarotti, right??

Inhale quickly and deeply, into the lower lungs.

This is the exercise I started every lesson with.

There are many other things about breathing in Kendo that I haven't talked about in this post. If you would like some more content on breathing, let me know in the comments below, or on facebook or twitter.

So, there you have it. Pavaortti and Kendo, they do have something in common after all!

The 61st All Japan Kendo Championship will be held in just 3 days time! Here's a little something to get you in the mood!!

First round ippon compilation.

Second round ippon compilation.

Third round ippon compilation

Fourth round to Final ippon compilation.

In this post I will detail an uchikomi pattern that is being used in our dojo to prepare members specifically for grading exams. It's and excellent exercise and you can adapt it to use for your own grading (or even shiai) preparation, or just to add to your regular keiko program.

Uchikomi Pattern.

Example set one.

Example set two.

Key points

Thoughts

Question

What kind of practice do you do at your dojo to prepare yourself or your students for grading examinations?

Part three of the series, Kendo Stores of Tokyo.

In this post I will be giving an introduction to Shokodo, a Kendo and martial arts equipment shop located right in the heart of Tokyo's Shibuya district.

The store.

Part two of the series Kendo stores in Tokyo.

This time ill be taking a look at Tokyo Shobudo, located in Gotanda. Shobudo home page.

Part one of the series Kendo Stores in Tokyo.

This is the first in a series of blog posts I hope to do over the next month or so, in which I will introduce some of the bogu stores around Tokyo. Ill try get to some of them and take pictures and interview the staff in order to give a better idea of what each store has to offer.

S. Sensei, Kendo Hachi Dan joined practice at Michi no Ko yesterday, this was the first time in the dojos 40 year existance for a Hachi Dan sensei to join practice. He was invited by Abe Sensei to help some of our dojo members prepare for their grading examinations.

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