This type of waza can be tricky to execute, starting from tsubazeriai (swords crossed at close distance) you have to make the opening, strike, and withdraw quickly while moving backwards at pace and more often than not being chased by your opponent.

I talked in another post about watching your opponent for the moment he breaks his concentration or stops his attack after making tsubazeriai

While studying today I came across a paragraph in my kendo book detailing how to create openings for hiki-waza. It talks about reading your opponents kamae during tsubazeriai, is it strong and centred or is it flexible. Depending on the type of kamae we vary the way we make openings.

Continue reading after the break!