TAMPA KENDO CLUB

Beginner’s Guide KENDO MOTTO From the All Japan Kendo Federation The concept of kendo is to discipline the human character through the application of the principals of the sword. The principal of practicing kendo is: To mold the mind and body, To cultivate a vigorous spirit, And through correct and rigid training, To strive for improvement in the art of kendo; To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor, To associate with others with sincerity, And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.

Kendo Beginner’s Program Correct Kendo etiquette: 1. Entering the Dojo. Before entering a Dojo, take your shoes off. No shoes in Dojo. With your first step into the Dojo, bow to the middle of the Dojo to show respect. 2. How to address a senior. Never speak to a senior unless spoken to first. When address a senior, start with sumimasen, which mean, excuse me, when probe your question. 3. Assist in cleaning the dojo before and after practice. 4. Not step over or kick a shinai or any part of bogu (armor) placed on the floor. 5. Not lean on his shinai, using it as a cane. 6. Move with promptness, not slowly and slovenly. 7. Not converse unnecessarily during practice hours. 8 Seiza – Kneeling position. This is the way we sit when in training or meditating. It slows down your heart rate and with the correct breathing betters blood circulation throughout your whole body. See picture below for seiza.

9 Sonkyo – Knee bent squat. This bent you do before fighting after you have bowed. In this bent you also finish your fight.

10. Rei – Formal bows before and after Keiko.

11. Mokuso

Sit up straight, chin pulled slightly in, mouth closed. Place your hands in your lap palms up with your fingertips overlapping and your thumbs touching tip to tip. The feeling should be that you are holding an egg in your hands. If you press too hard the egg breaks; if you do not press the egg falls to the floor. Sempai will then call the dojo to engage in a moment of meditation (mokuso) to clear the mind of distractions and prepare for practice. Breath naturally through your nose, using your abdomen and diaphragm to draw the air into the bottom of your lungs. After a while, sempai will call an end to the meditation (yame). How to hold shinai Good kendo is all about details. Properly holding a shinai will allow you to strike with strength and accuracy. The illustrations above show the proper angle and positioning. Grip the shinai more tightly with your left hand than your right, and with more pressure using your last three fingers of the left hand. Position the shinai near your belly button about one fist away from your body. Point the tip of the shinai at the face of your opponent.

Wrong grip

Kamae By far the most commonly observed kamae is chudan no kamae, or the "middle stance." The hands are held in front of the stomach, and the shinai is angled so that the tip is at about the level of your opponent's throat. The shinai is aligned along the center-line of your body. This is an extremely effective defensive position, but it allows you to attack as well. If you have a good chudan, it's quite difficult for an opponent to get past your guard. This is so because from chudan you can quickly move the shinai to the right or left to counter an attack from either side, or upward or downward to counter attacks from those quarters.

Feet Position

1. Stand with feet together, both heels and toes touching. Knees should be straight but not locked. 2. Pivot your left foot to towards the left touching your left heel on the ground. Now your left and right feet make a backward letter “L”. 3. Now pivot your left foot on your left toes so that it is again parallel with your right foot. This brings feet into the proper distance relationships both front/back and side to side. Issoku itto no maai This is a basic distance in kendo and also ultimate distance in kendo. It is literally means one step and one cut. If you take a step forwards, you will be able to cut your opponent with one cut. Thus, in issoku itto no maai is a distance of one step and one cut. "maai" means a distance in this case.

Kendo Target There are four striking areas in kendo: KOTE is a strike to the opponents right wrist. A strike to the left wrist is allowed only in curtain techniques. MEN is a strike to the top of the head. Strikes to either side of the head are also allowed. DO is generally a strike to the right side of the opponents abdomen. A strike to the left side is allowed only in curtain techniques and is harder to score a point. TSUKI is a thrust to the throat. Since it is a technique that requires a high degree of accuracy and speed it is used only by Yudansha (black belts).

Kikentai Ichi Ki: In English, a Chinese word, chi, is more well-known than ki. Ken: sword, including shinai, bokuto, shinken and etc. Tai: body Icchi: synchronization It means that "to synchronize the movements of ki, ken, and tai". It is hard to see the ki movement. So ki usually refers to your shout. When you strike men and you do not say "men" then you are a lack of ki. You must declare where you are striking. In that sense, you cannot strike kote and shout "men!". You have to declare where you intend to strike and synchronize ki with your shinai and body. KiriKaeshi

The Benefits of Kirikaeshi Kirikaeshi is an exercise that involves many aspects of Kendo, and is beneficial to both the Motodachi, the receiving partner, and the Shidachi, the striking partner. From basic footwork to blade control and Zanshin, Kirikaeshi teaches on several levels, with the understanding of Kendo peeling open like layers of an onion.

Kendo Terminology Sei retsu

Line up

Seiza

Be seated

Mokuso

Deep breathing and meditation

Rei

Bow

Hajime

Start

Yame

Stop

Onegai shimasu

Please, let's practice

Arigato gozaimashita

Thank you very much

Shomen suburi

Basic striking

Jogeburi

Large motion striking

Hayasuburi

Quick striking

Beginner’s Class 1) Reiho 2) Warm Up 3) Review stance, maai, holding shinai 4) Step, Suriashi, Fumikomi 5) Kihon, (men, Kote, Do, Kote-Men, Hiki-men, Hiki-Kote, Hiki-Do) 6) Kirikaeshi