Kirikaeshi and archery

More then often said, Kirikaeshi is the fundamental exercise in Kendo.

If done correctly, there are numerous benefits one can obtain from properly executing Kirikaeshi.
Being exhausting and challenging at the same time, Kirikaeshi will stack the amount of stamina we have and improve the whole body coordination massively.

Now here is the deal, it has to be done "correctly".
Doing it correctly contains numerous points to consider.
After having a nice conversation with my sempai, there is one particular thing I want to share.



The key point is: "Focus on the cut"
Many of us are focusing way to much on a fast back swinging.
Thus the kirikaeshi degenerates into a sole stamina exercise. The arms are going rapidly forth and back, barely making any "valid" contact with the motodachi.
Of course, there are people who can run such kirikaeshi with a speed that is highly impressive, but there are not much who can do it while hitting sharp, i.e. making a cut.

Now, my sempai told me some really neat analogies between kirikaeshi and archery:

Imagine the kirikaeshi motion like if one would be shooting an arrow.
pulling back the bow string of course requires tension and power, but its not the fast and important part of shooting the arrow.
No archer would jerk the bow string back as fast as he can to shoot the arrow.
Same should be considered in kirikaeshi.
Imagine the bow and arrow upon releasing the string, the arrow will be driven forward fast and with maximum power and momentum.
This is what each "cut" or "hit" should be.
Cut like a bow, powerful and strong charge (not slow!) and 100% energy, explosively unloaded into the strike.
Like the impact of the arrow, the impact of the cut should be focused into the final motion when you´re hitting the motodachi.


If you look at the japanese arrows, especially the "feather part" at the back, you´ll find another thing that´s in common with kirikaeshi.

Roughly, this is what the end of a japanese arrow looks.

If we look closely at the top part, we can see a shape like this:

The red line is resembles the movement of the left fist, which must always move up and down.
This is important, as the cut has to come from the middle with the left hand (like all other cuts as well).
The sayu-movement is only applied by the right hand.
A lot of people tend to let the left hand cross in front of them (like following the sayu-motion), but this is simply a no-no.
Slight deviations from that middle path are of course unavoidable, but the main idea is to let the left hand go up and down straight!

As we see, there are many metaphors for different things, even in kendo :)
Please feel free and share some thoughts and feedback!