about a tsuki

tsuki, the holy grail.

well... somehow.

Don´t we all dream of mastering the art of tsuki?
I do.
Tsuki is the niche technique in kendo. Rarely seen. Almost never seen in a satisfying manner.
Somehow, tsuki gained popularity again lately.
Maybe it´s due to the latest tsuki ippons, that have been successfully landed in major taikai or it could be a result that comes due to the rise of jodan and nito players. Who knows....

Nito Shinai

Shinai for nito ryu.

Nito ryu requires 2 swords as we all know (Ni = 2 ; to = sword/katana)
I will briefly set an overview here regarding the distinctive shinai used in nito.

According to the regulations for shiai, those shinai must obtain the following measurements

Daito

max. 114 cm
min. 440 gr.(M) / 400 gr.(W)

Shoto

max. 62 cm
280-300 gr.(M) / 250-280 gr.(W)

This of course are the regulations for official shiai!

Lets have a look how they compare to a regular shinai:

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.

carbon shinai

Hasegawa carbon shinai....

Well, carbon shinai have always been polarizing.
90% of the people either like it or hate it.
There aren´t that many people who are "meh" about it, or say there is no big difference compared to bamboo shinai.

My point of view?

Is it better then bamboo?  -No.-
Is it a horrible thing nobody needs?  -No.-
Do I need on?  -Uhhhm, maybe?-
Should I buy one?   -At least one, yes (a used one is absolutely OK!)-


Lets start at the very beginning.

Kihon Kata

...to use the full name, which nobody from the outside of japan can ever remember of:


"Bokuto Ni Yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho"


Duh, as everyone does, we´ll stay with the term Kihon Kata.

Ok,
the German Kendo federation decided to have the Kihon Kata added to the kyu-exam content (in Germany you have to run through all 6 kyu grades) from 2016 on.
As the Kihon Kata is relatively new here in Germany, we had an seminar this weekend for all current kyu examiners and those who want to become one.

As most of us are doing Nihon Kendo Kata on a regular basis, the handling of the bokuto was no problem.
Also the single techniques are basically all "well" known.
What we had to learn were "merely" the sequences by itself.

To be Honest, the hardest part for me is to remember the order of the katas by itself, luckily each kata will be announced prior to performing it, hooray!

The concept behind these katas is, to teach various techniques to the beginners by the sword (bokuto).
Many people think it´s rather arguable to expect the beginners, who barely can handle the shinai, to additionally get used to handle the bokuto in a proper way.
One the one side, yes, it can be a bit too much for some people.
But on the other side, it is absolutely important to teach that kendo is based on actual swords fighting and the shinai is just an replacement for save training.
Otherwise it would obviously be called "shinaido" or "shinaijutsu".

Another important point for the beginners is, that due to the lesser complexity of the Kihon Kata compared to the Nihon Kendo Kata, the handling of the bokuto will be easier to learn and be something they are used to when learning the Nihon Kendo Kata.

In conclusion, Kihon Kata is actually really helpful (for the beginners) for getting used to the bokuto/katana, the waza in kendo and proper maai.

Unfortunately, I don´t see any Interest among our advanced kenshi and Dan holders on practicing the Kihon Kata.
Which is really a pity.
I mean, at least the proper execution of the kaeshi and nuki Katas can be a real benefit for the shinai kendo. I rarely see people doing those waza in a proper manner during ji-geiko...

So,
please minna-san,
don´t skip the Kihon Kata!!

European stiffness

So,

as we had the honor of hosting the All German Kendo Championship here in Berlin 2 weeks ago, I had the chance to see some rather good kenshi in action.

A lot of good fights have been fought, and seeing the German national team is also a good inspiration.

As an icing for the cake, we had visitors from Japan, 2 hachi-dan sensei and about 30 students from Osaka, with which we had about half an hour of ji-geiko.

An amazing opportunity by the way.

Even if both of them, the Japanese guys and the German national team members showed a high level of skill, there is this fine and distinctive difference between the Japanese and the European kendo.

At best, kendo -should- look the same everywhere on earth, and I think the higher the dan grades get, the more even it looks. But there are not that many nana-dan here in Germany to compare with Japanese sensei.

Anyhow,
I´m still trying to figure out why exactly the Eurokendo looks sort of different than the Japankendo.
But what I can conclude so far is the stiffness.
European kenshi are stiff.
Mostly our arms are the main point, too me.
We use too much strength to achieve a proper tenouchi. If I´m watching the japanese kenshi, or take a look at Chiba-Sensei on youtube, there is this distinctive looseness japanese kenshi have.
Not meant in a bad way, as if they would slack of.
I´ts more that you can feel the inner tension, as if they are tensed up like a spring, combined with a relaxed body which will only tense up at the moment of impact.
This always amazes me over and over again and gives me something I´m trying to achieve.
Inner core tension, outer relaxation....

Finally back online!!!!

Minna-san, gomenasai!!!!

For whatever reason, I wasn´t able to log in nor post enything per mail or something :(

Please excuse the long abstinence, I´ll start posting again as soon as possible!

Thanks for the constant visiting anyhow :)


Arigato de gozaru!!!!

The ultimate kansai-tying guide

First post of the year will be the promised Kansai-How-To (even though with a little delay...)
Happy new year and have fun, ganbatte!!!!