The Basic Of Seme by Toru Kamei II: Ki no seme and Kensen no seme

 I think there are many types of seme that you know. In particular what I pay attention to during keiko is “ki no seme” (spiritual pressure), “kensen no seme” (pressure of the shinai tip), and “ashi no seme” (pressure via footwork). “ki no seme” is expressed through the confidence you have when facing your opponent,

Point: Pay attention to three types of seme: spiritual, shinai tip, and footwork.

And one manner to express this is through your kamae, which we discussed before. You must develop your own kamae, one that you have self-confidence in.

This confidence – that you can execute and deliver correct techniques from your kamae – will be able to be felt by your opponent. This is the first important point. Accordingly, spiritual pressure will naturally occur. In other words, it’s important to have confidence in your kamae.

Point: Ki no seme comes out of acquiring a correct kamae and having confidence that you can strike from it.

Another important point is, of course, that you should think of the shinai as a sword. To express power through your kensen is vital. To express this you should lower your kensen as much as you can in order to pressure your opponent.

Point: Kensen no seme is achieved through lowering your shinai tip and pressuring your opponent through the power expressed in the tip.

As an action you could just move the kensen down or you could, for example, push down on the opponent’s shinai from above, etc., the point being that you should keep in mind the need to express power through your kensen at all times during keiko. This is the second point.

The third point is that you should pressure your opponent from your lower body, not just your upper body. This is seme from your leg/foot, your knee, from the tips of your toes, that is, seme from your right leg. I believe this is very important. However, it’s important that when you seme in this manner that it leads to a strike of some sort.

Point: Kensen no seme is achieved through lowering your shinai tip and pressuring your opponent through the power expressed in the tip.

You shouldn’t just move your right foot out and stop, as not only may your posture be compromised but it may lead to your opponent pressuring you instead. You must always keep this in mind.

So it seems that we have come back to the start: the importance of acquiring and having confidence in your own kamae is key in being able to seme. Please keep this in mind.

Toru KAMEI Sensei’s Kendo Lecture

The text of this note is an excerpt of DVD> Toru Kamei's Kendo Improvement Course () Book – 2017/6/1 Toru Kamei (Author) and Toru Kamei's Kendo Improvement Course () Book – 2017/6/1

Registration information

    Release date: 2017/6/1

    ISBN-10: 4884584074

    ISBN-13: 978-4884584078

    Publisher: Physical Education and Sports Publisher (2017/6/1)

Nakakura Kiyoshi 中倉 清 hanshi (kendo, iaido 9.dan)

The Basic Of Seme by Toru Kamei

 

What I would like to do today is use the basic idea of a correct kamae that everyone knowns as a base and add to that my ideas about how you can improve your kendo.

The very first thing to think about is your gaze. Never divert your gaze.

Point: Don’t divert your gaze from your opponent.

Within kendo there are many teachings regarding how to look at your opponent, for example “Enzan no metsuke” (to look at a distant mountain) which says that you should look at the entirety of your opponent. However, if you approach looking at your opponent in such a vague manner your gaze can become easily diverted. So what I do in my keiko is look directly at my opponents eyes and never divert my eyes from them.

Why do I do this?

Well, depending on where you are looking at your hands may move up, and this may cause your kensen’s pressure (seme) to disappear. This is why I say the first important point to think about in kendo is to never divert your gaze from the opponent’s eyes.

The next point regarding kamae I wish to make is that you should lower your kensen as much as you can in order to pressure your opponent.

Point: When in kamae, lower your kensen and push your hands out a little bit in front of your body.

Another point is to push your hands out a little bit in front of your body and move them (and the shinai) in front of your body.

Yet another point is to never break your body posture.

What should we pay attention to in order not to do this?

Well, the first thing is the point about never diverting your gaze we mentioned before.

Secondly, you should pay attention to your spine and your coccyx.

Point: Paying attention to your spine and coccyx, straighten your back.

Depending on how consciously you approach this your body posture will not break.

You should always pay attention to this when you move.

Another point is your legs.

The foundation of everything is of course your legs, especially your left leg.

I personally think that the biggest problem in kendo today is bad footwork.

Basic kendo states that should move with the front foot. Basic kendo states that should move with the front foot. However, nowadays I see a lot of kendoka, children and adults, bring up the left foot first then strike. What you should do is strike without bringing your left foot first up.

Point: From your kamae strike without pulling your left foot first.

You should kamae in such a way that you can strike at any point, even if you are moving. This is what I pay attention to in my kendo.

If you tense up your shoulders like this then your hands will also tense up and you will be unable to put power into the monouchi (striking) section of your shinai. Therefore, relax your shoulders.

Point: Grip the shinai firmly and relax your shoulders.

You can do this by moving your shoulder blades back and dropping them. However, you shouldn’t relax your grip, rather grip the shinai firmly to a certain extent. When in kamae try to imagine relaxing from your shoulders down to your elbows.

I hope that this has been useful to everyone, and I hope you try the points mentioned here at least once.

Point: Don’t divert your gaze from your opponent. Lower your kensen.

Pay attention to your spine down to your coccyx and straighten your back.

If you move your shoulder blades a little bit back and down then you will be able to relax your shoulders.

Toru KAMEI Sensei’s Kendo Lecture

The text of this note is an excerpt of DVD> Toru Kamei's Kendo Improvement Course () Book – 2017/6/1 Toru Kamei (Author) and Toru Kamei's Kendo Improvement Course () Book – 2017/6/1

Registration information

    Release date: 2017/6/1

    ISBN-10: 4884584074

    ISBN-13: 978-4884584078

    Publisher: Physical Education and Sports Publisher (2017/6/1)

Ghigo Renzulli No.Vox - NeuMatrix

Electricity explained

 Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second.

 

Electric power, like mechanical power, is the rate of doing work, measured in watts, and represented by the letter P. The term wattage is used colloquially to mean "electric power in watts." The electric power in watts produced by an electric current I consisting of a charge of Q coulombs every t seconds passing through an electric potential (voltage) difference of V is

 

 P = work done per unit time = QV/t = IV 

 

Q is electric charge in coulombs

t is time in seconds

I is electric current in amperes

V is electric potential or voltage in volts

Ohms (symbol Ω) usually refers to the plural for the unit of electrical resistance, named after Georg Ohm

EIGA sensei's Yukodatotsu waza demo

EKF referees seminar 2019

Thoughts by Takizawa Sensei

教育には二通りあって、学校など回りから与えられる教育。もう一つは自分で自分に課する教育。こちらの方が効果が大きく、自ら学ぶことに通じる。剣道の修行は、二つ目の自ら学ぶことに通じる。  

滝澤建治先生（教士八段)

 

There are two types of education, education taught by people from the school. The other is the education that you impose on yourself. This is more effective and leads to self-learning. Kendo practice leads to the second self-study.

Kenji Takizawa Sensei (Kyoshi 8 Dan) 

Hay dos tipos de educación, la educación impartida por personas de la escuela. La otra es la educación que te impones. Esto es más efectivo y conduce a que usted mismo aprenda. La práctica del kendo conduce al segundo autoaprendizaje.

Kenji Takizawa Sensei (Kyoshi 8 Dan)

A Priest, a Minister & a Rabi

A Catholic Priest, a Baptist Preacher, and a Rabbi all served as chaplains to the students of Northern Michigan University in Marquette. They would get together two or three times a week for coffee and to talk shop.

One day, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn't really all that hard - a real challenge would be to preach to a bear. One thing led to another, and they decided to do an experiment. 

They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it. Seven days later, they all came together to discuss their experience.

Father Flannery, who had his arm in a sling, was on crutches, and had various bandages on his body and limbs, went first. 'Well,' he said, 'I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him, I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle as a lamb. The Bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.'

Reverend Bill y Bob spoke next. He was in a wheelchair, had one arm and both legs in casts, and had an IV drip. In his best fire-and- brimstone oratory, he claimed, 'WELL, brothers, you KNOW that we don't sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God's HOLY WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. So I took HOLD of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled down one hill, UP another and DOWN another until we came to a creek. So I quickly DUNKED him and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus. Hallelujah!

The priest and the reverend both looked down at the Rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with IVs and monitors running in and out of him. He was in really bad shape. 

The Rabbi looked up and said: "Looking back on it, circumcision may not have been the best way to start."