The first method is to move the right foot out pressuring the opponent then, from that position, strike.
The next method is to move the right foot out pressuring the opponent and then, with the intention of luring the opponent in, pull the right foot back to the original position and then strike.
The third method is to move the right foot out and pressure the opponent. While pressuring the opponent move the left foot up so that you can return to your original kamae position and then strike from there.
These are the three types of ashi no seme that I pay attention to during my keiko. Whether this is “correct” or not I don’t know, but I feel that I have consistent success with these methods.
If you find these methods in anyway useful and if you try them at least once during your own keiko then I’ll be very happy.
Let’s look again at the three ashi no seme methods we discussed before. For illustration purposes I’ll slightly exaggerate the examples.
From your kamae step out but don’t stop there, obviously you should attack immediately. If you break it down into steps your body will sink but in that instant you should already be striking forwards. Anyway, first of all step out and seme with your right foot.
In the second method we first step out with the right foot then pull it back. This will either cause your opponent to strike or step in, either due to his own volition or because you have lured them to. At that point strike.
In the last method we move the right foot out and immediately bring in the left foot so that we are back in our basic kamae and strike.
These are the three methods of using the right foot/leg that I currently use during my keiko at the moment. Up until now we have only discussed strikes from the omote side (left side of the shinai), but this time we will look at strikes from the ura side (right side).
Move your kensen around and under the opponent’s shinai so that the shinai are touching on the ura side. It doesn’t matter if you move your right foot or not, but what you must not do is pull the shinai towards yourself. From this position strike. I’d like you also to try this out.
Another one is in the instant the opponent starts to move to execute a men strike press their shinai down and strike them.
There are other examples of seme methods that I am practicing at the moment.
If you approach keiko with this feeling (using these methods), you will not lose to your opponent’s seme and your seme may force the opponent to move back.
At least, these are some of the benefits I feel that are to be gained through these type of methods. Please try them by yourself.
As mentioned before I said that we should not pull the left foot up when striking. This has been one thing I’ve constantly worked on since I was a child.
OK, so how do we go about not doing this? Of course, this should be done through repeated practice of suriashi, fumikomi, that is, the basics.
However, if you have developed a bad habit of pulling your left foot up when striking, how do we get rid of it?
The first thing is that if we are holding a shinai and facing an opponent we often forget to be conscious about working on the bad habit and it just gets worse.
My idea therefore we should first practice by ourselves without a shinai. Let me explain my method.
If you hold shinai and face an opponent you end up wanting to strike them, and your footwork may be compromised.
Therefore you should practice by yourself and kamae using only your hands. From there practice striking men or kote-men from your kamae without moving your left leg up.
By practicing striking, body movement, and footwork without a target (i.e., an opponent) you will be able to more easily acquire correct movement.
Point: You will be able to acquire good form in both body movement and footwork if you practice striking without holding a shinai. It will also allow you to pay attention to not pulling up your left leg while striking.
It is important that you should do this repeatedly many times.
Whilst doing this you must always be careful not to pull the left foot up when striking. As a kendo practice method I’m not sure if what I just introduced is orthodox or not but I do feel that if you do it whilst paying attention to your left foot and body posture there is benefit to it.
The next step is to do the same practice whilst holding a shinai.
The execution is the same: do it without an opponent, and strike forward in range that it is comfortable for you.
The point is the same as before: don’t pull your left foot up when striking, move directly from your kamae. Just like this.
By practicing in this way repeatedly you will acquire good body movement. Please try this first without a shinai, then with a shinai. By practicing by yourself like this you will see a good result.
You might feel a little bit lonely practicing by yourself so you could try practicing using a mirror.
Even if you practice by yourself, remember and imagine that you are facing an opponent of about the same height and never divert your gaze, and pay attention to your spine and coccyx.
By paying attention to good body posture and not pulling up the left leg I feel that this method has a lot of benefit. Please try it.
I’ve talking about not pulling up your left foot during striking.
I think this is the most basic of the basic elements of kendo to master.
Why?
Well for example by pulling up your left foot you are telegraphing your intention to the opponent “I’m going to strike you now”, which we must of course lose.
So how do we do this exactly?
Previously I worked as a kendo teacher in a police academy and there I taught people who began kendo as adults.
Now I’ll show you what I taught them.
First, at the same time as lifting the shinai up raise the right foot and put your weight on your left foot. Strike from that position.
I had the adult students repeat this action again and again.
In the beginning they did it without holding a shinai in their hands. Lift up and strike. Lift up and strike. They did this again and again.
After this we moved onto suriashi.
The next step was to do the same thing whilst holding a shinai. Something you should be careful of at this time is to be careful not to show the bottom of your foot when you lift it up.
There are lots of points to make, but in the meantime just concentrate on lifting up the foot and shinai at the same time and striking from that position. Like before, there is no partner with you so you don’t have to jump forward so much. Because of this I think that this action is easy to master. Please give it a try.
Ok, so I talked about the left foot. Next I’m going to discuss about a method of not breaking body posture whilst wearing bogu and facing partner.
First, enter close to your partner, so close that you could strike them using only your hands. From here, strike like this. Keep this form. Naturally, when you strike pull up your left foot on the strike.
From a close distance strike. Whilst doing this you can pull up your left foot or just leave it in place, that’s up to you. Next, move back 20 cm and strike men. Like this.
The third step is to move back to issoku-itto-no-maai and strike. If you practice like this then finally you will be able to strike without breaking your posture or form and without pulling your left foot up before striking.
I think it is good if you break it into three steps, close distance, middle stance, striking distance, and practice this way.
Point: Practice striking men in three different steps, gradually increasing the distance.
In each of the three steps pay attention to keeping your body posture.
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)
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