KNMS practice and nami ashi

Yesterday I tried to practice nami ashi at KNMS.
Some old faces were there such as G.Mason and M.Halls and a tall Scotish guy so it was a good practice.
Nami ashi 常足, means natural foot work. In kendo foot work the right foot always leads forwards and the back foot leads when going backwards. The front foot is pushed by the back foot then the back foot snaps up again. This is kind of like when you open and close scissors.
On the other hand nami ashi is said to be the most natural human way of walking, which can be done in kendo. The feeling should be the same at walking and give a lot more balance than which traditional kendo foot work provides.

See these videos

Men fumikomi ashi (Notice the natural step before the cut!)
Kote fumikomi ashi

Seme and men (Using Right left right then cross feet and stamp)

The set of waza at the bottom show: using the right foot as an axis, instead of the left one.

Apart from this, I was working on a natural posture in kendo on this practice.
The problem I had was breathing. A lot of people say in jigeiko to hold your breath but because I was using natural posture, the effect of using the breath as a kind of timer did not work.
It is importaint not to be standing dead for too long and missing open targets!

What is kendo and bujutsu?



Although in Japanese history bujutsu, budo and now kendo's meaning has constantly been changing. It was fist a way to kill in battle as quickly as possible.
When the waring states period of Japan had come to an end, peace had pushed the use of the sword into developing the soul.
Miyamoto musashi in the book Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa is defeated in battle. Musashi is not a nice person in the story, he is vicious and brutal and seen as a thug to most people.
Until he is captured by a zen monk after being strung up for many days studied zen and realised: learning the sword and morals in combat is better than using ones strength to beat the opponents out right.
Eiji Yoshikawa was a historical fiction wrighter who published Musashi in Asahi shinbun in 1935. Eiji Yoshikawa also published books like the 'romance of the three kingdoms' (Sangokushi): Both these book have a great modern moral behind them.

Kendo came into popularity before ww2 with the great martial excellence society (butokuden) . Many great martial art schools came together to take kendo and make it an activity which every one could do and at the same time would teach people different morals of loyalty and disapline at the sametime.

When the war came along kendo was used as a tool to boost moral and help troups to be spirited in war. I think judo was mixed with kendo and it became more practical for use in real combat.

After the war kendo was band by the US forces. People took a break until a new sports kendo was formed with none traditional armor and sports style compertitions. From now on kendo became a way for schools and universitys to be active. Only the police could practice kendo for training purposes.

After the zen nihon kendo federation was formed and kendo was brought back to its traditional form to help with Japanese moral. This is how kendo was to be seen:-

剣道は防具を着用し竹刀を用いて
一対一で打突しあう運動競技種目とみられますが
稽古を続けることによって
心身を鍛錬し人間形成を目指す武道です。

Roughly translated:
Kendo is seen as an sporting activity in which protective equipment and a bamboo sword is used to fight one to one and to hit each other.
Although through continual practice it is the warrior (budo) way to develop mind and body.


Kendo has been known before the war as the exotic Japanese fighting man's way in the UK.
After the war many people who could practice judo started to be interested in kendo which spread from Japan to and then to America.
My sensei in the UK was with kendo from the very start. He got into kendo through his interest in judo. It just shows how long he has been with kendo that kendo is not just about physical strength and has a strong philosophy which must be studied for a life time.

Although in the UK kendo is seen as a deep martial art in Japan it is not seen as so.
If you ever want to find any information about kendo you have to search in the budo part of the sports section.
Books which come under budo are wrestling, boxing and kick boxing. Although as the all Japan kendo federation has said:
we hope that you will understand Kendo as Budo and to experience the training of it. A Shinai is a Samurai’s sword. Keiko-gi and Hakama are a Samurai’s formal attire. They should not be considered simply sports-wear. Without understanding this “spirit,” Kendo will merely be another physical exercise. We hope that you will try to understand and appreciate the profundity and cultural values of Kendo.
After all kendo is just hitting some one over the head with a bamboo stick (^_-)c

More to come..

Any one who is reading this I would like to announce that we have a new forum supported by Ultra*Neo my friend. Feel free to post any thing you like!

http://ultraban.ultraneo.com/ichi/

Kote-men

For a while now I have been trying to understand nidan waza and I think that the answer is kote men.
The first cut is the kote cut. I think it is easy to believe that the kote cut has the same value as the men cut, but if you think about it if you were to chop off your opponents hand this would not really be of any use to you.
I believe that the kote is a shock cut. It is performed lightly and sharply to shock the opponent into making a strong move against you.
The next is a standard men cut which has to be from the top of the head.

When I was in Japan one of my sensei got very annoyed because my kote cut was much too big. The foot work was the same as a men cut and kote also the same.
He said cut like this and stamped his foot almost without taking a step forwards at all.
Another sensei used the sword as if he was taping in a nail like another good sensei said to do because my wrist was much too stiff to perform the full movement that the shinai has to go in.

My problem now is I can't perform kote men in one movement. I have been thinking of shime and a video I saw of Ueshiba sensei who invented Aikido. He warmed up by performing a kind of dance, stretching out his too fists then pulling them back.
I believe that this is the kind of rythm for nidan waza.

• The hands should not extend when performing kote. They should extend then move in a circle back to there start position.
  
• The kote cut should only be in the wrist, as in hitting a nail with a hammer.
• The kote men cut should be fluid and use no power in the kote cut.
  

Dying of boredom

I think somewhere like Japan can really put a great deal of stress on a person. You start thinking strange things in another country, for example 'Why does every one hate me?', 'Is every one in the street looking at me funny?', 'I wish I didn't have to speak Japanese every second of the day'. They you start to think England will be nice and I can relax for free from worries what so ever.
Well wrong! Sorry to say this but England is the biggest hell hole you can ever come to or on the other hand come back too: wanting to work isn't enough and it seems the government actually wants people to be on the dole!
Well next time I go to Japan I'll try to remember. No matter how hard it gets there’s always some where worse.. England..

Points to remember

Well hope you had fun reading the jodan thread, well not just all the Brazilians out there...

Today I was thinking about some points: One from Jigen-ryu http://www.jigen-ryu.com/siryou/web.mov

刀は敵を破るものにして、自己の防具に非ず
The sword is for tear up your opponent, it is not to protect your self

When I first started kendo it seemed that even a bamboo sword is in some way going to harm you, even in armour. You are in some way fixated by the bamboo sword and feel your sword is only for a tool used for blocking your opponent.
This can only be overcome by constant practice until this feeling of the sword is taken away: just as Tesshu said and it becomes the 'sword of no sword'.

At the end of the practice my sempai said 'Don't think about winning and practice what you have been taught'. No where in kendo does it say: this is how to win and loose. I think to improve in kendo the winning and loosing part must be taken away completely.

Jodan techniques & tactics for fighting jodan

Kanaki Satoru 8 dan kyoushi's view.
When Kanakisatoru, passed his 8th dan test using chudan.
This made him think about taking jodan again and looking a little more deeply into it.
Every practice he started taking chudan for 7 minutes then going into to jodan for the remaining three every practice.
He has been doing this for 5 years now.
He says 'I can see the problem but I still can't put my finger on it...'
Kanaki Satoru takes this study and explains the jodan techniques he has kept to him self so dearly.

Cut in a circle from the tip!

When I was in the second year of university (Tokai-university) I was transferred to the sports science and budo department. The senseis Iue, Hashimoto and Koyanagi were all teachings there at the time. Although I was in the kendo club my schedule got in the way, so I couldn't train with these great teachers. I really wanted to try and get the most out of my training so I asked for a transfer.
When I was at high school (Tokai-university No.4 campus) there were few teachers and this had a great effect on me.

The first time I thought about taking jodan was the fall of the second school year. It felt so sudden. One day Iue-sensei just said 'Lift it up!'. Not really such a theoretical explanation but he said 'Feel like you are taking very large stance' and 'Cut a tire cutting like you want to cut from the belly button 3000 times a day'.
So I started to cut the tire as he said. I practised from noon until 1:30pm every day. It was impossible to cut the 3000 cuts. I only just made 2000 (laughs). The seisei said 'Well how’s it coming along?', I said 'Yes I'm doing it all well'.
So what about foot work? That was down to kakari-geiko. And I was to practice first with Iue-sensei every day.

Then one year later I won the Akado championships and then the club championships. This was out of 140-150 students. It even surprised me because before I had continuously loosed all of the time. Its natural to have lost 50 times in jodan.
I just couldn't seme correctly, my distance didn't work and I couldn't see a chance to cut. I just didn't have it at all.
The thing which turned it all around was when Mr Hashimoto said ‘cut sharply (use tame [see bottom])'. When your opponent just stands firm and even performing seme wont make him move. Hold it and when he comes at you hit him without a thought (naturally).
What I had in my mind was that jodan was about, just getting one cut. I failed because when I took jodan I just cut when the opponent frightened me into cutting..
Don't rush into cutting, take another good look and prime for making a cut. This is really difficult although you can say the same thing about chudan. All the more difficult is making an opening.
Even said, I felt I realised some thing at the time. After I won the Akado championships I continued to hold the top position. I felt if I hadn't have taken jodan it wouldn't have done me so much. But for me jodan is altogether a difficult and and enjoyable part of my kendo. In one word just as Inue-sensei said 'Just lift it up'. I really admire Inue-senseis teaching.

I've practice jodan up to my 40s and then chudan. At my 8th dan test I preferred chudan. I passed in November 2000 and decided to take up jodan again. To me the 8th dan great was a turning point and after that I wanted to work on jodan.
I'll practice chudan for 3 minutes then jodan. But in competitions it's jodan.

I found out the problem was to lift up much higher, take a large stance with a large spirit, just as
Iue-sensei said.
Every time I see the large Mt'fuji and rivers flowing, this is what I think of when I take jodan, its got to be large.
Your stance should be as if you were wraping around your opponent with all your energy.
Although when you attack your opponent use small movements and hold your stance. Call on your energy when your opponent attacks you.
Never break your stance and have the feeling that there is a chain lifting your spirit high up.
Cut only when you see your opponents (true) intentions.
Altogether jodan is hard for people who want to take it up.

Well that part was a bit too long. Next we'll move onto cutting the tire, cutting, seme and techniques.

When cutting the tire cut men in a circular motion

Of course I started jodan from cutting the tire,. and it had a huge effect on my jodan. Left jodan (Hidari jodan) is almost always performed with just one handed strikes so to score, it has to be fast strong and with cuts performed sharply. This was Iue-sensei's intention when he said 'Perform the tire cutting 3000 times a day'. I was cutting frantically at first but the speed just didn't come out. So I thought hard about what to do. I tried forcing my right hand down and at the same time pulling my left hand in. And then my cuts made a strong 'don’ sound, I thought I had it.

The tire practice has a lot of advantages: It adds speed to your cuts, of course it makes you stronger, the moment you hit the tire try to tighten your hands. When you realise how to do this your grip technique will improve and a sharp and accurate cut will come.

So when you cast your right arm forwards there’s no point in leaving your left arm dead. Although your point must draw a circle as it falls down.
All in all, I think it should be a cut which does not show when it is going to be performed to your opponent.
Now we must think about the difficult points, when we cut men its fine, but not being able to perform kote is always some thing worrying. Even for me.
A jodan player who is good as men also must also good at cutting kote. Men is good when the left fist is pointing to the left. Its not a mistake to believe that kote is the strong point of jodan when the left fist is pointing back, or the palm is facing the opponent’s kote. When I practice on the tire I exclusively hit men, so my fist is always pointing to the left hand side.
Kote really isn't my strong point (laughs).

Seme is like thrusting out from the belly button

Next we will talk about seme, when two shinais do not cross it naturally becomes an attack (seme) from the mind. Most people say seme from the left fist! when doing jodan. Obviously this kind of seme in jodan is common. But in my case its different, I try never to move my left hand at all. I hear you asking, where do you seme from then? The belly button. Seme by thrusting using the belly button. Although this make you unintentionally drop the left fist and twist your body. But do the opposite, keep the shinai over your head and strongly push forwards with your belly button without any delay.
This is scary but even so over come the fear and step forwards even just half a step! If you have to hold your ground, remember seme is both attack and defend at the same time. And when you push out with the belly button, all the tension moves from the upper body to the stomach and your body becomes more relaxed.
Cutting becomes no problem and your cuts flow smoothly. This is what I try to work up to but it still hasn't come to me yet.

I want to say one more important thing about seme that relates to the time when you go into sonkyo and the time when you stand up.
When I go into my stance I bring my left foot forwards and go straight into jodan. Take the first move (sen) that’s what I have in my mind all the time.
So my conclusion is to take the initiative.
If your opponent takes a steps back or moves to one side. This makes me think that my opponent will attack (seme) relentlessly and try to brake my technique. Maybe its just natural for him to move back or forwards, but I think its one of these things you must get a feeling for in kendo.

Two different ways to cut men

Although the techniques are always men there are actually two ways to perform it. To cut straight down, or reach out and cut men. When you manage to take debana you must have the speed to be able to cut straight away. This is for the down cutting (spot cut) type men.
If you are doing the seme andw your opponent steps back trying this down cutting type of men will lead to tip reaching (dropping). Because this cut follows a fast circular line just hit mid air. You have to bring your elbow in and at the same time let your elbow drag your body forwards. This type of cut is best for this type of opponent. This cut is called the extending men cut.
Although these two techniques are the same you really have to think about when to let go with your right hand.
With the (spot), down cutting men you let go when your hand is in front of your eyes.
On the other hand, it is quite important that with the extending men you let go when the hand reaches the chest
I still practice cutting the tire now and again and whenever I do, I always try to practice both types of men.



Still there is the kote cut with both hands but I unexpectedly scored a single handed kote in one shiai and I am not good at single handed kote.
I even scored one kote at the Shizuoka kokutai competition.
If the opponent lifts up his kote when he tries to use tsuriage men (catch men) or leaves his kote in the air, this is the time when you have to swiftly cut his hand. Just like in kata number two.

The thing is when cutting the tire just tighten the grip when you hit the tire and then loosen it.
You can tell that I prefer to cut debana men. If the opponent stays still I just cut extended men.
Pay great attention to your opponent’s techniques and use your mind and think about distance and at the same time try to cut him. I think this is the kind of kendo I am working towards.

Translated from kendo nippon 2006 No.2 Feb
By Eric Hewitt
Original text by
Takayama koujirow
Photos by Kawamura Noriyuki

Easy to hate (online fun)

On the kendo world forum
I'm not the most loveable guy out there. Seems what ever I say get people offended in some way or the other. I ask how to fence people who are just starting out?
and the UK champ says I'm stupid if I don't bash them all into the ground. People just love giving me a bad reputation :D. Um well were would a good show be without the bad guy. It would be great to go to the British open again and every one goes booo!
I'm getting so infamous; people are coming to my dojo just to teach me a lesson. Gome get some boys!

K1 without Bob Sap or Akibono to stink people away!

K9
12th Feb 10:30pm line up
BE THERE!

Eric Hewitt
England / Team KNMS / Kendo

COUNTRY : Great Britain
DATE OF BIRTH : Aug 31th, 1985
HEIGHT : 5 feet 9 Inch
WEIGHT : Like a fether

*TITLES*
None

*BOUT RESULTS*
British Open 1 Loss 0 Win

Sports Shonen dan taikai 1 Loss 0 Win

Andrew Fisher
England / Team Doshinyukai preston and Team GB/ Kendo

COUNTRY : Great Britain
DATE OF BIRTH : Aug 2nd, 1983
HEIGHT : Unknown
WEIGHT : Unknown

*TITLES*
None

*BOUT RESULTS*
Premier's Cup '03 1 Loss 0 Win
Lidstone '03 1st

See how this goes..

Hard to love easy to hate

I don't get pissed off much but there are a few things which really get me going.

1) People with no manners
2) People who ignore me
3) Any one who moves or use my stuff.

I also get pissed when nothing goes right at a shop or some thing, because of some one else's laziness.. Well I guess every one else does get mad at some thing like this.

I went to see my correspondence (or in normal speak Internet friend) Lazarus to go to a Japanese club started by Manchester-U. I got there and he went into his bedroom; so I thought he wanted to just chill until we were supposed to go out.
I forgot his computer was not for general use like my gf's and started surfing the net. He got pissed because I broke rule three.

I talked to Yoshi a Japanese guy I met at nother Japanese group started more than 2 years ago. Then some other people and went to stay a Lazarus's place.

The next morning Lazarus wanted to sleep in late and I wanted to go out and get some thing to eat; because I was starving, this is when I realised, the door was locked.

Three hours later Lazarus woke up and let me out.

I'm not sure who's falt it was, but I guess if we were both thinking more of each other at the time it wouldn't have happened.
I'll never know how most Japanese people try not to hert other people's feelings 24 hours a day....
Well at least when there not rushing to get some where :-).

More on foot work

This week I headed of to Mark's dojo in Bolton. I think this dojo is quite good because it is the window to Halifax and Preston so afew visitors come from time to time.
I thought I was going to die half way and only realised the practice was three! hours and no two at the end. Well when you've been to sunny Bolton fencing in Noma dojo the coldest in Tokyo is Ok..

Well I didn't notice it my self but my swing was starting to take over from my feet as usual. We did a foot practice at the start which felt very good but the shinai just feels too heavy.

So I talk to a visiting sensei and he said Wilf my first sensei who is still good at kendo quit late in life uses very good foot work without thinking about his swing.
I remember he said "Every time we kept our feet back our sensei would hit the back of our legs". I actualy never knew what this meant until now.
'A koukou sei can attack from almost any position' I heard. This is all upto foot work....