Beginner's Course Week 1

Hi all,
A warm welcome to all beginners who have joined us this week! The purpose of this blog is to support the training sessions on Monday evenings, explaining a bit more about what was taught and practised that evening. Also, the previous entries, written for the beginner's course last year, may also be helpful and give an idea of what was done in the last beginner's course, if you would like to do some reading beforehand. For these first two weeks, in which an overview session is given, this blog will cover more general issues. This week, a few points on safety and training.

Hydration
Kendo can be physically demanding and tiring, involving a lot of moving around. Even in cold weather, it is common to sweat while practising. It is therefore important to keep well hydrated; drink fluid before and after exercise, and during water breaks. Also, if you feel that you are in need of water, tell a senior and stop to get the drink. Water or isotonic drinks are recommended; high sugar drinks can make you dehydrated, and sometimes carbonated drinks might not sit well in the stomach when moving around.

Warm-up/stretch
Again, as with all strenuous exercise, it is important to warm up properly to avoid injuries. Tense muscles and tendons are prone to injury when put under strain, such as during sudden movement in kendo. We perform a combined warm-up at the beginning of each session, but if you arrive late, make sure that you warm yourself up before joining in.

Injuries
There are a number of other points in the prevention of injuries to yourself. The most important is to keep the rear ankle off the ground at all times. This cannot be stressed enough. The most common serious injury in kendo is the snapping of the Achilles tendon. This happens if the calf is not warmed up enough, and too much strain is put on it when trying to push off on the rear foot. This excessive strain occurs when the foot is flat against the ground and so the ankle cannot flex. Hence, it is important to keep the heel off the ground. This will occur naturally if the posture is maintained correctly and will become automatic in time.

Relaxation/Control/Strength
Excessive strength is not required in the swinging of the shinai, and it is in fact counter-productive. Using arm strength makes the arm move more slowly, and results in loss of control: attempting to increase the speed of the cuts by swinging the arms makes them tense. Focus on keeping the arms and upper body relaxed, without attempting to cut quickly. This will also improve body posture. Finally, using arm strength when cutting will mean that when you are hitting a live target, the strike will really hurt, even with the armour on.

Equipment check
For the moment, the only equipment that you will be using is the shinai, the bamboo sword. It is important to check that this is safe to use; it undergoes a lot of stress as it strikes targets and get hit. A damaged shinai can send sharp and potentially dangerous pieces of bamboo in all directions. Avoid hitting it on the side with the string; this is what holds the leather caps together, which contain the bamboo slats. (Also, it is the side that represents the blunt edge of the sword, so there's not much good trying to cut with it.) Check that the string is tight so the caps cannot come off. The cap at the tip should not be damaged (so don't lean on your shinai!) The leather around the centre of the shinai should be tight. Check that there are no splinters or cracks in the bamboo.

Personal Limits
Finally, the person that knows your limits best is yourself. If at any time you are feeling unwell, do not hesitate to make this known to a senior and drop out; join back in if and when you feel you can carry on. Also, if there are any injuries that may interfere with training, please also make this known!