Beginner's Course Week 3

As described in the overall structure, the next few sessions will be focussing on particular basic technical aspects of kendo. Hence, there will be exercises that are useful for improving what we are practising that week. Please practice these when you have the chance and space. Although you may find these exercises difficult, strenuous, or repetitive and unexciting, practice is essential for the improvement of technique, and movements will eventually become muscle memory.

This week was on footwork and posture. Good footwork allows movement smoothly from point to point without sacrificing posture (shisei), required for balance and readiness. Therefore, when practising footwork, constantly check that the posture is good. Ensure that the upper body is upright, the head up and the shoulders back. When stationary, the feet should be shoulder width apart, pointing forwards, the left foot back with the heel off the ground. Keep relaxed and balanced.

As mentioned before, when moving, always move the leading foot first: this opens the stance, which is more stable. Push off with the trailing foot to move the hips in the direction desired, and keep the upper body neutral. This was the purpose of the lunge exercises. The exercise at the end of the session was to approach a target in kamae, stop at a distance in which the target could be reached, and a execute a strike to the head. The purpose this time was not the cut (although that was the fun bit), but to make sure that the posture was still correct by the time you had reached cutting distance, and were ready to strike. What you are going to do once you reach your desired position should not affect your kamae while you move there.

Fumikomi is the stamping footwork that is used when making a cut. It serves to coordinate the body and allows further cutting distance than sliding footwork (suri ashi). As mentioned in the previous blog entry, do not strike the ground with your heel! The impact will hurt the heel and be transferred all the way up through the leg to damage the knees and the spine, especially if the knees are locked. The sound comes from a slapping of the ground with the sole of the foot, not from the heaviness of the stamp. In this way, it is similar to the impact of the shinai on the target: it is not the strength of the cut but its sharpness and speed. Keep the knees bent when practising and do not try to extend too far, which is likely to cause knee-locking and heelstriking. Impact the ground which the whole sole at once to spread the impact over the whole foot. Practice with small steps or on the spot, so that you get used to the foot positions. The lunges can also be used to practice the fumikomi.

Finally, if you have obtained a shinai from submitting your membership form and payment, I encourage you to handle it, not necessarily for swinging, but just to get used to the weight and balance, and being relaxed when holding it. If you have not yet received the kit but have paid for the course, please be patient; more shinais and bokuto have been ordered and are on their way!

See you all again on Monday Week 4 !

Wei Hao