Beginner's Course Week 4

Hi all! Well done for sticking with the course. Halfway there; 3 more weeks to go before the grading! This week was about how to handle the shinai and retain control over the arc and target of the cut. Important things to bear in mind for this are your grip on the shinai, arm movement, posture (again), and finally, te-no-uchi.

Shinai Grip
The shinai should be held as though you are supporting its weight, without excessive force. Gripping it tightly kills the range of movement available to the shinai within your hand. The little finger of the left hand should be wrapped around the bottom edge of the shinai, resulting in the end of the shinai sitting in the palm of your hand. The right hand should be near the top of the handle, with the top of the hand a finger width from the tsuba (guard). The shinai should be held with the ring finger, little finger, and thumb of each hands. Ensure that the “V” between the thumb and index finger is along the top of the shinai. Do not place the thumb along the top. This prevents the shinai from pivoting back, and if the shinai is forced back by, e.g., running into someone, the thumb will get injured.

Arm Movement
The feeling of swinging the shinai is somewhere between allowing the shinai to drop down from the height that it has been lifted to, and throwing it out as far forward as possible (without letting go, of course). The arms should not be tense, and should unfold at the shoulders, then elbows, then wrists. If the arms (and hence grip) are tense, the cut will become inaccurate, as natural unevenness in strength between arms will pull the shinai off centre. The tenseness will also prevent correction of the arc, and so the strike will miss. It will take practice to get the balance right between relaxing and feeding enough strength into the shinai such that it swings out, hence my encouragement to get used to the weight and handling of the shinai. Try to practice swinging the arms, both with and without shinai, keeping them relaxed but sending them out as far as possible.

Posture (as always)
Two main problems with posture may affect the control of the cut. Hunched shoulders, with the shoulder girdle rolled forward, does not allow full rotation of the shoulder joint. This prevents the arms from being raised up high enough for the cut, and hence the elbows must be bent more to compensate. This then leads to obstruction of your view, a slower cut, and later, when in armour. a opening for the opponent to strike the kote (wrist). Bending the upper body to the side and leaning off-centre will also stuff up your accuracy. The height of the strike is determined by the rotation of the shoulder joint and the bending of the knees. For these to be accurate, the relative position of the spine must be consistent.

Te-no-uchi
This is the use of the wrists and fingers to add the extra snap to the strike at the end of the swing. There are a variety of ways of thinking about how to execute this. One is to think of wringing the shinai handle at the end of the cut, turning both wrists inwards and gripping with the fingers. Another is to think of tightening the fingers on the shinai, together with a tipping forwards of the wrist joint. Either way, the important point is that the fingers and wrist are relaxed all the way up to the point before the te-no-uchi is executed, then tensed to give the shinai the snap, and then relaxed again. The last is an important part which is often missed.

I hope these points have been helpful. Next week will look at coordinating the whole body and introduction of a few more exercises built on this week's practise. See you on Monday!