Dojo Layout

Unlike my usual confident posts, this is more a cry for help. For months now I have been trying to achieve a clear understanding of how a kendojo should be laid out and the correct terminology to use to describe the component areas. I have asked a number of senior sensei and the AJKF but I am still far from a definitive answer.

Let me start by telling you what I believe I know:  A dojo has a high side and a low side (kamiza and shimoza). Instructors and higher grades sit on the high side and students sit on the low side. Usually, but not always, both sides line up in ascending order, often starting with the lower grades on both sides nearest the door, so that the most senior student faces the most senior instructor. Some people refer to the end of the dojo where the highest grades are placed as kami no kami and the lower end of the dojo as shimo no shimo.

So far so good! But there are numerous exceptions to the rule. For example – in the Shudokan in Osaka (if my memory is still reliable), the entrance is in the centre, between kendo and judo areas. It is on this side where senior instructors sit, with the highest grade nearest to the door. In some other dojo instructors sit in pyramid structure with the senior grade in the centre and the next senior to his right and the next to his left and so on. In other dojo the students line up in reverse order of seniority to the teachers. Honoured guests and sometimes senior grades who are not classed as teachers in a particular dojo may sit along an end wall, (I have seen this arrangement at either end of the dojo).

In Japanese dojo there is often a Shinto shrine or altar against the kamiza wall. I have seen these in various positions, sometimes even in kami no kami.

The terminology too varies from place to place. Shomen-ni- rei is normally used as the instruction to bow to kamiza. This literally means bow to the front and the term shomen is used as a substitute for kamiza outside of Japan. The reason given is that kamiza has a religious connotation that may cause discomfort to members of monotheistic religions. On looking up kamiza in various dictionaries, including my Brinkley 1896 edition, the meaning is given as (as Joseki or Joza), which simply means higher seat.

So forgive me for this long winded declaration of ignorance. The answers I have received so far have been diluted with “but it depends on” or “case by case” or “it’s some kind of feng shui thing”.

If anyone can add any light to the topic, I would welcome your input.

PS. I just heard the sad news that Jaime Fennessy sensei of the Australian Kendo Remei passed away. A great bloke and an inspiration to kendoka around the World. He will be missed.

Opportunity for kote attack

Kote is a great target. It is closer than men and does not require the attention to hasuji and tai sabaki required to make a successful dou attack. The only cloud on the horizon with kote is that if your opponent is in correct chudan kamae it is impossible to hit.

Of course kote-uchi is perfectly achievable as a kihon drill. So, for reasons I will go into later, it’s worth ignoring my initial pessimism and practising this on a regular basis.

As we said, kote is closer than men, so you should start in ai-chudan with the kisaki (point) of your shinai level with that of your opponent. At this stage your shinai should be on the omote side of your partner’s. As you step in you should ensure that your left foot is in place with your heel off the ground. To strike you should push off from your left foot and push forward with your left hand to raise the point of the shinai just above the height of motodachi’s shinai. You should strike square on to the target, so as you step forward, you should angle your right foot over to your left so that your toes line up with the toes of his right foot, rather than the left foot as for a men attack.

Now for the disconnect with reality – motodachi has to open the target to allow you to strike. You in turn should strike the kote sharply in a forward motion. You should not cut down beyond the thickness of his wrist. Be careful with zanshin; your opponent’s body is very close, so you need to ensure that your shinai point does not cause injury. At the same time we do not want to compromise our position by pulling the shinai back. Instead we should move forward into a safe tsubazeriai.

So that’s how to attack kote. The challenge now is to turn it into an effective technique in jigeiko or shiai. The most obvious opportunity is degote – using your opponent’s forward motion as he starts to attack your men. You should encourage his movement by slightly lifting the point of your shinai towards his left eye and then hit kote just as he starts to raise his shinai.

Another option is harai gote. We hit his shinai towards the tsuba end and knock it to the right, opening the kote target. Harai is difficult against a strong chudan kamae, but much easier if done as your partner moves forward or backward. The harai and kote strike should be accomplished in one step.

So, great technique, but as always in kendo, timing and opportunity have to be correct.

The unbearable lightness of being

Apologies to Milan Kundera for the plagiarism, but I am feeling philosophical after seeing a clip of an Australian newsreader sink an interview with the Dalai Lama whilst attempting to explain the joke about the Buddhist who walked into a pizza shop and asked “make me one with everything”.

One of the advantages of aging is that as you become weaker, you stop wasting some of the energy you did when you had it to spare.  For many years I used far too much power in my arms and shoulders to no benefit other than burning calories. In fact using too much upper body power has a negative effect on your kendo by pulling your weight down and stopping the smooth forward motion needed to make the transition from successful attack to zanshin.

In kendo we often hear the statement “Ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki”, one sight, two feet, three tanden (abdomen), four power, (in this instance it refers to the power of technique rather than strength). This adage tells us that after seeing the opportunity, our power should come from our feet through our lower body and then finally our arms and hands conclude the waza.

To make this happen you have to combine the following points:

• Your left foot must always be in place. As soon as you move your right foot forward your left foot should follow. Your heel should be at a 15 degree angle to the floor giving you enough traction to push off as soon as you see an opportunity.
• Your abdomen should be braced; you need to breathe in and hold that breath in the interval between entering distance and attack. The feeling should be that of attacking your opponent’s left eye from your navel.
• Arms and shoulders should be totally relaxed with the left wrist cocked to support the shinai and the right hand in a natural position with just little and ring fingers gripping the tsuka. Elbows should rest lightly on your dou and you should keep a natural bend in your arms.
• Finally you should make sure that you do not move your hands and arms until your foot and body movement is nearly complete. The sequence should be push off from the left foot, raise your left hand, start to bring the shinai down as your right foot leaves the ground  and strike as you make fumikomi, not forgetting to quickly draw your left foot up again, ready to move through.

Many years ago Sugo sensei of Chuo University tried to reinforce this behaviour in me by grabbing my keikogi and the koshi ita of my hakama and pulling me upwards as I attempted to strike men. Unfortunately it took quite a few years before the lesson sank in.  Whilst I am not necessarily advocating hakama wedgies, my advice as always, is more kihon geiko. Although you get to use more energy in the process, you may find the way to save it while you still have some to spare.

Kendo New Year

New Year is the time when we can all reflect on what we have accomplished over the past year and set out our goals for the year to come. It is also the time to think about the past and how lucky we have been to receive the instruction and encouragement from our teachers and sempai during our kendo careers.

I recently read George McCall’s excellent post on kendo DNA which set in motion my own reflections on the help and guidance that I have received from wonderful teachers such as Chiba sensei, Arima sensei and Sumi sensei.  As always my main debt of gratitude goes back to Matsumoto Toshio sensei who took the trouble to teach me when I was an insignificant foreign student.

Having just returned from New Year keiko at London’s Wakaba dojo, I am also pleased to see how some of my juniors have shown massive improvement over the past year. It would be wrong to claim any credit for their hard work, but it is a pleasure to see through “old kendo eyes”, how the next generation are following and overtaking me.

Moving forward, it is a time for preparation for the coming year. I am hooked on the Japanese custom of “Osoji”, starting the New Year with everything clean and ready. Now is the time to wash and clean our dogi and to make sure that bogu and shinai are in good repair, so hopefully the rain will hold off until my keikogi and hakama have drip dried.  

For me, the coming kendo year looks really exciting, with a trip to Japan in February, The Paris Taikai in March and The London Cup and The World Championships in May, and that’s not even half way through the year.

More than anything else I am looking forward to my first keiko of the year on Tuesday the 3^rd of January.

Thank you everybody for reading my blog and a Happy New Year.  Rainen mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Christmas Quiz

For those of you suffering from keiko withdrawal symptoms over the holiday season, here’s a chance to test your kendo theory and terminology knowledge. 

1, Hikibana men is attempted when you opponent steps –

A, forward

B, backward

C, to the side

 2, The regulation colour for kendo referee’s socks is –

A, black

B, grey

C, blue

 3, To incur jogai hansoku in shiai –

A, your whole foot must go out of the shiai-jo

B, your heel must go out of the shiai-jo

C, at least half of your foot must go out of the shiai-jo

 4, Jigeiko performed on an equal basis is termed –

A, hikitategeiko

B, gokakugeiko

C, yakusoku geiko

 5, The kamae assumed by uchidachi at the beginning of the first and second kodachi no kata is known as-

A, irimi

B, monomi

C, hanmi

 6, The person taking the attacking role in kihon drills is referred to as –

A, uchidachi

B, kakarite

C, shidachi

 7, Continuous forward and back men suburi with sliding footwork is called –

A, naname buri

B, hayasuburi

C, zenshin kotae shomen suburi

 8, Maintaining a natural mind in kendo is referred to as –

A, heijoshin

B, fudoshin

C, shishin

 9, Taiatari practice is called –

A, butsukarigeiko

B, kakarigeiko

C, godogeiko

 10, Travelling to other dojo to test your kendo is referred to as –

A, mushin

B, mushashyugyo

C, chawanmushi

 11,The small metal plate in the handle end of a shinai is called –

A, sakigomu

B, chigiri

C, nigiri

 12, Single handed kendo techniques are described as –

A, morote jodan waza

B, katsugi waza

C, katate waza

 13, Hidari do is normally referred to as –

A,oji do

B, gyaku do

C, hara do

14, It is recommended that you do stretching exercises - 

A, before keiko

B, after keiko

C, before and after keiko

 15, The 15WKC will be held in -

A, Hungary

B, Italy

C, Brazil

 16, In the “Training Method for Fundamental Kendo Techniques with a Bokuto” Kihon 4 is –

A, hiki do

B, nuki do

C, men kaeshi do

 17, The progression from disciple to independence in kendo study is called –

A, shugyo

B, shu-ha-ri

C, shochugeiko

 18, The method of harmonising your breathing with your partner in kata is known as-

A, shinkokyu

B, aun no kokyu

C, kyukei

 19, Pre – ww2 kendo hand to hand techniques such as tripping or sweeping were known as -

A, kousei

B, kihon waza

C, kumiuchi

 20, The four admonitions of kendo –  kyo, ku, gi, waku are not to falter, fear, doubt or –

A, hesitate

B, be lazy

c. eat garlic before keiko

 Answers:

1 – B, 2-C, 3-A, 4-B, 5-C, 6-B, 7-C, 8-A, 9-A, 10-B, 11-B, 12-C, 13-B, 14-C, 15-B, 16-A, 17-B, 18-B, 19-C, 20-A

18-20 Meijin, 14-17 Ri, 11-14- Ha, 5 -10 Shu, below 5 Gambatte.

Humility

The AJKF states that “The concept of Kendo is to discipline the human character through the application of the principles of the katana”. One of the virtues that we aim for in this process is humility. This is not easy to attain as success and growth in kendo calls for confidence and self belief, and in the eyes of many people these qualities do not sit easily with modesty.

Through blogs like this and through comments on social media, it is easy to instantly express feelings about our kendo.  I often read posts from friends returning from a good practice, which read along the lines of: “I was on fire”, I aced it”, I smashed it” etc.  I know from personal experience that when keiko goes well, particularly if you have just “broken through the wall” after a period of frustration, you want to tell the World, but I am still not sure how to do it without sounding boastful.

Blowing your own trumpet is worse when it is done by more experienced kenshi.  If after 30 or 40 years of “shugyo” we are still showing obvious basic character flaws, something is not working. Last year at the Kyoto Taikai, I was asked by a senior sensei what I thought of my performance after losing my tachiai, I stupidly mentioned that I was satisfied with my performance. I meant that I had tried my hardest, but having said it the way I did, I realised immediately how conceited it sounded.

There is a Japanese proverb that says “Minoru hodo kobe no sagaru inaho ka na”  実るほど頭のさがる稲穂かな “The bough that bears most (fruit) hangs lowest”.  This seems to be illustrated continuously by the really great kendo players, who let their actions speak for themselves. Kenkyo  (modesty or humility) is of course central to Japanese culture, so people from countries where more direct communication is the norm may be forgiven the odd inadvertent boast. Nevertheless kendo values come from Buddhist / Confucian roots where humility and obedience are prized.

Like most things, humility can be overstated. There are certainly cases where false modesty can be as annoying as boastfulness. “Oh no I am only a beginner” sounds a bit trite after you have just won a major international Taikai.

Modesty is of course not just a Japanese trait. In the paraphrased words of Rudyard Kipling’s poem” If”: 

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:

you’ll be a Man, my son! “

Kendo Christmas Reading

People often ask for tips on which kendo books they should buy and I suppose the answer depends on what  you want from your kendo reading. There are quite a few available publications ranging from “how to” manuals to those covering kendo history and philosophy. If you are thinking about asking Santa for a volume or two for Christmas, here are my brief reviews of some of the books available.

I have not included some of the the AJKF’s specialist manuals  such as “Training Methods for Fundamental Kendo Techniques with a Bokuto” or “Nippon Kendo Kata” as they are one perhaps too specific to be a general kendo read. I would however highly recommend the  “Official Guide for Kendo Instruction”

Official Guide For Kendo Instruction, All Japan Kendo Federation, 2011

Content

This book is meant as a guide for instructors and covers teaching approach and methods as well as kendo basic and advanced technique. It also gives guidance on kendo philosophy and history.

Style

The book is well laid out and illustrated with photographs using high grade kenshi as models and is therefore easy to follow. Unlike many books that have been written in Japanese and then translated, this book is a joy to read thanks to Dr. Alex Bennett’s brilliant translation.

Summary

Developed and translated from the official Japanese Kendo Shido Yoryou; as you would expect, a great deal of care and thought has gone into the production of this book. I would recommend it to any instructor. It also serves as a great reference book for those not yet teaching kendo.

Fundamental Kendo, All Japan Kendo Federation       

Japan Publications, 1974, possibly out of print.

Content

Practical guide to kendo meant for a wide range of ability levels. Covers practical aspects of kendo from putting on equipment to executing techniques. It contains some details of training methods and appendices on kendo shiai and Kendo no kata. It also includes historical background in the introduction.

Style

The book uses photographs to show techniques. These are accompanied by factual descriptions. The technique descriptions are in accurate English but not detailed. 

Summary

A great book in its time! Perhaps a little brief in description of technique, but well worth having.

Kendo The definitive guide, Hiroshi Ozawa 

Kodansha 1997

Content

This is a more recent practical kendo guide, written by a respected Japanese kendo teacher. The book progresses through sections on Basics, Stretching Exercises, Techniques, Kendo no kata and practice methods. The book contains appendices such as the rules of shiai which are easily available from other sources.

It is described as being suitable for beginners and as a reference book for instructors.

Style

This book uses line drawings and is cleanly laid out. Technique description is accurate but could be more detailed. It carries interesting elements of guidance in the training section.

Summary

This has been one of my favourite kendo books for many years, not only because my photo is on the back cover.

This is Kendo, Junzo Sasamori, Gordon Warner

Tuttle 1964, 6th Reprint 1994

Content

This is a seminal reference book, which helped introduce Kendo to the West.

Much of the book is devoted to the traditions and background of kendo. This was particularly pertinent at the time of publication as kendo was going through a renaissance in Japan, following the occupation’s ban.

The structure of the book is different to many in that the middle section is labelled “Fundamental Procedures and Techniques”. This contains a mix of not necessarily connected technical information.

Style

The book primarily uses to photographs to show technique, with some line drawings. The photographs are obviously chosen from those available and whilst all are extremely interesting, have not been taken expressly to sequentially demonstrate each technique.

Summary

This is clearly one of the better kendo books; but structure is somewhat random with, for instance an explanation of the Tsuki technique followed by an explanation of kirikaeshi. 

Kendo Elements, Rules, and Philosophy, Jinichi Tokeshi,

University of Hawaii Press, 2003

Content

Dr Tokeshi’s book is well structured and progresses through the history and key points of kendo. It gives a detailed explanation of kendo equipment, some clear insight on training methods and dojo organisation. It covers shiai rules and kendo no kata and has some interesting chapters on philosophy and brief biographies of some of the important early kendo teachers.  It also contains a good glossary. Dr Tokeshi brings a great deal of knowledge and erudition to this book. 

Style

Well written, structured and illustrated with good line drawings. This is a worthwhile book to have in any kendo library.

Summary

I liked Dr Tokeshi’s book. I do however feel that the chapters on kata and shiai rules, whilst useful as a summary, are not essential as they are available elsewhere in more detailed form.

Looking at a Far Mountain, Paul Budden

Ward Lock 1992

Content

An Interesting book on the history and practice of Kendo no Kata. An outline of kendo no kata is appended to nearly every book on kendo; this book is therefore aimed at those wishing to probe deeper into the meaning of kata. Paul has carefully researched the history of the formulation of Kendo no Kata and provided detailed descriptions of the techniques.

Style

Concise and well set out with detailed photographs.

Summary

This is a useful book for those who want to take a detailed look at Kendo no Kata. 

Kendo Kata Essence and Application, Yoshihiko Inoue,

Kendo World Publications 2003

Inoue sensei is probably the leading authority on the essence of kendo no kata. This is a truly excellent book.

Kendo The Way and Sport of The Sword, Michael Finn

Self Published 1982

Michael Finn is a multiple martial artist. He has included some interesting historical background and some nice photographs from his time in Japan.

The book uses photographs of Mr Finn’s students to illustrate technique and sadly, most of the pictures show people in incorrect position or with armour tied incorrectly.  In its time, this was perhaps a good primer for the casually interested reader, but is not a useful investment for the serious kendoka.

Complete Kendo, John Donahue

Tuttle1999

Content

Mr Donahue’s book gives a good overview of kendo progressing through history, culture, the dojo, etiquette, basics, technique and kata. He also covers shiai / competition in a different way, looking at the psychodynamics of a competitive situation. He states that as an anthropologist, his stance is interpretive.  He also points out that his book is a basic guide for beginning kendoka. John provides a glossary that goes beyond kendo to describe other martial arts.

Style

This is a well written book; he uses the device of wrapping chapters within the five element headings of the “Book of Five Rings”. I am not sure that I can understand the logic in how he applies the headings to the chapters within them, but admit that this device helped set the book apart at a time when “Go rin no sho” was enjoying a deal of popularity. My only question is on the level of detail and authority used in technique description. 

Summary

I like many of the elements of this book’s scope and presentation like the approach on shiai attitude. I do however feel that there is a need for more detailed technique description

Kendo, Jeff Broderick

New Holland Publishers 2004

This book follows the standard pattern of history, equipment, reigi, basics, techniques, accessories. However the content seems to be heavy on standard information from the International Kendo Federation. i.e contact addresses for country kendo federations etc.  Looking at the reviews for this book it appears to be aimed at the beginner or the kendo- curious.  It is illustrated with photographs and text descriptions of techniques but does not cover kendo techniques in sufficient depth to be of use to the serious kendoka. 

The Way of Kendo and Kenjitsu, Darrel Craig

YMAA Publication Centre, 2004

This book leans towards traditional kenjutsu and covers an eclectic mix of kendo and Iai. Much of the book is devoted to samurai and swords and the author includes chapters on sword collection. The actual kendo content is somewhat erratic, including a chapter on the “The three short sword kata”. As these are an integral part of Kendo no kata, I was surprised to see them featured in isolation.

 Mr Craig’s book is also semi- autobiographical and dwells on a number of past conversations with his teacher. Not for me, but I would bow to the opinion of those that know more about kenjutsu.

The Shambhala Guide to Kendo.

Minoru Kyota

This is an interesting book but it deals only with the philosophical aspects of kendo.  Whilst a worthwhile addition to any kendo book collection it does not cover the physical aspects of kendo.

Other Books

There are also many non kendo specific books which are worth a read by the serious kendoka. My favourite is “Zen and Japanese Culture” by Daisetsu Suzuki, which contains more information on the philosophy of kendo than most dedicated books on the subject and there is Eugene Herigel’s evergreen “Zen and the Art of Japanese Archery.

For those with an E-reader, Kendo World Magazine comes in electronic form as does George McCall’s   “kenshi 247” selected articles. There are of course some great kendo books in Japanese. The good news for non-Japanese readers is that many of them have accompanying DVDs. Why not check Chiba sensei’s” Perfect  Master”.  Happy holiday reading!

Refereeing the 15WKC

It looks as if I will be back in Japan early in the New Year. I just heard that I have been included in the list of referees for The 15^th World Kendo Championships and that we are required to attend a training camp in Narita in February and then a two day seminar in Novara, in Italy, just before the Championships.

Reassuringly the International Kendo Federation go to this amount of effort to ensure that referees are trained to a consistent standard. Whilst we are the people in the background, if we get it wrong, we potentially can spoil the outcome of the entire competition.

There will be 36 referees for the 15 WKC, drawn from FIK’s 3 zones – Asia, Americas and Europe. All are 7^th or 8^th dan and all have international refereeing experience. This year however, a number of us are new to the World Championships and whilst I know many of the other shinpan by name, I have never worked with them in a team. The smooth running and outcome of every competition depends on the accuracy of referees decisions. Not only does each individual have to deliver to the best of his ability, but the three referees on court at any given time, must work as a finely tuned team. FIK explains that the purpose of this pre-competition training is to harmonise the decision making process of the referee group.

Kendo typically calls for mix of self reliance and the ability to work with others. We depend on each others’ support and cooperation in our dojo and within our own local kendo associations. This type of international event widens both our own level of obligation to play our part and our dependence on the bigger team. The referees group includes sensei from Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K and U.S.A. Whilst I have been on court with most of my European colleagues before, it will be a new experience to work with many of the other participants. It is going to be an interesting challenge to get to know everyone and to learn how to become part of an integrated refereeing machine.

Clearly the International Kendo Federation has risen to this challenge over the last 14 World Championships and has developed systems to get the best from us. It is now up to me and my new colleagues to prepare as hard as we can to deliver at the end of May.

Kyoshi – last word.

The ZNKR results page just came live – I passed!  Thank you everyone for your good wishes.

Feet

Taking a quick comfort break at last weekend’s Mumeishi Taikai, I was horrified to see a number of contestants standing on the wet men’s toilet floor with bare feet.  As most women will testify, men are often guilty of aiming errors, so the fluid on the floor may not have been water. Without thinking about the reigi aspects of bare feet in a toilet, there are obvious hygiene dangers, and I know of cases where people have developed nasty infections from skin contact with suspicious liquids.

 

Having just spent some time in Japan where there are precise shoe and slipper protocols, I was even more perplexed to see people risk their own and other peoples’ health in this way.If you are not familiar with Japanese shoe etiquette it normally works like this. You take off your shoes in the genkan (lobby) of a house or business. You put on slippers to walk on wooden floors, you take them off to walk on tatami and when you visit the toilet, you step into toilet slippers or clogs that stay inside the toilet door. I am sure that even the most culturally tolerant Japanese people, have private nightmares at the thought of an inexperienced foreign guest clumping back into a tatami room still wearing the toilet clogs.

 

In a kendo context we think of the dojo floor as sacred and normally clean it before and after keiko. In Japan shoes are left outside the dojo, either in a kutsu bako, shoe rack or at the threshold of the dojo. We step straight onto the dojo floor in bare feet and often change inside the dojo itself or in a room inside the dojo. If that is the case then shoes stay off. If we have to change in a remote changing room, then typically some footwear needs to be worn between changing room and dojo.

 

In the UK we invariably use buildings where changing facilities are separate from the hall in which we practise. In this case we need to wear something on our feet to go from one to the other, particularly if we plan to use the toilet facilities on the way. It can be trying to take shoes on and off in this situation and it is worth investing in zori or sandals that can easily be slipped on and off. There is no hard and fast rule as to what you wear. Having personally owned several pairs of Japanese seta that appear to have walked off on their own, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Primark flip-flops, which do the job for the price of £2.50. They are also waterproof.