Breathing in kendo

Breathing is important in kendo. Come to think of it, it is generally important. Specifically to kendo however, the way we breathe has an enormous effect on our progress and on the effectiveness of our technique.

The breathing style used in kendo is known in Japanese as Aun no kokyu. We breathe in through the nose hold the air in our abdomen and then expel the air through the mouth. This is the type of breathing associated with yoga and meditation. In kendo however we use aun no kokyu to aid the explosive power of our waza and in concert with our kamae, as a force to repel attacks. Try breathing in as your opponent is moving into striking distance and the chances are that he will attack and you will not be able to resist. If he tries the same approach when you are either holding your breath or slowly expelling air, you become far less vulnerable.

As a general rule we breathe in when we are in safe distance, hold the air in our tanden, expelling some by way of a kakegoe shout in issoku-ito-no maai. We then reserve what is left of our breath until we strike, letting out the remainder as me make our kiai and take zanshin. We only breathe in again after we are back in safe distance. Kendo-no-kata, whilst teaching us many other elements of kendo, gives us a perfect illustration of the correct way to breathe. If we use the first form of the Tachi-no-kata as an example ; both uchidachi and shidachi breathe in on taking jodan, both then hold that breath until they make their respective men attacks, releasing air on their kiai and breathing in after completing zanshin.

In shinai kendo we are in a strong position when we are replete with air or slowly exhaling. So for example with debana men; we breathe in before we make our initial seme, release some breath as we step in, hold our breath in tame and then explode into the technique whilst letting out our kiai. What happens if you run out of air? My suggestion is that you move back to safe distance, breathe in and try again.

There are lots of opportunities to practice correct kendo breathing. One is of course during mokuso, particularly after keiko when we may be out of breath and need to slow things down. The idea is to breathe in quickly through the nose, hold the breath in your tanden for as long as is comfortably possible, then breathe out slowly.  Another classic approach is through the practice of kirikaeshi, aiming to complete the first shomen, nine yokomen and the second shomen strike in one breath.

Whichever way you do it, the most important point with breathing is not to stop.

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Who needs a bokken?

If I had to give up any one single item of my kendo equipment, my bokken would probably be the first to go. Not because it is in any way less valuable than my bogu or shinai, but because it is used less often and replacements are easier to borrow. Unlike shinai, bokken seldom break, so they do not have the “at your own risk” stigma associated with borrowing shinai.

Please do not misunderstand me. Modern kendo evolved through the use of wooden swords.  Bokken are essential to kendo practice, not only for kata but for the Bokken ni yoru kendo kihon waza keiko ho (method of practising kendo kihon with bokken), which was introduced by the AJKF in 2003. The idea behind this training format is that it is a way for kendoka up to 2^nd dan to work on the key shikake and oji techniques without the pressures of winning and losing inherent to shinai kendo. As with kendo no kata we do not wear bogu or strike our opponent, at least not on purpose, so it is easier to move naturally without the restrictions of wearing armour.

Thinking about it, the Kihon keiko ho does exactly the same thing as Kendo no kata; teach technique through repetition and concentrated practise, the only differences are that in Kihon keiko ho the techniques are arguably less complicated and that the number of steps between the start and finish of each technique are fewer.

The clear advantage of training with bokken is that as the weapon simulates the shape of the katana, it is easy to understand correct cutting distance. The obvious disadvantage is that as the lengths of shinai and bokken differ, so does the distance at which we originate and finish techniques. In some cases beginners who have learned techniques exclusively with bokken will find it hard to transfer the technique effectively to subsequent shinai keiko. In my view the way around this is to combine bokken and shinai training; trying the technique first as a bokken drill and then repeating with a shinai whilst wearing armour.

This goes beyond the bokken keiko ho. For many years Sumi sensei has been using innovative drills based on Kendo no kata. With these, he short circuits the normal kata lead-in and focuses on the essence of the technique. So for instance, in Kendo no kata ippon me, he would instruct both fighters to stand in issoku-ito-maai and have uchidachi strike men from jodan. The strike would be repeated three times. For the first two attempts, as shidachi is in jodan, the cut would stop just above his left kote. On the third he would step back, pulling his hands out of the strike path and return the cut to uchidachi’s men.

Once this has been successfully concluded, men and kote are put on and we repeat the exercise using shinai, adjusting distance so that we hit with the shinai’s monouchi.  When we go on to complete the technique by actually hitting the datotsu bu on an armoured opponent, the meaning becomes far more obvious.

Alternatively we can develop our own unique kata, as did these guys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsVNCWI1ss8

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Kata

Kata in Mandal

We have just had the last grading examination of the year, so except in the case of a few enthusiasts, kata training has been put on hold until the next pre-grading panic.

I am certainly not excluding myself from the kata dodging majority, as I tend to do kata only if I am asked to demonstrate or teach it before a grading. When I practise kata I enjoy it, but normally I gravitate towards some exercise or another that involves a full set of bogu. I think this is not specific to Europeans. I practised in Boston, USA for a while back in the 80′s and we never did kata. During my time in Japan, kata practice was very sporadic and I remember asking a 30 year in grade nanadan for some pre-grading coaching. He went through the list with a book in one hand and a boken in the other. I am not sure if it is still the case, but in some prefectural gradings, up to and including 5th dan, it was possible to avoid the kata examination by attending a pre-grading seminar.

The best kata in Japan story, (and I will not guarantee that it is not urban myth); is about the candidate at the Kyoto 8th dan grading several years ago. It is alleged that having successfully passed jitsugi, he left because he did not know the kata. This, in the light of the fact that if you take the kata section and fail, you get a second free try without retaking jitsugi. If you walk away, you have to start from scratch. With sub 1% pass rates, you have to be very brave or very stupid to leave without a token attempt.

Of course kata has value and the better at it you become, the more it benefits your kendo. Not only is kendo no kata a toolkit of techniques, timings and opportunities; done correctly it teaches mind-contact and zanshin as well as riai (the reason for making a technique).

When you start learning kata, the objective is to remember the techniques, the number of steps and the order in which everything happens. This is not the aim of kata training but only the beginning. Once you have mastered the basics, kata gives you the opportunity to really feel the nuances of the techniques it features.

So, I will try to make the effort to practise kata regularly, rather than save it for the far off day when I have to join the remedial 8th dan candidate kata class.

Kata on the beach in Norway. More fun less precision.

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