Kote should be one of the easiest techniques in the kendo repertoire, but it still baffles a lot of people. Like all waza it has its own timing and distance and these determine the most appropriate cutting action.
If your opponent has a strong chudan kamae, it is impossible to hit kote unless you break his or her centre. You can do this in three ways:
- Knock his shinai over to the right to open the kote by using harai or suriage to ura.
- Use osae to push the shinai over from omote and then hit the kote as it opens when he pushes back.
- Force him or her to attack men and then take degote as they start their technique. This in my view is the easiest and most effective way to hit kote, but that is personal choice.
It is important to remember that kote is much closer than men, so there is no need to make a deep seme or to step in closely to strike. Most people can make the distance easily from a point where the two kisaki are barely crossing. My own favourite approach to kote is to step into this distance and slightly squeeze the shinai so that the point moves up and to the right, prompting your opponent to attack men and then take kote.
In terms of the mechanics of cutting, you should remember that although kote is a small technique, your left hand should still do most of the work in lifting the shinai. You need to raise your point no higher than it takes to clear your opponent’s shinai. Logically, to hit the target it also needs to move only a shinai’s width to the left. When you finish the technique the shinai should be parallel with the floor. The feeling should be of hitting forward rather than down, in a motion that Sumi sensei compared to a chameleon’s tongue flicking out to catch a fly.
Footwork is much the same as men, just push off from your left foot and make fumikomi with your right. The only difference is that at the point of striking your right foot should be in line with your opponent’s right foot rather than his left.
Finally zanshin should as always be in the centre, but because moving forward you are in danger of making an inadvertent tsuki, you should raise your shinai above you opponents shoulder and move forward quickly into taiatari position, so if you miss you are still in a safe distance.
Thank you for this article.
Do you mind if I repost this and some other of your blog posts in a Livejournal Kendo community ? With credit ofc.
No problem! Glad you find the posts helpful.
when I see videos for Kote-uchi they rise the shinai a little and hit , not like when you rise it when you hit men-uchi ..
so as a beginner do you advise me to do the same and rise it a little of for me it’s better to train my shoulder to rise it higher ?
and thanks for the helpful post .
I am glad the posts help. Your point about the left hand for men is the same for kote. so if you can make your left hand do most of the work and your hands are relaxed, you do not have to lift the shinai too high, just over the opponents shinai. If you find that your left hand is static and the power is coming from your right hand, make the movement bigger and relax your arms and shoulders, then keeping the same feeling, train to make the attack smaller over time.
Hello sensei, I’ve tried to change my timing of tenouchi from on the moment of impact to just after. I’m quite surprised on the laxness of my shoulders. Really, such a little thing could make a huge difference! However, my friend said that my attacks still hurt him. Do you know where my fault possibly lies?
And now, after reading this post, I’d like to ask several question:
1. When doing harai waza, which hand do the slapping motion?
2. You wrote that at the point of striking kote, the right foot of attacker should in line with the right foot of the receiver. Should the right toes of attacker facing forward or slightly diagonal to the left? Do we twist the body or keep the hip square?
Mike
Think about hitting kote in a forward motion rather than cutting down. That should make it less painful. When you move the line of your right foot,
The toes of your right foot should face directly forward and harai is done with both hands by turning your wrists inwards and squeezing lightly as you strike the shinai.
Thanks for the helpful tips, Sensei!
The thought of using both of my hands to do harai waza had never crossed my mind. I always use my left hand as the driving force while my right hand serve as the fulcrum. It feels so awkward. Then, when I tried to reverse the role of my hands, it feels even more awkward and weak.
Again, thank you!