We had a Hatsugeiko session at my local dojo on the evening of January second. Luckily this coincided with a visit from Hasegawa Makoto sensei, former JICA teacher to Nepal. He had contacted Holt sensei during a sightseeing visit to London and ours was the one practice that fitted in with his schedule.
The session format was the one I normally suggest when we have senior visits. We started with kihon geiko, had a brief interlude for keiko between the kodansha and then finished with motodachi- geiko. We had a glass of sake to toast the New Year and then moved to the pub for a chat.
We asked Hasegawa sensei for a critique of everyone’s kendo and the point that he made was that people tended to use too much shoulder power. Many individuals made a cutting motion with their arms moving in parallel. Instead he suggested that they should rather push up and out with the left hand and pull up with the right, so that the shinai makes an even arc as they raise and strike. He also commented on the need to grip only with the middle, ring and little fingers and not the forefinger and thumb. This applies to the grip in kamae, when striking and when making tenouchi on the point of hitting.
Good observations, but not revelations. They are exactly the same points that local instructors and other visiting sensei make repeatedly. The big question is “why are so many of us unable to change?”
I have often heard theories about westerners having different physical characteristics and that Japanese tend to concentrate more strength in their core and lower bodies because of “tatami lifestyle”, but to be frank I find these hard to believe. Most young Japanese people now use chairs and sleep in beds. I also see Korean and Japanese people who have started kendo outside their own countries, develop the same heavy hitting style as their Caucasian chums.
I believe the remedy is in the quality and quantity of basis practice we should do. Chiba sensei once said that leading up to his All Japan Championship peak; he did 3000 continuous suburi per day. Not only does repetition lead to perfection, but working at that level of intensity teaches you to relax and save energy. In the same vein if you regularly practice flat-out uchikomigeiko or kakarigeiko you learn to conserve energy by not being unnecessarily tense. The other point to consider is that correct breathing helps you to relax, so by practising multiple strikes with one breath in kirikaeshi or kakarigeiko you learn to use the power of your tanden instead of your shoulders.
Old advice, but certainly worth taking into account for this year’s training.
kendoinfo.net 
Interesting read, and something I’m struggling with in my own training. That being said, I’m not so sure I can as easily dismiss “tatami lifestyle” as a factor in all of this as you can. While I agree most young people in Japan and Korea do use chairs (and perhaps beds) to a greater extent, they still are accustomed to sitting on the floor in a way virtually no Westerners are. I can now say from experience, having moved to Korea 14 months ago, that “tatami lifestyle” is still very much a part of the culture and more importantly, it certainly DOES affect posture, core strength, etc… even if not to the extent it might have with older generations. Ask me (or more specifically, my hips and lower back) how I know. Second, your observation that some Japanese and Korean kenshi/kumsa who start kendo/kumdo outside of Asia and also struggle with “heavy hitting” would IMO seem to argue against the point you’re trying to make.
So, while I agree I don’t think that’s the whole equation, I’m not so sure that’s not part of it. I’ve been told, on what seems at this point almost a daily basis, that I’m using my shoulders way too much when striking, and I have to say it’s not something that any of my native-Korean counterparts seem to struggle with (even those who like me came to the sport later in life). I do realize how limited my experience is, but in fact, prior to reading your article I’d never before heard the “tatami lifestyle” argument. Now, having read it, and considering my experience, it actually kind of makes sense.
Happy new year sensei! How much of it do you think is down to the floor? Soft enough to stomp on (well, do fumikomi) and smooth enough to slide about! It’s hard to do good footwork when the sole of your feet gets stuck every 2-3 strides … floors outside of Japan/Korea are generally lacquered (the sticky kind) and/or plastered with tapes marking basketball or badminton courts. In a lot of cases they aren’t even made of wood.
I also find that an unhealthy amount of kakarigeiko, your favoured remedy, when done correctly, tends to help one relax their shoulders when hitting, simply because you can’t lift your arms anymore after a while! You also don’t have much time to think, and you’re forced to try and move quickly with your feet, hence improving one’s footwork. We don’t do it enough (I’m also very guilty of this), or for long enough.
Hard floors certainly could be a contributing factor and yes, kakarigeiko could certainly be the cure.
I have a similar problem, I bend my right elbow in the action of hitting, leving my kote open…
…”The big question is “why are so many of us unable to change?”
Here are some ideas to throw into the pot:
1. Most of us don’t breathe or move well
2. Most of us can only get to the dojo once a week
3. Personal suburi away from sensei’s watchful eye may only re-enforce our existing poor posture/movement patterns
4. Doing too many suburi in a fatigued state will also negatively affect form, leading to 3.
5. Most of us spend way too much time slumped in front of computers, sat in cars, slouched on sofas, in poor sleeping postures…even the typical “healthy” exercises people do in gyms contain mainly robotic movements with little or no requirement for good posture
6. People (especially Westerners) subconsciously associate power/speed with muscular effort/tension of the agonistic muscles, we also need to learn to increase speed by relaxing the antagonistic muscles.
7. Connective tissue has useful elastic properties and 10 times more proprioreceptors than muscles, we do not train this tissue enough
Personally a headstand every morning, regular kettlebell training and a good mix of different sports seems to work well for me, I do try to do my suburi as well…