Kendo is unusual in that we use fumikomi-ashi, “stamping footwork” instead of a more natural walking gait as part of our technique. I don’t know how this developed. Older styles of kenjutsu take a more natural left-right approach, cutting on either foot, whereas modern kendoists believe that for an attack to succeed the right foot has to slap the floor at the exact moment of striking.
Followers of the many original ryuha explain that in a battle situation on rough ground, stable walking footwork is the only option and I would not for a moment disagree with them. Somehow as kendo moved onto wooden floors, we have adopted a stamping style which has become an integral part of the modern sport. Fumikomi-ashi dosa, or movement, is in essence okuri-ashi footwork with an added stamp. Okuri-ashi is the process of pushing the right foot forward using the power of your left leg and it is used for attacking movement. There are though other footwork options in kendo.
We use ayumi-ashi (walking footwork) to cover long distance outside of attacking maai. Tsugi ashi lets us bring the left foot closer to the right foot than in okuri-ashi to gain a more explosive forward movement and hiraki-ashi allows us to step diagonally to make oji-waza.
Many of us become addicted to okuri-ashi and fumikomi-ashi. Beginners find it almost impossible to do these correctly, but insist on using them for every circumstance. I have often seen okuri-ashi used to receive kirikaeshi whereas the natural way to do this is to use ayumi ashi.
Contrary to popular misconception, it is not mandatory to stamp to make a successful attack. Nippon kendo no kata does not use stamping footwork and any of the seven odachi techniques if done correctly, would score ippon in shiai. Ki-ken-tai-itchi does not always depend on your right foot slapping the ground. In fact in many oji-waza the cut is executed as the back foot moves into place.
Fumikomi-ashi is a key element of kendo, but it is reserved for making forward shikake attacks, so we can’t afford to ignore the other footwork variations. It is unlikely that many of us will get involved in a swordfight in a paddy-field, but were we to do so; the only value in fumikomi-ashi would be to splash your opponent. In the dojo we need to move at different speeds in different directions, so we should study and practice all the kendo footwork forms.
My approach is to teach beginners only a lot of ashi sabaki (excluding fumikomi), bokuto ni yoru kendo kihon waza keiko ho and nihon kendo kata, emphasizing the benefits of proper okuriashi. In this way they get very good basics and understanding of the concepts of kendo in a theoretical sense, before moving to shinai slamming.
However, I find that even first timers want to stamp when they hit, I thought it should be done this way (when starting), putting your foot down when you hit IS a more natural approach. So, in this way it turns out that first we UNlearn the more natural fumikomi to get better surikomi and then we switch back to fumikomi, but the timing is all wrong, because people have learned to strike on the back foot for a long period.
P.S. One of my senpai once argued that what I did was a “wrong” technique and I should do fumikomi… after slamming an okuriashi oki men, in a sense doing kiriotoshi to him. For a long time I was wondering exactly what you outlined, why do we study so much kihon and kata and they all use okuriashi…
In the end I figured my senpai was wrong.
P.P.S. I also get very strange looks when I try to switch my feet, It seems that kendo is getting trapped in a dogmatic sense.
“Contrary to popular misconception, it is not mandatory to stamp to make a successful attack.” People tend to do “what works”, by experience. And the problem is that precisely in competition, most Shinpan consider it essential, and many of them are your own Sensei.
So when the new and young shinpan apply what they have seen many times, the “no fumikomi-no ippon” rule becomes a chain hard to break.
Of course, fumikomi-ashi can be seen in kendo-no-kata executed by the likes of Takano Sasaburo, Nakayama Hakudo, Saimura Goro, Mochida Seiji, etc as well as numerous other not-as-famous kenshi. It’s also an element of many a koryu as well. Why it’s not required in the bokuto ni-yoru kihon keiko-ho is odd, considering what it was created for (mind you, some of the waza choice and execution is weird as well… but thats another story).
Firstly we can remember that in european fencing treaties it has been recommended to slap the forward foot, so there must be some mechanical convergeance….
Secondly if you find old versions of the kendo no kata on youtube you will have to admit uchi tachi did fumikomi when striking.
Thirdly Gorin no sho emphasises freedom of footwork from dogmatic schooling.
So a fighting swordman must use very stable footwork.and will not shout like kendoka.
A modern fencer is competing with other refined technicians within a set of very variable rules;
Fifty two years after my first fencing lesson, fourty three years after my first kendo lesson the only physical ailments I have is a swollen right achilles, and a bust right eardrum.
As an amateur I am very grateful to my french, korean and japanese teachers and partners for great benefits far exceeding the inconveniences.
So if you must slap a fumikomi Men, make sure you are hitting a suitably elastic floor to polish your technique many years without unnecessary musculo skeletal trauma.
Most of all remember kendo is no carnival, techniques are human, not cultural and must be understood through practise.
Symetrical practise in the dojo is conducive to better health and durability.
The habit of training with the right foot forward does not exclude left foot forward suburi and study of jodan.
And when someone will tell you there is no more fumikomi, the rule will have changed and you can try and understand why…So long friends, or partners 😉
My sensei, Hattanda Mikio, who attended Busen, used a sliding forward motion of his right leg with his foot less than an inch above the floor. He would then slap the ball of his foot on the floor to create the sound. He thought that raising your right leg higher than that was unnecessary, could throw your balance off, and took more energy.
[…] And recently I have read an article by Geoff Salmon sensei, the author of Kendo. It is called Fumikomi-ashi – not the only way. You should read this if you have […]
It is a very interesting topic, I have thought about it, because I don’t like to teach stuff without understanding why we do it.
Here is my thought about it:
Ki Ken Tai Ichi is the only thing that really matters when it is all said and done.
If you have Ki Ken Tai ichi, fumikomi or even Suri Ashi should not really matter.
But…
We don’t use Suri Ashi and Fumikomi by happenstance. I think they were developed in incorporated in Kendo because they are essential learning tools:
– It is very difficult (if not impossible) to move swiftly in Suri Ashi with a bad posture, weak legs or poor balance. In order to master Suri Ashi, a student must address all those faults, first, which he will just by practicing Suri Ashi.
– As for Fumikomi, attacking with a powerful step is also essential in almost every cases. Again, Fumikomi is an invaluable tool to learn that. A good Fumikomi step allows to bring the all body together at the moment of impact, in a way that is hard to achieve with a regular step.
So at a certain level, a Kenshi might be able to move swiftly without necessarily using Suri Ashi, and attack powerfully without Fumikomi. But until then I believe mastering both Suri Ashi and Fumikomi is a mandatory part of Shu, like in Shu Ha Ri.
If you need to convince your-self, have a look at some other forms of fencing that do not have the same tools to learn proper footwork (historical Medieval Fencing for example). The difference in posture, footwork and general body agility is impressive.
Good to see the issue being so eloquently discussed again.
Few years ago a brought the issue through another media or discussion group, where I pointed out Musashi Miyamoto’s words indicating to “fight the same as you practice” and to “use every day steps as you fighting steps”. He even seemed to have despised the “jumping step”.
I also made reference to the jumping step shown in a very old kendo video of Nihon Kendo kata, second sequence or nihon me where shidachi is seen performing a short fumikomi while striking kote.
Definitely the use of fumikomi has become the norm while the use or application of other movements and strikes have disappear or no longer see application.