Even though I am due to take my first non-kendo break of the year next week. It feels like summer is over and we are back up and running with the autumn kendo schedule. As part of this I sat on the panel for the UK’s only annual grading to 5th dan on Saturday.
We were lucky enough to have Sumi sensei head the panel which consisted of another hachidan, Tashiro sensei, and 4 7th dan examiners. Although we don’t look at each other’s marks, when the result papers came back in time for the kata section; it looked like our votes where almost unanimous. Unfortunately cut-off time for the hall booking did not allow us to give feedback to the many people who asked for it, but for the people trying for third dan and above that I spoke to and the those that I overheard the other panellists advise, the cause of failure was almost identical – the lack of seme.
To vastly oversimplify, the requirement for Ikyu and shodan in kendo exams is to be able to demonstrate good technique with strong spirit and good posture. Nidan should do this with more understanding of timing and opportunity plus the ability to demonstrate renzoku waza. As we climb the grading ladder from there, the focus increases on the importance of making and taking the opportunity to strike. This is often slightly mystically explained along the lines of “you must strike when you see an opportunity and you must not strike when there is no opportunity”.
Unfortunately in kendo, like most other facets of life, opportunities do not just happen; you have to make them. The way we do this is with seme, either pushing through your opponents guard with your own stronger physical and mental kamae, or by creating and breaking your own pressure to draw him into distance with hikidasu. By doing so, we proactively create the chance to strike.
This is half the battle. The other half is being able to launch yourself to strike as soon as you make the opportunity. To make this happen, your left foot must be continually drawn up to the correct position with a feeling of pressure in the ball of the foot and tension at the back of the left knee. Your posture must be perpendicular with just a slight inclination forward, so that you can move smoothly forward as you push with your left foot. As you do so, you simply raise the shinai and strike the target in a timing of one.
If your balance or footwork is incorrect then you will have to adjust your posture before you strike, by then your opponent will have recovered his defence and the moment will have passed.
If you passed on Saturday my warmest congratulations, if you didn’t it’s time to do some more work on seme and attack.
Very good, as usual
Just out of curiosity, what is the average pass rate percentage for Yondan candidates within the BKA on any given Shinsa?
Scott – I am not sure of the exact stats but from memory I would suggest anywhere between 20% to 40%.
Thanks. That’s about what it is here. A bit more towards the 20% side though….
[…] I think there are a few related reasons behind the effectiveness and value of this technique. First, as explained in [Fuku] and the English description in [KN_Fuku], if one were to strike without drawing the opponent in, the opponent could potentially defend, evade or block from the strike. By drawing the opponent in, the opponent becomes focused on striking instead and no longer in a position to evade or block. Second, as described in the thread [Chiebukuro] (in Japanese), this can be an effective tactic against an opponent with a “waiting” style – waiting for the other to come in to attack before striking. Third, control of the timing or trigger to strike shifts from the opponent to the person applying hikidasu. As described in [Salmon1510], […]
[…] I think there are a few related reasons behind the effectiveness and value of this technique. First, as explained in [Fuku] and the English description in [KN_Fuku], if one were to strike without drawing the opponent in, the opponent could potentially defend, evade or block from the strike. By drawing the opponent in, the opponent would focus on striking instead and no longer be in a position to evade or block. Second, as described in the thread [Chiebukuro] (in Japanese), this can be an effective tactic against an opponent with a “waiting” style – waiting for the other to come in to attack before striking. In this case, the opponent attempts to draw the other out, however, in a more passive manner. Third, control of the timing or trigger to strike shifts from the opponent to the person applying hikidasu. As described in [Salmon1510], […]