Kiaaaaaaaaai

One of the most “embarrassing” things for begginers in kendo is kiai. Many people, when starting kendo feel ashamed and avoid “yelling” loud. This is normal and a very common behaviour either because people are naturally more shy or because don’t like to attract attention. But, can you imagine kendo without kiai? Weird thing, right? As all martial artists know, kiai is one of the most important parts of practice. When in a kendo shiai your strike will only count as an ippon (point) if you make a convicent kiai. More than just “yell” to intimidate the opponent”, kiai expresses your spirit, your will, your strength. It’s also a way to get yourself ready for shiai. 

Besides being important, it is a beautiful thing to watch and listen. A shiai is much more interesting if the opponents express their will and strength making good kiai. So, I’ve been working on this lately. I must confess that I’m not a very shy person and I only felt uncomfortable about “yelling” in the first month of training. After that, I started to use my vocal cords to make a big noise but, of course, this is a wrong thing to do (it’s wrong in terms of technique and it’s bad for your throat - trust me!). But I’ve been working to improve my kiai and make it come from my stomach, as it’s supposed to. I must admit that I did some progress but I still have to work on it. I’m really striving to give the most of me and to show my will to make the perfect strike. 

Thus, I decided to establish a train for my kiai. This consists in: practicing yoga (unfortunately, I only have time once a week) and use relaxation techniques. Kiai has much to do with correct breathing and I learned how to breathe properly before I started kendo through relaxation techniques. These techniques allow you to learn breathing using your stomach and not just your chest. I believe they can be very useful for kenshi because they promote correct breathing and, consequently, a better oxygenation of the body. Yoga also helps with this and that’s why I finally decided to give it a try. As some of you may recall, I chose kendo because I wasn’t very enthusiastic about yoga. But, after falling in love with kendo, I resorted to yoga as a kind of “complementary training”. From what I read, among other things, yoga promotes a better posture and breathing. For these reasons, I thought this modality could help me improve my kiai and my center of gravity. I can’t tell about the results because I started recently, but I will keep you updated ;)

My Kendo Routine

Hi there people! How have you been? Good, I hope :)

Today, I decided to tell you a little about the kendo exercises I usually practice at home. I know we can’t “do kendo” at home, but we can, and we should, try to improve our techniques by training them repeatedly. Besides, my husband also practices kendo and, sometimes, we do, the ... jigeiko thing ;) Oh well, but, let’s get to the point. Below, you can have a resume of the exercises I practice more frequently at home. Enjoy!

Ashi-sabaki

Yes, I do this at home, especially now that it is too hot. My floor is very fresh and I like to walk barefoot along the corridor. At the same time, I try to do all the kendo footwork I already know. Believe me, it’s never too much. I feel that this kind of exercise increases leg strength and, because of that, all movements become gradually more light and flexible. This exercise is not scheduled. I do it many times when I have to walk in the corridor.

Suburi

My shinai is always ready in the corner of the room and I grab it to do suburi many times. I prefer to do suburi at a moderate speed because, this way, I can improve my precision and learn the movement mechanics properly. Thus, I use to do 80 suburi at a lower speed and, then, increase the speed till I complete 150. Once a day, I do 200 katate suburi alternating between left and right hands.

The basic techniques: Men - Kote - Do

When my husband practices at home with me, we do Men, Kote and Do exercises - These are done slowly and focused on the correct technique. We do it for about 30 minutes.

Kirikaeshi

Image from: http://kendoinfo.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/winning-the-world-kendo-championships-with-kirikaeshi/

We also practice kirikaeshi and kirikaeshi-do about 50 times. I particularly like  this exercise and it really helps me improve my, coordination, precision distance, and breath control. I believe it’s a very good exercise involving the basics of kendo technique.

Kata

Kendo Kata: Ropponme

Even when my husband doesn’t practice with me, I do kata exercises. I have to admit: at the beginning, I didn't like kata. But now, I love them! I do kata every week, more than once. Kata are a good way of understanding more profoundly the art of kendo and they certainly help me to relax. My favourit kata are the sanbonme and nanahonme. 

And that’s all! I don’t have the time to do more, but is better than nothing, right?

What’s your kendo practice routine?

* Images taken from the internet.

It’s not Fumikomi but “THE Fumikomi” - makes a big difference!

Fumikomi,fumikomi, fumikomi... one of the hardest things in kendo. As you already know, I’m a newbie, so, for me, everything is difficult, but, at this moment, fumikomi is the most hardest thing I’m trying in kendo. When I look at my fellows I find this fumikomi stomp so beautiful. It is such an elegant, hard and straight movement. But when I try it, well... I keep trying because it just s*cks. This is my main difficulty in kendo, but I think it is a little better now that I think less about it.

One of the things that intrigues me the most is the fact that I know all the “theory” about fumikomi. I know what it is and how it should be performed “step by step” but, when doing it, it never comes out like it should... I believe, and I heard from many kendoka, that fumikomi is something hard to learn and that many people has difficulties with it for a long time. So, I decided to write this post about fumikomi based on things that I know and that I read about the subject believing that it could be helpful for those who, unlike me, have good capability to apply theory to practice ;).

What is fumikomi?

It is a way of reaching your opponent in a single step by performing a forwards jump. By doing this, the front feet, that hits the floor, makes a stomp noise. 

Looks easy! (Innocence) How is it performed?

Well, here are some tips that I collected from books and from my Sensei and Senpai:

• Avoid lifting your right foot too high. Don’t raise too high, just the sufficient to take it from the floor.

• Don’t stomp the floor with your heel. When moving forward your right foot must be parallel to the ground and you must advance with you right knee, not just your foot.

• Don’t try to make a big noisy stomp. The goal is to achieve your opponent with one step. This is a very useful tip. I started to notice some improvement in my fumikomi since one of my peers told me this. By knowing the aim of this action you avoid trying to “just hit hard on the floor” which is a common mistake (I was also commiting).

• “Forget your arms!” This is one thing my Senpai keeps yelling at me. He says that, if I keep thinking in synchronize my arms with the stomp, I won’t be able to do it right. He also says that I should just think about the foot and forget the arms because the natural tendency is, when I hit the floor, the arms will strike at the same time. 

• Don’t bend forward. It is true that you want to strike forward but you should do it straight. In fact, if you bend you are putting your energy into your upper body. But to perform fumikomi, you should put your strength in your hips and left leg, because it’s the leg that pushes your body toward your opponent and not your arms. So, once again, forget your arms!

• Don’t think too much. One of the things my Sensei told me is that, knowing the theory is important and useful but we shouldn’t think too much about it. He said that, sometimes, it’s easier to learn by watching the others and repeat the same movements over and over. In fact, it’s just like we were copying their movements. So, in fumikomi, it may be better if not to get obsessed with all these procedures and, instead, just watch your experienced colleagues and try to do like them.

So, summarizing, to successfully fumikomi you should:

• Keep your left foot straight while you move your right knee towards keeping your right foot parallel to the ground. 
• Keep your back straight and concentrate your strength on your lower body (hips and left leg) to give the impulse.
• Remenber you are aiming to achieve your opponent. 
• Just do it as naturally as you can.

Well, I will continuing with my fumikomi training. Hope you have a nice week and train hard!

* Images taken from the internet.