Thank you for the valuable insights, sensei. One of my bad habits is knocking my opponents out of the way just before my attack. I'm going to use your insights into riding the shinai as I begin my attack.
Sorry for the late reply! Have you had any improvement in this? If you have any questions feel free to join the kendo tips discord server and message me ! discord.gg/bsfsPgFmEF
@@Kendotips Oops. I meant to say "knocking my opponents shinai out of the way" I've been working on pushing forward with my left hand and using my right to guide the shinai to the target. This seems to be helping. Thank you, sensei.
Thank you. Each different kendo RU-vidr provides something different, I find I cannot watch the one person or website or eg just Shiai video all the time. I need to mix it up. And I love these short and concise explanations ❤
Thank you, please give me suggestions of videos I should make or topics I should research. I am still experimenting here so it all helps so I can bring you better content and make kendo a little bit more popular!
Good vid. I think there is 2 things i want to touch upon. "Shaving" the shinai. I think there are many ways to gain the center. E.g. looking for overcompensation of your opponent towards certain movements (its a basic concept im sure you are aware of) This type of movement is basically osae which translates into surpression of your opponents sword. Cutting into the kamae especially when moving the shinai above the opponents. Lastly i want to touch on being in movement when breaking through opponents kamae. While i agree on that matter i dont really agree on general anticipation of opponents movements when applying seme. I find it important to also find openings when looking at the reaction. You can also play with the timings when opening the opponent for kote he might cover it and become open for men. Also anticipation with weak seme is a recipe for injury. E.g. striking gyaku do because you think it opens and then proceeding to hit the opponents elbow because he stood put. Its a concept not always suitable for lower fighters to apply.
i understand what you mean about "its basically osae," and i dont really disagree, but personally, i think he's trying to draw a distinction between simply taking center vs. specifically trying to get aite to push back against the shinai.. it's a nuanced difference, but that's just my opinion.. if I (me personally) am trying to set up osae kote, for example, I'm normally (purposefully) trying to make aite feel a strong push of his shinai, i.e., I'm TRYING to get him to push back so i can release it to hit kote... and osae men is just purposefully pushing from the other side of the shinai. but here, I'm understanding this video to suggest simply creating an opening by moving, more or less, straight forward and taking center. the shape of the shinai (notably with a dobari) is enough to take aite off center by moving straight forward.. but i digress...(and I'm sure you know that already, too) if I'm just trying to take center and there's no pressure coming back, then ok, straight men. but if while moving forward and taking center (maintaining contact w shinai and giving just a slight pressure) the aite pushes back, then osae just kinda happens naturally.. as if the intention of taking center to hit men just morphed into the ability to do osae. anyway, all that to say i dont really disagree with you, and especially on the point that this is maybe a bit higher level stuff, but.. maybe not terrible to introduce to lower ranks in an attempt to start introducing the concept of seme... just simplifying it.. e.g., move forward, take center hit men (dont push from the side is a key point jose makes).. move forward take center, if you feel pressure against it, release and hit kote (osae). men or kote. dont think about anything else. ... takes some of the guesswork out for overthinkers. somewhat funny, but a 7.dan told me once a long time ago.. move forward. if he doesn't react, strike; if he does react, strike. who knew kendo was so simple and easy? lol sorry for the long response. you make good points.
First of all thank you for this comment, I enjoy the discussion. It makes me glad that my video opened up this discussion because I think (I'm referring to beginners) a lot of thinks get misinterpreted, and I'm sure someone will get some clarity from these good comments. Let me start by saying that the video that came out is not the video that I started with, but as I started making it I realized there are so many things that I couldn't fit them all under 10 minutes of video (also I would have taken me forever to edit) Between that and some footage that came out looking funny I know many things are missing, so I decided mid way to make the video more about the "basic movements to approach" rather than the most advance elements or even (something you mentioned) playing with timing or even taking opportunities when the opponent moves. About "shaving the shinai" I didn't mean to represent it as Osae, but there was some footage there that I lost So I'll try to explain here because I know I. put those things back to back and it got confusing. I mentioned that I do this to feel my opponent's intention, what didn't make the cut is the idea that you mentioned, of understanding if the opponent is pushing or not, the idea with this is as a reminder that the shinai needs to keep in contact in order to feel the tension and the same could be done on the opposite side, and to clarify for that point I'm not talking about the shinai getting on top of the opponent's shinai but instead I wanted to emphasize keeping contact with their shinai without pushing it sideways. (sorry for this long and probably messy response) Regarding the anticipation of the opponent, I totally understand what you mean, I think it is a fine line between that and the weak seme, I know is a big struggle finding the balance point between "standing there" and attacking blindly, if you have a suggestion on expressing this point send them my way because I will make prepare a video about this, in this one I guess I was more focused on the movements of approaching rather than the mental (or I guess the feeling ) part. Thank you again, maybe I should organize one day a Kendo talk or something like that. It would be fun I think.
Melange, I kinda mentioned some of the points you brought up in my previous comment to Corey, sorry I didn't see your comment before I wrote mine. What I have to say in response to your comment (which I love by the way) is a quick anecdote. I used to work in an addiction treatment facility and I was charged with guiding an spirituality group, and of course I went on researching spirituality in different cultures. I found a video ( which I would love to find again) about a Buddhist practitioner talking about the stages of practicing Buddhism, and it went something like this: First we don't know anything so we do the basics without thinking about all the details, then we start seeing all the intricacies of the basics and overthink every little detail (most definitely the stage I am on ), but then as we become experienced we go back to just doing the basics without thinking of all these things or complicating them. (this story is better told in the original video hahaha). your story from the 7th Dan reminded me of this and how kendo is so simple, we are the ones that make it complicated!
@@Kendotips regarding the aim of your videos and also this exact comment. I feel your vids are not really beginner stuff yet beginner stuff in Sense. What i think is that these concepts are way to detailed and advanced for actual kyu grade beginners but are somewhat suitable for low rank dan holders (1.-3.dan) as they begin to develop self awareness. Imo kyu grades really need cocky cutter easy advice with the main focus on ki ken tai ichi. If you dont learn that your kendo can only grow so far. But as you see the theory crafting discussion about certain Things is kind of interesting for mid level guys like us. Certainly wouldnt mind some kind of interactive session. I feel a bit like the grumpy guy but im thankful for your efforts as kendo can certainly use much more media attention.
@@melange28 i can most certainly agree with what you said. Although i think that osae is a little more than "just" that snap back Moment. You can surpress opponents shinai until directly going for men which i would also call osae. But i also admit that i see that the cutting into the kamae is a little different here. As you said its a good way to explain what the shinai can do for basic seme. Also "communicating" via the shinai is important although not easily put to practice. At least for me.
very good vid (as usual).. It really is important to work on all these different things, as you suggest. long/short steps, sharp shinai movement/shaving shinai/coming on top of aite's shinai.. this is all part of seme, and kendo is seme. We need to be able to do all these different aspects of movement (footwork and shinai work) but also stay focused on the opponent, being patient without waiting, looking/feeling the opportunity to strike.... otherwise, you run the risk of having empty seme, and you're just moving forward vs. actively pressuring the aite to break kamae. To that end, we need to practice all these things you mention because everyone is different, and everyone reacts differently.... some react to a slow, long, right foot forward movement, while others will react to sharp, short steps, etc. .... Eventually, speaking very generically, the vast majority of kendo is simply trying to work on trying to figure out, as quickly as possibly, how to make the opponent break kamae.
So I already mentioned plenty in the last two comments but let me thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. You do mention something very important in this comment and is the importance of getting experience. A sensei I talked to once discussed with me that everyone has a different reaction but there are not unlimited amount of reactions, you can group them and then build your repertoire against possible reactions and is a matter of identifying the pattern that your opponent has in order to choose what you should do (I'm over simplifying this of course) Again thank you for watching and taking the time to comment.
Jose, do you mind me asking what hakama you're wearing here (specifically at 1:25 just in case you're wearing different hakama throughout the video). I love the way the pleating looks in it! Many thanks for the answer and of course for all of your fantastic videos!
This is one of my oldest Hakama, I got it from e-mudo the label says DO-YU, It is not a "light" Hakama which I think is why it looks like this. I think that the newer hakama want to be lighter and more comfortable or "sporty" and this could be the reason why I think this hakama looks good (Because is old, or should I say old style maybe?) Now you got me curious I will check my other 2 cotton hakama to see if they look like this one. Thank you for watching if you could please share!!!!! and anything you need please let me know.