Have you heard that you should not be learning techniques but you should be stealing them? I tell my students to steal the movements. There are many things that we cannot just “teach”. But do you really know what “stealing techniques” means?
“To steal” the techniques, you must go through 3 steps.
3 Easy Steps to Steal Well
Copy
Analyze
Test
That is all. Now I would like to explain each step so you know what you have to do.
1. Copy
What do you think you should copy? Let’s see…
movements
timing
distance
situation
How Well Can You Replicate?
“Movements” involves
shinai movements
hand/arm movements
footwork or ashi-sabaki
body work or tai-sabaki
was the striker going forward
was the striker leaving weight behind
“Timing” involves
At what moment the striker executed the technique and to know that…
What did the opponent do when (before, during and after) he/she got struck
“Distance” involves
how far was the striker from his/her opponent
was his/her opponent coming forward or backward
was the technique small or big
what kind of footwork was used when executing the technique
“Situation” involves
was the striker putting pressure
was the striker chasing or going away from the opponent
did the opponent looked surprised, hesitate, confident…
both moving, only one of them or both are still
You must try to copy, in other words, reproduce the similar situation in which the technique was executed.
But it is too hard to “control” your opponent so you try to duplicate what the striker did to execute the technique that you are trying to steal. This is the first step. And when you are used to your part, then try to control your opponent to create the exact situation you want to have so your technique work.
!!!Important!!!
Copy as you watch. Try NOT to interpret.
When you interpret, you try to MAKE SENSE to yourself. So you start filtering out what you DO NOT understand.
When you copy, you copy exactly you watch without filtering out what you do not understand. If there are things you don’t understand the logic behind or that do not make sense to you, that is fine. Maybe your level is too low to understand what is going on.
That is why it is important to copy EXACTLY so you can start analyze it. And whatever you don’t understand now will make sense in the future.
Do Not Miss Any Small Things
2. Analyse
After copying and trying, you should analyse what worked and what didn’t. You might steal the techniques but if you don’t know how they work, then we call in Japanese “宝の持ち腐れ(Takara no Mochigusare)“. A simple translation of that is “useless treasure”. You do not want to waste what you just copied.
So this analysis phase is one of the most important part of “stealing”.
Back in old days, when we did not have videos at the dojo to study later, what I did was to imprint the techniques in my brain and played them back in my head over and over. When someone videotaped some shiai, I got a copy and watched them over and over.
What do we pay attention when analyzing?
Simply, go back to the lists described above.
Find what is lacking in your copying process.
This phase can be most painful because you never know if you can really perform the exact technique but very important. If you don’t analyse your kendo, you will never improve anyway.
Then after analyzing you must…
Test and Get a Result
3. Test
You fix or change something then you have to test how it goes in jigeiko. Unless you test, you never know if it works or not. If it does not work, fine. You just have to go back to the analysis. Play the technique in your head or if you have a video, then watch it again and again.
Analyse
what is lacking,
what needs to be done and
what you need to improve.
Then test again.
This process continues until you get the technique right so it might take a few days or a few decades. Who knows.
Conclusion
I talked about “stealing techniques” but this applies to learning the basics as well. Visualize what your instructor is showing and copy what is going on right in front of you. That is the quickest way to improve your kendo!
This is not only about kendō so if you learn this you can use those for something else too.
These 5 steps are what I learned through more than 20 years of instructing kendō and being a student of kendō for more than 34 years.
The core of these steps is…
“Kendō is not about how to control your sword. It is about how to control yourself.”
So if you are a beginner or trying to reach at a higher level, these steps might help you to get there.
Learn to feel how your body works
Learn how you can move your body
Learn how it looks like when you move your body
Learn how to fine-tune your body
Learn how your emotion affects your movements
Can You Feel and Connect?
1. Learn To Feel How Your Body Works
After having seen many beginners, I have found that they do not know how to communicate with their body.
Without knowing how to communicate with the body, you cannot control your sword, bokutō or shinai.
Most of beginners try to control their sword. When they try to control their sword, almost all the time they become tense. Since they are tensed up, their body cannot move as it is supposed to.
This is the other way round: Move your body so your sword follows.
But to do so you should connect to your body. You need to feel how your body works so focus on your body, not on your bokutō or shinai.
2. Learn How You Can Move Your Body
Since many focus on how to move their sword, they do something funny with their body such as twisting their right arm and body to strike the right dō.
They are trying to turn their sword. But at the same time, they are turning their arm and body, which is not necessary.
All they have to do is to turn their forearms. When they turn forearms, their wrists turn too.
It is about how to use your body.
Are you aware of how you look?
3. Learn How It Looks Like When You Move Your Body
You connect to your body and know how to move it. Now it is time for you to learn how it looks like when you move your body correctly.
You should know how it looks like when you do things right so next time you try it again you can check it yourself.
You should check your movements by how it looks like and how it feels like; inside and outside. That is why you see many sensei spend a lot of times in front of the mirror. Not because they are narcissists. J
4. Learn How to Fine-Tune Your Body
Fine-tuning requires really small jobs. You might want to move your left foot 1.5cm (0.59 Inch) forward and 1cm (0.39 Inch) closer to the right foot.
If you do it, it feels different.
You might want to change the position of your left thumb when you take chūdan.
These may be for the advanced but I want you to know this “fine-tuning” makes your kendō better.
You should be able to fine-tune your kendō after you learn how to connect your body and know how to move your body.
Too Scared to Strike? Happened to You Once Or Twice, Right?
5. Learn How Your Emotion Affects Your Movements
Your emotions affect your kendō even just a little bit. You might think this is normal and nothing special. But… Not many realise it until someone points out that their kendō is a bit different.
It Is Harder To Keep Your Kendō Stable
You should pay attention to the state of your mind all the time.
Sometimes you do not feel energetic. Whatever the reason, you cannot do kendō as you always do.
When such things happen, don’t deny it. Face it and do the followings.
You have to realise that your kendō is a bit off
Find out why; is it physical or mental,
Learn how to maximize your ability under such condition
Then your next job is to keep youself stable outside the dōjō. You figure out what makes you feel less energetic outside the dōjō. What is it? And what can you do about it when that happens again.
This is why kendō is useful for you to improve your daily life too!
It is normal that your kendō performance gets worse when you are not feeling energetic. So…
In kendō you should overcome that. Then…
We should find out and overcome whatever that makes us feel less energetic.
Easier said than done. But that is why we are training!
Hope this helps with your kendō and life improvement!
Many want to learn kendo. I am so glad and so happy to hear that. I would like to do anything I can help those who want to learn kendō.
But they want to learn kendo so they can create their own style or just to add something to what they call a “combat or fighting system”.
They can do whatever they want to do on their own time but there is one thing that we all should know.
No One Should Intentionally Change Kendo.
Kendō has its own history and culture. And during the course of its history, it certainly changes its form and nature.
Kendo was a part of kenjutsu training. But as we all know it is not a part of kenjutsu training anymore. But that is how it started.
Then going through all kinds of incidences such as Meiji Restoration and World War II over the last 300 years or so, it turned itself into kendō we now know.
So, yes, kendo did change. And I can tell you that kendo in 2015 and kendo in the 80s are different. If you do not practice kendo you probably cannot tell the differences but I can tell you that they are different.
But history that kendo has will not change.
Kendō Has a Long History
If you go to a traditional dōjō, you can see a shrine there. It is to keep the dōjō sacred. It is to keep the dōjō and practitioners safe. And most of all, it is for the practitioners to train fair and square sincerely under the martial god. And funny enough, kendō has influenced by Zen Buddhism.
There is nothing surprising if you know about Japan. Shintoism and Buddhism are two major religions and they have been around for a long long time. Of course, kendō was influenced by those two religions. Also it has influence from Confucianism.
I am not here to talk about religions. I want to point out that kendō has a long history. If you want me to be precise, kenjutsu was influenced by those religions and kendō is carrying the influence up until now.
And also kendō has teachings from samurai, the Japanese warriors. The teachings were not just words. They were from the samurai’s experiences that were learned from the dead-or-alive situations. This also includes techniques as well.
Of course, the modern history had influenced kendō as well. Whatever happened in the past made kendō into what it is now.
Your Perspectives Will or Will Not Change the Culture of Kendo
History and culture influence each other, needless to say. Kendō was derived from kenjutsu and it took its own course. Thus, it has developed its own culture.
The Japanese culture is influenced by samuraiculture as well. We have a lot of proverbs that are made from samurai and katana cultures. You can learn where you should position yourself, say where sitting, from kendō because we still follow how samurai used to place themselves in a room when sitting.
So I would like to ask you a question.
Good or Bad? Less Traditional Houses Now
What Do You Value The Most?
Do you think what we do in Japan or in kendō is stupid? Or you think it does not make sense because you don’t know the reason behind it?
The Japanese do not always know all the reasons behind their customs/culture because what they do is already a part of their life. So they don’t even question about them. I am sure not all the Japanese know all the historical reasons of the Japanese customs, including me.
Does it mean we put less value on the customs because we are not sure reasons behind them?
I hear a lot of people say, they do not want to do things that they do not know why they should do them.
That is their perspectives. Many just refuse to do what they learned because it does not have enough “evidence” or “reasons” for them to follow the tradition. These people will change the tradition.
I would like to share one reason for you to know why it is so hard to know reasons of doing certain things in certain way.
A Reason to Have the Right Side of Keikogi Under the Left One
From the Xianbei Tomb Paintings
Do you think your instructor knows why? Do you think this is important to know?
Your instructor might not know everything. And that is OK. We are talking about something that has a history that is possibly longer than the Japanese history.
But there is a reason why we have the right side of the keikogi under the left one. At least there is one theory.
It was an influence from China. According to the book, Kendo (2009) written by Baba Takenori sensei and Baba Kinji sensei, the roots of how to put the kimono like top with the right side on top of the left one started from Scythae.
To make a long story short, Chinese people were suffered from the attacks of the Xianbei and the Huns for a long time (as long as between 300 B.C. and the mid 500 A.D.) And the Xianbei and the Huns were wearing their top with the right side on the left one.
That reason they wore their top like that is because they pulled the arrow with the right hand and grab their bow with the left hand on their horse.
They did not like the right side on the left one because those people who attacked them wore the top with the right side on the left side. So they had the left side on top of the right one when they wore their clothes.
Officially in Japan, they had this declaration in 604, “You must have the left side of your cloth on top of the right one”.
Did I learn this when I started kendō? No.
Did my parents tell me about this? No.
Did we have to know this? No.
If we know, it will help us. Probably.
You learn how to do things and then either you or others question about it. Why do we do that? That is the start of your journey.
Tradition will be passed on with or without reasons or explanations to the next generation.
For some people, even after getting explanation, they want to argue. They want to argue so they can do things in their way. They do not have any other reason than “that makes me feel more comfortable”.
We learn as taught. That is how tradition survives. It is very nice if we are told why we do things in certain ways but it is not always the case. So we should strive to study why.
Learn, Study and Dig It More Deeply
Do Whatever It Takes to Get to the Higher Level. Photo: 唐山健志郎 (唐山健志郎) via Wikimedia CommonsRecently I really think that we cannot teach kendō. Kendō is something that you study.
Sure, sensei will teach you and show you how to do the basics such as footwork and how to swing your sword. But after that, it is all up to you to study it. Polish up your skills and dig it more deeply.
I always tell my students that I can tell them what they are supposed to do. But it is up to them to make it right. I cannot control their body for them. It is their body so only they can control them.
When they do things right, I tell them they are doing well. But that is not the end. To make it even better, it is up to them.
I even tell them what they should do to improve their skills. But it is up to them to STUDY and DIG more deeply what they are taught.
Some Skills Cannot Be Taught
Seme is a good example for this. Seme is often translated as “to attack” or “pressure”. So basically there are two types of seme, one is visible and the other one is invisible.
The visible seme involves physical action such as tapping your opponent’s shinai or actually stepping in.
The invisible seme is to put pressure on your opponent by not being reacting to your opponent’s seme. Most often the invisible seme is done with a combination with the visible seme.
Now if you do not understand what I am saying here, then you are not at the level to understand seme. And that is totally fine.
I am 6-dan and just started understanding it. Hopefully I really did start understanding it.
Anyway…
Senseis will tell you what you are supposed to do. You might be able to do it right away and you might not.
And it might take years to even understand what you were taught. And it might take more years to actually perform what you learned.
That happens in kendō quite often. And that is why it is necessary for us to actively study what we learned and to keep digging more deeply.
Kendō has a long long history and it is related to Japanese culture. It is not something you can just change because you don’t feel comfortable about something about it.
Why would you want to change it when it is pretty much an Intangible Cultural Heritage?
That Is Why Kendō Is Fun
Kendō is very difficult and hard to understand, study and perform. That is why we can have fun. And even when we reach our 60s and 70s, it is still fun and probably it will get more fun. That is why there are a lot of old people in kendō, because the fun never ends in kendō!
Do you agree with having a match or shiai in kendō? Some people do not like shiai because it helps kendō become TOO competitive. Others think that shiai is an important aspect of own training process.
What do you think?
I personally used to NOT like shiai that is because I did a lot of shiai when I was young. But now I think it is very necessary for me to participate in shiai for my deeper study of kendo.
To me the objects of shiai are:
Objects:
Test your skills
Test your attitudes
Test yourself as a person
Polish up my daily training
It does not matter anytime I do shiai or jigeiko with others, I get nervous. Why do I get nervous? It is because I do not want to get hit. Hitting or getting struck means “death” or “getting hurt” in kendo.
Of course, no one wants to get struck. One of the main purpose of kendo is to overcome this fear. Because we are afraid, we should overcome to execute a proper strike. That is why we always train.
Now I want to introduce a great saying of kendō.
Shiai Should Be Like Keiko. Keiko Should Be Like Shiai
In kendo, it is said that “Shiai should be like keiko. Keiko should be like shiai”. Basically what this means is there shouldn’t be any differences in your kendō under any circumstances.
Many people get serious when they fight in shiai. And also there are many people that they don’t do jigeiko as serious as they are when they fight in shiai.
That is why shiai shouldn’t be any different from your ordinary training.
Based on this principle, in kendō, we do not do shiai to win but to learn about our weaknesses so we can polish up ourselves.
Winning is BAD in Shiai?
Of course, NOT. But many focus too much on winning and forget about other important elements of kendō. Shiai is not a goal of our training. Shiai helps us to know our weaknesses and it gives an opportunity to face directly ourselves.
A victory in shiai shows you that what you have done in your daily keiko is good and your hard work paid off.
A loss in shiai gives you an opportunity to think about your own kendō and to study what you should make better in your daily keiko.
Apart from you feeling upset about your loss, there are only things to gain.
When is shiai bad for you?
When you become arrogant by winning. If this happens then now you loses the purpose of kendō. Maybe winning in shiai is your goal but it is not the purpose of kendō. So unfortunately shiai gives you a bad influence on your kendō training if you become arrogant.
When you start developing sneaky ways to win, then shiai has a bad influence on you. This is especially bad for you.
When you start blaming referees, it is bad. There are times that your referees misjudge and you might lose because of that. However, if you are absolutely stronger than your opponent, then your referees would not misjudge anything. Please do note that when you start blaming others for your loss, kendō won’t teach you anything.
Accept Your Loss
Then you can improve. If you blame others for your loss, then you will make no effort to look into your own kendō or try to change anything. That is why you must accept your loss.
Do Not Get Used To Losing
Accepting your loss sounds very humble. It is humble. But do not get used to losing. If you get used to losing, you will feel nothing. And you think you are better than anyone else because you accept your loss and you do not brag about your kendō. We call it, “justification”. You are shifting your focus.
If you lost, there was something wrong. That means there is something you should work on. And you should be feeling “upset and frustrated”. And these feelings must turn into “motivation” for your training.
Face It So You Can Improve
It is hard to face the reality because if lost simply you will be upset and question yourself what you have been doing during your keiko. That is the important part. You should be upset but you should turn that into your motivation. And start thinking harder and harder when you can or should strike and how you can avoid getting hit without learning sneaky ways.
This is the ideal relation between shiai and keiko.
Things That You Keep in Mind
Previously, I introduced a saying, “Shiai Should Be Like Keiko. Keiko Should Be Like Shiai”. But of course there are certain things that you have to keep in mind because it is different from keiko.
Main Differences
There are rules and regulations. That is the main difference between shiai and keiko. In jigeiko, for example, there is no limitation in the area you fight. However, in shiai, you have an area you have to fight within, called shiai-jō. If you step out of the shiai-jō, you will be penalized. And if you penalized twice, you will lose one point. This doesn’t happen in keiko, does it?
Another thing is referee. There are people who judge who gets a valid cut. Now it’s not necessarily you agree with it.
There will be 3 referees looking at you and your opponent fighting each other, and they will judge cuts executed from you and your opponent.
In keiko, you and your opponent might not be able to tell who gets a valid cut, but with 3 referees they can give you immediate feedback. So you should execute your techniques where these 3 referees can see you; otherwise, they might miss your valid cut.
Of course, referees learn how to move around so they won’t miss any valid cuts. But they are human. They always make mistakes. Just like you. That is why you have to fight so they can see you and judge correctly.
Therefore, you must know how to fight in shiai.
Train So You Can Control Yourself Under Any Circumstances
In shiai, we have regulations. We have rules. We have referees. And you never know what kind of opponent you will fight.
That is why we must train to keep ourselves under control.
In our daily life, we never know what happens to us. We must deal with different types of people out there every day. We must deal with things that happen to us unexpectedly.
Kendo is a small version of our life. It is small but it really shows our weaknesses, especially in shiai.
So don’t forget your purpose of doing kendo. Shiai is not for you to become arrogant. Shiai is not for you to feel better than others.
Shiai is for you to know your weaknesses and work on them for better self.
Many people have a problem with seiza. Most of the time they have stiff ankles. If ankles are stiff it is a torture to sit in seiza not even a second! This might help. Might not. I do not know. But there are some things that might help you to sit on seiza.
If you are not used to this, it will hurt, especially on the top of the feet. This is a pain you are feeling on the skin of the feet. But if your ankles or knees start hurting, the inside body not the skins, that is not good. Please stop. You have to “train” to sit in seiza.
Now in this video you are learning
How to practice to sit in seiza
How to stretch your ankles
Alternatives of Seiza
Hope this helps!
How to Practice to Sit in Seiza, Stretch for Seiza and Other Options for Seiza
Have you heard that you should not be learning techniques but you should be stealing them? I tell my students to steal the movements. There are many things that we cannot just “teach”. But do you really know what “stealing techniques” means?
