I thought going through my two matches at SWORD would be useful.
They’re probably more useful to me…but I hope you find them beneficial as well.
Here’s a breakdown of the match with a few pointers I think will be helpful to my students (and other kendoka) when they’re next in shiai.
A great video, and a nicely controlled match. The hiki-kote was spectacular IMO.
The refs & players both missed a few things and gave away a few things. Such is learning Kendo for both sides.
I’d like to make a few comments regarding the video, for our students, myself, and if you’re interested for you. I love talking “shop” and learning from stuff like this. So, just my $0.02 🙂
(1) Don’t know if this is intentional or on purpose, but either you or your opponent don’t actually connect your tsubas in tsubazeriai. That gives a prime opportunity for a kote. Maai issues aside, losing the physical connection to your opponent is very dangerous the result is the hiki waza attempts by Kawabe Sensei. Giving away these opportunities also gave Kawabe Sensei “free seme” as the opponent is now afraid of hiki waza. Notice that soon after he “turns on the juice”. Big mistake against a relaxed opponent.
(2) From a shinpan point of view, personally, I would not have given the kote point in round one @3:40. The hit was good, but IMO not enough Zanshin.
No I don’t mean you moving forward, etc., etc.. That wasn’t the issue. Zanshin must show intent (for completion) and posture, etc. all of which you did. However the third element, and IMO the most important element of Zanshin, is “alert and ready for potential counter attack” (IKF). Looking at the point with this in mind, were you ready for a counter attack? Hands up in the air (in a semi-blocking position), standing close to the opponent, all targets exposed. Can or should this ever be interpreted as zanshin?
Ok, so what would make it better? One step to the side, or continue moving into your opponent would have been enough. But the best would be as he “bounced off of you” (heh) step back as in the Kihon Bokuto Waza and assume kamae. (Strike–>Zanshin (throat) –> Kamae. No possible way anybody could deny that you had Zanshin.
(3) Blocking. I love your comment on that. Trying turning it into a kaeshi do, or do it the opposite way for gyaku do. At the point in the movie you circle your blocking is a great example. If you were still in “attacking mode” instead of blocking, that could have been a prime opportunity for almost any oji waza of your choice.
This ties in with the previous comment on “free seme”. The opponent, pressured by your attack attempts, turns on the juice. He may have felt he was being aggressive and taking a “good” chance to strike, but really this was all Kawabe Sensei’s doing. Deep down, Kawbe Sensei “forced” him to attack. Notice how desperate / off-balance the attack was. He wasn’t really “ready” to strike, he was desperate to do “something” to break free of the pressure. I bet if you had that same opponent perform uchi-komi men on you, it would look spectacular and nothing like the one done here. Why?
This was a great chance for sen sen no sen. Blocking just got in the way.
Ah – a good conversation : )
1) Distance – intentional on my part, at least. My opponent at least had good pressure on my shinai so we were connected, but he never capitalized on the distance.
Part of shiai is testing your opponent, looking for opportunities. The maai during what could be referred to as tsubazeriai was an opportunity for us both. I just happened to take advantage of it.
2)”alert and ready for potential counter attack”
From the video, we can’t assume “alert”, although I can say that I was watching my opponent who was really close to me at the time and, most importantly from my perspective – not able to strike and not intending to strike.
Let’s look at the position. Looks similar to jodan, does it not? Shinai up high, ready for another attack. If the opponent had done taiatari and backed up, I would have been ready to strike.
Is that zanshin in the practical sense? Can one ever truly have proper zanshin when you’re as close as you’d be in tsubazeriai after you both follow through with an attack?
3) On blocking…
During my keiko with Raymond Sensei later on (ni-to vs. ni-to), I thanked him for pointing out the “hole” in my defense. Later on we discussed it a bit more in depth. He said the hole gets bigger from time to time. Not because I physically moved my shinai apart, but because mentally I wasn’t ready. Eyes and body language can give that away, and that’s when the hits came.
To me, I block when I’m not fully in the moment. This was very apparent in the next match, which I lost after being up by 1 point and a penalty. It doesn’t get much better than that, and I should have won.
The things that go on inside the noggin are just as important to your success in Kendo as your physical ability. Perhaps even more so.