It’s been a week since last weekend’s FIK Shimpan Seminar held in Toronto. I jotted down some notes after the seminar, but wanted to reflect on them a bit before putting them online.

One point emphatically made at every shimpan seminar I have been to is this: The level of shimpan affects the level of shiai and the level of shiai ultimately affects the level of kendo. It is therefore imperative that all shimpan do their best to make proper decisions.

Here are my notes. It is absolutely possible that I have written something that is incorrect. There was a LOT covered and much of it was discussed in Japanese with an English translation afterward. It is possible I have misunderstood something, so please do not take these notes as “gospel”. If you have questions, please ask your sensei for clarification.

• The level of shimpan affects the level of shiai. The level of shiai affects the level of kendo.
• The importance of being able to judge proper yuko-datotsu can not be over-emphasized.
• Some of what goes into a proper strike – datotsu-bu of the shinai striking the datotsu-bui with proper hasuji, saya (sharpness) with proper body position and attitude. This is not an all-inclusive list because shimpan must take into consideration everything that led up to the moment of the strike and not just the strike itself.
• Sometimes what we would have considered an “inferior” strike is in fact a good strike because of the opportunity presented.
• In hiki-waza, if the strike is clean and the person struck doesn’t do any follow up, the strike can be considered valid even if there is no fumikomi.
• A men strike that is short but that strikes a retreating person may still be valid because the person is retreating – refer to “opportunity” above.
• When someone strikes men and the recipient tries to stop it by doing tsuki, the men will be valid if the recipient’s body or attitude says “retreating”, even if the tsuki strikes or if the attacker “runs into” the kensen.
• Kendo no kata and the use of a katana are the basis of what we’re looking for in good kendo.
• In hiki-kote or hiki-do, if the body is turned away from the opponent it is generally not considered possible to make a strike with proper hasuji.
• Hasuji is not just important at the point of impact – it is the “flight” of the blade from the start of the strike to the end. You can’t swing wildly and then adjust the shinai just before impact and have proper hasuji.
• Blocking is a problem in kendo. Cleaner breaks or hiki-waza from tsubazeriai are preferred.
• Always be moving forward, especially when doing oji-waza.
• Nakayui should be 1/4 of the way down the shinai from the tip. Players who don’t have their shinai set properly should be told prior to starting the match to switch their shinai out.
• Pushing a person by the neck with the shinai is dangerous. If it’s done as part of a maneuver that results in a strike then it might be okay, but players who repeatedly use that technique should perhaps be given a penalty. Call gogi and discuss if that is the case.
• Referees are to move in a synchronized fashion. Sometimes a referee does not move with the other two. The question was asked “what should be done in this situation” and the answer was “this should never happen”, interpreted as “people who don’t move as proper shimpan should not be shimpan”.
• Pushing from low to high from a strong opponent to a smaller opponent is potentially dangerous and should be discouraged. Call gogi and discuss if you see this happening and then provide a hansoku if it’s deemed appropriate (i.e. if it’s repeated a couple of times).
• When there is a jodan player, shimpan should move in closer to better see the tsuki-dare on the jodan player.
• All shimpan should be aware of the positions of the other four people on the court: the two players and the other two shimpan.
• The position of the fukushin is approximately 1 m from the court boundary on an 11 m court. If the court is smaller, the fukushin should be closer to the court boundary as appropriate.
• Everything from the hips.
• Recognizing and taking advantage of a great chance is one of the important things in a strike. Even if the strike itself isn’t that great, the fact that the shiai-sha recognized and tried can trump a weaker strike.
• Shimpan must make up their minds independent of the other shimpan, but they should all make decisions in unison.
• Shimpan should be properly positioned on the court at all times to see the play. They should be anticipating the movement of the players and moving accordingly. The players should not determine the position of the shimpan.
• A hiki-do strike should not continue downwards after impact, nor should it be pulled back away from the body. It should look like the person cut to the center of the body.
• If you apply the principles of the sword to a problematic situation, the decision should become obvious.
• Kihon-waza are more closely related to shinai kendo than to kata because the techniques can all be done and used in shiai.
• That being said, the principles of shinai kendo are found in kata. Everyone should practice kata more.
• Flags should be raised and the motion should be the shortest possible path.
• The vocal commands of the shushin should be synchronized with the flag raising.
• The flags are signals but they are not authoritative. The vocal command of the shushin is authoritative.
• Shimpan must make decisions on strikes taking into consideration the level of the shiai-sha.
• Giving children and new players an explanation as to why they got hansoku is valuable.
• Praising students who make good strikes is also valuable. They need guidance on what constituted a good strike.
• Shimpan should be at an equal level or higher than the players they are judging.
• Shimpan should always be working on improving their level of play.
• “Sogo ni rei” is the proper way to tell teams to bow to each other.

Thank you to the FIK, the CKF, Chief Instructor Yuji Nakata sensei, Kendo Hanshi 8 Dan, Instructor Satoru Kanaki sensei, Kendo Hanshi 8 Dan and Instructor Koji Kasamura sensei, Kendo Kyoshi 8 Dan for a very well-run and informative weekend.