This page is dedicated to the stories, hints and tips of our recent beginners. Hopefully some of thier tales will give insight and encouragement to the nervous beginner.
FENCING FOR BEGINNERS
by Chris Brown
(minor editing By Paul Walsh)
For a lot of beginners, the first few times in bogu can be a very intimidating experience, to try to help with this, I have compiled a few hints and tips to make your first attempts at fencing a little easier.
1 -STAY CALM- Ji-Geiko (Free fencing . ED) can be pretty intense and until your confidence grows you will find yourself getting hit.....a lot. dont worry about it, its all part of the process and eventually the fear of being hit will diminish.
2 -PICK YOUR TARGETS- Think about the targets you want to strike instead of just lashing out, pick a target and see if you can beat your opponent to the cut.
3 -KIAI- (Screaming your lungs out. ED) Its very important you kiai as you strike, this helps to build spirit and improve breath control, you will find reserves of energy you never knew existed by using a good strong kiai.
4 -GET TO A COMFORTABLE DISTANCE- Most beginners are comfortable at a relatively close distance, usually a mid range MEN cut with the shinai crossed at a distance of 3 or so inches, as you get more experienced your distance will get further away as your cuts become more confident.
5 -DONT BLOCK EXCESSIVELY- By blocking constantly you are effectively depriving yourself of striking oppotunities as you are always concentrating on your opponents shinai, try to practice debana waza by strikng as your opponent strikes or if you can just before.
6 -KEEP EYE CONTACT- It can be quite difficult in the beginning but try to keep eye contact with your opponent as much as possible, if you are looking at targets your opponent will see this and capitalize by either striking first or countering.
7 -HOLD CENTRE- You may not realise it but if you dont hold centre you are leaving targets wide open. point the kensen (tip of the shinai) squarely at your opponents throat, this helps to strenthen your kamae and leave nothing exposed (watch your kote as they have a tendency of opening themselves, try to keep them on top of the shinai and not on the side).
By holding the kensen off centre, no matter how slightly, a canny opponent will see this and strike your exposed target. It can be a battle to hold centre but a worthwhile one, by holding centre it puts you at an advantage.
8 -STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW- There is nothing wrong with experimenting with different cuts and waza during Ji-Geiko but if there is something you are not confident with (tsuki for example) do not use it as it can be quite dangerous if not done properly. (Practice your unknown techniques in Kihon/basic practice first. Become good, then use it in your free fencing. ED)
9 -ABOVE ALL KEEP IT SAFE AND FUN- Speaks for itself.
Chris
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The Beginner.
by Chris Brown
I can still remember my first lesson perfectly, i remember feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension as well as a sort of fear of the unknown ( I had never done anything like this before!!!) but these fears were soon put to rest as soon as i met the Sensei and Sempai who were both very friendly and helpful.
My intention was to watch the first time and if i liked the look of it get involved next week, this didnt go according to plan as some of the group were incouraging me to join in, so in for a penny in for a pound i dived in.
The lesson started with the formal REI-in (Bow) and followed by the most intense warm-up i had ever done which as it turned out did me a huge favour in loosening up the main muscles used in Kendo as Suburi was next. I was tired after the workout but that was nothing compared to Suburi where the Sempai would demonstrate a cut and the group would perform this cut over and over until the Sempai shouts Yamae (Stop), then on to the next cut. Prior to Suburi i had been shown how to hold the shinai and basic posture and cutting technique. Suburi lasted for what felt like a lifetime but eventually it ended and it was on to the next part of the lesson.
As a beginner i was taken aside by the Sempai to learn how to cut and more in-depth instruction on footwork, posture and Ki-ai. I was then given the chance to practice this on the Dummy.
After maybe half an hour of practice on the Dummy ( A real Dummy, not the Sempai by the way) i was unleashed on the rest of the group.
Eager to try out my new found Kendo skills i very quickly found out they were far from sufficient and during a rather frantic UCHI-KOMI-GEIKO i found i could barely hit any targets that were offered to me or the ones i did hit i shouted 'Kote' after hitting Men and started to feel pretty despondent about the whole thing, however the rest of the group were really supportive and by the end of UCHI-KOMI i felt my confidence growing.\par After this i was given a chance to relax as Sensei had shouted JI-GEIKO and unfortunately i wasnt allowed to join in.
For the un-initiated JI-GEIKO is a series of 2 or 3 minute Kendo matches done wearing full armour (or Bogu as its known) where you have the chance to test out anything learned during the lesson, as well as any techniques learned from Kata or just from watching other people fence, in a Full Contact match JO-GEIKO is also a chance to gain combat experience with little chance of injury (except the odd bruise) and will get you used to being hit, until you eventually have no fear of being hit....thats the aim anyway, when there is no fear of being hit you have a much better chance to evade/defend/all-out attack against an attack.
As a rule beginners are not allowed into Bogu as it is difficult enough just learning the basics without the added pressure of having to fence an opponent with no idea what to expect.
After watching an exhillarating series of matches i joined the group in forming a large circle with 2 people fencing inside in a winner stays in situation, i was last into the circle and had to face Sensei who proceeded to put me through an intense but fun UCHI-KOMI and then that was it, the lesson ended with everybody lining up for the formal REI-out, i left the dojo with aches and pains in muscles i never even knew i had and some of the worst blisters i have ever had in my life and yet i went back the week after and the one after that and here i am 18 months later and still loving Kendo.
For somebody wanting to get into Kendo i couldnt recommend it enough, its intense and very rewarding and the only two things you need are practice and patience, its a long learning curve, sometimes the going is relatively easy and sometimes the curve is very steep, however the feeling of acheivement you get by overcoming the countless obstacles to your progression is reward enough!!!!
Chris.