You're short! J/k =).

[dorkusxmaximus]

I wonder if anybody has a hard time doing DO on a person that was shorter than them? I kind of have a hard time because I sometimes end up smacking their ribs. Oh yeah, and has anybody pulled of a successful DO against their shorter opponent at a taikai?

[qpuppy]

If your taller than them.. you should concentrate of getting their men....

[dorkusxmaximus]

yeah i know.

[Inouye02]

how tall are you nancy ?

[dorkusxmaximus]

i'm 5'8 ^_^, jamie. It would be nice if i was 6ft! that way i can play b-ball.

[Inouye02]

you can still play b-ball

[dorkusxmaximus]

yeah but it would be kewl to dunk =).

[slidercrank]

To cut do, it's important to not bend forward, no matter your opponent's height. Keep your back straight, and sink your hip lower, if necessary, to adjust to your opponent's height as you go foward and slightly to your right of the center. This is, of course, easier said than done.

Do-uchi's timing and footwork are so different than men- and kote-uchi's that, as a low-kyu student, you are better off just concentrate on men and kote during keiko's. Eventually, your eyes and muscles will have become sufficiently attuned to the way of kendo that you will be able to strike do-uchi somewhat properly.

Hope this helps.

[Goomba]

Yeah, what slidercrank said.

Actually, I have a very difficult time hitting do on my opponents. I am tall (6'3") and I have found out it is very hard to hit do on a smaller kenshi (smaller than 6'). After a few weeks (and bruises on my classmates) I decided to forget about do for now and work on kote and men.

I can usually hit a good do from tsuba zeriai by droping my body before I hit do. I do not bending my back, but bend my right knee right and take a step back before I strike, which I have just realized is very difficult to explain in a fourm. It's something you have to see I guess.

[Inouye02]

you can do as Yamasaki Sensei does drop yo your knees and hit doh on the shorter guys ...

[JSchmidt]

The tendency seems to be that when I (and others I practice with) miss the do, is that they're looking at it :). Establish proper metsuke (I believe that'sthe right word?) and I rarely miss it.

Jakob

[Neil Gendzwill]

The biggest problem I find with doh is that people worry so much about missing. The result is that they tend to aim it with their right hand and miss even more. Pull down hard with the left hand and make sure that the finishing position for the left hand is very low, back to chudan level or even lower. Then you'll hit more accurately and with more power. As other people have said, don't lean or bend.

[JSchmidt]

Yeah, my teacher was always lambasting me for not hitting the doh the hard enough. I told him I was worried about missing and he told me "don't". (He was on the recieving them).

Jakob

[xvikingx]

My do is very soft for the same reason. I do not consider myself a tall person but I am taller than most of the people in my dojo. I am so worried about hitting others in the armpit that I end up cutting the very top of the tare alot.

[Goomba]

Inouye02, Yamasaki Sensei taught me how to do that. It's kind of difficult to do, but I am getting better at it. Plus you can really get that shinai moving. It has made my do cuts much better. :D

[dorkusxmaximus]

i want to see what you guys are talking about!

[Hongsermeier]

dorkus...... at 5'8" your taller than a LOT of the guys down here. Including Jamie and William Honda. :cross_eye

[sminki]

The dropping to one of your knees while hitting doh (that Inouye mentioned) - is this still a widely accepted thing? I have heard of older senseis doing it and very few of the younger ones still do it such as Seong sensei in NJ, but I don't know of any dojo which actually practices this nor have I seen it in shiai.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Kotaka-sensei's "Classical Kendo" group does that drop-knee thing, dunno if they ever participate in federation taikai though.

[dorkusxmaximus]

what?!? no way! i'm taller than the guys down there?!? it's not true~~~~

Does the drop-knee Do looks like what i think it looks like?

[Hongsermeier]

I've never seen it yet. I imagine it's similar to the kata where you drop to one knee. :cross_eye

[Inouye02]

ok guys , its like dropping to BOTH knees and hitting do..dont think you will see it in a tournament, if your opponent is moving forward..welll you get the picture ..

Hongs ..PCI Dojo you can see it ...

[Inouye02]

yeah nancy , its true , oh its true , mostly 5'5-5'8

[Goomba]

Hey now! Get your mind out of the gutter (so mine can pass). I know which do cut you are talking about. I'm not talking about that one.

This is going to take a bit to explain because, well it's hard to describe different kendo moves without pictures or being there and I am very bad at describing things. So please bear with me, and this works better if you have a fair amount of are strength.

The one I am talking about goes something like this:
1. Start from tsuba zeriai, tsuba on bottom. Push your opponents hand and tsuba up like you are going for men. This raising opens up the do.

2. While pushing up, start extending your left leg back getting ready to move.

3. Do your do cut. While swinging the shinai downward, bend your right knee and finish your leg extension. When your shinai hits do, your stance will look like the ankle streching exercise (left leg extended straight back, heel not touching the floor, right leg in front with lower leg 90 degrees from floor) except you have a shinai doing a do cut . The bending of the knee and the extension of the left leg usually makes my do cut spot on. If i have to go lower I usually end up with one knee on the ground or very close to it.

4. When you finish, roll your right foot back from toe to heel to get shoot your body back and get back into chudan.

I know this sounds wierd but you have to see it because I am not describing it well.

[Eldritch Knight]

Remember to keep the handle of the shinai lower than the saki (angle it slghtly upwards). Don't do it so much as to ruin your form, but if done correctly, you'll hit the dou more accurately, and will almost never hit ribs (I learned everything I know about kendo in Japan, and have pulled off a douuchi on 4' tall women - this really works)