Gyaku-do, my noodle baked.

[Dave Humm]

I'm sure this is a simple enough problem to sort however, having done aikido for 20 years "gyaku kessa" is a reversed diagonal travelling from (my) left shoulder to right hip. Last Tuesday we were doing gyaku-do and my mind went "eh??" lol talk about confusion factor, despite asking at the time I was clearly not listening.

My question is what side of the do is "gyaku"

Thanks in advance

[hobbit]

His left . . . i.e. you're cutting through where his saya and kodachi would be if he was wearing swords.

[rfoxmich]

That is to say your opponent's left side.

[ZealUK]

Gyaku just means reverse. Gyaku kesagiri could be from the opponents right hip to left shoulder, or right shoulder to left hip depending.

[Bennosuke]

Since the saya is on the left side, you generally cut to the opponent's right do, because the kodachi and saya would block the left side. As you might know, Gyaku just means opposite, so it is a cut to the opposite side of the do.

[Neil Gendzwill]

It doesn't really have anything to do with the saya. It's mostly a matter of which is the easier target. With the opponent in chudan, the right elbow is higher than the left, therefore all you need do is get his hands moving a little forward or up and his right doh becomes open. To hit the left doh, you need to get him swinging up higher.

Also, there's the matter of mechanics - with the right foot forward and the right-handed grip, it's much easier to move through the target when cutting left to right. Zanshin on gyaku-doh is tougher, you end up either just standing there dramatically, or making your body spin left to get clear.

[Halcyon]

Check out Shimizu's gyaku-do from this year's All Japan Kendo Championships. It's about 1:30 into the clip.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=P4cUJolmT5s

[ender84567]

as has been stated before gyaku translates to reverse, backwards or wrong, so gyaku do is opposit of the side you usually hit.

[Seiza_Seizure]

Check out Shimizu's gyaku-do from this year's All Japan Kendo Championships. It's about 1:30 into the clip.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=P4cUJolmT5s


How sweet is that Gyaku Do by Shimizu?!! You can actually see him enticing his opponent to create an opening. Sure enough his opponent raises his Kensen and exposes his Do. Shimizu then takes Gyaku Do. Nice.