your Kamae of choice!!

[Kenosabe]

hi, im relatively new to Kendo, comparing to many of you i presume.

I need some help with Kamae, since there are to be 5 of them

Jodan
Chudan
Gedan
Hasso
Waki

how are they even used in a match, so far i have only seen Jodan and Chudan used, with Gedan very rarely, the others i have only seen in katas

and there seem to be many different types of Jodan-no-Kamae, some with shinai tilted, others not.

what about in nito-ryu, how are kamae held in nito? the kamae held by nito players that i have seen are:

1. left hand with regular shinai (jodan), right hand with kodachi (chudan) right foot in front, left foot back <---used by my sensei, btw.
2. the opposite of above
3. right hand with regular shinai (jodan), left with kodachi (chudan), right foot forward, and left back

if anyone can just drop in a note or just any remarks on the kamaes, it would be appreciated

and if someone can explain all the kamaes, in full detail, you will earn my respect!!

happy practicing!

[bullet08]

don't worry about other kamae. keep doing chudan for awhile. only other waza being used in shinai kendo is jodan. after you are rather good at chudan, and if you can find a sensei who can teach you jodan or ni-to, you can try those.

pete

[Genya]

You don´t use any other kamae than chudan (possibly jodan and nito after few years) in keiko.

[cesarekim]

Out of curiousity, did you actually use gedan no kamae in jigeiko? I know one guy who used it during a shiai and got hansokku as it was a defensive attitude that was not conducive to letting his aite do anything. His aite still rammed in a tsuki and men from toma but he would have gotten another hansokku had his aite failed to score...

[JSchmidt]

Out of curiousity, did you actually use gedan no kamae in jigeiko? I know one guy who used it during a shiai and got hansokku as it was a defensive attitude that was not conducive to letting his aite do anything.

Hansoku for using gedan?. Isn't that a bit silly?

[cesarekim]

Hansokku for SITTING there in gedan. The guy would just stand in gedan and not do anything until aite would try to go in. He would then step back and try nuki. He NEVER initiated an attack but got to people out of sheer frustration...

[Inner_Silence]

for now,,, chudan works fine to me... anyway i really like jodan but im still looking for someone to teachme that...

[Masahiro]

i've got this crazy kamae, it's a variation of hasso, once people see it, they don't know what hit them. that's my preference, crazy style!

[NigelSponge]

There are several techniques from gedan, but ive never heard of it used as a dominant stance in shiai, like jodan or chudan. But it has its uses.
Same thing with Hasso kamae, i have seen, and used it in keiko, but not as a main stance. However there are techniques from it that can be good for their surprise factor and the fact that the shinai is already cocked back for a strike.
But yea, pretty much jodan and chudan in shiai. The others are quite intriguing though :)

[JSchmidt]

Hansokku for SITTING there in gedan. The guy would just stand in gedan and not do anything until aite would try to go in. He would then step back and try nuki. He NEVER initiated an attack but got to people out of sheer frustration...

Hmm..I know you can get hansokku for passive play in tsubazeriai, but wasn't aware that it could be given from 'normal' distance. Gedan is, as far as I know, considered to be a defensive kamae, so the guy kinda did the right thing.

[Kenmei]

The Edinburgh Kendo Club has a nice resource that explains each and gives examples of when to use them. There's also a lot of information for beginners as well that you could use.
http://www.kendo.org.uk/clubs/edinburghkendo/manual.html

[cesarekim]

I once got hanssoku because the shinpan thought I was dragging out the shiai time to get a draw. I was in chudan no kamae and actually was working on a 1-1 score... I THOUGHT I was just not giving my aite the distance and looking for an opening but I guess it looked like I was stalling. Not sure whether this is a correct call on the part of the shinpan but I'm in no position to argue about it. Shinpan rulings stand regardless...

[Kenshi]

The Edinburgh Kendo Club has a nice resource that explains each and gives examples of when to use them. There's also a lot of information for beginners as well that you could use.

thats a blast from the past.... better give it a once over/update.

[Po5i]

Do not try other kamae in keiko until you're shodan (1° dan) or near that level.

[nodachi]

Is there really any reason to have to learn jodan? I ignore nito altogether because of lack of teachers and I have no desire to learn it. But still, is there even a need to learn how to do kendo from jodan yourself? I can understand needing to learn how to respond to it, but I like chudan and have no desire to change my kamae. Is there a point where we need to learn it? Maybe to learn how to respond to it more by experiencing it from a different perspective, but I was just curious.

Chudan is the bomb!

[Kuma]

i've got this crazy kamae, it's a variation of hasso, once people see it, they don't know what hit them. that's my preference, crazy style!

I don't know Karate, but I know Ka-razy!

[Black Knight]

When you do katsugi-waza, you are actually using hasso on the left side...

[Genya]

When you do katsugi-waza, you are actually using hasso on the left side...
I would say, no. You just throw your shinai to your left shoulder to confuse the opponent and then strike.

[Kaoru]

Hi!

Well, speaking from a beginner's view, don't try to learn any kamae on your own. And, be sure to join a good dojo if you haven't already. Learning proper kamae is very important in having good kendo in addition to learning good footwork to go with it. You can learn these waza only from a qualified sensei. You must learn chudan first. You won't learn other kamae until sensei lets you. That will take a long time. You will have your hands full learning just chudan, trust me! It takes a long time to develope a strong kame. And, you will work on chudan for the rest of your life. There's always something to correct at any level.

However, there's nothing wrong with reading about them. It is good to at least to know what they are for future reference.

Well, I hope that helps!

Oh, and if you need a dojo, visit the Canadian Kendo Federation website. Sorry, I can't give the link. I haven't figured out how to get a link on this new pocket PC I just got. So, you'll just have to type it in your search engine. Or, maybe someone will give it. :)

Kaoru



hi, im relatively new to Kendo, comparing to many of you i presume.

I need some help with Kamae, since there are to be 5 of them

Jodan
Chudan
Gedan
Hasso
Waki

how are they even used in a match, so far i have only seen Jodan and Chudan used, with Gedan very rarely, the others i have only seen in katas

and there seem to be many different types of Jodan-no-Kamae, some with shinai tilted, others not.

what about in nito-ryu, how are kamae held in nito? the kamae held by nito players that i have seen are:

1. left hand with regular shinai (jodan), right hand with kodachi (chudan) right foot in front, left foot back <---used by my sensei, btw.
2. the opposite of above
3. right hand with regular shinai (jodan), left with kodachi (chudan), right foot forward, and left back

if anyone can just drop in a note or just any remarks on the kamaes, it would be appreciated

and if someone can explain all the kamaes, in full detail, you will earn my respect!!

happy practicing!

[SmellsLikeBogu]

last weekend I just had my first class about what to do when you're facnig a jodan player. Gave me alot of insight on the whole jodan thing :) at least now I know what to do if my opponent switches to jodan :) (or at least, what I can TRY to do :p)

[xvikingx]

Hmm..I know you can get hansokku for passive play in tsubazeriai, but wasn't aware that it could be given from 'normal' distance. Gedan is, as far as I know, considered to be a defensive kamae, so the guy kinda did the right thing.

I'm sorry to bring this thread back but after reading this post I became very curious.
Although I have never seen it done in person or on video, I have read about people using gedan on this forum. Gedan is supposed to be a defensive stance, which would make sense in real sword fight where anything goes, however in kendo it seems to me like you would be leaving yourself wide open while increasing the amount of distance for your kissaki to cover when swinging your shinai, therefore making you slower. How is this defensive? What advantages are there to using gedan in kendo?
Can anyone answer this?

[Fudo-Shin]

I can't answer your question but I can affirm that the few times I have tried dropping the Kensen even slightly (gedan with a shinai) I have lost in that exchange. Even against someone with lower skill level/speed it still doesn't work IMO. Your Men is just too close if you go to Gedan. If they have a strong attack, aite will 9/10 times strike your men before you can Kaeshi or whatever it is you want to try. You really just give your opponent the head start when you try gedan. I'm only speaking from my own experience though and it may differ from someone at a higher level.

[Kashiyasu]

Check this webpage, it contains pictures and some info on the different Kamaes:
http://www.halifaxkendo.org/kamae.html
Now, I have two questions...

1. Is Hasso no Kamae used nowadays? Apart from kata, has anyone seen a kendoka in Hasso no Kamae in keiko?

2. When I asked my sensei about the Kamaes he told me to investigate the advantage of Wakigamae... Can anyone help me with this one?!?

[ZtefaNNN[K]]

waki was used with nodachi usually, so it was useful to hide the length of the nodachi and surprise your oponent that way.

[Black Knight]

We sometimes use gedan when doing isshu-jiai with our fellow naginata club. It works to protect suneate. I still tend to think of katsugi as a kind of hasso, but then people do it differently. Some bring it all the way back to the shoulder, and others just to the ear. So go figure...