importance of left arm and left leg!!

[dh song]

I heard that left hand and left foot are important when one is practicing kendo.
Then where do i get the power/speed when i strike? I heard strking power should come from the hip. But, i believe the power should come from the whole body,delivered from feet up through the legs--> hips-->abs-->chest->shoulders -->biceps-->forearms--> then wrists. I used to practice tae kwon do for 4 years, and all kicks and punches came from the abs. But in kendo, i m not sure. Another words, I m a newbie in kendo!!! Again, my question is that where the power/speed should come from, and how i can develop the power and speed??

[Yowai]

Define power.
Explain what you mean when you mention body parts. When you say "hips" do you mean the hip bone? Iliopsoas?

Otherwise, everyone will crowd to this thread to discuss spiritual or religious kendo. ie "Let the ki flow through your body and deliver a blow."

[tango]

I'll take a stab at this, and remember, this is just a nidan opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

I think half the battle in becoming "speedy" lies in footwork and the koshi (the very small of the back) and perhaps most importantly, knowing when to strike.

Think about these 60, 70, 80 year old guys doing kendo. They wipe the floor with younger people. Do you really think they are "stronger" than a 20-something or a 30-something year old man?

You could have the slowest kote stike in the whole world and could be going up against an 18-yr-old with the fastest men strike in the world.. and if you strike his kote at just the right moment prior to his men attack, everyone will think you are the fastest kendo player they've ever seen!

But I digress..

Swinging hard and swinging fast are two different things. Swinging hard does not necessarily mean that you can swing fast or that you are swinging fast. A shinai generates tremendous power with very little energy expended and a good kendo strike means staying in control of your shinai.
It's very hard to control the shinai when you're trying to use brute force.

Trying to muscle a fast swing generally leads to two things: wearing out too fast and sloppy strikes.

Muscling a swing will overuse and tighten up your shoulders and in kendo, you want to try and relax your shoulders. This is not taekowndo where you are trying to throw a punch as hard as you can, using all your power from your whole body to strike a large target area like the torso from 2 or 3 feet away. This is kendo and you're trying to manipulate a 3-odd-foot shinai with a kensen that's considerably smaller than your fist and you're trying to hit a smaller, precise, limited target area from twice the distance that you would be accustomed to in a taekowndo sparring match.

As for moving fast, footwork and the koshi are very important. For me to generate a good "push-off", my sensei told me to squeeze my butt cheeks together. I know that sounds silly, but it worked for me to understand what it feels like to be pushing with the koshi.

"Brute force speed" does not necessarily translate into good kendo with accurate strikes.
Developing good technique (including all-important footwork and such) is what translates into good kendo with speedy, accurate strikes.

Just give it some time..

Sorry to ramble. I'm sure there will be some better advice from the more experienced players on this board.

[Neil Gendzwill]

The left leg drives the motion forward, and the left arm generates the bulk of the power. From an arm motion perspective, kendo is similar to other swinging sports like golf or baseball, where the lower hand on the grip is pulling and driving the motion, and the upper hand is controlling. We tell beginners to use all left hand, and if we're lucky they might use 50% left hand - people want to use their right hand all the time.

As far as speed goes - what kind of speed do you mean? Speed to get your body to the target - that's all your left leg in tandem with your midsection. As Tango pointed out, the midsection is key. We talk about "kendo hip", which is having your pelvis rotated forward. When you do this, there's a strong mechanical connection from your left leg to your hips and lower body. When you push off with the left leg held fairly stiff, the hips move immediately forward. Strong kendo players tend to have good core strength. That and calves like small tree trunks (especially the left one).

Speed to hit the target once your body's there - in advanced players this is mostly wrist and forearm. Hitting the target with a big swing involves a relaxed shoulder, but it's mostly mental things in order to get an opening big enough to swing big. Actually it's mostly mental things even for the small openings but really that's another topic.

Anyways, thinking of things in terms of muscle at a beginning stage is counterproductive. Relax, swing easy, try to get the mechanics right - speed and power will come later.

Uh, that's kind of rambly on a Monday morning - hope it explained at least something.