step and cut?

[sayla]

many times my sensei has told me to do step and cut at the same time. But i still has not done correctly. What's wrong? Any ideas??

Anyone has same problem and you would like to share your story??

[Peter West]

"correctly" you say. Well, to step AND cut correctly means developing Ki ken tai ichi which in turn requires all sorts of other concepts to be in place. How long have you been training? If the answer is less than 20 years, then don't worry about it. If the answer is 20 years or more then you should be beginning to understand that there is no "correctly"

[foundinsea]

I think most beginners have this problem (even advanced kendoka do, I know I mess it up sometimes). My guess is that you are in motion as you lift your shinai. Try lifting your shinai first, then as you begin the downward swing, start to move your feet. This should help...but I'm sure there are others on this board that can explain this better.

[MiyamotoMusashi]

the things that should be happening (at least as i've been instructed) at the same time are the following:

for regular footwork (suri ashi)
your left foot should come up and stop behind your right foot just as your strike lands. so, everything stops moving at the same time.

for the lunge (fumikomi)
your strike should land at the same time as your right foot makes the slapping sound on the floor. for this one, you can think of it as everything "lands" at the same time.

so i guess it depends on the footwork, but as dkfdnls said, you should probably be lifting your shinai before you take the step.

in case you dont' know what "Ki Ken Tai Ichi" means, it's "Spirit, Sword, Body, [as] One." so your kiai, your strike, your movement, and your sword should all work together as one.
that is, for suri ashi, your last movement is your right foot sliding forward, so that should happen at the same time as your strike hitting.
for fumikomi, movement persists after the strike, so it should all land together as one explosive strike, so your right foots lunge forward and slap on the ground should land the same time your shinai hits.

i hope that made some sense and wasn't too redundant.

[Gessho]

We are taught to move the foot first and then execute the cut. There still has to be ki-ken-tai-ichi so it is devilishly hard for me to do!

[Neil Gendzwill]

Some reading for you. (http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/search.php?searchid=2139369)

[sayla]

hey Neil, your link does not work. Would you like to re-post your link again?

[H.Sandsleth]

Try the search function, i think that was the link that was above. Pages of stuff to read.

[JByrd]

many times my sensei has told me to do step and cut at the same time. But i still has not done correctly. What's wrong? Any ideas??

Anyone has same problem and you would like to share your story??

From what I've seen, there seem to be three steps in the progression. Not everyone will agree, I'm sure.

The first level involves swinging up in place. The entire step (both right and left foot movement) happens during the downswing, so that the footwork is completed at the same time the downswing is completed. That's the kind of swing we typically have beginners do in three-step (san-kyo-dou) striking practice. It's not very practical, but it is simple enough to allow a beginner to make the swing and footwork finish together, which is an indispensible factor in producing a good strike.

Once the swing starts to become more stable and efficient, the second level involves starting the right foot moving forward at the same time the upswing is started. The downswing then corresponds to the left foot moving forward, so the swing and the footwork finish at the same time.

When the swing becomes more efficient, you can wait until the right foot is in motion before starting the upswing. The swing must be fast to do that, since it still has to be completed at the same time the footwork is completed. That kind of swing is most practical, since it allows you to close with the opponent without losing contact with his shinai, maintaining control of center as you move in.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Sorry, my bad - just do a search for threads with "fumikomi" in the title.