why?

[kendokamax]

Sometimes I wonder why we normaly use the left hand for holding the shinai at the bottom. Why couldn't we change that?

I, sometimes, like to fool around and switch my guard (my feets and my hands ), when I do that I get the feeling of when I was a beginner in kendo. It feels so unnatural. It's quite cool.

[cklin]

Think about the mechanics of unsheathing a blade if it's worn on the left side...

[KhawMengLee]

I am a left hander and I still feel more comfortable if my stance and grip was the opposite way around. Then again its meant to help as my left hand is stronger.

Meng

[Ian Russell]

Originally posted by kendokamax
Sometimes I wonder why we normaly use the left hand for holding the shinai at the bottom. Why couldn't we change that?There is a pretty decent thread related to the subject that came up recently @ E-Budo. Here is a link to Left-handed kendo? (http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12995). It's a good read.

Cheers,

[stakenaka]

Southpaws should be happy that the left hand holds the bottom: you cannot hit the left kote unless the opponent is in hidari jodan. Having your right arm hit all the time is a pain if you use that hand for writing! :)

[Confound]

amen to that. i've had day long practice sessions where we'd spend at least a few hours doing only waza that include kote strikes. being the stupid idiot that i am, i didn't wear anything on my wrist under the kote. the resulting bruise was one of the most fascinating yet disturbing things i've seen on my body for a long time.

for those of you who have soreness in your wrist, try wearing a little sports wristband under your kote. one of the terrycloth ones works quite well. it will cushion a little more of the shock. they work wonders.

c

[alexpollijr]

I can recommend the koei wrist protector. Very cheap and works wonders. It's on sale in tozando, among others.

[JSchmidt]

Actually, you'll see it in any sport that uses a stick of sorts; Baseball, golf, hockey, etc...it's always left hand at the end.
Someone probably got a scientific reason for it somewhere :D.
Maybe it got to do with the right hand being better for make fine adjustments during the motion, thus adding better control?.

Jakob

[kendo_chick]

I have to agree with Jakob. I believe that the left hand is used as a power house and the right (since most people are right handed) for making small movements. Think of when you are writing, those are some of the most precise movements a person can make, this would make the right hand more accustomed to making smaller movements and more precise movements as well.

I definately agree with the bruised arm. I've heard it's even worse when you do jodan and you get bruised on the fleshy underside of the arm and try to lean it against a table afterwards... ouch...

[Kuri]

A few years ago, Eiga (older brother) sensei was in Australia doing a seminar. He spoke about the natural movement of your body, specifically when you walk. Step forward with your right leg, your left arm swings forward, and then alternate. So, with "conventional" footwork of right in forward, it's natural that the left hand will also be moving forward and be the driving force for the cut.

Taking that idea, if you switch grips, then you should switch your feet as well.

[KENSHIN]

Originally posted by kendo_chick
I have to agree with Jakob. I believe that the left hand is used as a power house and the right (since most people are right handed) for making small movements. Think of when you are writing, those are some of the most precise movements a person can make, this would make the right hand more accustomed to making smaller movements and more precise movements as well.

I definately agree with the bruised arm. I've heard it's even worse when you do jodan and you get bruised on the fleshy underside of the arm and try to lean it against a table afterwards... ouch...

I have to say I quite agree. furthermore, if there is such a person that can switch from left to right, although having some advantages because it can totally throw your oppanant off, just like how its done in boxing, however if applied in kendo, it can be quite useless because it would require a person with ultra speed to swith diff postions without being caught of gaurd.

[Jerry Wellbrock]

Did you ever notice that there are very few Japanese people who are left handed.....going back centuries....left handed was considered a weakness and those individuals who started to naturally be left handed were encouraged to be right handed....the sword is worn as though all people are right handed....iaido is done as though all people are right handed....naturally kendo developed in the same manor that are participants are right handed....while being left handed is no longer looked on as a weakness....the arts have evolved in that fashion and stayed that way....

[KENSHIN]

Originally posted by Jerry Wellbrock
Did you ever notice that there are very few Japanese people who are left handed.....going back centuries....left handed was considered a weakness and those individuals who started to naturally be left handed were encouraged to be right handed....the sword is worn as though all people are right handed....iaido is done as though all people are right handed....naturally kendo developed in the same manor that are participants are right handed....while being left handed is no longer looked on as a weakness....the arts have evolved in that fashion and stayed that way....

Yes i totally agree that cutural attitudes towards the usage of the left side being a weakness, you can witness this especially in islamic cultures where all good things must be done using the right hand and all bad things using the left hand, i.e eating food should be with the right hand and cleaning your ass should be with the left hand...however i think that in terms of kendo the left hand is a very important aspect, as all your strength is in the left, the right hand is only used for coordination of the shini, but what would be interesting is how that would have an effect if applied the opposite way.

[wabbit]

where do you think the expression 'cack handed' came from?

[Tato]

Cultural attitudes of this kind are not only common in the islamic world. Just think that the "siniestro" in spanish or "sinistre" in french world comes from. And there's plenty of worlds with this root that have a big negative meaning in those lenguages. The real root is from latin or from italian, I'm not sure.

In the medieval european culture, the left hand was the hand of the devil, and meny of us we're issued of this culture.

And It's a pain, because many of us we're natural left handers who where forced to became rigth handers at school, reinforcing nice cases of dislexia (my case), and losing a good oportunity in Kendo.

[KhawMengLee]

Yeah...those damned righters always put us down! Look at Jimi Hendrix, he was a leftie so they assasinated him!

*imitates Darth Maul*

"We will have our revenge..."

heh