Thoughts on SAMURAI SPIRIT KENDO 剣道

[Mr Yellow]

Hi,

This is my first time posting a completely new thread. Usually I just browse the forum as a lurker but I been thinking about a particular section in the SAMURAI SPIRIT KENDO 剣道 part 5/5 at 0.35 mins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCPOTUkLtiE

The following is mentioned:

Without striking be struck

Without waiting to receive a strike be struck

Without avoiding being struck be struck

Can anyone fluent in Japanese help shed some light in what the statements mentioned above mean? I'm wondering if this is a mistranslation and the statements should read Without striking, strike... etc. If this is not the case and they are the correct, then the concepts they relay sound very interesting and also hard to grasp.

Thanks,

[Tort-Speed]

Embarrassing as though I live here now, still far from fluent in the language but it seems your first impression is correct, assuming that "...nasai" means to do something (literally, "something do"). Apart from that interview, it's illuminating to watch the gentleman in keiko: his anticipation of what the attacker will do makes for up the slowing down that accompanies age. Didn't see the young guns (young blades?) holding back in deference to his age - they went in at full speed and power. The higher Dans looked for openings but seemed to find few or when they got there, none existed.
Wonderful fluidity of motion in moving aside, counter-attacking.

[Oroshi]

Hi,

This is my first time posting a completely new thread. Usually I just browse the forum as a lurker but I been thinking about a particular section in the SAMURAI SPIRIT KENDO 剣道 part 5/5 at 0.35 mins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCPOTUkLtiE

The following is mentioned:

Without striking be struck

Without waiting to receive a strike be struck

Without avoiding being struck be struck

Can anyone fluent in Japanese help shed some light in what the statements mentioned above mean? I'm wondering if this is a mistranslation and the statements should read Without striking, strike... etc. If this is not the case and they are the correct, then the concepts they relay sound very interesting and also hard to grasp.

Thanks,

It's mostly correctly translated. The second phrase, 受けずに打たれなさい means something more like "without blocking the strike, be struck."

There is another common phrase in Japanese kendo that may also be of interest: "When you strike, reflect upon it. When you are struck, be grateful" (打って反省、打たれて感謝). One more simple one that I've heard from various sensei is, "kendo is not about hitting people."

I am a beginner so I won't try and explain what these words mean. However I think they deserve a great deal of deep consideration.

[Hisham]

I was wondering about that too, my guess is that it has to do with the fact that thinking about the opponent's strike hinders your own actions/strike which makes you vulnerable, so just act as if you were already struck, the mindset should be "i have nothing to lose", that way you can be honestly and fully engaged when you execute your own strike, of course easier said than done.
Will be waiting for the thoughts of more experienced kendoka.

[ShinKenshi]

My experience is quite limited in comparison to many others out there but the phrase that Richard mentioned is one that resonates with me. I find that I learn the most when I get struck rather than when I land a good hit and lord knows how many times I've lost in shiai and gotten knocked around during jigeiko to show for it. Each time I find myself in an aiuchi situation and I either miss or get hit, I take a quick second to think about why that happened. More often than not I wasn't controlling center enough or I fell into my partner's rhythm. Next time around I have that in the back of my mind and I focus on correcting that mistake.

I have a theory that early in their training (first decade or so), many kendoka who go on to be quite successful in both shiai and in their kendo development, may have lost most of their shiai as well as "lost" during most of their jigeiko. What separates them from others who seem to plateau or flounder, is their determination to overcome that, reflect on why they lost, and go to great lengths to correct that by training harder and not focusing on loosing but rather becoming better than they were the previous practice. Over time, people start to see a difference in those that work hard and become successful and those who are successful despite not working as hard (those who seem to have a "natural" aptitude for it). I could very well be wrong on this but this is just what I have observed through my own practices thus far.

[1stdan]

I as well have limited Kendo experience, But my other MA experiences seem to reflect some of this idea. I always learned more by having a technique done to me. It lets you experience the result and sometimes you can "feel" more than you can "see".
I could watch someone get tossed around for an hour and not really understand what was happening until i was tossed a few times. Also, David, I heard a saying once that seems to follow what you are talking about. "If you win every time, you never learn anything." I think this is true. With out failure you don't learn

[Mr Yellow]

Thanks for you everyone's thoughts and views on the thread so far.

Keep them coming,

Cheers,