Shinai Grip

[OSatsu Jin]

This is concerning the left hand. I find it difficult to grip the shinai properly as kendo teaches, especially when doing kata. I did Ipponme for the first time the other day and didn't like the grip at all as my instructor had shown. Either gripping the shinai or the bokken. I also study Jyodo and the grip we are taught for the bokken is to let the pinky hang off the end slightly...I find this more comfortable and give me a bit more flexibility in the wrist. Is it such a big deal to alter my grip to how it is in kendo or can I just continue keeping my pinky off the end. I do this with the shinai too.

John

[mystic_kendoka]

you SHOULD be leaving your pinky off the grip, with the bokuto im not sure, but with the shinai, you need it for extra grip, when you do tsuki,

wat grip did ur sensei show you?

[DCPan]

I also study Jyodo and the grip we are taught for the bokken is to let the pinky hang off the end slightly...

Well, unfortunately, you are going to get a variety of answers on this one.

Kensei Takana Sasaburo sensei grips the bokken with the pinky half on half off, in many of the pictures I've seen. But in the same article (May 1996, Kendo Nippon), Inouye hanshi grips the shinai with the pinky one pinky width above the end of the gashira.... :D

In the various articles about grip that I've seen in Kendo Nippon, some senseis advocate that you should have the same grip, regardless of whether you are holding a shinken, bokuto, or shinai.

Other senseis advocate that as the physical properties of a shinken, bokuto, and shinai are different, you should use grips that maximize the property of the weapon you are going to employ.

Now, as to the grip itself.

In Zen Ken Ren Iai, the pinky of the left hand is in front of the tsuka-gashira which is the metal cap at the end of the iaito/shinken.

However, if you look at various koryu, such as Katori Shinto Ryu, they grip with the pinky half-on the tsuka-gashira, despite the metal cap.

Thus, I'm not so sure that avoiding the metal tsuka-gashira is necessarily a good explanation. As said by a sword furniture smith, if that was an issue, they would have designed the sword differently.

The "unifying" theory that I've heard and is currently using is this:

Grip your weapon such that the end of your left pinky is flush with the end of the weapon (for the proper transfer of power).

Thus, when gripping a shinken, you would grip to where the end of the metal TANG/Nakago is, not the end of the wooden tsuka. That would require you to know the construction of your shinken/iaito by taking apart the handle.

When gripping a bokken/shinai, as the grip is one piece construction, it's pretty easy to figure where the end of the weapon is and how your pinky should sit relative to that.

Check out the May 1996 issue of Kendo Nippon. There's quite a bit of dicussion on grip as that was the featured topic of the month.

IMHO, there isn't such a thing as best grip...you have to find one that fits your physique and what you are looking for.

As usual, what you'll hear will probably vary!

[OSatsu Jin]

I haven't gotten to where we are doing tsuki yet with a shinai...I am new to kendo. But my instructor did correct me when I was doing kata about the pinky needing to be slightly above the end of the bokken. He hasn't corrected me on the shinai...which I have been letting my pinky hang off the end....doesn't matter whether I have a shinai of bokken....that way just feels better to me.

I don't own an iaito or shinken so I don't know what it would feel like with one of those.

Thanks
John

[Neil Gendzwill]

that way just feels better to me.

Lots of things "just feel better" to you as a beginner - crooked feet, hunched back, right-handed hitting. I suggest you do as your sensei says.