Bad Do Hits! Help the Newbie, kudasai

[nodachi]

Hi all,

I am new to Kendo for a little over a month. I was taught Do hits for the first time very briefly a week ago and I can recognize when I am doing it poorly, but am having difficulty correcting it. Any help is appreciated.

I find that my left hand veers away from my center so it doesn't end up going straight up and down like my sensei tell me. Even when it feels ok, they still show me that my left hand is twisting to the side somewhat.

I am not quite sure how high to raise my shinai before I begin the down swing.

I also feel like my arms are getting all twisted and thus making the hit slow and not very effective.

Any pointers are appreciated. I know practice practice practice is part of the correcting process, but are there anythings I should focus on while practicing to help correct this.

Arigato gozaimasu

[ben]

I can't help you but since you ask...
Do the technique in front of a mirror (although at this stage you probably wont really know what you're looking for). Do lots of one-handed suburi with the left hand only: practising the feeling of the left hand being in the centre of the body at all times. Watch the senior grades a lot during kihon training.

But really, keiko, keiko, keiko, keiko, keiko, keiko... and more keiko. There is no other way.
:)
b

[Charlie]

Take heart. Do is the most difficult attack, next to tsuki. I know many players who have been doing this many years and are STILL not very good at do. This includes myself, and I am nidan and have been at it 4 years. (Sigh!)

So, yes, just keep trying. The mirror thing is a good idea. It's just like a men cut, only down to the do.

[Ares2907]

Do cuts are men cuts up until the point that they are not.
Try and have the feeling of going for men - cutting directly at your opponent. Do not move to the side until after your shinai impacts (there are of course many variations on do cuts, this describes the basic cut).
Other than that, as others have said, practise x lots.

[munenmuso]

I also find do cuts difficult to execute though been doing it for four yeays now.It's easy if you step to the right rather than going straight when hitting do, at the same time you intend to hit it like using a baseball bat, a scrutiny more often by my senseis. Just do it slowly but surely and don't forget to carry your hips to maintain it as the center of your gravityand don't lean forward to much.

But I noticed in every shiai,it's a vulnerable spot because your opponent tends to over raise his shinai everytime you hit him in the men or kote or even if you just step forward.

Hope this helps.

[mingshi]

Originally posted by munenmuso
But I noticed in every shiai,it's a vulnerable spot because your opponent tends to over raise his shinai everytime you hit him in the men or kote or even if you just step forward.

This really sucks. Even if the DO is that opened because your opponent blocks, if you don't cut the DO properly you still can't score at all.

I found DO cuts difficult too (esp. in shiai), because it's much harder to demonstrate:-
1) Ki-Ken-Tai Ichi; and
2) Zanshin

Usually you've to step IN first for the cut. And then take another step going to the right (when you cut your opponent's right DO).

And always LOOK where you are cutting. I've been taking an extreme amount of missed DO cuts all over the right side of my body... especially as a motodachi.....

Oh, and don't lean forward.

(Nodachi, your username is way too flameable... what is that "sama" all about???? I suggest you to sign up for a new one. Rei.)

[nodachi]

Aye, the name is not quite right, but at the time I picked it a while back I tried nodachi but someone took it already and I despise numbers at the end of my account names and such.

I am kinda attached to it after so much time though despite the not quite correct and politeness of calling myself sama. I will consider a new name though.

Gomen to any I may have offended.

[munenmuso]

Dear Mingshi,

Perhaps the reason why we are all kendo enthusiasts is because we find KENDO as "truth in action".Our words may lack the essence of our meaning but strange enough when we practice what we mean we now lack the essence to argue about it. I didn't say that with bad Do hit you can score to a vulnerable do simply because of the opportunity. I'm only saying that with either weak chudan or bad reflex of your opponent, they tend to expose their do more often which gives you the opportunity to strike it. Hitting it correctly to score is another issue .For that reason, this thread is open for suggestions like that. :)

Gomenasai

munenmuso


___________________

"For lack of argument, they sheathed their swords"

[mingshi]

Originally posted by mingshi
This really sucks. Even if the DO is that opened because your opponent blocks, if you don't cut the DO properly you still can't score at all.

Munenmuso,

I said "THIS really sucks", not "YOU really suck". Don't take it personal. It's about bad Do cuts BTW. There's no need for an apology.

So what else should I argue about...?

Oh! Hey you! Don't think that I'm secretly admiring you because you have an avatar of Yoda!!!!!:o

[munenmuso]

Mingshi,


ha ha ha ha!!!

The yoda avatar is just a coincidence. I bet by now he is the one who is secretly admiring Mingshi. :)


happy kendo

munenmuso
____________
"for lack of arguments, munenmuso sheathed his sword"

[John W]

Originally posted by mingshi

And always LOOK where you are cutting. I've been taking an extreme amount of missed DO cuts all over the right side of my body... especially as a motodachi.....


Funny you should say this but I have been taught that we should not look at the area we want to cut at all. For obvious reasons- it tells our opponent where we are going to cut also, we concentrate so much on trying to cut the correct area we neglect the correct cutting technique and end up dishing out nasty blows like you mentioned before with those dodgy do cuts.

I think looking into your opponents eyes right the way through the entire technique whether it be men, kote, do or tsuki should help you out

:p

[Confound]

Don't look where you're about to cut. I second that, Mr. W. It's like telegraphing a message that says, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm just going to whap you right HERE, so you just HOLD STILL while I WHAP YOU RIGHT HERE..."

At any rate, try conscripting some innocent person for do kirikaeshi, or sharpen your desire for improvement on the club dummy (that's the metal and plastic one, not the guy whose mem is always falling off and has his himo trailing on the floor).

c

[mingshi]

Er... I think my Senpai meant "looking" at the moment of impact. Say, you don't kiai when you are about to cut "Do", right?

Or that... at least maintain eye contact when you cut Do... It's no good running to the right side and looking to the right, when your Do cut had actually landed on your opponent's armpit~~

[CypherSushi]

Do cuts are very difficult! I took a bad do cut when i was motodash during my grading this weekend... needless to say, the pain from getting a hit on the breast screwed up my own do-cuts a bit :(

I still made it though, so now I am a proud official newbie instead of just a newbie :)

[Nishi]

Bad "DO" cuts usually come from the side.....good "DO" cuts start as men cuts and cut into the "DO" at about 45 degrees.
_________________

Cut down with the sword, and through with your body.

[Kendoka]

Originally posted by Ares2907
Do cuts are men cuts up until the point that they are not.
Try and have the feeling of going for men - cutting directly at your opponent. Do not move to the side until after your shinai impacts (there are of course many variations on do cuts, this describes the basic cut).
Other than that, as others have said, practise x lots.

And may I suggest, nodachi, do them S L O W L Y and analyse / correct after each one, get the form correct before the speed. Do cuts are hard to perform correctly and can take years to get the technique.

Keep practicing.


Ri.

[Confound]

Should the arc of the cut be a C or a slash? I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. My sempais are divided amongst themselves, and they eventually decided that both ways are right. I'd be interested in hearing some second opinions.

c

[JSchmidt]

A shallow C. A Kihon do-cut, should start like a men cut and when the opponent lifts his arms, just curve it around his/her elbow.
(That way it also wont hurt so much when you do miss, compared to the baseball style swings).

Jakob

[John W]

When I cut do I try to break it down into this little routine....

1. Lift shinai above head like I am going to cut men.

2. Angle the shinai slightly off to the left like hidari jodan. But keeping chudan footwork of course.

3. The most important part now- is that I cut straight down from this elevated angle onto the do without hesitation or bringing the shinai further back (like a baseball swing that will more than likley nail the other person in a soft spot!). Also I avoid looking at the do.

4. As the cut lands I push my right foot out to the right as to allow enuff room for the shinai to be pulled through the stomach region.

5. Then of course ZANSHIN.

Easier typed than done though!!! My little annoying habit is the no.3 part of this routine in that I sometimes pull the shinai back and miss the cut but I am working on it:p

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by John W
When I cut do I try to break it down into this little routine....
[snip]
4. As the cut lands I push my right foot out to the right
[snip]

Doh is better learned going to the left. Moving to the right is more common but it's harder to learn the cut correctly. The thing most people get wrong is that they end up slapping the aite across the front of the doh with the middle of the shinai. First contact should be made with the end of the shinai, just like men. There's no difference in the cutting action whether you step left or right. If you step right you transition through the position with the shinai across the middle of the doh, and that's where the confusion happens. People get that picture in their heads or something and they end up hitting from too close and in the wrong place.

But to answer the original questions - you must raise your hands at least face height, and to get your left hand to work properly you must pull it down back to more or less chudan level. Most people are nervous about missing doh and so they try to aim it with the right hand. This results in the left hand in the wrong position, sometimes even above the right, and ironically a lot of misses. Instead just pull down hard with the left hand and let the shinai take the same path as in kiri-kaeshi, but lower. Motodachi should be turning his body to the right for beginners to protect himself from misses (that way there's a bigger target).

One other poster suggested doh kiri-kaeshi (hitting doh alternately on the left and right sides). I would advise against that with only one month's experience. Just practice hitting normal doh on the opponent's right side (your left) and going through on the same side.

As far as the original poster is concerned - don't worry too much about doh after only a month of kendo, and certainly don't worry about the speed of your technique.