Left foot positioning

[Hisham]

The position of the left foot for a kenjitsu student was more like what we see in Karate than what it became after Kendo was created.Anybody knows why the change and when precisely it occured?Are there any comments on this by old Senseis that you know about?

[Nishi]

The position of the left foot for a kenjitsu student was more like what we see in Karate than what it became after Kendo was created.Anybody knows why the change and when precisely it occured?Are there any comments on this by old Senseis that you know about?

The sport of kendo really only requires forward movement from the issoku distance. We also only focus on one-to-one bouts as well these days, this also reduces the need to turn, which was one of the functions of the 'T' or 'L' like stance (see aikido/tenkan waza etc).

When it occured...probably the same time as people picked up bamboo and started to wrist/flick the targets in place of larger sword like cuts and sword like waza. (Im guessing here)

[Dave Fowler]

My Kendo sensei who also teaches Aikido told this to his Aikido students when they asked 'why do I need the backfoot straight'.


Aikido and the use of a sword in Aikido is suited for close combat, in tight quarters. As a result you tend to turn more quickly and often.

Kendo is tought based off battlefield techniques and as a result you tend to want to go straight through and continue onto your next opponent.

Don't know if that's correct or not, but it sounded similar to what he was describing.

[Hisham]

Thank you for your input guys.