Official way of kirikaeshi in shinsa.

[KenShi_JoB]

I see that there are many different way to kiai in kirikaeshi. There are "Men, Men,Men,..." and "Men, Meeeeeeeeeeeen...". I wonder that in shinsa or grading, do they have any official way to do it?

[Pauly]

Kia in shinsa kirikaeshi? Loud. Very loud. Lots of energy. I mean you gotta get that adrenaline pumping and release it all during kirikaeshi. I don't think the judges care about the actual vocabulary. Just as long as that power is in your swings and exhausts through your kia! Arrrrr!

[Infinity]

this is my understanding and i could be wrong...
the way i was taught - the focus of kirikaeshi is making large and correct strikes,
aiming for and being close enough to strike men.
it is up to motodachi to receive/block correctly.
initially kia 'men! men-men-men...',
after a bit more training:
one breath kirikaeshi: 'men! meeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnn...'
and still have something left at the end.

[Andoru]

We've been taught that one breath kirikaeshi is pretty much the standard from 4th kyu onwards.

Remember not to trail your kiai i.e. MEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeennnn.... It has to be MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN if you know what I mean.

[Infinity]

We've been taught that one breath kirikaeshi is pretty much the standard from 4th kyu onwards.

Remember not to trail your kiai i.e. MEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeennnn.... It has to be MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN if you know what I mean. yes i agree.
sometimes i sound like my batteries are failing. i tend to let loose a large kiai in the beginning and fade to complete breathlessness.
i am getting better but it must be funny to listen to.

[Frame]

basically i'm to slow and crap to do it in one breath..........so i do many

[Andoru]

Yeah it's a killer, especially if one has to do multiple sets. You'll get better though. ^_^

[Twobitmage]

My teacher made me do one breath a couple times so far (4th kyu) but I never seem to get it right

I can take a quick breath between each set of nine strokes right?

[Andoru]

I recall reading a thread about this last year. There are 2 schools of thought:

(1) Quick breath in between sets. So breathe once you've finished the sayumen cuts but before the next shomen cut

(2) Breathe only after the shomen cut but before the yokomen cuts i.e. right after tai-atari. IIRC, it's about taking the opportunity to quickly breathe right after opponent has been tai-ataried and is unable to attack.

[Twobitmage]

thanks for the advice andoru, you always got some great stuff to say

[streetcleaner]

i don't know how i breath, when doing a lot of kirikaeshi nonstop its hard to breath incorrect. but i think its "meen!", "men,men,men,men (with breath in) men,men,men,men,men (with breath out)" and so on

[El Gringo]

In the dojo that I go to, kirikaeshi involves on breath for the shomen strike, then one breath (MEEEEEEEN) for the sayumen strikes, rinse repeat.

I actually think that this works really well to help regulate your breathing and to enhance your lung capacity. One drill we do that really helps this is where we have to do kirikaeshi x2 then go straight into men, kote-men, men (all one breath) and finish with another kirikaeshi x2.

I can tell you that after a few of those you are out of breath, but after a few weeks it definitely helps your overall ability when it comes to breathing properly.

[nothing]

Sometimes if you Kiai from your diaphram you can hold out longer and appear less out of breath. i was told that it takes 3 years to perfect a kiai. It's a question of breathing..

[kuwaiti-kendoka]

I can take a quick breath between each set of nine strokes right?
What isn't ten strikes ????????????/ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAA

someone shooooooot me Please or....

Someone hit me with a Men strike with me wearing a Men.

[Andoru]

half set of kirikaeshi is 10 cuts, the full set is 21, as follows:

Shomen..tai atari..then 4 forward sayumen, then 5 backward sayumen. That's half a set (10 cuts in total). Then do it again - that's another 10 cuts. Finish by cutting shomen with proper follow-through and zanshin. 21 cuts in total.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Best way is in two breaths, take your breath after the 2nd shomen/taiatari. If you can't do it that way, breath after the first shomen/taiatari too. The kiai should never stop, it should be continuous noise with peaks when the shinai hits: MEeeeeeeeenMEeeeeeeeenMEeeeeeeeeen, like that. To accomplish this, breath out as little as possible.

[kuzu70]

Yeah, I would like to echo Neil. I feel one of the most important parts of kirikaeshi is the kiai. If possible, take only one breath in between doing kirikaeshi.

[Twobitmage]

oh I wasn't counting the shomenuchi :P sorry if that confused you kuwaiti