Favorite training drills

[nodachi]

What are your favorite drills that you do at practice?

What are they, how long do you do them, are there any variations to them, etc?

Particularly, what drills do you like that focus on kihon waza, but feel free to state more advanced drills as well.

I am starting to make a log of drills and things to do at practices (from my practices and other peoples as well) so that if I have the opportunity to start a Kendo club at a high school next year back in the States, I can do so.

I want both drills that are good for teaching, good for having fun, both, etc. I plan on finding sensei or advanced students from the local college teams to teach (I will probably be in the Boston area so there are many nearby), but I need lots of drills and things for days that I cannot have a qualified instructor present. I know it is not ideal, I know that I am not qualified to teach, but I want to contribute to the growth of Kendo at the high school level in the States, and I want to make more time for me to practice as well... :)

Feel free to recommend books that are good with drills and practice ideas. I know this topic has been done previously, but feel free to amend book recommendations at the end of your posts on this topic. I will check back on that old thread as well.

[alexpollijr]

At home, loads of suburi.

At practice, loads of kakarigeiko and kirikaeshi all along the Dojo walls (that one in which you do kirikaeshi close the to the walls ' following ' them , like :

start/end wall
o----->--------|
| | wall
| ------ <------ |
wall

Depending on the size of the dojo that can take ages.

[Sinta]

Hrm, only been doing Kendo for 6 months so I don't know a lot of drills. But I enjoy the kirikaeshi, though it takes a lot out of me ^-^

It brings me into an adrenaline rush. Of course I'm panting for breath 20 minutes after.. but ah.... *needs to get fitter!!*

[Steve]

My favorite is (well we call it this) Humi gomi drills. You perform whatever strike you want (men ,kote, do ,Tsuki, kote-men, etc...) and lunge forward as far as you can while still remaining balanced, but you DO NOT MOVE your hind foot off of the floor. Hold the lunge for a few seconds, then push back to your original position via your front leg. This does wonders for footwork and posture.

[Paburo]

this is my fav drill lately.
one person stands holding shinai in one hand as in rei, but arm extended(kensen pointing to the floor). tsuba at chest height.
then other person tries to 'tsuki' the tsuka of that shinai(see chart).
it's hard! but eventually you'll improve your aim in no time and gain lots of confidence when trying tsuki later on a human opponent.


ascii chart 1.

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l l
l l
l l
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U

[Neil Gendzwill]

Line up everyone (works best with 10 or more) one behind the other facing the person at front, one arm length between them. Now each person holds out a shinai for a target to the right. It can be kote or men height, all the same, alternating or a mix. Take turns hitting all the targets, one step each hit. Pay attention to correct footwork and posture, and ki-ken-tai-ichi for each hit.

This drill is really only suitable for about nidan and higher, although it's a lot of fun for everyone. To do it right you need to use small strikes (by which I mean with the wrists, not necessarily a small arc) and also have good footwork, drawing the left leg sharply on each cut. For extra fun, see how fast you can go and still hit correctly.

[Old Warrior]

We do a very similar exercise. All goes well, until the Master dismisses all the students but one and assigns the target as hori (do). The one who is the target stands in jodan{sp?] and of course runs the risk (as the pace gets more frantic) that someone will miss (and hit high or low). Of course, when the Master joins the line, the speed of his cut is scarey, but the reality is that the hit is usually less than the beginners. But standing there facing the line is a bit disconcerting with your hands over your head. One feels - vulnerable.

[Neil Gendzwill]

That's different. You have a line of students ready to cut the target. I have a line of targets with one student cutting them all.

Another advanced exercise is what I call "monkey in the middle". Works best with around 7 people. One person in the middle, rest split into two groups in front of him and behind him. On "go", the first person in the line attacks something and the student defends and counters, then turns to face the other line. He has to turn back and forth and deal with each person as they come. You can have all the attackers attack a specific point or pick one of their choosing, you can have the student use a specific defense or let him pick whatever is appropriate. Best suited to 3 dan and up, but fun for 1 or 2 dan people. No fun at all and frustrating for mudansha.

[supernils]

Just adding to paburos post.
Do big cuts and hit the butt end of the hanging shinai.

[kendomushi]

My favorite drill is hito iki kakarigeiko, one breath open shot. Everyone pairs up and while one person makes openings to be attacked the other strikes at them, but from the start they never stop their voice, never inhale, you start hitting a men for example and keep a long meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, until you get the next opening and call and strike it. Do this until you have run out of breath. You should try to get a minimum of 5 attacks in each time before needing to stop and inhale.

Another good drill for beginners it to match everyone up in groups of three. The person in the middle will just be doing zenshin men or hayasuburi. One person stands behind him with shinai held horizontally in both hands above head level. The last person stands in front of the person striking holding his shinai horizontally in both hands at men level. The person striking needs to hit both shinai with each strike, back swind and on the attack. This helps teach them to use big full waza and stretch out their shoulders and arms.

[alexpollijr]

Originally posted by kendomushi
My favorite drill is hito iki kakarigeiko, one breath open shot. Everyone pairs up and while one person makes openings to be attacked the other strikes at them, but from the start they never stop their voice, never inhale, you start hitting a men for example and keep a long meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, until you get the next opening and call and strike it. Do this until you have run out of breath. You should try to get a minimum of 5 attacks in each time before needing to stop and inhale.


Is there any other way of doing kakarigeiko?

[Neil Gendzwill]

Ai-kakari-geiko - both sides attack at once.
Don't know the Japanese names but also you can have all the targets prearranged (good for beginners) and you can have motodachi block each attack (and optionally counter).

Regarding the breathing and attitude - one breath isn't essential, it's more important to have lots of energy and kiai. If the drill is one breath that's good too. Most people can only do 4 or 5 attacks in one breath so if it goes longer than that one breath isn't realistic anyways.

[kendomushi]

The one breath is meant to teach breath control and increase endurance. Most of the sensei I practice with her go 9-12 attacks on one breath. But 4-5 every time, no matter how many times you repeat the exercise, is a very adequate level.

[MaxPayneWayne]

i have a favorite drill and just how my name states, it provides MAXIMUM PAIN!!!! though it's not that hard. take two shinai, hold the end on both of them, and do hayasuburi with that. meh, the first 50-100 aren't that bad, but it gets pretty nasty after that.

[alexpollijr]

That should be bad for the wrists

[MaxPayneWayne]

not if your wrists are strong. if that was the case, then jodan and or nito would be bad for your wrists too, along with yokomen. how do you think people like chiba get really good at jodan? they do these types of exercises that are "bad for your wrists."

[alexpollijr]

Bah.

There's plenty of other wrist exercises which do not involve damage or excessive pain.

[JSchmidt]

I use one of those funky weights with a handle on the end, but I don't (can't) cut at full speed with it.
Also, I was told when doing katate-suburi, to hold further up on the tsuka, in order to avoid excessive strain on the wrist.
The main stress point is not the actual cut, but stopping it when doing suburi. When doing kihon (or ji-geiko for that matter), I try to cut all the way through.

Jakob

[supernils]

If you're having trouble with a technique I suggest that you take of your Kote. This allowes you to have a much more detailed control over your sword. It is also easier to identify bad tensions in you hand work.