Speed Without Clubbing

[Old Warrior]

I'm open for any and all exercises that will help develop speed without hitting too hard. I embarrassed myself tonight by hitting a classmate too hard and an apology is not enough. How do you prevent the excitement of the combat from taking over. The Master said it usually takes a year before one can have fairly good control. Nevertheless, there must be some additional drills I can do at home, as they are clearly in order.

[alexpollijr]

Try this

Get a standard A4 sheer of paper.
Roll it until it gets just like a tsuka.
Now do suburi with it, 'wringing the towel' at each movement.
When the sheet is crumpy, get a new one.

Do this until you no longer need to get new sheets. That should helo develop tenouchi (shinai control)

[kendomushi]

I have started doing our warm ups with a heavy boken, about 4kg in weight. We usually do 60 zenshin men, 60 zenshin kotaimen, 60 sayumen, and 60 hayasuburi. After that it is very easy to move the shinai, and I move it faster, but my upper arms are tired so the excess power I often put into a strike can't be generated.

[nodachi]

Sometimes I do suburi at home very slowly and pay attention to how I am holding the shinai. Try and focus on gripping the shinai enough so that it doesn't come out of your hands, but not so hard that it is too much. Speed makes me lose focus of how hard I am gripping the shinai, so if I slow down and only focus on that I realize how much I am actually trying to strangle my shinai and how much I need to fix that.

[Karaken]

OW, clubbing is really detrimental to speed. But yes, it takes time to develop that feel of firmness without hitting hard.
In the meanwhile you might want to try to hit an inch above the men ( or Kote ). I used to do this when I started and I had to face a kid or a lady kendoka. Didn't wan to hit them too hard.

Center..

[Neil Gendzwill]

Practice the "wringing the towel" thing. Have a partner hold another shinai for a target and randomly move it away at the last second - check how far past the target you swing. It shouldn't be more than a couple of inches.

[Sinta]

Originally posted by alexpollijr
Try this

Get a standard A4 sheer of paper.
Roll it until it gets just like a tsuka.
Now do suburi with it, 'wringing the towel' at each movement.


What is meant by "wringing the towel"? Good thread to bring up :) I'll be needing the tips on this thread too ^_^

[munenmuso]

I tried this one before. I use very active and durable party balloons as my targets. I tied the other end of the line at the same height as mine to simulate menuchi and another one for the kote target. So in front of you are two balloons tied the same height as your opponent's kote and men, they should be in a single line. Hit them as you wish as in hitting kote and men, you'll be surprise that they react so fast and violently and at the same time return to their same positions after being hit. The stronger you hit them, the more violently they react so you can guage if you are hitting them so hard. Economical, cheap, simple and they don't make so much noise like a regular kendoka. Best of all, they dont complain while hitting them as long and as fast as you like.

You can strike it as fast as you like while controlling your strength.

[emitbrownne]

munenmuso : Wow brilliant idea.... I've been using suspended or supported old shinai....

I'll get to it :)

[munenmuso]

BTW, those balloons must be floating on air but still suspended because the end of their lines are tied to a small stool. Then after that I'll teach you the secret principles of Ama kakeru ryu no hirameki.:D

Practice a lot of hyasuburi with a heavy bokken. So if you use a shinai that is normally lighter than the bokken, you'll be surprised how light and easy to control that burden of a shinai you've got. So if you feel that it's lighter, its easier to control.

[Sinta]

Originally posted by munenmuso
I use very active and durable party balloons as my targets. I tied the other end of the line at the same height as mine to simulate menuchi and another one for the kote target. ...The stronger you hit them, the more violently they react so you can guage if you are hitting them so hard. Economical, cheap, simple and they don't make so much noise like a regular kendoka. Best of all, they dont complain while hitting them as long and as fast as you like.

What a fantastic idea ^_^ I've got to try this. At least it's a replacement for my brother who helps me during practice at home. LOL, he'll be happy to find out he's fired from the job and replaced by balloons.

Thanks again munenmuso! Did you learn this in the Manila Kendo Club? Great Ideas!

[munenmuso]

MKC don't teach that. In fact its the first time I mentioned this to fellow kendokas since I was never asked before about my personal practice scheme. Being poor and can't afford can force you to find other means and ways.:D. Also, if others will benefit from it, why not. :)

[alexpollijr]

Originally posted by Sinta


What is meant by "wringing the towel"? Good thread to bring up :) I'll be needing the tips on this thread too ^_^


I mean squeezing both hands inward to stop the strike as it reaches it's target. That's parte of a subject called te no uchi, control of the strike. In normal chudan no kamae you hold the shinai with your hands lightly squeezing the tsuka inward, don't you? It's same thing, just a little stronger. It's a fundamental skil, maybe you should ask some sempai of yours about it, he'll show you in practice, since it's not that easy to explain.

[Old Warrior]

Absolutely great ideas! I thank everyone who submitted one.

A couple of months ago I started a thread about where my years of epee fencing fits/doesn't fit into kumdo. I can sense my opponents body movement but I lack the skill to properly respond. I was very troubled last night when I perfectly timed my side step to a simple attack to the head, but my own counter strike to the head of the passing attacker, was much too hard. I was angry at myself for getting caught up in the excitement. And, when his knees buckled a bit, I wanted to stop everything and just apologize. I'm still thinking about it this morning as I don't want it to happen again. I don't want to become a pariah, but when my heart gets pounding, my 4 months of Kumdo class is not enough to control all my reactions.

[sminki]

Joining the discussion late.

This 'wringing the towel' concept - I'm not a personal fan of it, although many describe 'sae' (as it's called in Japanese) or crispness in strike (i.e., force without stiffness/clubbing) should be achieved by the 'wrining of the tea towel' motion. Some describe this as your right hand pushing the tsuka and your left hand pulling it upon impact. I understand what is meant to be achieved by both descriptions and they are actually the same thing, but 'pushing/pulling' concept works better in my mind than the 'wringing the tea towel' concept.

Anyway, onto the important question. Nothing has helped me develop speed and fluidity than hayasuburi (the jumping back and forth hitting men in the air exercise) with a target. Since typical hayasuburi is done in the air without a target, many people tend to become more stiff by trying to stop the shinai at the men level and pull it back. However, if this is done with a target, one could feel how relaxed shoulders can produce faster and stronger strike and feel how the shinai should "bounce" naturally on the target.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by sminki
Joining the discussion late.

This 'wringing the towel' concept - I'm not a personal fan of it, although many describe 'sae' (as it's called in Japanese) or crispness in strike (i.e., force without stiffness/clubbing) should be achieved by the 'wrining of the tea towel' motion. Some describe this as your right hand pushing the tsuka and your left hand pulling it upon impact. I understand what is meant to be achieved by both descriptions and they are actually the same thing, but 'pushing/pulling' concept works better in my mind than the 'wringing the tea towel' concept.
They are not at all the same thing. Right hand pushing, left hand pulling will result in a bent left elbow and a pronounced clubbing effect. Tenouchi is controlling the stopping point and adding snap. The "wringing the towel" motion is accomplished by rolling both wrists in and both elbows up whilst straightening the arms, all without actually moving your grip on the tuska. If you do it right, the shinai accelerates through the last third of the swing, comes to a crisp stop at the end, and gives a lovely "pop" sound on impact with the men. You get a sharp hit instead of a dull one.

[sminki]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill

They are not at all the same thing. Right hand pushing, left hand pulling will result in a bent left elbow and a pronounced clubbing effect.

Obviously, this is why different ways of describing how 'sae' is achieved can be confusing to people. The above is a common misunderstanding of the "pushing/pulling" concept. (and I'm somewhat surprised that you're not familiar with this concept, Neil.)

Pulling with left hand does not necessarily mean that you actually "pull" it horizontally toward the body. It entails pulling it in an angle downward and toward the body at the time of the strike while your right hand is pushing against the tsuka in the opposite direction of the pull. As the left hand pulls at an angle and the right pushes in the opposite direction (this is typically the same angle that the shinai is already in at the moment of impact against the target), this does not result in the pronounced clubbing effect, but rather in a nice 'pop' that Neil talks about. Lastly, note that your grip on the tsuka will not change at all. This is all achieved through the force that you apply on your hand, not changing the grip in any way.

This is not something that I have concocted, but rather is a common concept which senseis and books refer to.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I think I see what you mean, but it sounds more like a description of wrist action in the direction orthoganal to the action of the twisting motion. Again, better demonstrated than described. Also, the reason why really good kendoka can get more pop out of 6" of tip motion than beginners can get with a full swing.

[stevemcgee99]

All Right! I think I see what I've misunderstood about Tenouchi. I have only been tightening my grip, without the inward torquing of the elbows mentioned. I can picture all of the sensei doing just that now, including a sempai who demonstrated to me last night. I'm going to try this and see what happens.