Left hand in kendo?

[soap113]

Hello! I posted earlier looking for a dojo - so i have not begun training in kendo yet. I recently heard that all kendokas must use a right hand lead, and me being left handed this feels awkward. I'm not saying i wont be able to use my right hand, but id be more comfortable with left. Is this true, can you only use a right hand lead? Thank you.

[mingshi]

Hey~ I think you may be a little bit confused by some unclear information...?

Normally people using a Japanese sword will put their left hand at the end of the sword, and their right hand below the hand-guard. BUT when you raise the sword up and down, you'll be using all the power from your left hand... too much right hand will be considered as incorrect posture, etc....

Reason for the hand arrangement:
You draw your sword from the left side of your waist using your right hand.

Mmm... so being left-handed should be an advantage?!

[damocles]

I'm left handed and in the initial learning stages it helpd, as my right hand didn't have the tendency to dominate my cuts as much.

soap113> what mingshi said. :) the left hand provides motion and speed/power, the right 'steers'. people have a tendency to pull up and back with their right hand producing an inefficent motion.

[lebox]

I'm also left handed I as the others have said you will have a quicker learning curve in beginning

[soap113]

Thanks everyone! I still have not begun kendo (can't find anywhere too!! =[ ) but I've practiced holding a bokken properly (don't have a shinai) and I've gotten used to it. Thanks again!

[Kenshi]

For you lefties:

Episode II - Anakin places his left hand up front (near the tsuba) ...... funny, Darth Vader does it the other way around 2 episodes later! Id like to come up with some philisophical rational for this, but its just probably the movie makers making a large and obvious error. Or maybe using his lightsaber in this way was why his arm got the chop!

Yagyu Shinkage ryu hyoho : Hissho (Sure Victory) from Kuka No Tachi has the kamae left over right al'la anakin skywalker. Its quite rare and is - as far as I know - the only instance of this grip in shinkage-ryu.

Cheers,