Raffa
Shinai Shaker

Hi Raffa,
I play at Nito in both styles Gyaku and none. I favour longsword in right hand, and shoto in left hand. If I do fence the other way around, I use my experience from Jodan fencing, as for me the feeling when cutting with the left hand is the same. Yes the kote Cut is a good one. The same cut can be achieved easily by applying pressure to their kensen to YOUR left. They normally resist to get back to centre, and Kote is presented.
If Kote is your preffered cut at the moment, make sure you practice rotations , so that if you miss, you let the cut roll down towards the floor, around behind you and back again. I have scored Kote men this way, by reaching for kote, (my opponent moves away) I miss kote swing a large circle and then strike men on the second time around.

Looks Flashy :-)

Have fun.. Nito is very un-explored.

Paulo

Yeah she was the one that got me into Kendo from boxing. She did Kendo while in High school, but quit after graduating. However, she still enjoys watching Kendo and Sumo. She's kind of an old school Japanese gurl...Of course we both just turned 41 lol

Yes I was told the wider the stance the harder it is to seme-ashi also the smoothness & penatration is less. I tried yesterday with a closer stance and my Seme was much more effective & I was able to launch & follow through in a nice smooth motion. A few times I did go in too deep though.(long legs with huge fumikomi)

my feet were definately too wide. I could not seme ashi properly. Something I will be paying close attention to...thanks for the advice. ^_^

hey raffa here is the video of my match this past sunday. My first time playing in the Yudansha division of the SCKF Championships. there is no ranks just mudansha & yudansha. So my opponent was A San Dan testing for Yon dan this year. He did Jodan also so match was Ai-Jodan. I lost but I learned alot. I thought I was going to win but oh wel...

AI Jodan with a San Dan

Hi,
this is very general so forgive me. My feeling is that I pile on pressure to my opponent and I feel the resistance, rather than the weakness. The suki for me is the absence of that resistance. This has led to me being drawn into traps, but on the whole it feels right.
My Sensei says its not right, but its on the way.. how far along I dont know :-)

I dont just rely on Kensen, I try and read their posture (are they leaning towards .. or away from you)
Is their grip fidgetting?
Use the suki of breathing or movement.

If you are just developing in these areas, would advise that you get sucked into traps. The best way for you to recognise a trap (a fake weakness for exaplme) is to be eaten by it.

Hope this helps

cheers

Paulo

haven't had a chance to play the guy that used the tsugi ashi...he went back to Seattle--he was on Team PNKF at the US Nationals last year summer. But I suspect there's one San Dan that periodically visits our club is using it. because he's able to catch people from a serious Tomaai. I played him yesterday and he got my kote from far back. Most of the other players in my club don't use it so I feel like I'm calling in Artillery when I play Jodan against them haha

you know I forgot about that article. And it's rare that soemone uses it against me. Next time I get the chance to play someone that use it i will try that. I think a few times I caught him with katate men as he was bringing it up. hard to see on really short skilled suriashi players. he creamed everyone in our club with it.

thanks Raffa. sorry my inbox was full. it seems while I'm learning Jodan I'm always trying to figure out the correct maai per opponent. I'm having a difficult time with players using tsugi ashi.

Penso che ci saremo visti da qualche parte ai vari stage... Vai a fare il 3° dan a Sportilia quest'anno?

Saluti dal coreano della valcamonica.