Arm not supposed to threaten to come out of socket during men strike

[kaminari]

Hi.

My sensei - some of you may have heard of him (Kiyota Minoru, author of the Shambhala Guide to Kendo) - tells me to fully extend both arms using a shinai when I do a men strike.

I am a 5'6" woman currently using a 39" shinai. My arm is not supposed to feel as if it's going to come out of the socket if I stretch my arm any further.

Is the problem my arm, my shinai, or my posture?

[shin nagakura]

It depends on your choice. I think your height or how long you have trained are connected your shinai length. Shorter is better because you have the brave to hit the opponent if shinai is short.

[xvikingx]

I doubt the difference between a 38 and a 39 would hurt you that badly. It sounds to me like maybe you are trying too hard to extend your arms by exerting unnecessary force to stretch them out further. Yes you should have your arms fully extended but you should also be comfortable. Your shoulders shouldn’t be hunched forwards neither your body leaning. One thing you can do, even at home, is practice swinging VERY slowly. Start with your shinai raised above your head (like you normally would) and bring it down slowly one joint at a time in this order= 1: lower your arms from your shoulders stop 2: continue only with your elbows stop (at this point your arms should be straight horizontally & your shinai almost straight vertically) 3: continue only using your wrists while applying te-no-uchi (I’m not going to get into that). You should be relaxed the whole time and doing this very slowly. Keep doing men-uchi this way over and over and over, so that when you start doing it in one fluid motion you will always move your arms that way without thinking about it. When I say over and over I don’t mean do it 500 times a day, but maybe ten or twenty times slowly, everyday, and being conscious of every movement.
For more information on shinai size checkout the guid that is stickied in the shinai section.

[Kingofmyrrh]

I don't know your teacher, but if we assume that both of your arms are the same length, then extending both arms fully along the centre line of the body will inevitably result in the shinai standing vertical - no use whatsoever. Consider the last paragraph of this article:

http://www.miamivalleykendo.org/suburi.html#downswing

[Pan-Chan]

I don't think you should be using a 39" shinai, going by the regulations set by the AJKF, but I, too, seriously doubt that that inch of difference is making you feel the pain you are.

Also, you definitely should not be extending both of your arms. And not even your right arm should be FULLY extended; if you fully extend your arms when doing the motion of the cut, then when you reach your target you won't have any tenouchi, which is an integral part of any strike. Your right(top) arm should be about parallel with your right shoulder, but it should be relaxed and flexible, not rigid trying to extend.

I'm not a medical expert, but I would think that trying to over-extend your arms would lead to shoulder pain, and probably pain in other joints in your arms as well.

[Fallen]

Alot of sensei say extend your arms fully as most people tend not to extend them far enough unless told that. Generallymost go back to not extending and so it ends up being about right. if by chance kaminari extends enough already she'll end up with pain in the shoulders and other joints by over extending.

Your best bet is to speak with your sensei when it starts hurting and get his advice as we can only offer generic advice.

[bullet08]

after the practice, get on line to speak to the sensei and show him how you are doing your strike. and tell him if you are doing it right or not. he might have to correct you on certain things to make you feel more comfortable with your strike.

pete

[Neil Gendzwill]

I don't know your teacher, but if we assume that both of your arms are the same length, then extending both arms fully along the centre line of the body will inevitably result in the shinai standing vertical - no use whatsoever.

Not vertical, more like about 45 degrees off vertical. This is perfectly fine for beginners' suburi, much better than them trying to get it horizontal and ending up with a bent left elbow.

[JByrd]

I am a 5'6" woman currently using a 39" shinai. My arm is not supposed to feel as if it's going to come out of the socket if I stretch my arm any further.

One thing to check: Make sure you are not rolling your shoulders forward as you extend. Your shoulders should be in line with your spine, clamping your arms inward toward your rib cage for stabilization. You should be able to hold marbles in your armpits when your shinai is in contact position.

[bianchi]

I don't know your teacher, but if we assume that both of your arms are the same length, then extending both arms fully along the centre line of the body will inevitably result in the shinai standing vertical - no use whatsoever. Consider the last paragraph of this article:

http://www.miamivalleykendo.org/suburi.html#downswing

I would like just to reinforce Kingofmyrrhs post! This article is wonderful! And it is made by nanadans who are dedicated to study suburi in a scientific approach. You can´t be better if you follow their advice!

Cheers

[enkorat]

Am I wrong in thinking that there is a difference in weight between a men's 39 and a woman's 38 and 39?

I remember picking up a woman's 38 for a friend of mine who asked me to buy one for her at a tournament and I remember thinking "wow! I could be so good with this!"

Alas, reality then set back in...

[Masahiro]

You can´t be better if you follow their advice!

Cheers

Whuh?

[yoda-waza]

Maybe he meant: "You can't do better than following their advice."

[Kuma]

Am I wrong in thinking that there is a difference in weight between a men's 39 and a woman's 38 and 39?

I remember picking up a woman's 38 for a friend of mine who asked me to buy one for her at a tournament and I remember thinking "wow! I could be so good with this!"

Alas, reality then set back in...

You think that if I wore my skirt to the tournament that I could get away with using one of those, Ken?

[bianchi]

Maybe he meant: "You can't do better than following their advice."

Thank you Yoda! You are right. Fast writing + mixing English words with Portuguese thoughts! I should pay more attention when writing in English... The translation of my last post word by word to Portuguese makes sense. It is a Brazilian Portuguese expression...

It is like “You can’t be better assisted or advised than you will be if you follow their advice!”

Cheers