Openings

**1stdan** · 5th March 2010, 01:38 AM

Just a curios question. How long did it take for you to see the openings. In keiko when sensei or sempai opens the target for you, How long until you saw those. And what did you watch. Did you watch for the kensen to move, shoulders, hips, hands? Or more properly what did you see move?

As a side note I have practiced TKD for more than 10 years. As a TKD stylist I was a very defensive fighter. When I see an obvious opening I stall, Kinda like "oh no Im not gonna fall for that". I know at my level (mudansha) i should be attacking like a fat kid on cake, but i cant help stalling. Any suggestions besides "Ask your Sensei".

**samurai999** · 5th March 2010, 02:07 AM

If you haven't been told already, kendo is a very offensive minded martial art. pressure pressure attack attack. Well, since "ask your sensei" is taken :P the only other suggestion i can give is to practice. Openings come from good seme in my opinion and that comes from good basics (which goes into another branch of explanation that i'm honestly not going to bother with since your sensei is responsible for teaching you that). once you understand that, then you'll start to see the openings and as a by-product, can apply waza in your later development. As for how long that takes, it really depends on the person because many factors come into play. Age (yes.. kids pick things up ridiculously quick), amount of practice, what you practice, how you practice, what your sensei teaches you, etc. You can't expect to learn everything at once and we all sucked when we started. Just keep up with the practice and learn good basics and your kendo will grow.

i hope that answers the question for you.

**Halcyon** · 5th March 2010, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by 1stdan

How long did it take for you to see the openings. In keiko when sensei or sempai opens the target for you, How long until you saw those. And what did you watch. Did you watch for the kensen to move, shoulders, hips, hands? Or more properly what did you see move?

It takes a long time, and it's a never-ending process of refinement. As for what you watch -- EVERYTHING. The opponent's eyes, body, feet, shinai, the lot. That's why you need enzan-no-metsuke, trying to take everything in as a whole. I agree wholeheartedly with samurai999 regarding practice. That's really the only way to see openings. No magic short cuts, I'm afraid.

**enkorat** · 5th March 2010, 03:26 AM

I also agree. Don't get discouraged, and try to focus on overcoming things you know are problems. I found that having previous martial arts experience helped my very first year, and then ended up holding me back mentally for years due to the ingrained habits and prejudices I had to de-train....

**pgsmith** · 5th March 2010, 03:28 AM

Here, I''ll fix it for you ...

If you haven't been told already, kendo is a very offensive martial art.

There, that's better!

**ender84567** · 5th March 2010, 05:49 AM

an obvious opening even if a feint is still a suki.

**hl1978** · 5th March 2010, 06:43 AM

Some, but not all types of openings:

Obvious one:
kamae is leaving targets open

Openings due to the other person:
Openings because the person pulls their hands back towards their body when attacking rather than forwards which makes it easy for oji or debana waza
Openings due to poor coodination/timing

Openings you create by playing with maai
Openings you create by playing with timing
Openings you create by breaking your opponent's kamae
Openings you create by preforming a fient
Openings you create by mentally or physically taking the center from your opponent
Openings your create by making your opponent attack you by using any of the above

**Shinsengumi77** · 5th March 2010, 06:43 AM

Too bad I can only see the obvious ones. And even then, I can't do anything about them.

**hoonyistyle** · 5th March 2010, 08:41 AM

From my own experience, if you "look" for an opening it's usually too late.
Try to "feel" the the opening and go with sutemi~.
And don't worry about my oji-waza.

See you at the practice.

**JByrd** · 5th March 2010, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by Shinsengumi77

Too bad I can only see the obvious ones. And even then, I can't do anything about them.

I felt that way for a long time. Sometimes I still do, though I am beginning to believe that combining mental initiative (sen) with very good fundamentals can make it possible to reliably succeed on opportunities that are so slim that there are dozens of them in every minute of keiko.

**samurai999** · 6th March 2010, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by pgsmith

Here, I''ll fix it for you ...

There, that's better!

add "smelling" after offensive.

**Idyllic** · 9th March 2010, 07:51 PM

I think it just takes time to see openings. Sometimes i would be playing someone in jigeko and they would give me an obvious opening, but i would hesitate since it feels kind of silly since youre not determining the opening but youre having it spoon fed to you.

**1stdan** · 10th March 2010, 06:51 AM

I get the same silly feeling but with a little "dumbass" thrown in because i did not take it, and sempai is staring at me like "Well". Its crazy when I stall like that.