New student to Kenjutsu

[IMP]

Today I started a class on Kenjutsu, and I find that I really want to get into it. I've got a bokken sword, and I'm ordering a short sword. Does anyone have any advice for a newcomer? I'm wanting to get some good info on this, considering I've only had a bokken for two hours... thanks!

 

[Langenschwert]

Practice makes permanent, but perfect practice makes perfect. Be patient. Sword arts are somewhat counterintuitive. Don't expect to learn it all in a day. Or a decade.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

[kaizasosei]

yeah, the best advice i can give, and i mean this as an important part of the swordarts- get out of the swords path before you attempt anything further..

if you cannot do this, then block and lastly if you cannot block, then try to take out the one that hit you by all means....

this is what i learned at the most recent seminar i attended.




j

 

[IMP]

lol, I suppose that applies to common sense... thanks for the advice!

 

[Sukerkin]

An important thing to realise, Imp, is that which particular sword art you are studying has a very large effect on what advice anyone can give.

For example, I study muso jikiden eishin ryu iaido, an art dedicated to the use of the katana, with an emphasis on non-battlefield applications. So I would be unable to give you any advice, from direct personal experience, with the use of wakizashi (short sword) or with regard to fighting in armour.

Can you tell us which school (aka 'style' or ryu) you have started on the path of learning?

 

[IMP]

I'm not entirely sure what EXACTLY the art is called, but I can find out from my teacher.

 

[pgsmith]

Does anyone have any advice for a newcomer?

First, do your homework! Research the school that you have joined, and find out all you can about your instructor, and your instructor's sensei. There are quite a number of schools out there that have cashed in on the "Last Samurai" craze and started their own "kenjutsu" schools. I know of a couple that have absolutely horrible form and are quite unsafe! Make sure you are learning the real deal before sinking a lot of time, effort, and money into it. Any legitimate instructor will not only answer your questions about their training, but will welcome the curiosity on your part. Most (but not all) "instructors" teaching their own made-up versions will discourage questions and hide their background.

Second, assuming that you are attending a legitimate school, do exactly what you're told. Class is not about "winning" or "losing", it is about training. The way the Japanese sword arts work is that you repeat various exercises and kata alot. These are designed to ingrain particular movements and methodology into your musculature so that your body will react in a particular manner without you having to think about it. This means that you have to strive to do just what your sensei tells you exactly how he tells you to do it. This is the problem with most made-up schools in that the "instructor" hasn't had enough training to recognize, or create, the underlying methodology for his art.

Third, show up! Getting to class regularly and making it a normal part of your life is the thing that defeats the largest number of students. It is very easy to have things come up and cause you to miss a class, but you should try your best to never let it happen. The more it happens, the easier missing class becomes until one day you realize that you haven't gone in quite a while and then it's very difficult to make room for it again.

Good luck, and let us know how your research into your new school goes!

 

[nitflegal]

There's the standard advice that you should practice every day, even if it's for 2 minutes. Seriously, wedging 2-3 minutes of practice on basic cuts in if you can't do more will be a big help. My experience when I was started battojutsu training was that it's brutal on your wrists until you train them up to spec. A minute each side of just holding the bokken by the end of the tsuka and just rotating all the way to horizontal to either side, back and forth, will pay big dividends unless you already have strong wrists. When that gets easy, slow the movement down to a crawl or move to a suburi. Same with stretching the wrists and fingers as often as possible. I still do the wrist-flexibility stretches every day as often as possible. You get some weird looks at office meeting but such is life!

The rest just echoes the above. Check to see if it's a good dojo. Honestly, I've seen a heck of lot more bad kenjutsu/iaido/battojutsu schools than good ones. Someone buys the "Deity and the Sword" or "Crimson Steel" books, adds them to the four years of karate/tae Kwon Do/Capoeira/strip-club bouncer experience they have, figures out how to wear a hakama and they put out a shingle. Once you've confirmed it's a reputable school, show up. The best dojo in the world is of no use if you're not there enough to learn what they teach.

One pet peeve of mine is shinken training. If you're using sharpened steel under anything but the most hyper-controlled circumstances without a fair amount of training under your obi, you're courting injury. It's a three foot razorblade you're swinging and you can really hurt yourself or someone else. If I'm not sure that the sensei (or myself if I'm trained) has checked the fit in the tsuka, the mekugi, etc before every training session I don't play and I find another school. It'd be akin to handling a firearm in a class where nobody checked the weapon for proper function and it's loaded status.

BTW, that bokken will hurt someone as well. I vividly remember Toguchi-sensei doing a demo where he used two traditional 2" bamboo targets wrapped in mats. The first he cut with a sharpened sword nice and clean to many oohs and ahhs from the newbies (me included). The second he did a similar keasi-giri with an oak bokken. The freaking thing shattered the target and swept to the other side with the top half of the target falling to the mat. Point he was making was that the bokken isn't a lesser weapon, just a different one. Either can hurt or kill someone if you're screwing around.

Sorry, got long-winded and pedantic there.

Matt

 

[Sukerkin]

Nothing pedantic about truth, good sir :rei:.

The only minor thing that I would say is that to train too long without going 'live' will hamper the sharpness {yeah, shinken based pun attack !} of your technique.

I, myself, have spent far too much time of late using iaito and I need to let my shinken see some light before I become afraid of it.

 

[IMP]

I know, bokken can do some pretty mean damage. Even if it was a baseball bat, there's plenty of ways to take someone down with a good whack to the head!

And I have noticed that a little practice does help every day. Too bad it's October in Minnesota and I have a REALLY small house. Practicing outside always helps me with whatever martial art I'm in.

 

[Langenschwert]

And I have noticed that a little practice does help every day. Too bad it's October in Minnesota and I have a REALLY small house. Practicing outside always helps me with whatever martial art I'm in.

Yeah, there's nothing like working striking and footwork in a foot of snow! That'll strengthen up your legs in a hurry!

Best regards,

-Mark

 

[hpulley]

I got a shoto bokken in addition to the daito bokken for just this reason: so I can do some practice in the basement without putting holes in the ceiling tiles (I can practice the daito in the living room with its sloped roof but it isn't really the place for it). The 1-2 shaku length shoto shows why it is sometimes called the 'indoor sword' because there really isn't room to wield a long weapon inside. It may have been a tradition to leave the 2+ shaku katana at the front door but it was also very practical. Same goes for the escrima stick vs. the jo and bo which really need a high ceiling.

My dojo teaches some aspects out of: Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei Seitei Iaido, Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido, Shimay Muso Ryu Iaido, Tachi Uchi no Karai (Jikiden), Niten Ichi Ryu.