On Studying Kata

The final question on the ni-dan test is going to kill me. The answers are incredibly long, and many of them are similar to each other. I hope I don’t confuse them during the test if they include it.

３）日本剣道形を実施するときの『足さばき』で気をつけることを書きなさい。

−足さばきは、すべて『すり足』で行い、踏み込み足は使わない。重心を上下動させず、滑らかに行うことが大切である。

−足の運びは、原則として前進するときは前足から、後退するときは後ろ足から動作を起こす。

−足のさばきは、原則として一方の足に他方の足が伴う。特に打突時の後ろ足は残さずに、前足に 伴って引き付ける。

3) What should you be conscious of in regard to footwork in Japan kendo kata?

- All footwork should be “suriashi” (gliding) and you should not use “fumikomi” (stomping). Keep your balance and don’t bob up and down.

- Generally, when moving forward, start with your front foot and when retreating, start with your back foot.

- As far as footwork, one foot basically leads the other. Especially when performing a thrust or a strike at your opponent.

Must keep studying hard! Unfortunately I still haven’t been sleeping very well. It’s a symptom of pushing myself very hard with the knowledge of a rapidly approaching deadline. Oh stress, how you mess up my life.

It's nice to see a kata question on the test, though. Kata is one of my favorite parts of kendo. I know a lot of people find it to be boring, but if you have a good partner to practice with, someone who can really get into it, it's really exciting. It's re-enacting a teacher and student re-enacting battle techniques. Also, having the time to carefully consider and execute movements makes kata a lot more refined to me. When you take the time to really try to do every motion with the perfect rhythm, the perfect distance, the perfect timing, smoothness of motion and breathing, kata actually seems harder than kendo in many ways. The fact that there are many very good kata teachers in Japan makes it even more fun to practice it here.