Clashing Swords, Falling People
GEKKEN!!!!!! and Kenjutsu was the focus of class tonight. Worked on some drills and techniques for gekken.
Key things to think about in the drills.
1) Hips - power of these techniques are generated from the hips. The person who has the lower center of gravity will have more power than the guy who pushes with his arm. If you use your hips, there will be less movement necessary which will make you less tired
2) Extension - you want the contact point of each others weapons to be far away from you as possible. That way you can protect your center line
3) Relax - if you're stiff, you will get over powered and can't react as fast
4) Metsuke - don't look at what's going on. Look forward and past your opponent, see the whole picture. Don't flinch from contact, keep your eyes open.
Most important thing is to hold your ground. As scary as that sounds, you hold your ground, you'll get the chance that the other guy didn't take. You win, or have a better chance of winning.
Gekken - here are some thoughts and observations
1) Don't freeze up after clashing, keep your zanshin til the other guy is defeated
2) Stop jumping back more than you need to, you lose your opportunity
3) To win, you have to move your opponent off center, this is through feeling, spirit, sword, kiai etc. Other wise it'll be just ai uchi
4) Don't just always go after the guy, lure the guy in too
5) Try to practice the techniques we practiced!
We'll be back focusing on kata again real soon.
Key things to think about in the drills.
1) Hips - power of these techniques are generated from the hips. The person who has the lower center of gravity will have more power than the guy who pushes with his arm. If you use your hips, there will be less movement necessary which will make you less tired
2) Extension - you want the contact point of each others weapons to be far away from you as possible. That way you can protect your center line
3) Relax - if you're stiff, you will get over powered and can't react as fast
4) Metsuke - don't look at what's going on. Look forward and past your opponent, see the whole picture. Don't flinch from contact, keep your eyes open.
Most important thing is to hold your ground. As scary as that sounds, you hold your ground, you'll get the chance that the other guy didn't take. You win, or have a better chance of winning.
Gekken - here are some thoughts and observations
1) Don't freeze up after clashing, keep your zanshin til the other guy is defeated
2) Stop jumping back more than you need to, you lose your opportunity
3) To win, you have to move your opponent off center, this is through feeling, spirit, sword, kiai etc. Other wise it'll be just ai uchi
4) Don't just always go after the guy, lure the guy in too
5) Try to practice the techniques we practiced!
We'll be back focusing on kata again real soon.
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