Suicidal Gekken...

A lot of times when I fight new people in gekken, they love to be what I call suicidal. In other words, they'll rush in to land a hit, although not being aware of the idea that they're basically giving an easy opening which will end up in ai uchi. 

When I face people like that, I'll let them hit me, in return I'll land an extremely hard hit (usually to their head cause people seem to like sacrificing their head for a hit hahaha). Normally in class, I'll hard enough to sting, but not hard enough you're gonna be woozy, but against suicidal kenshi, I land as hard as I can. 

Why? Because if you're that suicidal, usually that means you're treating gekken like fun and games. Although the swords might looks silly, they are substantial enough that it'll definitely leave a mark or more. If your opponent was holding a sword, even a dull blunt sword, would you go in so fearlessly and  carelessly? 

So please keep in mind, treat gekken in a way where it's serious enough to think there might be pain involved if you're careless. Even when practicing against a beginner I try to be as careful as possible so when you do move onto armor and steel swords, the focus should be the same. Cause if you are careless against me, there will be pain. : )