Kendo

There are two important phases of Kendo – Tandoku Dosa and Sohtai Dosa. The training duration for Tandoku Dosa is 3 days a week for 4 months and for Sohtai Dosa, it is 3 days a week for 2 months. The basic movements are without a partner that includes Footwork, Chudan, Men Uchi, Kote Uchi, Do Uchi and many more. Sohtai Dosa is pair training. After learning Tandoku Dosa, the beginners start to learn Sohtai Dosa. This includes Shomen Uchi, Kote Uchi, Do Uchi, Uchikomi Kirikaeshi and Uchikomi Geik. The beginners should try to learn these basic movements before learning Kendo techniques.

While taking training of Kendo, we train our body as well as the mental state of our mind. The main benefit of Kendo is that it can be learnt by any age group. Moreover, it does not require big muscles. Kendo is considered to be a good exercise to maintain physical health.

Kendo training depends on several movements of attack and defense known as waza. These techniques are very simple, but hard to learn. Kendo has been originated from Kenjitsu; so, its techniques are also based on Kenjitsu techniques. It is advised to learn these techniques step by step. Kendo techniques are of two types – Shikake waza and Oji waza, where waza is a technique of Japan.

Shikake waza meaning “the technique that you initiate” and Oji waza means “the technique used to protect against your enemy, as a counterattack”. In other words, in shikake waza, you are the initiator and in oji waza, your opponent starts attacking you. Shikake Waza includes six techniques namely Renzoku waza, Debana waza, Harai waza, Hiki waza, Maki waza and Katsugi waza. On the other hand, Oji waza is counterattack techniques. You should make your enemy to strike as you want. The techniques included in Oji waza are Nuki waza, Kaeshi waza, Suriage waza and Uchiotoshi. In summary, if you execute these techniques with proper timing and with the right strength, you can surely spin off your opponent’s shinai.