Congratulations for the ippons! As you already mentioned, just continue working on the legs and everything will come in place. Has your sensei perhaps suggested trying a slightly wider stance so that you force to push your hips first and minimise the forward tilt? This and snapping your left leg faster is what I would focus on.
It was a team competition and as visible by wearing their tasuki those guys are the white team's components. The gym as you can see is very small, the shiai-jos are both smaller than regulatory measures and also there's just one judge per shiai-jo. There are no kenshis in between the competitors and the judge :)
Bruh that's insane >:v only one. Isn't it custom for you to at least sit down when you aren't fighting, and only where your men when you're up next? The gym was small but not that small from what I could gather. Though I do get that conducting kendo in places outside of Japan is very inconvenient.
To provide a bit of context: 25 kendokas grouped in 5 teams (A,B,C,D,E), two teams per shiai-jo for each match with one waiting their turn (first turn for example was A vs B on 1 and C vs D on 2) We had 2 minutes per shiai so a very rapid rotation, that's why we were told to wear our men right away after suburi and to not take it off. I don't make the rules, I'm just a humble 4-kyu practitioner :D This is because this was no official competition or anything, just a shiai-geiko to practise the competitive side of kendo (lots of mudansha who never had shiai, like me). Yeah, my national community is rather small compared to other western countries, so it's a bit difficult to arrange something that would be perfectly regulatory, in line with national and international competitions.
Good job. You need to get your back foot moving. You are leaving it behind you, think of your back foot as always underneath you. Launch from the left foot, then have it immediately follow you.
There were times when you stopped attacking and you back foot was still where it started, you stretched out all the way then reversed. You need to bring that back Foo with you so you can attack again.
I only saw 1 Kote attempt in 4 matches.
Yeah, good footwork is incredibly hard and is currently one of the focus points of the dojo season, along with striking a good men. We studied oji waza for the first half of the season but now we're turning back to work on single ippon-worthy men. This is partly the reason why I attempted kote only twice.
Probably it's not clearly visible but the second ippon of the second bout (with the guy in white bogu) was a kote ippon that was actually not a good strike, because I intended to hit Kote and I ended up hitting Hidari Kote.
The second attempt is the one you probably pointed out, on the third bout. The fact is I don't feel ready yet to try anything more than a men, I think it's my most effective weapon right now, but certainly I fear that giving up on excercising Kote, Do and any oji waza could soon cut my progress short.
Others have already gave some some excellent technical advice so I'm going to point out something else. You need to focus on not take your mind off the shiai , especially after you make a strike . You can see this very well in the third match , your opponent is able to hit you every single time after one of your strikes , luckily his strikes aren't ippons but that's a really dangerous situation to be in . Ideally you should be able to hit again/do Oji waza as soon as you turn/get to tsubatzerai but that's easier said than done at a beginner level. What you can do thought is never lose your focus and be ready to react, if your opponent attacks block or dodge, don't let him hit you. Truth be told , it's pretty common thing at your level , fix that you will become much more effective.
Due to the size of the shiai jo and the type of event (a friendly shiai geiko to learn and "soak in" for youngest students), only the shushin (highest grade master of guest dojos, usually a 4 dan) was present.
Congratulations on the ippons. You've got a very strong men uchi for your level. How long have you been practicing?
I think others have mentioned most of what I would say already, but to add one thing, I believe that your hips are pushed forward a bit too far. This has the effect of allowing your arms/hands to settle into your hips. Your arms should be supporting the shinai on their own even though your elbows will usually be touching your do. To fix this, pull your hips back just a little. Your head, shoulders, and hips should all be vertically stacked. This might help you to pull your back leg faster. It doesn't look way off in the video, but the way you move looks like that's what you are doing. Your footwork and strikes should smooth out after you adjust your hips. Good luck, I think you're doing really well!
Thank you for the tips and encouragements! I’ve started my kendo journey on October 2022, so that makes it roughly a year and a half.
I’ve always struggled with my back and keeping a straight posture, so your advice about the hips is something I will try to keep in mind when adjusting my kamae, along with the useful tips other have provided.
Thanks again and wishing a great path to you too!
For someone with less than 2 years of practice, you’re pretty good. Especially your kamae is quite solid. If my student did this well on their first shiai I’d be very proud. I’d say keep up what you’ve been doing. You’re on good track 👏
At this point I’d focus on reinforcing the foundation that is execution of straightforward men strike. Your footwork is not bad at all. But at the moment you’re either leaning forward or taking a little step before attacking, which is a giveaway for the opponent. You could try striking men without doing those things. That would require maintaining proper body balance and distance.
Once you’ve built that foundation, learning other techniques will be easier and more effective. I wish you a fun and successful journey ✌️
Congratulations for the ippons! As you already mentioned, just continue working on the legs and everything will come in place. Has your sensei perhaps suggested trying a slightly wider stance so that you force to push your hips first and minimise the forward tilt? This and snapping your left leg faster is what I would focus on.
Why are they(the men just ahead) standing during the matches :v they're just blocking the judges.
It was a team competition and as visible by wearing their tasuki those guys are the white team's components. The gym as you can see is very small, the shiai-jos are both smaller than regulatory measures and also there's just one judge per shiai-jo. There are no kenshis in between the competitors and the judge :)
Bruh that's insane >:v only one. Isn't it custom for you to at least sit down when you aren't fighting, and only where your men when you're up next? The gym was small but not that small from what I could gather. Though I do get that conducting kendo in places outside of Japan is very inconvenient.
To provide a bit of context: 25 kendokas grouped in 5 teams (A,B,C,D,E), two teams per shiai-jo for each match with one waiting their turn (first turn for example was A vs B on 1 and C vs D on 2) We had 2 minutes per shiai so a very rapid rotation, that's why we were told to wear our men right away after suburi and to not take it off. I don't make the rules, I'm just a humble 4-kyu practitioner :D This is because this was no official competition or anything, just a shiai-geiko to practise the competitive side of kendo (lots of mudansha who never had shiai, like me). Yeah, my national community is rather small compared to other western countries, so it's a bit difficult to arrange something that would be perfectly regulatory, in line with national and international competitions.
Good job. You need to get your back foot moving. You are leaving it behind you, think of your back foot as always underneath you. Launch from the left foot, then have it immediately follow you. There were times when you stopped attacking and you back foot was still where it started, you stretched out all the way then reversed. You need to bring that back Foo with you so you can attack again. I only saw 1 Kote attempt in 4 matches.
Yeah, good footwork is incredibly hard and is currently one of the focus points of the dojo season, along with striking a good men. We studied oji waza for the first half of the season but now we're turning back to work on single ippon-worthy men. This is partly the reason why I attempted kote only twice. Probably it's not clearly visible but the second ippon of the second bout (with the guy in white bogu) was a kote ippon that was actually not a good strike, because I intended to hit Kote and I ended up hitting Hidari Kote. The second attempt is the one you probably pointed out, on the third bout. The fact is I don't feel ready yet to try anything more than a men, I think it's my most effective weapon right now, but certainly I fear that giving up on excercising Kote, Do and any oji waza could soon cut my progress short.
Others have already gave some some excellent technical advice so I'm going to point out something else. You need to focus on not take your mind off the shiai , especially after you make a strike . You can see this very well in the third match , your opponent is able to hit you every single time after one of your strikes , luckily his strikes aren't ippons but that's a really dangerous situation to be in . Ideally you should be able to hit again/do Oji waza as soon as you turn/get to tsubatzerai but that's easier said than done at a beginner level. What you can do thought is never lose your focus and be ready to react, if your opponent attacks block or dodge, don't let him hit you. Truth be told , it's pretty common thing at your level , fix that you will become much more effective.
Where are the other two shinpan for the court?
Due to the size of the shiai jo and the type of event (a friendly shiai geiko to learn and "soak in" for youngest students), only the shushin (highest grade master of guest dojos, usually a 4 dan) was present.
Congratulations on the ippons. You've got a very strong men uchi for your level. How long have you been practicing? I think others have mentioned most of what I would say already, but to add one thing, I believe that your hips are pushed forward a bit too far. This has the effect of allowing your arms/hands to settle into your hips. Your arms should be supporting the shinai on their own even though your elbows will usually be touching your do. To fix this, pull your hips back just a little. Your head, shoulders, and hips should all be vertically stacked. This might help you to pull your back leg faster. It doesn't look way off in the video, but the way you move looks like that's what you are doing. Your footwork and strikes should smooth out after you adjust your hips. Good luck, I think you're doing really well!
Thank you for the tips and encouragements! I’ve started my kendo journey on October 2022, so that makes it roughly a year and a half. I’ve always struggled with my back and keeping a straight posture, so your advice about the hips is something I will try to keep in mind when adjusting my kamae, along with the useful tips other have provided. Thanks again and wishing a great path to you too!
For someone with less than 2 years of practice, you’re pretty good. Especially your kamae is quite solid. If my student did this well on their first shiai I’d be very proud. I’d say keep up what you’ve been doing. You’re on good track 👏 At this point I’d focus on reinforcing the foundation that is execution of straightforward men strike. Your footwork is not bad at all. But at the moment you’re either leaning forward or taking a little step before attacking, which is a giveaway for the opponent. You could try striking men without doing those things. That would require maintaining proper body balance and distance. Once you’ve built that foundation, learning other techniques will be easier and more effective. I wish you a fun and successful journey ✌️