Glasgow Grading and Seminar March 2008

This year’s grading seminar seemed to be less well attended than in previous years or it might just have been the different setting (goodbye, Castlemilk - hello, Kelvinhall) which made it seem smaller. The distribution between mudan/kyu and shodan candidates to sandan was roughly equal and we were split into two big groups accordingly. In the beginning, Matsumoto sensei took the dan group (assisted by Kincaid sensei) and Holt sensei took the kyu group together with Bishop sensei.

The kyu group went systematically through all kendo-keiko-ho exercises which was useful and at the same time good preparation for the grading. The dan group did kata first accompanied by very detailed advice from sensei. We concentrated on seme and kikentai. It was remarkable that many participants made tangible progress in a very short period of time. Some said that they had never thought about kata in terms of a real fight.

Sensei took the ai-uchi-men cuts in kata #4 as an example to illustrate his point that kata should be approached in exactly the same way as shiai kendo. In katas #1-3, shidachi ‘knows’ what is happening because on our level their timing is reactive (men-nuki-men, kote-nuki-kote, tsuki-counter-tsuki). In kata #4 everything is possible, the two fighters lower their swords into ai-chudan exerting pressure to hold the centre line. Only then shidachi releases pressure which invites uchidachi to attempt tsuki (to the right lung of shidachi).

Therefore, looking back from kata #4 we should approach #1-3 in the same way. It is not just uchidachi who attacks. It is also shidachi who invites an attack.

We took this approach further in shinai practice where we looked at various ways to express seme: posture, kiai, movement of the kensen, movement of seme ashi. The aim is to take the initiative and to make your opponent either move or to attack at a time of your choosing. It is crucial that you maintain pressure throughout. You will not be able to cut well if you first exert pressure, then withdraw and then try again. You must take the initiative and keep up the pressure until the very end (‘from rei to rei’).

In the later part of the afternoon, the dan group was split into referee teams. We then refereed kyu-group matches. Holt sensei had – to make things more interesting and complex – prepped a few fighters to make specific mistakes which the referees were supposed to notice. Although my stint as shushin (head court referee) went fine, my team completely missed the fact that in a later fight one kendoka held their shinai with the tsuru facing down. Although he made a good cut with kikentai we should have never awarded a point.

The grading took place on Sunday morning and it was a successful day for us and our sister dojo. Penny and Mark passed ikkyu and Lewis passed shodan. Also young Sean, Dez, Scott and Marco from EKC all passed ikkyu and Drew passed shodan. Eight students from EUKC graded successfully and all candidates from Aberdeeen.

In the afternoon Lewis and I joined the EUKC session with Kobayashi sensei and Murata sensei. Kobayashi sensei, a seventh dan, chose to start with posture exercises and encouraged us to give our training partners very detailed advice. We then moved on and practiced swinging the bokuto with large and precise movements. Sensei showed us some koryu cuts which we practiced for a little while trying to get to terms with the fluidity needed to perform them. After some kirikaeshi we had the opportunity to fight each other and sensei. I was lucky to be third in line to fight Kobayashi sensei who was very, very impressive. Some sensei concentrate on the core exchange and let you do the running. He – on the other hand – chased me every time I passed him and was right in my face when I turned. Later in the evening I had the chance to watch our fight on video which I found very helpful.

The session in Edinburgh was well attended and most of the EUKC members who had passed in Glasgow showed their commitment. The most impressive effort was Chris Cullen’s. Chris has injured his Achilles tendon and has just undergone surgery. He attended nevertheless wearing hakama and gi to match his crutches and cast. He did mitori geiko and maintained good posture throughout which sensei acknowledged.

Michael Gratzke, Dojo leader StAKC