Different Distances in Kendo

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Different Distances in Kendo

by Jorge Villarán
(Lima, Perú)

How do you define:

1. Issoku itto no maai (Issoku itto no ma)
2. Chikai maai (Chika-ma)
3. Toi maai (Toh-ma)
4. Uchi-ma
5. Yokote maai (Yokote no maai)
6. Koujin no maai
7. shokujin no maai?

Q1: Some of these distances should be used differently depending on the opponent. For example, for some people uchima is also chikama, for others it is issoku itto. Which of the distances above depend on the opponent like uchima?

Q2: Distances from 1 to 4 are for shinai and 5 to 7 for bokken/katana, or that is irrelevant?

I made a question a week ago, I guess you didn’t receive it or perhaps it was too long. I reformulated my questions.

Thank you very much for your answer, it is very difficult to find good information about some of these distances.

Jorge Villaran

Kendo-Guide.Com: First of all, I am sorry that I could not get the question one week ago. Nothing came up in the system.

Answer to Question 2: We have to know what they all are. So they are relevant.

However, shinai does not have yokote. But it is good to know what yokote is because it is used in kendo too.

Answer to Question 1: I don’t quite understand your question. Do you want to know which distance can be uchi-ma?

Let me define all the distances first.

1. Issoku itto no maai (Issoku itto no ma) : This distance is a distance where you can reach your opponent with one step forwards and you can avoid your opponent’s cut with one step backwards.

2. Chikai maai (Chika-ma): Close distance. When you get in further from issoku itto no ma, you are in chika-ma. You can easily reach your opponent but your opponent also can reach you easily (Definition by All Japan Kendo Federation).

3. Toi maai (Toh-ma): You are not even in issoku itto no ma. You cannot reach your opponent and your opponent cannot reach you either (Definition by All Japan Kendo Federation). Basically your shinai and your opponent's shinai are not touching.

4. Uchi-ma: The distance for you to strike. This is the distance you MUST strike.

5. Yokote maai (Yokote no maai): There is a part called “yokote” around the kensaki (kissaki) of a sword. There is a line called yokote-suji a bit lower than the kensaki. If you are in a distance where the yokote of your sword and your opponent’s sword meet, you are in the yokote no
maai.

6. Koujin no maai: Koujin means “crossing blades”. So if your sword and your opponent sword start crossing, you are in koujin no maai. Your kensaki can pass the kensaki of your opponent’s sword about 10cm (about 4 inches).

7. shokujin no maai: Shokujin means “touching blades”. The kensaki of your sword and your opponent are touching. Once one of the kensaki passes the shokujin no maai to get closer, you are in koujin no maai.

As you can imagine, from person to person, the definition of each distance can be slightly different. I am trying to be as general as possible so you can be flexible.

I will separate them into some groups. Please remember this grouping is my idea not defined by All Japan Kendo Federation.

Issoku itto no ma Group
shokujin no maai
Koujin no maai
Yokote no maai

Koujin no maai group
Yokote no maai
Chika-ma
(After more consideration, I decided to get rid of this group.)

Chika-ma group

Toh-ma group

Uchima group
Issoku itto no ma
shokujin no maai
Koujin no maai
Yokote no maai
Chika-ma

I think these groups are well-grouped.

Chika-ma and toh-ma are independent. They will not fall into any other groups, I guess. Now I will tell you some “questionable” distances.

Even though the blades cross in chika-ma, it is probably different from koujin no ma.

If you get closer to your opponent from shokujin no ma, you are in koujin no maai. If the yokote of your sword is touching that of your opponent, you are in yokote no maai. Also you are still in koujin no ma.

If you get even closer until the kensaki of your shinai passes monouchi of your opponent’s sword (around nakajime of shinai), then you are way too close to your opponent (chika-ma).

Issoku itto no ma can be different from person to person, even though it is the basic distance in kendo. As long as you are not in chika-ma or toh-ma, you are theoretically in issoku itto no ma.

In issoku itto no ma your sword should be touching your opponent’s sword, so theoretically you should be either in shokujin no maai, yokote no maai or koujin no maai.

Uchi-ma basically covers all the distances. If you can reach your opponent before the kensaki of your shinai touches that of your opponent, toh-ma can be uchi-ma as well. Probably this can be controversial. Chika-ma is also uchi-ma but it is not a preferred uchi-ma if you can physically jump in from issoku itto no ma.

You may realise that many 7th dan or above sensei step in a bit more from issoku itto no ma. They can strike from issoku itto no ma but they “hold their desire to strike” or “fight their fear to be struck” and step in further in order to put more pressure on their opponent. In such case, they are in probably chika-ma but in uchi-ma as well.

Stepping in a bit more from issoku itto no ma as I mentioned above is something 5th dan or above should work on. If you are not 5th dan or above, do not worry about it too much.

Again you will hear different definitions of these distances from different senseis. But there is one common thing they will tell you to do.

“Strike in issoku itto no ma when you are young”.

Chika-ma is not something those kendo practitioners at the early stage should worry about. First, we should learn how to strike in issoku itto no ma.

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Different Distances in Kendo

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Jun 16, 2009
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Two Cents
by: Matt

If you are trying to figure out what distance you are in, and adjust it to another one during practice, you are likely thinking about it too much. Relying on the shinai to judge distance is not the best habit to have.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Again, good comment. Thinking too much makes our movements awkward and slows us down. Thinking too less does not make us better kendoists and human. We should be done with thinking before we practice/do jigeiko.
We should think about kendo in our daily life like how we should move our feet/body. Image our kendo movements while we lying down in the bed or meditating in the bathroom ;)

But once we put men on and we should be able to control our body and get into it. This is very hard but ideal.

When we improve, we can think and change our kendo during training. No problems. Until then, we just have to separate those two training. When time comes, try to integrate thinking and training at the same time. Just like driving a car.

Feb 08, 2009
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Some doubts
by: J. Villarán

Thank you for your answer again, I was watching my Kendo Grading DVD and Hidekatsu Inoue?s DVD again and when they said toma the kenshis in both videos put themselves on shokujin no ma. You said shokujin no ma is not toma, so I was thinking they might be closer to fit the camera. What do you think?

If the issoku itto no maai?s All Japan Kendo Federation?s definition cannot be applied always, why they don?t change the definition for a better one?

Your answers are really good. I really appreciate the effort you are doing for the world. Congratulations!

Kenod-Guide.Com: Thank you for your kind words. I am always glad to be a help.

I have to see the video. I do not think it is necessary to change the definition. In kendo, the distance always changes and we don?t always talk about physical distances.

Even though the physical distance does not change, our own distance to strike always changes depending on our opponents.

And also as I said in the previous comment, uchima is a bit closer (deeper) than issoku itto no ma or shokujin no ma. So in the video you talked about above, they probably meant ?they are a bit far to strike (reach)?, when they said ?toh-ma? .

As you improve, you can actually see what they mean by ?you should be in a distance where it is easy for you to reach your opponent but difficult for your opponent to reach you?. This is not only the matter of your physical distance. The video guys probably are talking about such distance.

In the dojo I go to in Japan, we used to (maybe still they do) fight against naginata once a year. Naginata is a weapon that has a blade at the end of a long grip; similar to the European halberd or glaive.

If we fight in naginata no ma (naginata?s distance), it is too far for us to reach by one step forwards. We have to get in to strike naginata fighters.

In this case, naginata no ma is toh-ma for us, even though the blade of the sword and the blade of naginata are touching. We have to get into chika-ma (for naginata fighters) in order to strike them.

It is not called issoku itto no ma for kendo even when the tip of the sword and the tip of the naginata are touching. It is issoku itto no ma for naginata because they can strike us on one step.

This is kendo against other weapons so we cannot apply this to kendo versus kendo situation. But I think it is good to know how distance can change in budo.

We do not really follow the definitions we have in kendo here. However, we perfectly understand each other. I know it is confusing for many and it is not very nice for beginners. But sometimes, you just need more experiences to know what is going on.

Just make sure that you know what issoku itto no ma, chika-ma and toh-ma are. You will be able to know what uchima when you know your own distance. Step by step, you will be able to see what each distance means.

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Feb 08, 2009
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Submitted by: J. Villarán

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Comment
Thank you for your answer again, I was watching my Kendo Grading DVD and Hidekatsu Inoue?s DVD again and when they said toma the kenshis in both videos put themselves on shokujin no ma. You said shokujin no ma is not toma, so I was thinking they might be closer to fit the camera. What do you think? If the issoku itto no maai?s All Japan Kendo Federation?s definition cannot be applied always, why they don?t change the definition for a better one? Your answers are really good. I really appreciate the effort you are doing for the world. Congratulations! Kenod-Guide.Com: Thank you for your kind words. I am always glad to be a help. I have to see the video. I do not think it is necessary to change the definition. In kendo, the distance always changes and we don?t always talk about physical distances. Even though the physical distance does not change, our own distance to strike always changes depending on our opponents. And also as I said in the previous comment, uchima is a bit closer (deeper) than issoku itto no ma or shokujin no ma. So in the video you talked about above, they probably meant ?they are a bit far to strike (reach)?, when they said ?toh-ma? . As you improve, you can actually see what they mean by ?you should be in a distance where it is easy for you to reach your opponent but difficult for your opponent to reach you?. This is not only the matter of your physical distance. The video guys probably are talking about such distance. In the dojo I go to in Japan, we used to (maybe still they do) fight against naginata once a year. Naginata is a weapon that has a blade at the end of a long grip; similar to the European halberd or glaive. If we fight in naginata no ma (naginata?s distance), it is too far for us to reach by one step forwards. We have to get in to strike naginata fighters. In this case, naginata no ma is toh-ma for us, even though the blade of the sword and the blade of naginata are touching. We have to get into chika-ma (for naginata fighters) in order to strike them. It is not called issoku itto no ma for kendo even when the tip of the sword and the tip of the naginata are touching. It is issoku itto no ma for naginata because they can strike us on one step. This is kendo against other weapons so we cannot apply this to kendo versus kendo situation. But I think it is good to know how distance can change in budo. We do not really follow the definitions we have in kendo here. However, we perfectly understand each other. I know it is confusing for many and it is not very nice for beginners. But sometimes, you just need more experiences to know what is going on. Just make sure that you know what issoku itto no ma, chika-ma and toh-ma are. You will be able to know what uchima when you know your own distance. Step by step, you will be able to see what each distance means.

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Feb 04, 2009
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I still have some doubts.
by: Anonymous

1: The definition of toh-ma is you cannot reach your opponent and your opponent cannot reach you either. So toh-ma cannot be uchima. Later you wrote that if you can hit from toi maai, it is also uchima (Against the toh-ma definition). If I can hit from toh-ma, it is not toh-ma, issoku itto no ma, right?

2: If I am in shokujin but I cannot reach my opponent with one step, wouldn't this be toi maai?

3: If I am in the #2 situation, and my opponent is taller than me, this would be issoku itto no ma for him, but still toi maai for me?

4: If I am against a giant opponent in my issoku itto no ma, I could hit him with one step but could not evade his cut with one step since my issoku itto no ma is chikama for him. This would mean that there is no issoku itto no ma against big people. Wouldn?t it become uchima?

5: You said Koujin no maai cannot be chikama. Why is in the Koujin no maai group?

If Koujin no maai cannot be chikama or toi maai, Koujin no maai can only be in the issoku itto no ma group. If so, the koujin no maai group is not necessary.

It would helpful for me to understand if these distances are dividend in 2 (physical distances and personal fighting distances).

Answer: There are a lot of discussions in Japanese kendo forums about the definitions of the distances. That means there is no clear cut.

The more I think about it, I don?t think it is necessary to have the Koujin no maai group. It is just confusing. Thank you for pointing that out.

Issoku itto no ma is the point of the dead or alive situation. That is why many senseis, almost all senseis, tell us to strike before we get in to chika-ma.

I would like to answer your questions hoping I can make sense :)

(1) In toh-ma, your sword and your opponent?s sword are not touching. Thus, you cannot reach your opponent and your opponent cannot reach you with one step.

Uchi-ma is YOUR distance to strike your opponent. This is usually issoku itto no ma or closer. You can physically strike your opponent and MUST strike when you come into your uchi-ma.

For those who can strike from toh-ma, toh-ma can be one of their uchi-ma, but by tradition, people probably say, ?I can strike from toh-ma?.

(2) No. Shokujin no maai is the distance where the kensaki of your sword and your opponent sword are touching. In toh-ma, the swords are not touching.

(3) If your sword and your opponent?s are touching, you are not in toh-ma. You just cannot reach him/her.

(4) As long as you are in one of Issoku Itto no ma group, you are not in chika-ma. So issoku itto no ma does exist but you cannot apply its definition because of the physical differences between you and your opponent.

(5) Koujin no maai group is now gone. Koujin no ma is never be toh-ma.

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Feb 04, 2009
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Submitted by: Anonymous

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1: The definition of toh-ma is you cannot reach your opponent and your opponent cannot reach you either. So toh-ma cannot be uchima. Later you wrote that if you can hit from toi maai, it is also uchima (Against the toh-ma definition). If I can hit from toh-ma, it is not toh-ma, issoku itto no ma, right? 2: If I am in shokujin but I cannot reach my opponent with one step, wouldn't this be toi maai? 3: If I am in the #2 situation, and my opponent is taller than me, this would be issoku itto no ma for him, but still toi maai for me? 4: If I am against a giant opponent in my issoku itto no ma, I could hit him with one step but could not evade his cut with one step since my issoku itto no ma is chikama for him. This would mean that there is no issoku itto no ma against big people. Wouldn?t it become uchima? 5: You said Koujin no maai cannot be chikama. Why is in the Koujin no maai group? If Koujin no maai cannot be chikama or toi maai, Koujin no maai can only be in the issoku itto no ma group. If so, the koujin no maai group is not necessary. It would helpful for me to understand if these distances are dividend in 2 (physical distances and personal fighting distances). Answer: There are a lot of discussions in Japanese kendo forums about the definitions of the distances. That means there is no clear cut. The more I think about it, I don?t think it is necessary to have the Koujin no maai group. It is just confusing. Thank you for pointing that out. Issoku itto no ma is the point of the dead or alive situation. That is why many senseis, almost all senseis, tell us to strike before we get in to chika-ma. I would like to answer your questions hoping I can make sense :) (1) In toh-ma, your sword and your opponent?s sword are not touching. Thus, you cannot reach your opponent and your opponent cannot reach you with one step. Uchi-ma is YOUR distance to strike your opponent. This is usually issoku itto no ma or closer. You can physically strike your opponent and MUST strike when you come into your uchi-ma. For those who can strike from toh-ma, toh-ma can be one of their uchi-ma, but by tradition, people probably say, ?I can strike from toh-ma?. (2) No. Shokujin no maai is the distance where the kensaki of your sword and your opponent sword are touching. In toh-ma, the swords are not touching. (3) If your sword and your opponent?s are touching, you are not in toh-ma. You just cannot reach him/her. (4) As long as you are in one of Issoku Itto no ma group, you are not in chika-ma. So issoku itto no ma does exist but you cannot apply its definition because of the physical differences between you and your opponent. (5) Koujin no maai group is now gone. Koujin no ma is never be toh-ma.

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Different Distances in Kendo

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