How do you do "DO" strikes?

by Christopher
(Philippines)

In our dojo, we have a visiting sensei from Japan. He told us that a better way to do "DO" strikes is to slide the left hand up to the right hand as we go forward and then strike with the two fists close together.

That way, according to him, is much easier than when doing "DO" with the left hand at the end of the shinai and the right hand near the tsuba.

I am confused because the instructors in our dojo didn't teach us this way of doing "DO".

And also, when doing the "DO" strike, can we release the left hand after the strike. Because in our WAZA practice we hold both hands on the shinai after we strike and pass the opponent. By the way, I am just a 4th kyu. Thanks!

Answer: The way the Japanese sensei showed you is perfectly OK. Since the tsuka (grip) of shinai is long we can move our left hand towards the right hand when we cut do.

Now the releasing your left hand after the cut is not considered as a good cut even though many (almost everyone) do it. Young people tend to do that. However, 7th and above, do not tent do to do that.

To me, it is OK to release your left hand only to finish off the cutting motion after you cut your opponent’s do. Sometimes there is not enough space between you and your opponent so you have to let your left hand go to cut through.

But since you are 4th kyu, I suggest that you should practice do strikes with both hand properly. You can slide your left hand towards your right hand if necessary.

Hope this helps.