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Tactics Against Nitto-ryu and Jodan

by Val Serezhkin
(Russia)

What is the most effective tactics in shiai against nitto-ryu and jodan kendokas?

These types of kamae are rarely used so there is almost zero-level info about it in Europe.

So I am asking to get general knowledge in order not to be shocked when I meet unusual kamae kendoka in shiai.

I want to know general tips and their weak points.

Answer: This is a good question. Since the number of words I can write here is limited, I just have to go through really general tips.

1. Use your footwork: You do not want to stay at one place. Move to the right and left.

2. Do not go backwards all the time: They have more reach. Going backwards means letting them to strike you.

3. Do not be afraid: Do not worry about getting hit. They are also afraid of you. Do not hesitate to strike them.

4. Know your own distance: Since they have more reach than you, you really have to know your distance. Practice how you can get into your own distance fast and strike.

5. Practice tsuki and gyakudo: These are very advanced. If you are not allowed to execute tsuki, then you cannot do tsuki in shiai. So you have to check the shiai regulations of your federation.

Tsuki is very effective against nito and jodan. They know that too. That means they also practice how to counterattack against tsuki.

Gyakudo is just another option for chudan to strike. Even though gyakudo is hard to get a point in shiai, why do we have to limit our targets?

6. Strike hidari (left) kote above your opponent’s chest: We can get a point by striking the left kote if it is above the chest of your opponent.

So you can strike the hidari-kote of jodan. If nito has his/her left hand up above their chest, you can strike his/her hidari-kote.

I think these are the general tips against nito and jodan. More tips are really welcome here!

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Tactics Against Nitto-ryu and Jodan

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May 13, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks!
by: Tony

I see it is very advanced! Thanks for the quick and accurate answer. Do you recommend I do not try this until I get to a certain level, or can I try it out in practise?



Tony Hardly-normal-do

Kendo-Guide.Com: Koyama sensei's gyaku-nuki-do. It is a good technique.

I started learning gyaku-do when I was 12 years old because of my left wrist injury. If you have a good instructor to teach you how to do it right, I don?t see why you should not practice.

However, it is an advanced do strike and you should practice the normal do more than gyaku-do. Here is why.

Samurai carried their swords on the left side of their body. If you tried to cut your opponent?s gyaku-do, that means you would have to cut the saya of the sword that your opponent pulled out and the kodachi or wakizashi (shorter sword) as well.

That is why gyaku-do is considered to be very advanced. If you strike gyaku-do, you have to put a lot of power in it because you have to cut through another sword. After you strike gyaku-do, you have to go backwards as you can see in the video above.

If you do not have an instructor to teach you properly, I do not recommend gyaku-do unless you are 3rd dan or above.

Hope this helps.
May 13, 2009
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starstarstarstar 		Gyakudo?
by: Tony

What do you mean by gyakudo? I haven't heard it before.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Gyakudo is the left do. Gyaku means "opposite" or "the other side". The normal do strike is the right do, so we call it gyaku (the opposite) do.

This word is used a lot so if you remember this, it may be very useful one day.

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