Kihon in Kendo
by Henrique Duarte
(Kaneohe, HI)
Why is Kihon important in Kendo?
Answer: Thank you for your question. It is a good question. Kihon is based on the way of the sword. It is very close to how iaido people swing. We don’t do the iai-goshi in kendo though.
Kihon is the foundation of kendo. And kendo is to discipline our human character. So through learning kihon properly, we are developing the foundation of our human character.
Have you ever done kirikaeshi over and over? Keep your hands above your head especially the left hand when lifting the sword up. And cutting down the sword towards the men, not the shinai of the motodachi (or receiver). Keep your footwork sharp.
Big and sharp kirikaeshi wears you out really quickly. Of course, you are shouting a lot. If you keep doing this kirikaeshi for a half hour or one hour (if you can), you will be physically done and your mental strength or will power needs to step in to keep your body moving to continue kirikaeshi.
This type of training won’t turn you into an athlete but you will have to face to your weakness and overcome it.
Kihon in kendo is kihon in human. We need to fine tune it all the time. We need to do our best into each strike. It is not a warm up.
Hope this helps!