Sayumen:
The Core Movement of Kirikaeshi

When you learn sayumen, you probably find it quite hard and frustrating to do it right.

It looks simple and easy to do right after learning shomen uchi but soon you will realise that it is actually rather hard to control the angle of the sword.

All we have to do is to change the angle of the sword but there are some rules to follow. That is why it is harder than it sounds.

Firstly, we have to know that we are using a sword so we need to make sure that the angle of the sword is right.

It is said that the angle of the sword should be 45 degrees from the centre of the face line.

Many have trouble getting the right angle at the beginning. This is the first obstacle.

Secondly, we have to keep our left hand in the centre. This is hard if your left grip is too tight.

“Too tight” means you are using all the left fingers to grab the sword and every single finger is tense.

Remember that you should use only the left ring finger and little finger to hold the sword tightly and the rest of your fingers should be relaxed.

Bad Grip

All fingers are tight.

Good Grip

Only the pinkie and ring finger are tight.

This could be a big challenge for beginners. But if we learn how to do sayu-men correctly, we will understand how we should use the left hand properly.

There is a video to show how to grab your shinai; How to Take Chudan: Draw Your Sword.

Thirdly, the right hand is the control hand. But some people use the whole right arm to change the angle of the sword.

For example, when trying to strike their opponent’s right men, they rotate their right arm inward more than necessary. This pushes their left hand to the right, away from the centre. They may hit the target, but the movement is no longer aligned correctly and goes against the basics.

To change the angle of the sword, use the hand and wrist.

This is something we have to practise over and over to acquire the right movement.

We should know how to do zenshin kotai shomen uchi and niho zenshin niho kotai shomen uchi by now. I will not tell you how these exercises with sayu-men should be done.

We do zenshin kotai sayu-men and niho zenshin niho kotai sayu-men exactly in the same way we do in zenshin kotai men uchi and niho zenshin niho kotai shomen uchi. The only difference is the angle of the sword.

So as you can imagine it is important to know how to change the angle of the sword correctly here when practising sayu-men.