kendo training at home

8/10/2019 Kendo Training at Home

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KENDO TRAINING at Home, Information and

TipsBy David Aguero

Training at home can be a great way to improve and strengthen what you havelearned in the dojo. Nothing can replace the teachings of the sensei, the followinginformation is meant to help enhance and improve your performance whilepracticing kendo in the dojo. Our kendo training guide is specifically for people who

want to squeeze in 15 to 30 minutes of kendo practice in each day. The followingexercises are meant to be a maintenance/basic routine.

Getting the most out of exercises:Repetitions for striking, weights andother non-stretching exercises should continue until you reach yourmaximum

repetitions, take frequent 1 minute rest periods in between exercises.

Materials List:wear loose clothing, shinai, full length mirror, barbell weight set,motivation music, kendo video, water


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Warm Up

-Music, Kendo Videos

Music is a way to quickly prepare your body and mind for exercising. The same canbe said for hearing the sound of kendo matches, immediately prepares your bodyand mind for the coming activity. Watching kendo videos is also a quick way toprepare for your exercise. Use this technique as a method to either relax during astressful event or get motivated.

-Stretching

All stretching should be done slowly, at the peak of the stretch held for a fewseconds, without any bouncing in place,

Leg Stretch,I found that thisparticular leg stretch a greattime saver, stretch two legs atone time! Slowly lower self sothat you can grab your ankles,slowly hold that position.Release your ankle hold and rise,repeat again. Never bounce inthis posture.

Achilles/Leg Stretch,This classickendo achilles stretching exercise is great

because it also encourages good kendo'body upright' posture. The illustationshows the left with heel down, forstretching the achilles. Alternate left footfoward, right foot forward to stretch bothleft and right side achilles. Always stretchslowly, never bounce in the posture whilestretching.

Arm Stretch,This armstretch feels good, like the

after you wake up morningstretch. Slowly clasp your

Arm Stretch,Stretch both right andleft sides.


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fingers together extendingthem above your head andhold.

-Calf crunches

I developed this calf exercise to improve my footwork, I hope you find it beneficial.These calf exercises will make you feel the burn in less than a minute. Perform asmany repetitions as possible rest a couple of minutes and continue with a few morereps.

1. Start with feet shoulder width apart.2. Slowlylift your heel slightly off the floor, pushing from the

balls of your feet, toes are relaxed.3. Slowlyand fully lift up your heel as far as possible,then slowlylower your heel to just slightly off the floor (1 rep) donot let your heels touch the floor until you are finished with thisexercise.

-Sit-Ups

Sit-up crunches are great for strengthening your back and torso. Do as manyrepetitions as possible increasing the number you do by ten each time, for as longas you have time for.


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Weights

-Just the basics

The following weight exercises are very specific to kendo arm strengthening, thereare many in this category the following are just a few. The weight of a shinai shouldnot be a factor in a kendo match and you should be able to use and "wield yourshinai like chop sticks".

-Wrist Curl

Pick up the barbell in a underhand grip, hands less than a shoulder-width apart.Sit on a bench or chair with your fore arms resting on your knees, wrists placedforward of the knees.1. Bend your wrists back and allow the weight bar to roll down to your finger tips.2. When the wrists are fully bent, reverse the direction bringing your wrists up.3. Continue bringing up your wrists as high as possible.

-Reverse Wrist Curl

Pick up the barbell in a overhand grip, hands less than a shoulder-width apart.Sit on a bench or chair with your fore arms resting on your knees, wrists placedforward of the knees.1. Bend your wrists down as far as possible.2. Bring your wrists back up as high as possible without using your arms.

-Triceps Press


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This triceps press can be done while sitting or standing. With your feet shoulderswidth apart, grasp the barbell your hands close together but not touching in aoverhand grip and press the weights above your head.1. Lower the bar behind your head as far as possible, keeping your elbows pointedup and arms close to your head.

2. Raise the bar above your head to the start position.

rm Strengthening Get themost outofstriking

by usingouruniquekendo

trainingtechniqueforexercising yourarms.

I recommend using a weightadjustable5lb wrist weight setthisequals 2.5 lbs per arm and works well if

you need to reduce the weight. If youneed to increase the weight load a 10 lb

weight set can be used.
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Muscles used in kendoare many. Raising the swordabove your head anddelivering a precise blow

within less than one inch of atarget takes constant practice.The illustration on the leftshows the muscle areasinvolved in delivering aproper kendo strike.

Wrist weights of theadjustable kind are probablythe best investment forincreasing arm strength and

speed for kendo strikes.Youcan exercise without ashinai with just the wristweights raising yourarms above your headand striking as younormally strike.

Screw Type Barbell (for safety)

Screw Type Barbell (forsafety)Using the barbell weights (2.5-5lbs) in combination with

wrist weights will give youdistributed weight and youare less likely to get injured.


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Posture and footwork

-The kendo posture line and footwork

Use a full length mirror to watch yourself practice footwork with a shinai withoutany up and down movement of your head. This exercise is very useful in presenting

your opponent with a very small movement profile to see or react to, especiallywhen moving forward.

Kendo posture line

Posture is an important facet in developing good kendo habits. Goodposture facilitates stealthy and undetectable forward movement.Alwayskeep your head level and footwork as smooth as possible.


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Kendo Basic FootworkFootwork is very important in kendo, determining wether you are ablestrike when an opening presents itself and much more.

Basic foot placement iswith both feet parallelabout one foot lengthapart. The illustration onthe left shows the methodto place your feet in thecorrect spacing andalignment. The left foot isslightly raised. Weightevenly distributed betweenthe right foot and the ballsof your feet of the left foot.

Suri-ashi / Okuri-ashi:footwork is the basic footwork practiced inkendo today. As a beginner suri-ashi is both simple, and advancedfootwork. Understanding why we need to step in this manner will

become clear the more you understand kendo striking. In order forstriking to be successful footwork must be as natural as possible,

without thinking your stepping must match the goal of each strike.

Suri-ashi /Okuri-ashi:stepping:Stepforward bypushing off withthe LEFT foot,then quickly

bringing your leftfoot back into the

beginning footposition.

Suri-ashi/ Okuri-ashi:forward stepping

Suri-ashi/ Okuri-ashi:backward stepping


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Suri-ashi/ Okuri-ashi: side to side stepping

-Developing explosive footwork, and better lung capacity

There are many ways to develop the legs in particular the calf muscles. One greatway is bike riding because of its low impact on the knee joints and a similar pushingoff with leg and calf muscles that is so important in explosive propulsion forwards.

With a minimum of ten minutes of medium to hard riding every day your footworkstrength will improve dramatically.

Bike riding is an excellent method tostrengthen your legs for kendo with dramaticresults and increased breathing capacity.


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Striking-Striking exercises, Suburi

Most people can complete a session of 100 suburis, increase the number of suburisyou can complete in a session by 10 each time and work up to as many as you have

time for. Always make sure your movement is one continuous strike, withoutstopping the footwork rhythm of the strike stop your shinai momentarily when youhave extended your arm fully to strike men.

Kendo Suburi Exercise

Suburi exercise is very much a speed and timing exercise for both hand and

footwork.

A. Startwith the shinai positioned above your head

1.Swing your shinai forward striking men, making sure the left hand controls thelarge arcing motion, stop momentarily at the top of the men strike. At the same time

you are swinging your shinai forwards push off with your left footstill in thekendofoot position.

2.Swing your shinai in a large arc to the rear, making sure your left hand pushingthe shinai up. At the same time you are swing your shinai to the rear push off with

your right footbackwards while maintaining yourkendo foot position.This is one count, continue for the required number of counts.
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Big Kote, Men, Do Exercise

Kote Stike Exercise

1. Start in thechudan kamaeposition.Quickly raise your shinai above yourhead.

2.Step forwardand strike KOTE atthe same time you are bring down

your shinai. Both 1 and 2 steps aredone in one continuous motion.

Men Stike Exercise

1. Start in the chudan kamae position.Quickly raise your shinai above yourhead.

2.Step forwardand strike MEN at thesame time you are bring down yourshinai. Both 1 and 2 steps are done inone continuous motion.
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Do Stike Exercise

1. Start in the chudan kamae position.Quickly raise your shinai above yourhead.

2.Step forwardand strike DO at thesame time you are bring down yourshinai. Both 1 and 2 steps are done inone continuous motion.

Kendo Small Waza StrikingSmall waza striking is very suitable for home practice. Just a few minutes everydayswinging the shinai will improve your ability. When practicing these strikingexercises change the rhythm by striking kote/men ..... kote/men/do ....men/men/kote etc. Five minutes of small striking waza should be a good warm up.

Small KoteWith your left hand lift the

tip of the shinai and thendown using a forward and

backward motion. Alwaysmake sure to stop theshinai in a horizontalposition, striking kote.Make every strike in onemotion.

Small Men

Raise the right arm in ahorzontal position and with

your left hand lift the tip ofthe shinai and then downusing a forward and

backward motion strikingmen. Always stop the strikeat the point when the shinai

would make contact on thetarget. Make every strike inone motion.
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Small DoWith your left hand liftthe tip of the shinai andthen down using aforward and backward in

a diagonal motiontowards the left shoulderand down. Bring theshinai down so that yourfists are directly in front,striking do. Make everystrike in one motion.

Cool Down

-Walk

Cool down, and lower your heart rate by walking for about five minutes, all thewhile drinking water.

Conclusion

-Mix it up, Have funAlthough working out does have a purpose and a goal you should strive to make it

enjoyable and fun, varying the exercises and watching kendo videos before or aftera workout. Always pay careful attention to striking properly, correct footwork,perfect posture and concentration. It has been shown that having a positive frameof mind makes the workout go faster, and improvements more dramatic.

kendo training at home

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