znkr iaido points for grading and refereeing

11/2/13 12:20 AMZNKR Iaido Points for Grading and Refereeing

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ZNKR Iaido Points for Grading and Refereeing

copyright © 2012 Kim Taylor, all rights reserved.

The ZNKR iaido manual, otherwise known as "the book" is the final word on how the ZNKR iaido kata areperformed. ZNKR iai is a set of standardized (seitei) kata to be used by all kendo federation iaido students and"the book" is the reference for that standard. Within that book is a section called the Points for Grading andRefereeing which is a guide to judges on what they should look for in each kata. As such, they represent aninstruction (ok think of it as an order) to judges to look especially closely at these points which the ZNKR iaidocommittee consider to be important enough to look closely at.

I suspect students should consider these points to be the very barest minimum of things they ought to "get right"if they want to pass their next grade. Now when you look at the points for 1 and 2 you'll find that a lot of thepoints in 1 are not repeated in 2. I suggest to students that this does not mean the points in 1 can be ignored in 2,I suggest that the intent is for the points to be cumulative. A point which appears earlier in the instructionsapplies to a later kata if applicable. In other words, don't be a jailhouse lawyer about this, if a movement islooked at earlier, it will be looked at in the same way later.

Because I have heard for years that "seitei gata changes every year", I have included for your amusement a set ofinstructions on these same points from a publication called "The Guidance of Referee" created in English by theBuko Dosokai in 1994. A look at the 2009 and the 1994 instructions, perhaps by two different translators, willgive you some idea of how much these most important and fundamental points have changed over the 15 yearsbetween the publications. Incidentally, 1-10 were dated as from 1988 and 11-12 from 2000 so the 1994 noteswould not include the last two kata.

For the photos below I'd like to thank my student Pam Morgan for her willingness to model the points, anyinaccuracies you spot are my fault not hers. And they'd better not show up in your own practice... if you seethem fix them.

Kata 2009 instruction,ZNKR book,

english translation

1994 instruction,Buko Dosokaienglish booklet

Photographs

Reiho Ensure performers areexecuting the correct mannersas stated in the criteria.

Is the correct etiquette shown? (Read the book.)

1. Mae a. Does the performer do Is sufficient sayabiki shown

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1. Mae a. Does the performer doenough Sayabiki when theycut the opponent's face withNukitsuke?

Is sufficient sayabiki shownduring nukitsuke?

b. Is the sword taken intoFurikaburi with a feeling ofthrusting to behind the leftear?

Is the furikaburi made with abackwards thrustingmovement past the left ear?

c. Is the tip of the sword abovethe horizontal position when inFurikaburi?

Does the kissaki drop belowthe horizontal when the swordis above the head?

d. Is the sword brought downwithout hesitation duringKirioroshi?

Is the cut executed withoutpause?

(Do not stop at the aboveposition)

e. Is the tip of the swordslightly below horizontal at theend of Kirioroshi?

Does the cut finish a littlelower than horizontal?

http://ejmas.com/tin/2012tin/taylor12/seitei1/IMG_6097-seitei-iai-judges.jpg







f. Is the shape and form ofChiburi correct?

Is the posture correct duringchiburi?











g. Is Noto performedcorrectly?

Is the noto executed correctly? (According to your koryustyle.)

Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu and

Muso Shinden Ryu (below)











2. Ushiro a. When the turn is made, isthe left foot moved sufficientlyto the left?

Is the player drawing thesword as he is turning and isthe left foot being placed alittle to the left on thenukitsuke?










b. Is the horizontal cut made tothe opponent's temple?

Is the player cutting correctlyto the temple of the opponent?

3.Ukenagashi

a. When the parry is made,does it protect the upper body?

Is the upper half of the bodycovered by the sword in theukenagashi position?

b. Is the left foot brought backbehind the right foot and the

Is the left foot drawn backbehind the right and is the cut










behind the right foot and thecut made along the Kesa line?

behind the right and is the cutdiagonal?

c. After the cut has been made,is the left hand in front of thenavel and the sword tip a littlebelow horizontal?

Is the left fist in front of thenavel and is the kissaki slightlydown on completion of thecut?

4. Tsuka-Ate

a. Is the Tsukakashira surelypointed at the opponent's solar

Is the player aiming the tsukacorrectly at the solar plexus of








Ate pointed at the opponent's solarplexus?

correctly at the solar plexus ofthe opponent?

b. When the rear opponent isthrust, is this done with theright elbow extended fully anddoes the left hand bring theKoiguchi to the navel?

On the thrust to the rear, is theleft hand holding the sayaturned inwards in front of thenavel and is the right elbowextended on making thethrust?

c. When the cut is made, is iton the vertical centerline andfrom the correct positionabove the head?

As the body is again turned tothe front, is there a pullingmovement as the sword israised above the head, and isthe cut itself vertical?









5. Kesagiri a. When the initial upper cut ismade, is the right hand abovethe right shoulder when thesword is rotated?

Is the right hand above theshoulder as the sword is turnedon the initial cut?










b. When Chiburi is performed,is it at the correct angle whilethe person steps back with theleft foot at the same time whentheir left hand takes hold of theKoiguchi?

Is the left hand gripping thesaya as the left foot is movedback on the chiburui action?

6.Morotezuki

a. Is the initial cut correctlymade from the opponent'stemple down to their chinwhen making Nuki Uchi?

On the initial diagonal cut,does the cut stop at chinheight?










b. Does the performer bringtheir left foot up behind theirright? Is Chudan No Kamaecorrectly made and the swordthrust into the correct target ofthe body? Is the thrust madewith certainty?

Is the rear foot tsugiasi as thechudan kamae is adopted andis the thrust made accurately tothe opponent solar plexus?

c. Does the performer bringtheir sword above their head ina parrying action when pullingit out from the first opponent?

As the sword is drawn out, isthere a feeling of ukenagashias the sword is raised abovethe head?

7.Sanpogiri

a. Is the initial cut to the firstopponent made through thecorrect diagonal angle fromthe top right side of the headdown to the base of the chin?

When making the first cut tothe right, does the cut stop atchin height?












b. Is the cut to the opponent onthe left performed withouthesitation?

After turning to the opponenton the left, is the vertical cutmade without pausing?

c. Is the sword brought up toFurikaburi with a parryingaction?

Is the sword raised above thehead with the feeling ofukenagashi before the finalcut?

d. Does the last cut finish atthe horizontal?











8. Ganmen-Ate

a. Is the initial strike with theTsukagashira made betweenthe eyes?

Is the tsuka-gashira aimedcorrectly at the point betweenthe eyes?

b. When turning to face theopposite direction, is the righthand placed on the hip?

Is the right fist placedcorrectly on the top of theilium when facing theopponent at the rear?

c. When facing the rearopponent, is the body turned

In this position, does the bodyturn round perfectly, and is the








opponent, is the body turnedcompletely to the rear with therear heel slightly raised and ina straight line?

turn round perfectly, and is therear heel held a little off thefloor?

d. Is the thrust performedwithout too much bend in theknees?

Is the thrust made with the feetpointing forwards?

9. SoeteZuki

a. When the initial diagonalcut is made from theopponent's right shoulderdown through to the waist, isthe right hand at the height ofthe navel and the sword tipslightly above the horizontallevel?

When making the initialdiagonal cut is the right fist atnavel height and is the kissakislightly higher than the fist?






b. Is the sword held securelybetween the left thumb andforefinger with the right handnear the hip?

Is the blade gripped betweenthe thumb and index finger ofleft hand at around its centrepoint, and is the right fist onthe right hip?








c. Does the right hand finish infront of the navel after makingthe thrust and does thethrusting action adequatelyreach the opponent's body?

When making the thrust, doesthe right fist stop in front ofthe navel?

d. When showing Zanshin, isthe right elbow naturallystraight and the right hand nohigher or lower than the chestlevel?

When showing zanshin is theright arm straight and is theright fist no higher than thenipple?






10.Shihogiri

a. Is the strike to the firstopponent's hand done firmlyand effectively with the flatside of the Tsuka?

Is the tsuka ate made stronglyand with the side of the tsuka?

b. In making Sayabiki, is theMune near the Monouchi ofthe sword on the chest and isthe thrust made surely into thesolar plexus of the opponent?

When doing the sayabiki, isthe ridge of the sword near themonouchi touching the leftchest and is the right hand heldaway from the body?






c. When the thrust is made, isthe left hand brought to thecenter of the navel and botharms aid the technique withthe correct tension?

When making the thrust, is thesaya pulled in front of thenavel, and are the left and righthands move towards eachother?





Square viewd. Is the final cut made bygoing through Waki Gamaewithout hesitation or pause?

Is the sword raised above thehead for the final cut as part ofthe wakigamae action and notafter wakigamae?

11. Sougiri a. When the sword is drawnup, is it in a correct position toparry an attack?










b. When moving forwards,does the performer use OkuriAshi footwork?

Image from kendo-guide.comc. When making the horizontalcut, is it performedhorizontally with the correctangle of the blade?


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12: NukiUchi

a. When the sword is drawn upand out, have both feet movedback adequately to evade thedownward cut of theopponent?






b. When the right hand istaken upwards, is it in thecenter line of the body?







c. Is the step forwards with theright foot sufficient to enablethe sword to reach the target?

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