In one of the first weeks, after I just had started practicing jodan, I went up to thank a teacher, as per usual, after finishing a practice and he gave me the following advice:
“It’s a brave path you are starting on and a difficult one. If you really want to learn it, you have to commit to it fully and not just play around.”
He continued: “In order to fully understand whether this kamae is suitable for you, you have to practice it for 4 years, before you can truly judge whether it’s for your or not.
You have to be brave, proud and never show any fear, pain or frustration. If they hit you (and they will), maintain your posture, maintain your kamae and shake it off and do it again. After 2 years, you will be able to score a proper ippon”.
Now, back then, in my almost-nidan mind, I was already scoring ippons, although in hindsight the only reason my shinai got anywhere near peoples head, was probably because my swing was so wobbly that it threw their timing off. But still, I didn’t pay too much attention to the time-line thing, although the rest of the advise was very helpful and I still use it today.
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This year Kanagawa-kenkei’s (Kanagawa prefecture police force) Shodai Kenji won the 56th All Japan Championships. As a young policeman on his prefectural A-team, a 4th time entrant to the competition, and an extremely serious contender for being in the Japan national side for next years World Championships there is nothing surprising here. What might be surprising, however, is that he is a JODAN kenshi, and is the first to win the title using this kamae since 1983. Thats 25 years.
Some of my friends have said “if he wins, it will be the start of a new jodan boom” and the such like, but as someone on the ground here in Japan who goes to many shiai, i’d say we are well into a boom as we speak. For the last few years I have been noting that in shiai here – from high school level up – there are increasing numbers of jodan people, both male and female. Shodai’s win might help to accentuate things (or to validate peoples selection of the kamae) but I suggest that he is not the reason for it.
So what is? And why have I chosen to call it a “renaissance” rather than an “emergence?” Well, the second question is much easier to answer than the first, so let me start with that.
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