The Three Principles of Kendo Training

For today’s article, I  – for the first time in ages – present a translation piece. I used to do translations semi-often, but it is something like, let’s see… two years since I did my last one. It’s not that I’ve stopped reading kendo books or anything, it’s just that life gets in the way. Also, it is much easier to write opinion pieces or upload pictures of events than sit down to the serious job of translation. Or, it was. 

Since we all have access to A.I. with wonderful translation capability, it is only a matter of time before people start to experiment with it in the kendo domain, or perhaps they have done so already.  Anyway, I decided to pick a good kendo book from my library and use ChatGTP to translate a small piece… experimentally. It actually did a decent job, but it doesn’t understand (yet) things like “seme” or what Japanese words we use in the kendo community outside of Japan, nor does it know what terms have morphed meaning when used by non-native Japanese speakers (or even that native Japanese speakers sometimes seem confused themselves). In the end (as suspected), I went through it with a fine comb and “fixed” it. I also added some personal thoughts/comment at the end to give it more context.

The book I selected is not old and the content not so complicated. In the near future I hope to experiment on an older book with pre-war kanji to see how the A.I. will deal with it. Let’s see. 

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This small piece was taken from the book “Heisei kendo reader” by Sakuma Saburo, published in 1997. Hanshi hachidan, he passed away at the age of 84 four months before the publication of the book.

The Three Principles of Kendo Training

1. Pressure the omote (of the shinai) and strike the ura (of the shinai).
2. Pressure the ura and strike the omote.
3. Strike at the moment the opponent moves (debana waza).

In kendo, the “front” (表 omote) and “back” (裏 ura) are defined based on the opponent’s right kote. The side with the right kote is considered the uraside. It is important to have balance between these three principles. 

Until about the third dan, many practitioners are simply excited about jumping in and landing strikes or winning matches. However, around the fourth or fifth dan, they begin to reflect more deeply and ask, “Sensei, what is seme?” This is a difficult question to answer. I explain it as follows:

“For example, to pressure (seme) men means to express a feeling of attacking it with strong spirit and determination.”

When you aim your kensaki at the opponent’s left eye and pressure their men, they may instinctively raise their hands slightly in defense. In that instant, you can step to the left with your left foot and strike their kote. This is an example of pressuring the omote and striking the ura.

Another example: If you move your kensaki under the opponent’s shinai and pressure the right kote as if attacking it, they will likely shift their shinai to guard their kote. At that moment, you can (returning your shinai back to the omote side) quickly leap forward and strike their men. This demonstrates pressuring the ura and striking the omote.

The third principle, debana,  refers to attacking at the exact moment your opponent begins to move. In The Book of Five Rings (Gorin no Sho), Miyamoto Musashi explains this concept:

• When you see the opponent’s movement with your physical eyes, it is called “ken no me” ( 見の目 seeing).
• When you sense their intention to move before they actually move, it is called “kan no me” (観の目 perceiving).

Anyone can use ken no me, but kan no me is much harder to develop. Only through long years of training does the mind’s eye become sharp enough to anticipate the opponent’s actions. True mastery is achieved when you can strike at the precise moment using kan no me.

Kendo is not something that can be learned through last-minute cramming like a school exam. Some people return to the dojo for the first time in months, just before their grading exam, expecting to pass. This is a serious misunderstanding. 

Kendo requires continuous dedication, both in spirit and technique. The key to mastery lies in persistent training while thinking deeply and with the aim of constant self–improvement in mind.

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Thoughts / comments

Principles one and two mentioned above are actually only part of a more detailed teaching you can find in Itto-ryu called “yoko-tate no koto” and is a very good example of a teaching that comes from kenjutsu that can be applied to kendo even today.

YOKO is the same yoko we find in yoko-men (also called sayu-men), and refers to left-and-right sides (the horizontal if you will) and TATE refers to “standing” or, in this case, vertical.  I think I have mentioned this teaching in the past. Anyway, you can guess the meaning. Super simply put: 

“Seme left and attack right. Seme right and attack left. Seme up and attack down. Seme down and attack up.”

Sakuma sensei’s example above is to pressure kote and, as the opponent feels compelled to defend it, strike men. In the same vein you can pressure men and strike dou, go for tsuki and change to kote (Sakuma sensei’s other example was to seme the left eye), from tsubazeria make like you are going to hit hiki-dou and change to men, and so on. If your opponent is in jodan you can threaten their right kote and strike gyaku-dou, and so on.

Btw, simple waggling the shinai around like a primary school kid holding a sparkler at bonfire night, as the odd person likes to do, is not what we are talking about here.

Debana waza is something that doesn’t need to be discussed in detail as not focusing on acquiring good debana technique (that is, debana-men) is basically a death knell for your future kendo development.  However, since I am here I might as well comment on a pet peeve regarding debana waza (and men in particular): people who don’t move straight. 

Yes, it’s the people who don’t step forward when doing (or trying to do) debana (men), instead they attempt to strike while avoid being struck themselves, usually by moving diagonally. This is the difference between KEN and KAN that Sakuma sensei describes above: if you have KAN there is no need to move out of the way of the opponents strike because you WILL strike first. If you are attempt to avoid being struck you are, in fact, not executing debana waza, but nuki waza. 

The key point is as Sakuma sensei says: “Only through long years of training does the mind’s eye become sharp enough to anticipate the opponent’s actions.” People who step out of the way to avoid being struck whilst practising debana are either immature in practice years (or practice style), or in their thinking. The former is highly forgivable and fixable, the latter, well, not so much. 

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I actually felt a little bit sad doing this article. In the past, I’d have to research kanji, type everything out, think about how to express things in English, and sometimes ask friends and colleagues (kendo and non-kendo people) for input. Some translations took weeks. In all honesty, I’ve probably published many translation errors on kenshi 24/7 over the past two decades, but I really did feel a responsibility to the kendo community to do a good job. Translating articles also allowed me to improve my Japanese skills no-end, the benefits to me (and my kendo life) is innumerable. I hope the younger kendo generation make the effort to study Japanese and read kendo books in Japanese (and more importantly, talk to Japanese kenshi in their native language) as it truly does give access to a wealth of knowledge. 

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Sources

平成・剣道読本（下）。平成9年発行。佐久間三郎。

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