Nito Kendo Seminar
There were roughly 30 attendees ranging in level, from complete novices to those with some experience in nito. Day one kicked off with kata. There are 13 kata practiced by Musashi Kai. With the addition of some reigei they take the same basic principle as the ten kendo kata we all know and love. Uchidachi takes Itto and shidachi takes nito. As with kendo kata a range of kamae are used from, gedan and chudan to jogei tachi, the most commonly used kamae in nito. In addition all forms are practiced sei nito (long sword held in the right hand, short sword in the left). For kata the daito is held further up by what would be the tsuba. Nito bokuto are a specialised type lighter than normal and do not have tsuba’s. You can get them from most of the online kendo shops.
We practiced selected kata from the 13 that could most readily be applied to shinai kendo. These were: 1: Men kaeshi dou. Block men with the shoto, cut dou with the daito. The key point emphasised was that both shinai should be used at the same time. The moment the shoto blocks the attempted men the daito should simultaneously be cutting the opponents dou. Shidachi steps towards the right slightly but remains facing the opponent. 2: Kote nuki men . Uchidachi cuts the kote holding the shoto. Shidachi takes a small step back pulls the arm holding the shoto backwards to the hip, avoiding the attempted kote and steps forward striking men. 9. Dou kaeshi men . Uchidachi cuts the dou (same side as normal dou) shidachi blocks by dropping the hand holding the daito, simultaneously cutting men with the shoto. 10: Tsuki osae men and 11: Tsuki osae kote. Tsuki is probably the best explanation of what the motodachi does in forms 10 and 11 basically the motodachi begins to attack taking a small step forward and raising their shinai, shidachi immediately suppresses the opponents rising shinai with their shoto and strikes men or kote. You’ll note that the some forms include cuts with the shoto (it represents a sword after all) and is, as long as the nito player suppresses the opponents shinai and simultaneously hits with the shoto, valid ippon. Probably the key difference in the kata to me (and nito in general) is footwork. When in kamae the shidachi stands with their feet parallel, giving them the ability to attack and retreat off either foot without having to swap feet. The importance of footwork is something I never really understood fully before practicing nito. Maybe I would have gained the same understanding just practicing itto but for me it has been fundamental to developing my kendo.
Kata was followed by a lunch worth noting not only because I like my food but because we were kindly offered a lift to get lunch, roughly a whole 100 meters away from the Dojo, needless to say we walked back. The afternoon session reflected morning with us practicing some of the kata waza, in armour. In addition we practiced basic kihon, men, kote, dou and tsuki. At this point it was up to the individual to choose both which hand to hold the daito/shoto in and which foot to push off from. I’ve been told many times that I should hold the daito in my right hand, usually in a sentence that includes the phrase ‘if it was a real sword’. The teachers at MK emphasise that the decision about left/right hand and left right footwork is made purely based upon what feels most natural for the individual. The majority of people used normal itto kendo footwork and held the daito in their right hand. All basic waza are practiced against itto chudan. The Kihon was done in groups of three rotating between nito when attacking and itto when receiving. The day finished with a general jigeiko, you could ask the sensei to fence in any kamae you wanted. I choose nito v nito for all my matches because I’m a glutton for punishment. What struck me (fnar!) was the level of seme with the shoto. The ability to take the initiative and create opportunities rather than the commonly held view that nito is ‘waiting’ for an attack and relying on trapping the opponents rising shinai.
My failure to use my shoto to create seme was plainly demonstrated to me when I first began nito by Yamanaka Sensei who fenced me katate jodan with right hand behind is back; needless to say I got the message I wasn’t using the little‘un. Day two began with kirikaeshi, for me one of the hardest things to do convincingly since I began nito. I’d made a point of asking the sensei the day before how they think it should be done. The sequence and number of cuts is the same as kirikeashi in itto. It differs in that the first string of cuts is with daito and the second string is striking with the shoto and using a normal walking step. The last cut is completed by standing with your opposite foot forward then bringing the back foot forward ‘walking step’ and cutting men. In the same way a jodan player cuts morote waza). It’s a lot to think about at first so becomes slower than normal but hopefully I can speed up over time. This really shows the dexterity of nito with the ability to cut using both shinai, cut from either foot, or swap feet and cut depending upon the distance of the opponent. Next was a simple form Uchikomi geiko, striking men, dou, kote, tsuki. Correctness of form and zanshin were emphasised as you would expect. The sensei’s demonstrations clearly showed that the nito player should return to chudan when each cut has been completed then quickly take to jogei tachi before making the next cut. It was suggested in all basic waza that we practiced using the shoto to engage the opponent’s shinai and also using it too seme and not use touching the other players shinai.
I’ve noticed in my own practice that an over reliance on the shoto in this way makes my seme weaker. Imagine practicing itto and only ever doing harai or osae waza. We then moved onto how to deal with opponents that uses different kamae when fencing against nito, firstly jodan. Generally a nito player should have an advantage over the jodan player as we have the shoto to use as a ‘get out of jail free card’. I haven’t fenced many strong jodan players but in my experience the advantage is more due to the fact that Jodan more a panic measure against nito. Rarely do many people practice jodan as part of their general kihon so I know I stand a fair chance of a successful attack. We practiced striking both left and right kote from jogei-tachi and also from a raised form of chudan no kamae where the shoto is held behind the daito and used to throw the daito forward, rather like a jodan player pushes the shinai forward with their right hand. This second technique worked really well for me as it has the added advantage of protecting both kote and allowing you to block any ‘men’ attempt by your opponent. We also practiced dou and tsuki against jodan. Kasumi was next on the list. This is quite commonly used by people fencing against nito, to good effect as it removes the ability of the nito player to control the opponent’s shinai with their shoto. When I first started fencing people who used kasumi it left me flailing around trying to get some contact with their shinai, because I was not using the shoto to seme and create opportunities but just too physically manipulate the opponents shinai. We were advised to strike the left kote on the kasumi player as it is a valid ippon. Although it may not score very often in shiai.
The final afternoon session was an opportunity to test our new found knowledge in shiai. Firstly split into three small groups with feedback from each sensei, then with a 15 man team shiai for all attendees. Each pair fought twice, once in nito v itto and the visa versa. I was Taisho for one team and unfortunately was more concerned with my match and forgot to keep a tally of wins v losses, so still don’t know who won. I won my match in Nito, lost in itto and then also lost an extra match nito v nito, (bloody nito players!) I can’t emphasise how valuable an opportunity this was, I’d encourage anyone that gets the chance to practice with Nito players of this level to do so. Regardless of if you want to practice nito or not it is a small but fundamental part of kendo. The scope of techniques taught, across both days along with the theory and history of nito is rare enough in Japan, let alone in the western kendo world.
A Big thanks to Brian Sherry, from NoVA Budokai for his time and effort to make it happen.