The Importance of Uchidachi

Every Tuesday is our Kata practice day.

Our Sensei says, “Kendo Kata is not arranged in order of difficulty, so even beginners should learn all seven Tachi and three Kodachi forms as a whole.”

He also tells us this:
“In the beginning, don’t worry too much about making mistakes—just keep moving on to the next kata. By repeating the practice over and over, just like when you listen to your favorite record dozens of times and eventually know what song comes next without thinking and find yourself humming along, let your body gradually learn what the ten Kendo Kata are.”

Even the beginners who started practicing kata seriously this January, by mid-April—although still making some mistakes here and there and having some incomplete parts—have become able to perform something like “Shidachi-like movements” through all seven Tachi and three Kodachi.

And so, starting this week, these beginners began learning Uchidachi. As someone slightly more experienced, I took on the role of Shidachi and had the chance to practice with them.

And that’s when I made yet another “big discovery!”
Today, I’d like to write about that.

In Kendo Kata, there are the roles of Uchidachi and Shidachi, and in most cases, during shinsa, one is assigned either role.

This may just be my own assumption, but I feel like quite a few people secretly hope they’ll be assigned Uchidachi during an exam.

Perhaps it’s because Shidachi carries the pressure of having to “finish” the waza correctly – that is, when shidachi fails to correctly execute the concluding half of the interaction, it really stands out…

Maybe because of that, even in regular practice, it often seems like there is more practice time spent on Shidachi than on Uchidachi.

But…

To jump straight to today’s conclusion:

“Uchidachi is super important!!”

Even more strongly:

“Without correct Uchidachi, It’s impossible for Kendo Kata to work!”

Today, I truly felt this.

As mentioned earlier, the beginners began trying Uchidachi for the first time today.

Since they were imitating what they saw from the Sensei’s demonstration, it’s only natural that at first they couldn’t immediately strike at the correct distance or deliver a straight, large men strike.

Meanwhile, as the Shidachi, I tried to execute my waza… but with unexpected timing and distance in the incoming strikes, I found myself thinking, “Whoa, wait!” while somehow forcing out each waza in response.

Waza launched from awkward positions caused my balance to shift, or made it difficult to strike with monouchi… making it nearly impossible to complete the kata properly as Shidachi.

And then—it hit me.

What I learned from practicing as Shidachi against beginners acting as Uchidachi was this:

If Uchidachi does not perform the kata correctly,
then Shidachi cannot practice correctly!

When written out, it sounds obvious.

And I’ve written before about the importance of Motodachi in shinai practice (see reference blog below)…

But what struck me so strongly this time was probably because I was practicing kata with beginners.

What I mean is this:

When beginners first learn kata, they usually start with Shidachi. At that time, if the Uchidachi partner does not perform the kata correctly, the beginner has no choice but to learn incorrect kendo kata from the very beginning.

For example, in the Tachi ipponme, if Uchidachi does not strike men big enough toward Shidachi, then Shidachi can strike men without even stepping back. The same goes for the nihonme, sanbonme… and so on.

In the fifth and sixth kata, if the strikes are not directed properly at the correct target areas, it becomes difficult for Shidachi to perform suriage waza correctly—or worse, one might end up learning incorrect suriage movements.

Since Shidachi performs the decisive reply to Uchidachi’s waza, when the interaction doesn’t go well observers may assume, “Ah, Shidachi failed.”

But in reality, it’s often the case that Uchidachi performed their waza incorrectly first, which then prevented Shidachi from executing their waza properly.

That’s why, what I deeply took to heart today is this:

“I need to do Uchidachi properly…”

Especially when beginners are learning Shidachi, it’s a huge responsibility to study the role of Uchidachi again and perform it correctly.

But to be honest, when practicing with beginners, there’s always the fear that they might not fully clear my strike and my bokuto could hit their head… The tsuki in the third and fourth kata are scary too…

But when those concerns arise, just as my Sensei always says,

I should do it correctly – meaning broadly with a “large feeling” – and start off by doing everything slowly.

So not securing safety through incorrect movements, but being safe by going slow.

So that beginners can learn the proper Shidachi movements.

Ahh… sometimes I think I understand things that I actually don’t, which leads me to practicing incorrectly for a long time, and unconsciously forgetting about important fundamentals. I really need to reflect on that.

Today, I was able to learn something very important from beginners who were just starting Uchidachi.

I’m truly grateful, truly grateful.

From here on, I want to continue steadily learning Kendo Kata together with the beginners.

And with that, I’ll be heading to practice again tomorrow♪