My Other Teacher: “🌸The Beginner🌸”

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Recently, we’ve had several new students join our dojo.
They range in age, but they’re all adult beginners—in their 30s, 40s, and even 60s.

At first, beginners don’t wear men. They begin their kendo practice by learning kamae and footwork from Sensei, and by practicing Kendo Kata together with the rest of us.

Watching the beginners carefully listen to everything Sensei teaches them, sincerely trying to put every lesson into practice…

Hearing stories like how they simply couldn’t wait until the next practice, so someone ended up practicing suri-ashi while walking his dog…

Perhaps the other one went home after the previous practice and carefully wrote down everything he had learned? Before practice begins, I saw the person studying his own handwritten notes and earnestly reviewing Kendo Kata.

Whenever I watch them, I find myself thinking,

Then, after several months to about a year of training, one beginner finally reached the day he would join practice wearing men.

Practicing kirikaeshi and uchikomi-geiko while wearing men seemed incredibly exciting for the beginner. Even through the men-gane, I could see how full of life his expression was.

Seeing that joyful expression lifted my own spirits too, and made me think, “I have to practice even harder myself!”

After putting on men, the beginner first spent about two weeks practicing the basics:

kirikaeshi with suri-ashi

Kirikaeshi with Fumikomi & Tai-atari

Basic strikes: men, kote, do, and kote-men

Our dojo is a small one, so we don’t just practice as kakarite. We also practice as motodachi at the same time.

After all, if the motodachi can’t do their part well, the kakarite can’t practice properly.

Then one day, Sensei said,

“Well then… Why don’t we have our beginner try jigeiko?”

For someone who had never experienced it before, standing face-to-face with an opponent in an unscripted situation and actually fighting was truly their very first experience.

He probably settled into sonkyo with his heart pounding, not really knowing what he was supposed to do.

The beginner I practiced with had already become quite good at standing with proper posture, taking a solid kamae, and striking men during basic practice.

The moment we faced each other, he also gave a strong kiai.

Perhaps because of that, I unconsciously imagined he would launch that same men strike during jigeiko.

But what actually happened was completely different.

The following is only my guess…

Because it was his very first jigeiko, he was probably caught between nervousness and excitement, wondering what I was going to do. He watched me very cautiously and remained completely still for quite some time.

Then, the moment I stepped in and started moving forward to make a big men strike, he reacted strongly to my movement and used both his shinai and upper body to forcefully push my attack away.

At another moment, he probably felt that I wasn’t about to strike, and that my center was open…

So he launched a men strike on his own.

However, that men strike looked nothing like the straight men strike he had been performing during basic practice.

“I have to strike before my chance disappears!”

Perhaps that was what he was thinking.

The kamae he had been able to maintain during kihon practice disappeared in an instant, and his whole body seemed to tense up.

To generate more power, he swung his shinai far back, and as if trying to avoid my attack, struck men along a path that drifted away from the center line.

The instant I saw that…

My heart skipped a beat!!

Because I thought,

That’s me!!

That’s exactly me!!

That’s what crossed my mind.

The thing Sensei has been telling me over and over again for the past several years…

Somehow, by practicing jigeiko with a beginner this time, I was able to imagine the feelings of the kakarite while also seeing everything from the motodachi‘s perspective.

Suddenly, it became crystal clear why I had never been able to perform in jigeiko or tournaments the way I could during kihon practice. It was as if I had finally discovered the hidden mechanism behind it all.

Especially when it came to my kamae.

What I realized from practicing jigeiko with this beginner was—

Ah!

So this is what it means for kamae to collapse!

Ah!

So THIS is the exact moment when kamae disappears!

Aah!

So THIS is where the cause of it all was!

Those were my realizations.

Now I can honestly say it.

Now I understand…,

Just as Sensei had always told me, there was no kamae whatsoever in my men strikes during matches.

With exactly the same mindset as the beginner I practiced with this time, the moment I faced my opponent, my mind became trapped by all kinds of thoughts and emotions.

I had completely failed to understand what kamae was truly meant for.

During matches, every time my opponent moved, I was drawn into their movement and raised my hands without even realizing it. Quite literally, I was being completely controlled by my opponent.

Looking back, I feel as though there was no “myself” there at all.

The more I think about it…

The more I realize that the beginner today and I were doing exactly the same thing.

Sometimes, while practicing kendo, I find myself wondering…

What if there were separate promotion examinations (Shodan Shinsa) for every single basics?

Kamae and footwork.

How to use ki.

Kirikaeshi.

Men-kaeshi-do.

Kikentai-itchi.

And everything else.

If that were the case…

What rank would I receive for each of them right now?

The more I think about the world of kendo, the more I feel that, in one sense, it’s incredibly simple.

Yet at the same time, it’s probably a world so deep that no one ever earns a perfect score, no matter how long they practice.

For example…

During this jigeiko, the beginner became tense, and in an attempt to avoid my attacks, ended up swinging the shinai around widely before striking men…

And then, in my case, during a match, I was shaken by my opponent’s strong pressure, which caused me to unintentionally raise my hands and allowed my opponent to strike my kote…

At first glance, my mistake and the beginner’s mistake may appear to be completely different types of failures.

However, when I looked deeper, I realized that the true nature of these two mistakes was exactly the same.

Although there was a difference in our kendo experience, I believe that both of us lost because we were unable to move forward toward our opponent with a strong spirit, and because we both allowed my opponent to dictate the exchange, and in doing so, we lost ourselves and our kamae.　

I believe that, ultimately, these were the reasons behind our defeats.

By standing on the receiving side this time, I was able to clearly see the moment when kamae disappears and the cause behind it—something I had never been able to recognize in myself before.

I feel this was truly a valuable experience.

Being the partner for someone’s very first jigeiko helped me realize something truly important, and for that, I feel deeply grateful.

Come to think of it, I often feel similar things whenever I practice with beginners.

Teaching the basics helps deepen my own understanding of each fundamental movement.

And just like this time, it sometimes allows me to put into words where incorrect body movement actually begins.

If I only focused on my own practice, I probably never would have noticed many of these things.

The beginners have helped me discover them.

To be honest, years ago, whenever I was assigned to teach beginners, I sometimes thought,

“Aww… I wanted to be over there practicing oji-waza, too…”

But these days, practicing with beginners makes me feel that maybe I’ll discover something important once again.

As fellow travelers struggling with the very same problems, I hope we can continue practicing together and keep working side by side to overcome our challenges.

And I’ll be careful never to become the kind of shabby Senpai cat who feels superior just because I can point out every mistake a beginner makes…

Anyway…

I’m off to practice again tomorrow♪

P.S. (A little announcement): In addition to my shinai bags, I can now also send out referee flag bags!　If you’re interested, please come visit my little shop♪