Beginner II

BEGINNER II CLASS DESCRIPTION

Head Instructor: Kunitoshi Arai (6th Dan)
Class Instructor: Ryoko Barr(5th Dan)

For Information Contact:
Kentaro Hara Phone: (770) 642-8516 (after 7:00 PM)
e-Mail: information@georgiakendo.com

Practice Days and Times (keiko):
Saturdays: 5:00 - 6:00 PM

Practice Location (dojo):
Athletic Club Northeast
(Gymnasium)
1515 Sheridan Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
Phone: (404) 325-2700

CLASS DESCRIPTION

The Georgia Kendo Alliance (GKA) Beginner II Class is intended as a continuation of the beginner’s class and preparation for the Intermediate/Advance class. The Head instructor is Mr. Arai, 6-Dan (sixth degree black belt), other instructors will assist in teaching the class as required. The class emphasis is on basic stances (kamae), footwork (ashi-sabaki), proper form to hold and swing the bamboo sword (shinai), proper strike posture and focus (fumikomi), advanced techniques (waza), sparring (shiai), forms (kata), and kendo philosophy.

Students must have completed the Beginner I Kendo Class and obtain prior permission from the head instructor, Mr. Arai to attend this class.

Students most get prior permission from the instructor for promotions and advancement to other levels.

Students are encouraged to take advancement tests, but are not required.

REQUIREMENTS

The required equipment for the class is as follows:

1. Shinai (bamboo sword), size 39 for adult males and size 38 for adult females of average stature. Size for minors varies depending on height.

2. Kendo Hakama (pant/skirt) and Kendo Keiko-Gi (jacket). Consult the supplier for proper size, setting of blue dye and shrinking after washing.

3. Bokken (wood sword with tsuba and rubber tsuba stopper).

Optional: Kendo Bogu (armor set: men (helmet/mask), kote (gloves), do (torso protector) and tare (hip protector).) NOTE: The kendo bogu will be used after the fourth class to learn sparring techniques and is not required until you join the Intermediate/Advanced class.

Note: do not wear any jewelry or watches. Bare feet only in the practice area.

For suggested suppliers see our list.

FEES

The cost of the two-month Beginner's class is $80 for both adults and minors.
A completed and signed Class Registration Form and fee payment check made out to: “Georgia Kendo Alliance” or “G.K.A.” must be submitted at the first class.

NOTE: GKA is not affiliated with the Athletic Club Northeast. The class fee only includes use of changing rooms, showers and towels, but does not constitute a general membership. Please contact the ACN sales department for membership information and full use of their extensive facilities.

CLASS STRUCTURE

Most kendo classes follow a basic structure:

Line up and bowing.
Meditation.
Warm up and stretching exercises.
Basic technique drills.
Advance technique drills.
Kata or sparring.
Final line up and bowing.
Announcements and information.

Instructor will determine the best practice drills for each class to improve overall kendo technique.

KENDO PRINCIPLES

Kendo Etiquette (Rei-gi )

Each practice starts by the display of respect for the place of practice, instructor and its members.

Bowing as you enter the practice hall (dojo). Practice begins and ends by thanking everyone for the practice and bowing to the instructor and all members. If you have to leave early, ask for the instructor’s permission. Bow as you leave the dojo.

Kendo equipment and cost

Price of the equipment depends on quality of the equipment.
The uniform set (dogi) consists of heavy cotton top keikogi) and a pleated skirt-like-trousers (hakama), average cost of a set is $85.

The armor (bogu) consists of four pieces: the helmet (men), the chest protector (do), the gloves (kote), and the hip and groin protector (tare), average cost for the bogu set is $350.

Two types of practice swords are used: the shinai and boken. The bamboo sword (shinai) is made of four bamboo staves bound together by leather, the average cost, including a plastic guard and rubber stopper, is $25. The shinai is used during basics practice and sparring.

The boken is a solid wood sword, its average cost is $20. The boken is used for basics and forms (kata) practice.

Apperance

A kendo student (kenshi) must have a dignity and presence that is reflected in the proper wearing of the uniform and equipment.

The keiko-gi should be worn flat without having the neck exposed or bulging out in the back. After tying the hakama obi, reach inside and pull the ends of the keiko-gi across the front to remove any bulges or wrinkles from the front and back.

The hakama should be the right length with the hem lower in the front and a little higher in the back and crossing at the ankle bone. The koshi-ita should not be hanging loosely, but fit tightly and flatly against the small of the back. The obi should be tied in a square knot and the ends tucked into the obi along the waist at the hips. The hakama pleats should be straight as they represent the samurai code of ethics. Jin (humanity), Gi (justice), Rei (courtesy), Chi (knowledge) and Shin (trust).

The tenugui should be tied on the head so that there is no part flapping out of the back of the men.

Neither should the tenugui be so low on the forehead that it is visible through the men-gane or impair sight. There should not be an extra tenugui folded up inside the men in the chin area, a special pad is made to be placed inside the men to take up space on a men that is too large.

The men should have the strings (himo) tied in the proper bow knot (cho-musubi) and be in straight lines. The length of the ends and the loops of the bow knots should all be the same.

The upper do himo should be tied with the ends tucked inside and not hanging down the front of the mune. The lower do himo should be horizontal and tied behind in a bow knot.

The tare obi should be flat, run across the koshi-ita in the back and not bulging under the odare in the front.

The kote should not have frayed himo.

The shinai should be checked for damage before each practice and periodically during class. Do not use a damaged shinai, it can represent a danger to yourself and others.

Kendo Practice

A Kendo practice consists of various training drills intended to develop the kenshi. Kendo, like other martial arts requires discipline and a dedication to rigorous training.

New student begin with learning the basics: etiquette (rei-gi), different postures, footwork, and how to properly hold and swing the shinai, for approximately two to three months. Students progress through a series of skills preparing them to begin training with armor (bogu).

Once a student begins to practice with bogu, various drills are used to build the student’s skills, spirit and stamina:

Suburi: practice properly holding and swinging the shinai with large moves.
Kiri-Kaeshi: practice successive strikes to the left and right men, centering, distance, and proper cutting while building spirit and stamina and focus.
Waza-Geiko: practice various Kendo techniques of defense and attack with a receiving partner.
Kakari-Geiko: practice short, intense, attack techniques to improve alertness and the ability to continuously attack, as well as build spirit and stamina.
Ji-Geiko: sparring practice where the kenshi has a chance to try all that he or she has learned with a resisting partner.
Gokaku-Geiko: sparring practice between two kenshi of similar skill level.
Hikitate-Geiko: sparring practice where a senior kenshi guides a junior kenshi through practice.
Shiai-Geiko: competition matches which are judged on the basis of a person properly striking valid targets against an opponent.

Kendo Kata

Kendo forms (kata) are pre-set sequences of motions which with repetitive practice internalizes the lessons in each form. Kata are practiced with a boken. Each kata studies a set of concepts in a very pure setting allowing the practitioner to delve deeply into these concepts. The kata are practiced between two people, the attacker or teacher (uchitachi) and the defender or student (shidachi).

ADVANCEMENT AND TESTING

Beginners:

Beginner level II: student require a hakama, keikogi and shinai, as well as a bokken for practice.

Students continue to build the basic technique and footwork skills and practice more advance techniques as well as learn the first series of kata forms.

Intermediate/Advance levels

Student require a hakama, keikogi and bogu set, as well as a shinai and bokken for practice. Kyu levels are similar to color belts and Dan levels are similar to Black Belt in other martial arts.

6th-kyu through 2nd-kyu: Kenshi are graded on proper appearance, basic strike technique and kiri-kaeshi.

Note: All promotional tests above 1-Kyu also include a written exam.

1st-kyu: Kenshi are graded on proper appearance, strike with ki-ken-tai-ichi, good energy and 1 or 2 yuko-datotsu. Kata forms one through three.

Shodan (1st degree): same as above with nidan waza included. Kata forms one through five.

Nidan (2nd degree): Kenshi must demonstrate the use of shikake waza, harai waza, debana waza, hiki waza, and oji (oh-ji) waza. Show better basics than the Shodan level and be able to use more advanced technique as above. The Kenshi at this level should not be obsessed with the use of waza but start to master the opportunity of attack. Cuts should have good vertical motion with the use of both hands and te-no-uchi.

Sandan (3rd degree): Kenshi must use seme and ken-sen to initiate attacks and have sharp waza.

Particularly the use of oji type of waza should be incorporated in the candidates Kendo.

Primary links

Beginner II

BEGINNER II CLASS DESCRIPTION