The
Iaido Journal Dec 2009
2009 CKF Eastern and Central
Iaido and Jodo Gradings
copyright © 2009 Kim Taylor, all
rights reserved
photos
copyright © 2009 Robert Yourth, all
rights reserved
What
a pleasure it was to attend the 2009 CKF iaido and jodo gradings at the
Etobicoke Olympium in Ontario, Canada. The day began with an
over-subscribed iaido seminar featuring instruction by Ohmi Goyo
sensei, Asaoka Mitsuru sensei, Stephen Cruise sensei, David Green
sensei (and myself). That's four nanadan and a rokudan for the 50 to 60
students who attended. The seminar began with a group run-through
of Zen Ken Ren iai (seitei gata) and then the students were split
into their challenge groups, ikkyu, shodan, nidan and sandan, and
yondan up to receive some specific training.
After
lunch the gradings started with over 60 students participating. While
watching the various groups I made some notes which I would like to
share here. These consist of two parts, the first was what I saw as the
good points for each level of challenger, what the better students are
doing now. The second set of points are what I thought those students
should be working on next.
Please note carefully that these
points are not in any way meant to be a description of "where you
should be" or "what you should be working on" at the specific grades,
they are a description of what I saw. You can take it for granted that
each level also showed the good points of the level before.
First Kyu
Good Stuff
- The cuts of the better students are really quite good.
Need to work on:- Their turns - the hips need to turn fully 90 degrees or 180 degrees before moving into the next part of the kata
- Metsuke
- the eyes need to at least point in the direction of where you are
cutting, but they also need to lead the head and then body
movements.
- Posture - this is the very next thing that a
kyu needs to start thinking about, trying to keep the back straight,
the hips under the shoulders, that sort of thing.
- Kata choice. Oh
dear. At kyu and shodan the students get to pick any 5 kata they would
like to perform. Please don't try to impress the judges with the
complex kata you know. Instead we would much rather watch your best
kata. We've seen the complicated ones before, but we'd rather see you
do well than struggle.
Shodan
Good stuff
- Posture is much better than kyu level.
- Techniques are more accurate
Need to work on
- Accuracy
of cuts, it is very important to make sure that you cut from over your
head, that you stop at the right place and that you hit the
target.
- Make sure that the cuts are big, starting with the left hand directly over the head.
- As the challengers move up in age we expect more
so those who are older (and there was a big split at about 50 years
old) need to work that much harder to keep up with the energy levels of
the youngsters. You know, those kids who are still in their 30s.
Nidan
Good stuff
- Starting to see a smoothness, a fluidity in the techniques
- The turns are more accurate
- The hips are more square
- Beginning to see some variation in the timing within the kata (Meri Hari)
Need to work on
- Koshi,
using the hips. The idea of ki ken tai ichi is important, to coordinate
the cuts with the movement of the body and the hips.
- Metsuke - the eyes need to become more accurate and the gaze more crisp as it moves from one target to another.
- Shibori - the squeezing/wringing of the hands must be studied in order to stop the cuts accurately and without a bounce.
Sandan
Good stuff
- The good students are hitting all the marks in the kata
- The posture is correct
- The cuts are crisp and strong
Need to work on
- Feeling
- the students should work on showing some feeling in the kata, not by
making faces but by the tension and relaxation in the body
- Riai
- the students should work on a deeper understanding of what's
happening in the kata, and how to catch kasso teki (the opponent)
- Softer shoulders, and as a result, cuts that come from the hips
- A
feeling of expansiveness in the kamae, for instance hasso no kamae
should show an openness of the chest and shoulders rather than a
pinched, constricted look.
Yondan
Good stuff
- Powerful technique, not just strong swings but technique that uses the whole body and the whole bodyweight
- Effortless cuts
- Stable hips
- An understanding of riai, accurate hitting of the targets
- Precise stops on the cuts
Need to work on
- The feeling of the kata
- Seeing and catching kasso teki
- A feeling of dignity and awareness
- Fudoshin, the students need to become imperturbable, no nervousness, fumbling or irritation at mistakes.
Godan
Good stuff
- Confidence, dignity
- Seriousness
- Effortless power and smoothness
Need to work on
- Even more unity with the hips
- Accuracy and economy of sword movement
- A feeling for the tip of the sword
- Seme - pressure during the turns
- Residual tension in the shoulders
Intense Scrutiny
Good stuff
- Kigurai - the rokudan challengers showed a competance and confidence that was a result of decades of experience and practice
- Lightness - this led to a feeling of lightness which was quite different from the godan challengers
Need to work on
Hey , Did you hear the joke about the Iaito that didn't make the cut ...
The
jodo gradings were held immediately after the iaido gradings and were
only ikkyu and shodan as this is our "off-season". The five challengers
passed their levels and were encouraged to continue their studies. Jodo
is slowly growing and it is my hope that one day we will see as many
jodo challengers as we did for iaido. The jodo seminar afterward was
quick and several students worked through the first few kata of the
chuden set of Shindo Muso-ryu Jo.
I would like to thank the
organizers and participants of the gradings for their hard work and
attention, and I'd also like to thank the CKF for making the iaido and
jodo gradings possible.
You will find the Canadian Kendo Federation iaido and jodo clubs listed at http://kendo-canada.com/ckf_dojoadr.htm
