@karusin11 All in good time. We want to start with the basics and cover all aspects of Kendo. Basic reigi trumps tips to use in combat as reigi is what stops Kendo from degrading into a "bunch of crazies beating each other with sticks". After this video will be mokusou and then we move onto suburi, fumikomi and progress into more advanced areas.

@strikewzen Good to hear ! I personally will not be in Japan but you will always find KW staff at most large Kendo events in Japan. Dont hesitate to say hi !

@Wu8Wei Yep, your onto it. The biggest mistake with that is when people sit down and have their fingers splayed out, like Alex says "this is not good kendo form".

@Anime12478 Sounds good. They also wore kimono which makes it impossible to sit in seiza with sazauki. Your right about the seppuku thing too. their legs would be bound to stop them from being found in an 'un-ladylike' position due to death throws.

@KUMASANanimation - Awesome, thats why we decided to make these videos. To give a different perspective and hopefully cover some important, but less well known information.

@masumikoyama Thanks a lot for the feedback. We have 6 episodes at the moment, so sorry that it will be slightly poor audio for a short while but we are currently looking into getting a mic to eliminate the echo. Some videos coming out along with this will be shot in Alex's office so we hope that echo wont be so bad in those ones.

@Vazah1978 In kendo its left first regardless of your positioning in regards to the shomen. But always always always follow the rules of the dojo you are in over what you see here in regards to seiza.

@cree69 True, these girls are beginners, but dont make them angry.... Especially the blonde one.

@TheKitsuneMuffin No problem, infact the boyfriend of the darker haired girl in this video is Swedish. Have fun training with him when his exchange is over !

@KendoWorld thanks man, it's my dream to go to japan hopefully during the summer hope you guys are still there by then. i given up kendo for ping pong 2 years ago ... will pick it up again thanks to you!

2. The exam in question is the 8th dan exam, often regarded as the hardest test in Japan, it does indeed have a less than 1% pass rate. There is a documentary about it on you tube if you look for it.

Nice! Never heard of sazauki before, will look it up in time. Great that you also showed different schools' methods of seiza. Looking forward to more vids.

@TheTrismegistos Understood :) thanks for the feedback

This is very educational, I didn't know there were so many differences between seiza in each martial art. I am an aikidoka and I learnet quite a lot from this video. Congratulations on the channel, I like the jolly mood of it. Peace.

@KendoWorld That would be great! Are you in US?

@Anime12478 Naginata was NOT commonly practiced by women. That is a common myth. It was somewhat of a dowry or so, but it was at the origin a weapon practiced by men. Later, towards the end of Edo period one school of naginata was transmitted to a woman (I don't remember the name) and even that was considered a really big deal.

@turboyoshi I will ask the people involved, like I mentioned on our FB channel. Subtitles can be very time consuming. But if its because the sound is too soft I can get the audio bumped up before rendering if that would help? check our next video to see if it makes a difference.

Gj, looking forward to more of those. One thing: I've sometimes wondered about the placement of the hands in seiza, there are some different ways to hold them. Does it matter or is the general "fingers together, thumb a bit apart, resting on upper thigh" all that it needs?

@strikewzen Kansai University, training starts at 7:30am 7 days a week. If you miss a day you do kakarigeiko till you cant see straight. See you soon?

@KendoWorld Hmmm... Is this also the reason why we should face torwards the wall, while putting on the sune ate?

Great video. The fact tat it still hurts you after all these years, simply tells me that it's time that we moved away from these harmful rituals.

Wow. There are quite a few comments about pain here. Two things: seiza must be practised as it is not western custom. You will improve at it. It should be a fairly relaxed affair. Secondly if you haver issues or injuries to your knees there is an acceptable alternative which works the same way only you dont seat your bottom down on you feet. Instead remaining up right with the bottom half of your legs and feet forming a 'L' shape behind you. This should only be adopted in exceptional circumstances though. Once you are accustomed though seiza can actually be quite comfortable for some period of time.

@thelongman6002 Haha, from episode 6 we will change it.

@KendoWorld Sounds like the voice of experience (Kakari geiko until you can't see straight).

When i do this it feels like a ton of pressure on my knees and ankles so almost right away they hurt bad is there anyway to work my way up into being able to do it without almost crying?

hey there, started Kendo about 5 months ago and your videos are a great help (specially the suburi and hayasuburi. keep it up man. great stuff

@TakeruSTakomi Thanks :)

Interesting. In all my years, I must have been taught by Kendoka who also practiced Iaido, as that is the one I was introduced to. I've seen it done both ways, but commonly saw the Iaido type of seiza, even by all my sempai and sensei. Like I tell some of the people I now help with kendo, it's always good to go back and do basics over and over again, then go to another practitioner and see how they do their basics. Even seiza! Also, time to click that subscribe button!

I have heard/read somewhere that for the seiza, the first knee to touch the ground was supposed to be the opposite way of the dojo entrance, something like "you hide the knee to the entrance"...Hope I'm clear, is that another way or is it false ? Thank you.

What about jumping from seiza to a low shiko stace?

I love the intro!

One guess I have about why seiza is performed that way in Naginata is that it might have something to do with it being practiced by mainly women. It was disrespectful for them to have their legs open, so they modified the way they sit to prevent that from happening. If I recall correctly, I think they had their legs tied if they ever had to kill themselves.

Cheers

@strikewzen heh, all girls looks nice and calm, but in kendo they are warriors

it would be good if u guys give us some tips for combat

@sikhsikhsikh Good guess !

@rfoxmich Thats how you know your doing it right :)

1. Kakari geiko: Some times called continouos attack practice. The motodashi should stimulate and encourage the student, the student creates their own opportunity to cut. The student must show strong spirit. The student performs the cuts with FULL vigour and zanshin and keeps on creating the openings and attacking until the end of the exercise. (Borrowed from KW world forums, better than my own attempt at explanation).

Nice Vid! Keep up the good work and do some more beginner footage...

Lucky, it still hurts as much as ever for me ! Taylor

guys i some tips on the pain…. does it ever go away? am i not doing it enough?

@dojo2go Im thinking Collab vids in future? ^^ Taylor

arigato gozaimasu :)

Bloody hell Bro! if you do this, no one comes to my channel! :) I guess naginata sits like that is probably because of female kimono. Cheers!

Seiza is a seated position. That means it's used for sitting! Once you make the physiological adjustments that allow you to actually sit in seiza , it should become progressively easier to do. If it doesn't become easier, I suspect it's because you don't practice using it, so you never get used to it. When I first learned seiza, I put a small pillow on the floor such that when I knelt, it was between the ground and my lower shins/ankles. This kept my feet from completely straightening out, which made it less painful while I was developing more flexibility. Then I would sit that way for at least 15 minutes while reading, praying, or watching TV. After a while, I was able to remove the pillow and replace it with a small folded towel. Eventually, I was able to remove the towel as well. Now I can sit in seiza for long periods of time. But it's like anything else-- you have to DEVELOP a new skill before you can use it; then you have to PRACTICE USING IT. If you practice Iaido, for example, the first 10 or so waza you learn all begin in seiza, and return to seiza at the finish. This maintains your flexibility, and as a result, seiza continues to be painless.

the girls are hot, which dojo is this i'm coming!

This is impossibly painful for me.

It is inapropriate for a woman to spread the knees in japanese culture, so in atarashi naginata they basicaly sit down this way

Naginata's and Iaido forms are way cooler xD

Actually, it is just as much inappropriate in kendo as elsewhere, so the video authors should have included a comment about differences in seiza for females. I can't tell it from the video if the girls do it right, but the blonde one does seem to keep her knees wider, than the brunette, at least immediately after sitting down.

ill like to see most normie westerners try that LOL