[imnaone]

not been posting, but have been reading.

i made myself a short shinai, and have been practising while kneeling. i am left handed and have found that my left hand is way stronger than my right, so am pulling left, and that this gets worse when i am tense.

also i am not making big enough steps so my arms are 'waggling' to try and cover the distance that my feet should have done.

so i have been trying to relax and visualise a better straighter, smoother cut. and also to practise making proper sized steps. Keiko tonight so we will see if it has made any difference!

[BriKevin]

hey, what do you know? the advice worked. a bit. sometimes.

Some of my men cuts were almost passable. at least i hit the target now and then. and once or twice the package all came together to produce a halfway decent cut.

thank you all.

[Nemerov]

As if you did not have enough tips allready.
-Do suburi in seiza
-Make sure you hold the Shinai from the top, like you hold an ordinary kitchen knife when you slice bread
-Do suburi really really slow so that you have the time to check that you use the correct muscles.
-Kensen, hands and elbows should all stop at the same time

[Boripiomi]

I am having problems with my Men Cut - notably that it is landing off centre - my footwork and arm movements are okay (not brilliant) but too often the shinai is not landing square on the Men.

Any thoughts on a way to work on that single aspect - accuracy - outside the Dojo.

The ceiling of my flat (apartment) is too low to practise properly standing up at home.

[YmolafBp]

IMHO you have problems with the begining of the strike. try to start each waza with the shoulders and foot. I know it suonds weird, but if you use youe shoulders you will have less chance of using your right arm to push the strike and it forces you to extend. Everyone tells you to work on your left hand, left hand this, left hand that etc. But I have found that if you start you swing at the shoulders you cant just use the right hand to finish and you end up with nice men. Try just raising your hand in the air like you have a shinai by starting with your shoulder..

This advice was given to me by Koike sensei, it helped me a ton try it.

[QwOpHGyZ]

their right use left. improvise a standing stick about the same height as yours. use the tip as the center of the men and hit it accurately,of course.

[tooratrack]

There is another issue might think about as wlel...
For some, hen they cut, they feel they need to get there asap. So possibly, slow down yourself abit, and then so slow Big kihon men cut. Try to reach out as far as possible (Without compromising your posture), and you find you can reach the Men quite easyly. Then, slowly and slowly increase the speed, or decrease the swing to smaller men cut, then you find you can adjust better.
But like most of people arouns here said, "Left Hand", is the key. If you ahve a overpowering right hand, they will affect your cuts. Best is relax your right hand and you will do well after that.

[gomosopions]

that's it, visualize as you said.think from one point to another minus the tension in your arms and release your men cutfree from thought. _____________________________________ "Do not follow the footsteps of the old men,seek what they sought"-Basho

[baritkello]

Thank you - i will try this - i do feel the shinai pulling to oneside so maybe this is the issue.

[leangarance]

Here are a few more things to think about.

It may be that your arms/upper body are too tense during your cut. I couldn't stress upper-body relaxation enough for an effective men cut. Grip included. Your grip should be soft enough that if someone were to pull your shinai along the line that it points, it would slide out of your hands with no resistance. Grip should stay that way until you begin tenouchi, and return to being that way immediately upon completion of the cut.

It may also be that you are too focussed on the impact itself, rather than the men cut as a whole. If all of your focus is on getting the shinai onto the target, you're doing the rest of your cut a disservice. The impact occurs half-way through your action. Your zanshin should begin before your cut starts, not be tacked onto the end after impact is made.

[JakeBarkings]

Hi Matt,
agree, left hand.
But also make sure that you are extending fully at the end of the cut. You may be pulling up a bit at the end of the cut, this is a common habit.

Ceiling-If you have a shinai that is broken, take it apart, saw the take (bamboo) in half and put it back together, like the short nito shinai (but cheaper). You can then practice with a low ceiling (or as a sensei from Hokkaido told me, whilst watching Tom and Jerry). Use a mirror to see how straight your cut is, especially with one handed suburi. When practicing at home, try practicing wearing kote.
j

[viawbambutt]

another way to make sure your hits are straight is when you do ichidan subari is on the up swing to bring the shinai all the way back so that the shinai hits your bum. If you hit your bum straight in the middle, you'll know it. That helps. And making sure that you twist your hands at your hit like you are wringing out a towel.

[2CNWXAqN]

Some men cuts with the left-hand only might help! When you're doing suburi, for every set of regular you do, do ten with the left hand only, then both hands, remembering the "left hand only" feeling.

I know what you mean about low cielings. You can practice kneeling (as I have) or in sonkyo if you really wanna be a bad@$$!

[rXpX]

Originally posted by Matthew Lagden
hey, what do you know? the advice worked. a bit. sometimes.

Some of my men cuts were almost passable. at least i hit the target now and then. and once or twice the package all came together to produce a halfway decent cut.

thank you all. Good that things work out...... but now, you will need to make sure these are the way that YOU will cut, not because other says so .... althought might be uncomfy for awhile, but it will get better.
Happy training !

[ThisIsOK]

It sounds like you have a dominant hand that is over powering the other hand....here is a way you can check and practice in a room with a lower ceiling that does not permit use of a bokuto or shinai....extend both arms directly in front of your body....place your hands palm to palm...interlock all the fingers but leave the thumbs straight or extended....keep the finger grip loose....pull the arms back over the head and swing the arms like you are doing a men uchi...tighten the finger grip as you complete the movement similar to the way you would tighten the grip for tenouchi....if you find your hands turning to the left or right you probably have one hand that is over powering the other....keep practing this type of movement to help you strike center....this can be done standing or even kneeling or in seiza if the ceiling is really low.....next you can use a shoto for this type of indoor practice or even just the tsuka from and old bokuto to permit practice to develope the movement of the arms and control of the hands....

[Soypopetype]

left hand left hand