[TughEmotteTug]

Thanks for the reply Ted.

Yeah.. I agree with your opinion too. I just heard stories that very senior kendoka do this excercise often to increase mental awareness. Must be heresy I guess.

Cheers, John.

[carletoxtrs]

Hi Ted,
Yes I have practiced this type of keiko before but only with fellow students of similar grade. I find it helps to develop that "eye" for an opening and keeps you on your toes. I also find it relaxing if you can believe that! Or rather, I try really hard to relax in a otherwise stressful situation. I remember watching "Kendo's Gruelling Challenge" in which a 7th Dan wrote down notes after everytime he failed his 8th Dan grading. He always noted that he would like to fight with a detached mind. I try to adopt that frame of mind into all types of my keiko trainings!! But yes, you do get some sore cuts sometimes!

Do you find this type of training beneficial?

[gghrdfffhfyj]

Hey Ted
Yes, I try to line up the opponents so that it does not seem so overwhelming when they otherwise "swarm" around you. Using this technique along with good metsuke makes me a lot less jumpy. But I find that my distance or- issoku-itto-no-maai is constantly pushed into chikai-maai in this type of keiko which I hate fighting from. But distance is so important when fighting more than one opponent. I often wonder why taller people prefer to fight from chikai-maai rather than toi-maai for example.

Any thoughts?

[Flalafuse]

Hi everybody!

Just wondering if it is uncommon to have one student facing off against many opponents at once. I have heard that some kendoka strongly disagree with this practice whlie others see it as an exercise for maintaining zanshin.

Any thoughts?

John