VKTC mock gradings and panellist training

Yesterday the Victorian Kendo Technical Committee held its second grading seminar for candidates and panellists.

This seminar series is becoming a valuable resource for all Victorian kenshi. It was disappointing that no Nanseikan members were involved. Let's remedy this next time!

The seminar covered both jitsugi and kata, outlined the new grading panellist assessment forms, gave real-time feedback to candidates immediately after their gradings, and was an opportunity for less experienced panellists to check that their standards aligned with the more experienced sensei.

As most of you know, Victoria has two new 7th dans in Matsumoto sensei and Hikima sensei. This means that according to IKF rules we could, theoretically, hold gradings to sixth dan and even 7th dan! This is not going to happen in reality, but it does mean that the VKTC is now actively designing these seminars to help those going for 5th and 6th dan in future. 

This seminar included, for the first time, opportunity for 5th dan candidates to 'grade' and receive feedback. The next one in August will hopefully also include 6th dan candidates. The VKTC is currently developing guidelines and materials to support this training.

The senior panellists were Yano sensei, Hikima sensei and Jeong sensei, who it was wonderful to see has returned from his extended stay in Sth Korea. Matsumoto sensei was running the seminar, supported by Khor and Chin sensei and VKTC secretary Kristine Ventura. Trainee panellists were myself, Wild sensei, Lee sensei and Almeida sensei, and our job was to grade candidates from the sidelines. The main panellists graded the candidates and provided feedback in two separate sessions: one for jitsugi, and one for kata. There was then opportunity for discussion between the senior and trainee panellists to compare the results they had given, and to understand reasons for certain decisions. 

There was a lot of detail as you can imagine! And yet the seminar ran smoothly and to schedule, thanks to Matsumoto sensei.

Here, in brief and in no particular order, are some things that were new to me, or which stood out. These are all things which our senior members should know as they prepare for higher grades:

• Kirikaeshi is now included as a warm-up for all dan grades, within the grading itself, in front of the panel. It is not part of the overall assessment, but the VKTC has included it based on their observation that the standard for kirikaeshi varies hugely in Victoria. Even though it's not an assessment item, it is the first impression the panel gets of your kendo, so it can bias them strongly for, or against, your jitsugi. Yesterday almost every candidate, all the way to 5th dan, received feedback from the main panel that if KK had been an assessed requirement, they would have failed! I will give details as to why and what to aim for in your KK at training. One thing I noticed was that no-one says 'kiri-kaeshi!' at the start anymore! Another was poor understanding of breath.

         

• Grading panel assessment forms have been redesigned to include some proforma feedback criteria which panellists can tick for more targeted feedback to failing candidates. For jitsugi that feedback is grouped into basics, technical and spiritual. For kata those areas are chakuso, reiho, kamae & body position, technical, spiritual, and role relationship. Each area has a range of specific issues that which I won't share here.

• Low energy It was clear that candidates were not sufficiently committed to their performance in both jitsugi and kata. Jitsugi opening kiai was always weak. Kata movements were rushed, perfunctory, or lacking in meaning. There was no-one who inspired a moment of "wow!" in the panel.

• Shosagoto 所作事 translates as 'behaviour' and in the grading sense it means everything you do outside of your actual jitsugi, or actual kata. Everything that happens before 'hajime' and after 'yame', as it were. Understanding and practising correct behaviour is important because the panel are watching closely. In this sense, the kirikaeshi you perform at the start is also considered part of shosagoto.

• Tsukuri 作りis a term kendo panellists use to describe from 4th dan upwards what they want to see from candidates. It literally means 'making', but in this context it means to create and show your kendo. Who are you and what kind of kendo will you show us? Your general deportment, your reiho and your voice are all key parts of this. Displaying the waza that you are naturally good at, and showing how you can resist, manage and break through difficulties, finishes off that picture you create in a way that they have no doubt: "this person is indeed x-dan."

• A conversation From 5th dan, your jitsugi is a conversation with your opponent. You don't just rush in with the same timing. You don't try and simply react to openings when you see them. You must probe and pressure your opponent. You must absorb and redirect their pressure. There is back and forth. This process takes time. Seme>tame>toraeru>utsu>zanshin>waseru. In 60 seconds, if you're doing it correctly, you only have 3 chances to strike at most.

• Don't worry about your opponent's attack, but... In jitsugi we have learnt that you should not focus too much on your opponent achieving yuko datotsu on you. However this can become too much if you start to simply allow them to hit you without reply. You are each in danger of becoming nothing more than motodachi for each other's uchikomigeiko! So, having insights into the dynamics of their attack because you have set up a conversation with them about it, make sure you have a positive response. What that response should be will derive from what you have come to know about your kendo through hard training.

• For 5th dan and above the best, simplest and most brutal concept you can reflect on to help you understand what to focus on is this: when you become a sensei, your students will copy your kendo. Therefore, what kind of kendo do you want to see in your students? This is the kendo you should aim for. If you ask yourself this question you will no longer be capable of purely selfish or results-oriented kendo. You will aim for something much bigger. You will realise you are now responsible for the future of kendo. 

• Kata things: 1) you only have one repeat request in your kata grading, 2) shidachi in nanhonme should always have eyes on uchidachi as they cut and follow through, 3) uchidachi's 'ya!' in nanahonme is now officially earlier - before the cut downwards - so that it comes before shidachi's 'to!', 4) at the start of nanahonme, the ki-atari should be strong. Particularly shidachi's reply, which is called 'kenzentaigo' (剣前体後). This means that the sword moving forwards while the body moves backwards, 5) all candidates finished the kirimusubi of yohonme too high, 6) based purely on observation of whether shidachi's movement followed uchidachi's consistently and in the right places, it was possible to fail all shidachi up to and including 4th dan. Only the 5th dan shidachi were consistent.

Ganbatte kudasai!