Sandanquestions
Sandan Questions
Thanks to Andy Fisher for the first questions to go into this section!
Describe and give examples of go no sen
In Kendo, there are several ways of making a successful strike, these can be related to several different concepts. For instance, the san satsu ho (also called san sappo) relating to the priciples, ken wo korosu (kill the sword), waza wo korosu (kill the technique) and ki wo korosu (kill the spirit). Also, and perhaps more relevantly, the concept of sen can be applied to achieve a successful strike. Sen literally means ‘afore’ or ‘ahead of time’, though in kendo it is generally used to mean ‘ahead of an opponents waza’. The concept of sen is applied when referring to the act of an opponent’s intention to strike, and is categorized into three refinements – sen no sen, sen sen no sen, and go no sen.
Go no sen is applied when your aite attempts to capitalize on an apparent suki and initiates an attack. In response one would parry or strike down the aite’s shinai and counter attack whilst their shisei, kamae and ki and are critically weakened. Done at an advanced level, it can be said that through a single act of go no sen all three of the san satsu ho can be achieved. For example, if one’s aite is very strong at tobikomi-men uchi, then one may encourage them to believe there is correct suki for tobikomi-men uchi, then as they attempt this waza, parry their shinai with uchi-otoshi waza and strike men or kote in response. At the highest level, this would kill the sword, by striking it down, kill the waza by defeating an attempt at suki and would kill the spirit by denying a waza of which they are very strong. This is an example perfect of go no sen.
Discuss Issoku Ittou no Maai
In Kendo the distance between oneself and one’s aite is reffered to as ma ai. Ma ai is not just the physical distance between the two players, but is also the spiritaual and temporal distance also. Ma ai is categorized in into three divisions – to ma, issoku ittou no mai and chika ma.
Issoku ittou no mai directly translates as ‘one step, one sword distance’. This means that from issoku ittou no mai one can make a strike in one step and/or avade a strike with one step. It is, perhaps, the most widely used ma ai in Kendo. Occasionally, kendoka mistakenly judge issoku ittou no mai by the extent at which the two shinai cross at the kensen. However, this is in fact, incorrect. A fundamental feature of correct ma ai is that it is different for each individual. As different kendoka vary in height, weight, gender, age etc. it would be impossible for everyone to produce a perfect ippon from identical distance. Thus, a person who is shorter may have an issoku ittou no mai that is nearer to the aite (closer to chika ma) so as to cut correctly using only a single step. Likewise, a taller person could afford to use issoku ittou no mai at greater distance as they may cover more space in a single step. Ma ai is a crucial concept, and issoku ittou no mai is arguably the most fundamental of the three, thus a correct understanding of issoku ittou no mai is vital for one to make successful strikes and thus to improve in Kendo.
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