Its obvious from the illistrations above, I am no artist when it comes to useing MS paint, but I think they are clear enough to make their point.
First off the no kamaes. These are not the only 4 that exist, but these are definiantly the most common. From art to art you will find variances of each no kamae, for instance there is one where the hilt is held at near neck level and the entire sword is horizonal pointing at the opponents throat(ichi no kamae).
All no kamae are "starting postions" for a cut. For instance if one was going to perform a kiri age, then you would start from a gedan no kamae , turn the blade edge up and cut upward diagonally. If one where to perform a shoman giri, the most obvious would be to start from jodan no kamae, but the cut could also be performed from hasso no kamae. The fastest way to perform a tsuki would be to start from a seigan no kamae and thrust forward. It must be remembered that the kiri age and kiri sage need not always be made from shoulder to hip or vise vesa. Many different angles can be acheived. There are also cuts (not listed here) that are horizonal, either to decapitate, or to cut acrross the torso, or waist.
As i mentioned eariler, this is not a complete list of cuts or no kamae, but this is a start. professionals practice these cuts on tamagashi (straw mats) but for those of you who dont feel like buying all that, go to a forest and find some young pine saplings, this is what i hdve done before, and practice these cuts. Remember clean strokes and dont twist or turn the blade while cutting.!!
I have also been asked , what is the proper way to hold a katana? Well there are many, but to me the most effective as far as hand spacing is to grip the katana near the guard with you LEFT hand, then grip under that with your right hand, then down again with your left and that is where your left hand should go. Of course your right hand goes under the guard. In other words your 2 hands should be a hand width apart. Depending on hilt length, this may not be enough, the way i see it the further apart the hands the better the leverage, but test different grips to see what is right for you!!! |
