Quick Kote-Men Strategy

Hello everyone, 

Thank you for reading the following blog post!
I'm Kota Suzuki from Japan. I've been practicing kendo since I was seven years old in Japan－I am currently 3rd Dan. Right now, I am studying abroad in the United States and regularly practice at the university kendo club here.

Today's topic: Kote-Men. Kote-men is one of the nidan-waza techniques that means you hit two parts continuously. There are some other nudan-waza such as kote-dou, but kote-men is the most typical technique among nidan-waza. This technique is a little harder compared to single strikes because you need to hit two parts quickly. Today, I'm going to show you three tips for better kote-men-uchi.

1. Quick two steps

First, you need to make two steps continuously. Many people have difficulty in making correct steps quickly, but this part is the most important for better kote-men-uchi because correct steps make kote-men strike stronger and faster. If you are not able to make steps correctly, I recommend you practice footwork separately without having a shinai.

If you want to make two steps quickly, you should focus on your left foot movement. After stepping for the first kote, you need to put your left foot close to your right foot very quickly because this is a prepatation for the next men. This quick left foot movement is neccessary for great kote-men-uchi, so you should work on footwork hard if you are not confident.

2. Quick two strikes

Next, you should hit kote and men quickly. I suppose that many people strike kote and men separately, but you actually need to connect kote and men for quick kote-men-uchi. After you hit kote, the end of your shinai should go up a little bit because of bounding. This small bound is going to be swinging up for the next men. Therefore, you don't need to swing your shinai up again because your shinai is going up automatically.

Also, you should not only strike fast but also strike strongly because it is a required part of getting points. The important thing for strong attacks is grabing a shinai tightly at the moment you hit kote and men. If you always grab a shinai tightly, you are not able to swing smoothly. However, it is essential to grab it tightly at the hitting timing for strong attacks.

3. Correct posture

Lastly, posture is also important for better kote-men-uchi. This is important because posture have a great effect on the speed of attacks. Some people don't make a correct posture, so they cannot hit kote and men smoothly. For the correct posture, you should make your back straight and lean forward a little bit since it makes easier to go forward fast.

Especially, you should pay attention to the posture of your upper part of the body. If the posture is unstable, you will not be able to step correctly nor attack smoothly. Therefore, you should make your posture straight in order to hit kote-men faster and more strongly.

Thanks for reading this blog post! Kote-men is useful techniques in kendo matches as well, so try to improve kote-men-uchi in the usual practice at dojo or kendo clubs. If you have any questions, please ask me. Also, you can give me a comment if you have any requests of the blog posts!

#剣道 #kendo #頑張れ剣道