by Nadja Lutzwiller
Once again I had the opportunity to take part in the inter-weapon kendo/naginata workshop led by David D’hose senseï and accompanied by Dermine Tyl. This is already the 9th edition of this workshop…
This time, however, I wasn’t there as a kendoka, but to try out the naginata myself.
It’s never easy to leave one’s habits behind, but this introduction to naginata opened up new perspectives (including on my kendo).
Unfortunately, I was only able to take part on Saturday.
We were introduced to the basics of naginata, as well as the different postures and steps involved in executing strikes.
I appreciated the fact that we quickly moved on to scenarios and that we were shown details of the different postures as we practiced them. As in kendo, the connection between hand and body is important. We also rediscovered the kirikaishi (but naginata version), an exercise I particularly appreciate in Kendo. The exercise is complete and numerous technical points rounded off the first part of the afternoon. We then moved on to the next phase in armor, executing all the attacks from men to sune. I especially had trouble with the lateral position and making a correct sune (cutting angle, distance…) but once I got to the jigeiko, Kendo reflexes came to the fore…
However, holding the center seemed less useful than in kendo, as the attack points are distributed differently. But in dueling, is attack the best defense?
A superb initiation shared by experienced naginata. I’m already looking forward to being able to apply all these tips to kendo (and against naginataka) and why not see the continuation of this introduction at the 10th edition next year!
Thanks again and see you next time.
