Comments for left hand near the tsuba

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Aug 03, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		No rule against it.
by: Anonymous


Actually, yes, you may reverse your grip and stance if you wish.  There are no rules against it. 

However, it rarely happens.  Most often everyone learns one way and sticks to it.  I taught one student who could not kick with this left leg (injury) but could land on it.  In Japan I am aware of a number of "opposites" but none that have progressed very far.

Still, no rule against it - just years and years of strong tradition.

bvc in Canada

Kendo-Guide.Com:  Thanks for your post.  

It is true that there are no rules against it. So technically we can but I still have to say “no” to the question except when practitioners are physically impossible to take traditional stances.

Yes it is tradition and it is, as far as I am concern, very important tradition.  As written in “Why is the left hand more dominant in kendo???”,

“Can we switch our hands? Well, technically you can. However, if we think about cultural aspect of kendo, we probably should not if it is for your convenience.

Samurai used to carry their swords on their left waist. Apparently, back in the old days, people had to walk on the left side of the road to avoid passing the left side of samurai (so they wouldn’t touch the swords).

Another reason why they walked on the left side of the road was that they would not want to have an enemy on their left side because it would be hard to counterattack their enemy coming from their left. (because their swords were on their left waist.) “

If we ignore these traditions, kendo will lose its concept.  

Many people ask me if they can switch their hands because they are left handed. I tell them the same thing I’ve written here.

I have just found an interesting article in Japanese. To make a long story short, a reason why we have our sword is because

The left is yang (in the yin-yang theory). The attacking is considered to be in the yang category. So samurai carried their weapon in their left side.

Of course, this is one of the theories.

Hope this helps.

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