Training alone empty handed

by Lucas

Hello Imafuji-sensei, my question regards training without any instrument or our beloved bokutou/shinai. Also, English is not my mother language, so my grammar and what I write may not be clear enough. I’m sorry for that.

Sometimes I want to do some training, or develop some skill during free time until I need go back to work, however I don't have my bokutou, or my shinai, or ever another thing that could work as a good substitute nearby.

Other times I want to train, but, due to my country weather, I cannot, and the place I live are really problematic to do suburi, because of the free space and the roof. But I can train suburi in seiza in my room, so my question comes as:

Are there good exercises (mental and/or physical) to train kendo without anything?

Answer: Thank you for your question. And don’t worry about your English. My English is not good either!

You can always do kendo without anything in your hands. You just need to have your hands in front of you pretending that you have a shinai. I usually have my hands open.

Depending on what you want to work on, of course, you can do different things from there.

• You can do the basics


• You can study the balance shift at the moment of striking


• You can study footwork


• You can find out how you can use your body effectively

You can also lunge and squat pretending you have a sword in your hands.

Don’t forget to watch good kendo and keep the vivid image of that. Then you can start performing that.

Hope this helps!

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