Kendo part 四: エ〜ッ!

[gwalla]

Practice proceeds apace. I learned my first kata last Thursday, a dodge and counterattack against a strike to the wrist. And yesterday I was taught two of the other basic strikes besides men (a strike to the head): kote (to the wrist/gauntlet) and dō (to the torso/breastplate). This leaves, I think, the two sayū-men strikes (left/right men, to the temples) of the basic bread-and-butter attacks. I still get corrected frequently, but my men strikes seem to be getting better. I feel like I'm making serious progress. I'll probably be buying a keikogi and hakama soon.

Now if only I could get my kiai to sound more like a battle cry and less like an imitation of The Fonz...

Comments

[danihana.livejournal.com]

There is nothing wrong with The Fonz. Just think of it all if they did Happy Days in Japan, and The Fonz was a ronin, (not as in failed student, but as in kickass samurai with only the winds as his guide).

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

Jumping over tanks full of sharks with his son in an armored baby carriage!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*snort* Fonz dialogue in katakana looks oddly enthusiastic.

I love watching the evolution of the kihap/kiai/yell as people progress. New belts always get enthusiastic and make it two clearly defined syllables with, like, consonants and shit: "HI-YA!" Then it gradually degenerates till you're a black belt just sort of bellowing, "AIHH!"

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

There's an additional complication in kendo, because your kiai is actually the name of the strike (or rather, what you're trying to hit). Yes, that's right, you have to call your attacks (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CallingYourAttacks) for real. So the kiai for a strike to the head is "MEN!" though it ends up more like "EN!", a strike to the midsection is "DO!" but ends up (since you usually continue through) as "DOOOOOOOOH!", and one to the wrist is "KOTE!" but contracts to "K'TE!" or "TE!"

THE KRINGLE KRUSH

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Damn, that complicates things. Strings of random vowels are the best I can manage; try to get me to articulate and I'll get hurt somehow.

(Falcon ... PUNCH!!!)

Re: THE KRINGLE KRUSH

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

That comic kinda fails, because Zelda doesn't actually call her attacks in Smash Bros. In fact, the whole premise behind the joke is flawed, because only a few characters in the game actually do that; most are sub-verbal and just grunt or shout unintelligibly.

gripe grip gripe

(The funny thing is it holds for nearly every other fighting game...just not Smash Bros.)

Re: THE KRINGLE KRUSH

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

YOU, sir, are a NITPICKER. :P

Although I do like that it is the one game for which it's not true--but I think Captain Falcon's enthusiastic announcement that he's punching probably averages it out. (Favorite is still Clayfighter 63 1/3--something about naming a move "Get 'Em, Fifi!" makes me very happy.)

I love how people bitch about the lack of voiced dialogue in Mario games. I'm so used to it that if Mario said more than about three words at a time I'd get nervous.