About Ken no Kamae, pointing to the eyes, throat, stomach, knee, feet, etc.

[Nightmare]

Hi

I have a question, if a kamae tells me where I need to be pointing (opponent eyes, throat, feet, etc.)., what if the opponent changes his position?, lets say I'm pointing at the opponent eyes using seigan no kamae, but then the opponent gets in seiza or iai goshi, If I lower the tip of the blade to point at the eyes opponent's, would It still be seigan no kamae or happen to be chudan or gedan no kamae?.

I hope you understand me. Thanks in advance.

[ben]

It's a strange question as I cannot imagine why an opponent would sit down in the middle of a fight. Seiza and iai-goshi are forms of sitting, not kamae options. b

[Nightmare]

Hi

or let's say my opponent is a small little guy (or very tall) :P, to the point that using Gedan no kamae will be like using Seigan/Chudan no kamae, I know it sounds strange, my question refers more to if a kamae is named after the angled point tracked over the opponent points (following with the tip of the sword to where kamae says) or just an imaginary opponent in front of you so if an opponent moves down and I Keep my blade still pointing the same way but no tracking over the opponent body points will still be called the same way?.

Kinda confusing :P

[Chris Parker]

Hi,

I think it'll depend on too many vaiables to actually answer, though. For example, some kamae tend to be named for the position/aim of the kissaki, such as Seigan no Kamae (True Eye), others for the shape of the body or sword itself, such as Hasso no Kamae (Eight Phase, the angle of the forearms resembling the Japanese character for "eight"), or for the position of the sword relative to your own body, such as Chudan, Gedan, Jodan (Middle Level, Low Level, High Level). Then when it comes to the system itself, with different schools giving different names and reasons for their kamae, there really can't be any hard and fast rule. Some schools will be very strict in the way each kamae "looks", but others will allow a fair amount of latitude, and look more to what the kamae represents, rather than an exact shape to the body.

That said, Chudan, Gedan etc seem to be more about what section of your own body the sword is "guarding", rather than where on the opponent the sword is aimed, so I'd think that that would provide the name used (if the sword is in the lower half of your body, it's Gedan, if it's in the middle, Chudan, high, and it's Jodan). In regard to Seigan, it depends on the system, but I'd doubt it remains as Seigan if the sword is aimed down. It may depend on the distance, though.

With regard to why an opponent would suddenly drop to a seated position, Katori Shinto Ryu has a number of kata where the Uchidachi drops to a Suwari no Kamae (a half-kneel posture), which is there to represent a situation where you may have tripped, or lost your footing. So that's probably the most likely source for you to check.

[Nightmare]

Hi Chris

That's indeed what I was having in mind , thanks a lot, I agree, kissaki pointing to the opponent is rather relative to your own for body section protection, as you suggest. Now I'm gonna check out about the Katori Shinto Ryu style .

Again, thanks a lot.