Ken Suburi

Solo training of basic sword techniques

The video above shows ken suburi, solo training of basic cuts, strikes and other moves with the Japanese sword, katana. Explanations below.

Ken suburi is the Japanese term for basic exercises (suburi) with the sword (ken). Mainly, suburi is repeated cuts and strikes, which need to be trained a lot in order to be correct.

Katana, the Japanese sword with the two-handed grip, takes a lot of practice to handle with some skill. Already the grip is quite difficult to get right. Most important is to be able to cut straight, exactly in the direction of the edge. Otherwise, the legendary sharpness of the katana doesn’t do much good.

I use a shinken, a sharp steel blade, on the video. That’s for clarity. Practicing suburi with the katana instead of bokken (a wooden sword) is very good to understand how the sword works. That can be done solo, but of course not safely in partner exercises.

If you only practice with bokken, it is difficult to learn proper cutting moves with the sword, instead of just hitting with it. Also, the weight and balance of the katana is quite different from that of the bokken.

Stefan Stenudd

© Stefan Stenudd, 2019. You are free to any non-commercial use of this material, without having to ask for my permission. But please refer to this website, when doing so.

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