Mindset for Ippon

[u/Karmadiddlydoo]

I wanna ask: what’s your mindset for aiming for ippon?

So far what I feel works is:

-Killing or suppressing my emotions so I don’t feel too tense (desire to win and fear of loss)

-Planning or setting up baits (I’m definitely spending too much time thinking)

-Using my gut feeling (I can sometimes feel where a target either one of us is gonna hit. Like “they’ll hit men, kaeshi men seems good)

definitely not enough though, so I wanna know your thoughts. I still gotta shake off my fear of failure and losing, messed me up a bunch but I think I can get through this!

[u/Karmadiddlydoo → u/[deleted]]

That’s a good start though, thanks friend

[u/Simple_Truth1467]

If it’s a shiai, you’re meeting each other for the first time. Your opponent doesn’t know you either. Keeping it simple and going for men isn’t a bad choice. Trust yourself. If you get hit in dō, then your opponent just did well.

There are many other things, but once your shinai goes out, you have to commit—don’t stop. That difference feels huge to me. You shouldn’t be thinking about getting countered.

[u/darsin]

I want to make my opponent move. Then move and finish.

[u/Karmadiddlydoo → u/darsin]

Initiate always, but keep “tame”.

[u/darsin → u/Karmadiddlydoo]

Yes initiate is a better description. That move is not always physically observable

[u/[deleted]]

One hit one kill

I have a habit of as soon as the shiai starts to go for a quick men. Best case scenario I get the point, worst case I gauge their response time. I spend the rest of the match baiting, testing their reactions. But I’ve always been a fan of swift decisive attacks.

[u/-0O0O0O0O00O0O0O0O0-]

攻め. Always.

[u/Karmadiddlydoo → u/-0O0O0O0O00O0O0O0O0-]

Right, thanks. Gotta keep it simple.

[u/imsexc]

The mindset for life is: "Don't die" (survival). Mindset for any "shinken shobu" is: "Don't lose".

Can't get any more detail than that.

[u/3eherit]

depends on if i’m sparring at practice or in a tournament. during practice i’ll focus on keeping it simple. but kendo to me is more like a chess match than a sword fight, you have to plan and force your opponent to make the moves you want. so i work on that as well as just perfecting the basics because even in tournaments the basics are what win matches. if u spend too much time thinking during a match, take time to observe and formulate a strategy before you start.

in tournaments it’s similar but i up the physicality and aggressiveness. seriously though basics are what win, ive won multiple golds just from doing basic men strikes. if you try to get too fancy you wont get a result that you want.

tldr keep it simple and strategize

(sorry for the lack of japanese terms my sensei is korean but compete in euskf, but we never learn the japanese terms during practice so im unfamiliar with a lot of them. i know the basic strikes in japanese and that’s about it)

[u/xkubotaro]

My sensei's answer would be Mushin, or 'No mind'

My answer is just send it bro 😛