19th Century Gekiken Book Translation

Chapter on Attacking Dou

by www.Gekiken.org

Gekiken Jujutsu Shinan

Instructions for Gekiken & Jujutsu

This is a vintage instructional book, published on

Meiji 30th Year, November 1897. It uses the term
Gekiken for Japanese sword fencing practice,
and pre-dates even Pre-WWII Kendo.

In this small PDF eBook, we will be looking at a

chapter which talks about how to attack the
opponents Dou (torso, abdomen area).

The translations are accompanied by their

original pages from the book, so that you verify
the accuracy of the translation.

Gekiken.org is dedicated to the research on how

Japanese sword practitioners conducted their
fencing practice historically.
 How to Attack Dou
To attack the opponents Dou, you may do so with your arms extended or with your arms
bent. As much as possible, you should attack with your arms extended. The method to attack the
Dou is only slightly different from attacking the Men or Kote.

If you go straight for attacking the opponents Dou right at the start, it is going to be difficult
to be successful. Therefore, the usual way is to block the opponents incoming attack first, before
counter-attacking at their Dou.

Nevertheless, you can create the impression that you are going to attack his Men, to
pressure him into raising his Shinai. Once you see that he has his Shinai up, you can then attack his
Dou. There are many other methods to attack the opponents Dou. However, the inexperienced
swordsman will find it difficult to perform Dou attacks successfully. Moreover, when training with
children, they should start with proper and correct training, so that they will develop good form and
technique in the future.

It is disadvantageous to attack the opponents Dou right from the start. In the mayhem of a
mass group fight 1 (), it is difficult to bring my Shinai in a low position and near the
enemys body. Doing so will expose my upper-body to danger.

In the event youre going to attack the opponents Dou, there are many ways to do it. The
usual way is to bend your body slightly, and have your left-foot forward 2. It will be difficult to attack
with your right-foot forward.
 As much as possible, thinking of cutting his abdomen area diagonally when youre striking,
instead of cutting his muscles & bones. Rarely will you make a right Dou attack, but once youre well-
trained in making a left Dou attack, it should be rather easy. However, making a right Dou attack is
not usual way to practice.

In recent years, Gyaku-Dou (left Dou attacks) has become quite popular. This is not the true
way to practice 3. Beginners should follow the rules and practice the true way of performing a Dou
attack, as drawn in the diagram.
 How to Receive Dou Attacks
According to the words of Gekiken practitioners in the past, swordsmen were generally
skilful in dealing with incoming attacks to their Kote & Dou. But if they want to improve on their
technique, they will need to have the right mindset to endure the toughest training.

The most difficult thing to understand about handling an incoming Kote or Dou attack is to
be able to master distancing so well, that you can stay just within a hairs breadth from being cut.

Generally speaking, you should receive an incoming Dou attack by using the portion of your
sword about 4 to 5 sun (inches) in front of your Tsuba (sword guard), with your arms extended to
make a circular motion on the left or right.

Receiving an incoming Kote attack is similar, and you would press down the enemys Shinai
while moving forward. A rare technique will be to retreat your right-foot backwards, and counter-
attack at the enemys Kote. Another technique: as soon as you pull back your right-hand to avoid the
incoming Kote strike, you shall rotate your body to the right, so that your left-hand can extend to
strike at the enemys Men single-handedly. These techniques take a lot of practice in order to
execute them well. It is not something which beginners will be able to do.

It is said that handling an incoming Dou attack is not much different from handling an
incoming Kote attack. Both are equally difficult. Only people who do not understand the truth of this
art will disagree and say one is easier than the other. Fighting consists high, low, real & fake
movements. It is definitely not easy to receive any incoming attacks by the enemy in the middle of a
fight.

Extra Notes by Gekiken.org

1. Modern Kendos technique are based on fighting 1 opponent at a time. It is interesting that this
Gekiken book is concerned with the efficiency of your technique if you were to be in a mass
group fight, with multiple opponents and attacks that can come from any angle.

The useless stances in modern Kendo, which is Hasso & Wakigamae, will actually be evidently
more practical in a mass group fight scenario. But lets leave this for a bigger future discussion.

2. While one may cut in any direction with any foot forward, it is more natural to cut horizontally
from left to right, if you have your left-foot forward.

Modern Kendo practitioners are taught to have their right-foot forward all the time, whereas
this Gekiken book prefers that you have your left-foot forward.

3. It is generally more advisable to attack the opponents right-Dou. From your perspective, you are
attacking on the left. The reason is because after drawing the sword out, a Samurai would still
have this Wakizashi and sheath still sashed in his left waist area. Therefore if you cut at this part
of his Dou, your attack will be blocked by those items.
 Thank you

Hope you have found this translation useful and insightful towards your practice of
Japanese swordsmanship & martial arts. Please share this PDF freely with everyone who
are passionate about Samurai sword & weapon arts, so that more can benefit from this
translation of a 19th century Gekiken book.
We look forward to find more vintage resources and sharing them with you. To
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www.Gekiken.org.
Sincerely,
Jack Chen