Kiai in Kendo – For Kendo Beginners

Kiai, the act of forcefully exerting your life force, or ki (chi/qi for Chinese martial arts), on a physical opponent using your voice. It is also synonymous with battle/war cry. When first exposed to the martial art of Kendo, or the way of the Japanese sword, one is often surprised by how loud and intense Kendoists yell and yell at each other.

There is nothing more embarrassing in American culture than yelling until your lungs are hoarse for no apparent reason. We’re regularly exposed to kiai through martial artist movie stars like Bruce Lee’s yells that sound like his underwear is 10 sizes too small, or the “same-tone-in-a-scream” all-the-movies” by Tom Cruise. “Am I-mad-or-not” voice. Usually, kiai is involved when the action movie hero is killing someone.

Although we’re not killing anyone (even figuratively) by starting kendo, kiai usually feels awkward and embarrassing for students. It doesn’t help that when we start using kiai we’re either counting “ichi, ni”, which feels like we’re saying “itchy knee!”, or yelling “MEN” for the basic punch. Since “men” is an English word that doesn’t mean mask, it feels weird, even though it would be just as weird to yell FRONT.

Kiai is very important and develops over time as we practice. Don’t expect to sound like sensei on your first day! Kiai is unique to each kenshi but serves the same purpose for all. It lifts our spirits, focuses our minds, prepares us to move, helps us push our physical limits, teaches us to breathe properly, and not to mention (sometimes) scares our opponents.

We all start somewhere and no one will laugh at a new student for counting out loud. In fact, it may impress some people while most won’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Count out loud when you have a group and no one will notice a thing. Do not count at all that prepare to be embarrassed.

Kiai during warm-ups sets the tone for the entire practice. If there is no energy or spirit in the warm-up, there will most likely be little energy in the remaining practice session. Use this time to get comfortable listening to your own voice, as one voice will blend in with the many.

Don’t worry about feeling embarrassed. While it may take some time, eventually everyone gets over the embarrassment and begins to use this powerful weapon. Sometimes it’s easier to just vocalize by yelling something unintelligible instead of saying men or counting. Do what you feel comfortable with at first.

I always noticed that the better a kendoist got, the more interesting his kiai could sound! Occasionally, kenshi are so comfortable vocalizing that it sounds like two opposing kendoists swearing at each other during their match. (They are “probably” not, though I think.) Kiai out loud even if you feel silly; you will not regret!