Waki-gamae
| Waki-gamae | |||||||
Waki-no-kamae in Kendo.
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| Japanese name | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanji | 脇構 | ||||||
| Hiragana | わきがまえ | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Revised Hepburn | waki-gamae |
| Kunrei-shiki | waki-gamae |
Waki-gamae (脇構?), sometimes shortened to waki, is one of the five stances in kendo: jōdan, chūdan, gedan, hassō and waki, as well as other related and older martial arts involving Japanese sword. Waki-gamae is a stance involving the swordsman hiding the length of one's own blade behind their body, only exposing the pommel to the opponent. This stance was common when there was no standard length of sword and was often used as a deterrent to any opponents who did not know the range of the sword being hidden and could be used as a sort of bluff technique. It also serves to conceal the orientation of the blade to one's opponent, as to give him no hint about your own intention for the next attack.
Other Koryū schools may define "Waki-gamae" differently from its current form in Kendo.
Waki-gamae is also known as the Kamae of Metal (金の構 kin-no-kamae?) in the five elements classification and the Light Stance (陽の構 yō-no-kamae?) in the Ittō-ryū teachings.
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