The Kendo Skill Nobody’s Teaching (But Everyone’s Using)

Picture Brian, shinai in hand, two tiny characters perched on his shoulders.

One’s whispering: “Stay sharp, my guy. Lead with pressure, you got this.”
The other cuts in with: “Really, Bri? Mate, we both know you’re gonna get your kote smashed…”

Familiar, right?

Its familiar because everyone’s got these voices: coaches, students, even the shiai heroes we look up to. And the higher the stakes, the more likely that little doubt-peddler elbows its way to the mic. The one that replays your last mistake on a loop until you’re two beats late and half a step behind.

But here’s the thing the best-of-the-best have figured out: you don’t get rid of that voice. You can’t. It’ll always be there, ready to chirp the moment the pressure’s on. The real skill is flipping the balance: turning the doubter down to background noise, and cranking up the constructive one until it’s the only thing that cuts through.

This isn’t “positive thinking.” It’s weaponised self-talk.

And like any skill worth having, you can train it. Purposefully. Systematically. So when it matters most, the voice in your head isn’t the one telling you why you can’t, it’s the one telling you exactly what you bring, and how to use it to fight well.

Why It Matters

As coaches, we know that constant internal monologue in self-talk shapes how our students think, feel, and move.

Next time you watch a less experienced kendo-ka drop the first point, pay attention to how quickly the second one falls. That’s the spiral in action, negative self-talk slipping in, chipping away at confidence, and dragging performance down with it.

But our job isn’t to magically erase that spiral. It’s to help students notice when it’s happening and give them the tools, and the reps, to pull themselves back on track.

It won’t guarantee a win. Nothing will. But if all the hours of hard work can be undone by the wrong voice getting airtime in the most critical moments, then what are we really training for?

From Awareness to Action

So, if we agree it’s worth our time, the next question becomes obvious: What do we actually do about it?

In my experience of working with Uni-student-coaches on this, many people stop at “stay positive.” But this is about as useful as telling someone to “just try harder” during jigeiko.

The real work is teaching students to spot when the wrong voice has the mic, and then giving them a process to switch channels on demand.

To be clear, this is not about trying to eliminate the negative self-talk, it’s about shaping it. Shifting it from a critical, reactive mess to something that actually helps in the moment.

When I started paying attention to this in my own coaching, I realised my students had scripts that were holding them back:

“I always miss this one.”

“They’re better than me.”

“Just survive this round.”

“I haven’t trained enough.” (Which, let’s be honest, is sometimes true — which signals that sometimes the easiest fix for anyone battling confidence and negative self-talk is to out-train the opponent.)

But when the work has been done and that pint-sized pessimist is still yapping in their ear, training needs to focus on replacing those scripts with short, clear, actionable cues. 

Below is how I tackle this. But please keep in mind, this isn’t some mystical sport-psych hack you need a lab coat to run. It’s just three steps you can drop straight into regular training. No new gear, no ten-week curriculum:

Step 1: Help Students Recognise the Script

Start with low-pressure drills — kihon, uchikomi. Ask students to notice: When you fumble or overthink, what’s the line running in your head?

Have them jot it down after the set, or after training - patterns show up quickly.

Step 2: Interrupt and Reframe

Once the “shoulder goblin” starts up, students need a way to cut in before it takes over. Here’s how I've been coaching the 'interrupt > reframe' skill recently:

1. Interrupt the loop – Use a cue to break the thought mid-stream.

• Verbal: “Reset,” “Back to centre.”

• Physical: Tap the men-gane, shift in kamae, shake the shoulders, stamp the feet, etc.

 

2. Reframe it – Swap the unhelpful script for something usable and true enough to believe in the moment:

   1. “I’m too slow.” → “My strength is timing.”

   2. “I always mess this opportunity up.” → “I’ve done this enough to know what works — and what doesn’t.”

   3. “I didn’t train enough.” → “They don’t know that — and I have 2 waza in my toolbox that will work.”

   4. “They’re a higher grade than me.” → “They’ve got more to lose — the pressure’s on them, not me.”

3. Anchor it physically – Give the cue a home so it sticks under pressure. Tape a "refocus word" inside the dou, write a reframing phrase on the tsuka, scribble a symbol on the wrist under the kote. Whatever reminds the student to go through the reframing process quickly in the moment. 

4. Pair it with movement – Breath, drop into kamae, touch to the hara. Link the cue to a simple physical action so the action reinforces the thought.

Step 3: Pressure-Test It

You don’t know if it works until it’s under stress.
That means:

• Drills with an audience

• Faster pace

• Odd matchups and distractions

• Deliberately shoddy calls from a shimpan during mock shiai.

It’s one thing to flip the script when you’ve got time to breathe. It’s another to do it mid-attack, mid-shiai, with your heart rate spiking and someone’s shinai in your face. That’s why its critical to rehearse the cue until it’s automatic. 

The goal isn’t to remember to use it, it’s to have it fire without having to think about it. 

When your students can recognise the spiral, hit the cue, and keep their game together under real pressure, that’s when this work pays off.

And if you’re looking for a way to weave this into your own coaching, I’ve put together a resource that shows practical, dojo-friendly ways to help students recognise, reframe, and pressure-test their self-talk. It's free, and it helps. Check it out here. 

The Coaching Takeaway

In kendo, we’re not exactly encouraged to talk about this. Tradition leans stoic: keep form, show kigurai, hide doubt. 

But thoughts don’t vanish just because you refuse to acknowledge them. Mushin (no mind) isn’t magic. It only shows up when the internal noise is tuned low enough to let action flow. Training self-talk is one way to get there. 

So let's coach it! Just like we coach seme or waza.

Because when the pressure’s highest, the things your students say to themselves shouldn’t be the things that take them out of the fight.