Kote as countermeasure of Men - University 52

The following youtube video is from 2016 Kanto kendo championship 4^th round. Red player is Itoh belongs to Keio Univ, and white player is Fujino belongs to Meiji Univ.

One probable countermeasure for good Men hitter, is aiming at Kote or Do. In the match, white player stroked Kote very skillfully to red player who is good at Men stroke.

Red player in the match, tried to stroke Men like 1:11. White player tried to control shinai handling and prevent attack first. At 1:40 and 2:06, he showed Kote swing a bit.

At 2:08, white player hit Kote when red player raised his hand to go attack Men. Men is very strong and destructive in general, and it has potential to win all other strokes. But, in that moment, white player had already succeeded to invade opponent territory and set position to attack. So, white Kote won that situation.

At 2:57, again red player’s Men vs white player’s Kote. This time, Men was a little better, but not sufficient to get ippon.

Gradually, red player looked annoyed because time limit came closer.

In the last moment, white player hit Kote again to find red player’s moment delay of reaction. In the match, white player repeatedly tried Kote, so red player might know well and was careful for that. But, white player shrewdly found good moment and hit without mistake. So he won the match.