Suburi

are repetitive, individual, cutting exercises, which are often used in martial arts such as kendo, aikido, iaidō, and kenjutsu. Often a shinai (for kendo), bokken, suburitō, or even tanren bō are used. An iaitō or shinken can also be used, albeit that is rare.

Some common types (these can vary between styles):
*"katate suburi": holding the weapon with only the left hand (which is supposed to be used as the power hand)
*"haya-suburi": rapid suburi where you cut on the forward motion and assume jodan on the return motion, feet should glide on the floor
*"choyaku-suburi": incorporating a coordinated jumping like movement with the strike
*"joge-suburi": strikes with back swings that almost touch ones lower back and forward swings which almost touch the floor
*"naname-suburi": alternating diagonal strikes, cutting across the opponent's torso, starting with a cut to the left
*"shomen-suburi": strikes to an opponent's forehead
*"zenshin-kotai-shomen-suburi": strikes to an opponent's forehead, starting with forward, then backward.
*"sayu-men-suburi": alternating strikes to an opponent's forehead, starting with your right-hand side.

Suburi is used as a warm up before actual practice begins, usually done in sets of ten, though sometimes sets of 100 are used (especially with "naname-suburi" and "shomen suburi"). Suburi serves to loosen the wrists (naname suburi) and elevate heart rate (haya suburi).

ee also

*Aikido (Aiki-ken)
*Iaidō
*Kendo
*Kenjutsu

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/kendosuburi A blog about practicing suburi everyday and their benefits for a martial arts practitioner]