Symbolically speaking, elevated kneeling is to show respect to each other's swordsmanship and the life that will inevitably be lost in the combat. This should be an intense as well as sobering moment.
Requirements:
- straight & stable posture
- when kneel the both heels are lifted off the floor
- knees 90 degrees apart
- standing up with stable posture
Sumo son-kyo. Other than the hands position, everything is the same in kendo.
Stand -> kneel: as if a vertical stick slide into a calm water without a ripple
Kneel -> stand: as if a streak of thin incense smoke rising in still air
= movement on either direction must be performed in a steady pace with straight posture
Son-kyo is derived from a way to greet/worship gods in Shintoism which was indeed a proper kneeling with both knees on the ground (ki-kyo) however, the method was altered to avoid the soil getting on the knees later on.
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