Shidachi

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Shidachi (受太刀, Shidachi^?) means "doing/receiving sword" and is one of the two roles in kata of budo and bujutsu, the other being uchidachi (打太刀).^[1][2][3][4] In modern Kendo this is normally written Shidachi (仕太刀, Shidachi^?).^[5]

This role which does a technique and is best described as an adolescent child (or disciple) who's goal is to eagerly acquire the skills presented by uchidachi's technique. Shidachi is lead by uchidachi who provides a true attack; this allows shidachi to learn correct body displacement, combative distancing, proper spirit, and the perception of opportunity. Unfortunately, students often act as though they want to test their skills against those of the higher-ranked uchidachi. They consider this competition to be their practice. In fact, this leads to neither better technique, nor greater spiritual development, because the correct relationship between uchidachi and shidachi has been obscured.

Especially during the parts of a kata with identical movements or intensely linked movements, shidachi will move like a shadow of uchidachi, nor being ahead of the movement, nor lagging behind.

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