A Beginner's Point of View 24-25

Day 24:

Today, I put on bogu for the first time. Myself and another kendoka were borrowing club-owned bogu for practice to get used to how it feels. Sempai still thought it was too early for us to wear bogu and practice, but sensei felt that since the next tournament is only a couple of months away we should be getting ready to compete. I borrowed sensei's bogu, and it seemed to fit well. Let me explain how to put it on.

First, you seiza and put on the tare. The broad, horizontal strip goes over your waits and the flaps just fall into place. You loop the strings around your back and bring them to the front. You tie them into a knot under the front-center flap. Done.

Next comes the doh. You place the doh against your belly with the bottom edge covering the broad horizontal tare strip on your waist. you then separate and tie the four strings in the back. The upper strings go diagonally across your back and forward over your shoulders towards the loops on the upper-front of the doh. The knots are fairly sophisticated, but sensei says there are several knots to choose from. The bottom two string tie behind your back tightly, but leaving a little room for flexibility.

Next comes the headcloth, called the tenugui. The purpose of this item is to make the men more comfortable to wear. You take the cloth and fold it lengthwise. Then you fold it into thirds and turn the outside lengths at an angle, crossing each other. Flip the cloth over and fold the angled corners up into the cloth. It forms a hat to wear on your head.

Then, you put on the men. Inside, there is a ledge to rest your chin upon. The men is heavy and fits tightly around your head. This is important because you may expect to be struck on the head often. The men strings are tied behind your head. As I did not know how to do this, sensei tied it for me. According to our club's manual, you loop the men strings through the forth (or fifth) metal bar on the front of the men, loop them behind the men, loop in front through the topmost bar and behind again. Use your thumbs to hold the men open and put it on your head. I found it easiest to put it on chin-first. Sensei then tied the strings behind my head tightly. It was difficult to hear and the metal grill gave the men a tendancy to pull my head forward.

Finally, I put the kote on. It is not difficult, but they remind me of thick mittens with the four fingers of your hand all together. It makes the act of re-positioning your grip on the shinai during bowing in and out awkward, but not difficult.

I stayed later than usual for the first half of the advanced class. We practied kiri-kaeshi with different partners. It was tiring with the bogu on, but since I was expecting the extra work, it was not so bad. As I was leaving, it sounded like the club was having a free practice match. In the future, when I become an advanced student, I'll have to re-arrange my schedule to show up for the advanced session later at night, but that is for the future. Sempai made sure to politely explain that just because we may wear our own bogu does not confer rank or status. It is our technique and posture that says what our status is. I agree with her.

Day 25:

Today, there was another new student. It’s nice to see the class growing. It’s better when there are more voices shouting the repetitions of warm-ups. I think that’s the biggest thing I’m getting in Kendo, just being part of something bigger.

After warm-ups, we worked on some footwork for a few times before sempai asked me aside. She thought my footwork wasn’t as well along as she thought it would be. After walking back and forth across the room at the “pass by the opponent” speed, I figured it out. I’m slowing down and moving awkwardly. My right leg was straight out when it should be bent just a little. It’s the left leg that should be straight.

I was also turning my left foot a little bit when it should face forward. It’s a leftover instinct from foil fencing, where your left foot is always at a right angle to your direction of travel. I’m going to need to keep working on straightening my legs out more if I’m going to get better at moving forward quickly.

At least I’m learning to turn around better. To properly turn around, you must act as if you are stepping while turning your body. Easier said than done. Also, you should step forward 1 step after turning to show confidence towards your opponent.