A Beginner's Point of View 48-49

Day 48:

I did not go to Kendo practice today because my left wrist and left ankle were still hurting from the tournament and testing. I took the day off to relax and heal.

Day 49:

Today is my first day of advanced class. I’ve seen the advanced classes before and I think I’ll enjoy them. The advanced class deals more with waza and ‘fluidity’ than the basics. Today, the head sensei was here, teaching us about stepping into our opponent to make our waza more fluid. At shodan and above levels, your Kendo is expected to be fluid as well as crisp.

The lesson was to take a single large step with the right foot to instantly bring your body to close range, while striking. Next, your left foot comes forward, followed by your right foot as you pass on through. You then use the typical suri-ashi for the act of passing on through. This is a LOT harder than it sounds. My training has always been to use suri-ashi for the entire time. Using this new footwork does make closing distance much faster, but it can lead to collision or tripping if not done right.

I was not very good at it, but I tried my best. At first, it seemed as if I was heading right for a collision head-on with my partner, only to turn slightly at the last moment. We lined up to practice one at a time, then afterwards the head sensei would have us drill in the same technique with kote-men waza. This was to push us to a higher level. The entire practice I was stumbling and trying to remember the footwork. I don’t think I did very well.

Also, sempai seemed to be either sick or in pain of some kind. She stuck it out because she wanted to learn, but we could all hear in her voice how badly off she was. Head sensei honored her wishes to stay in, but I was afraid of causing her more pain. I think in my caution conflicting with my wish to learn, I may have struck her men too hard. She bopped me on the men with her fist to demonstrate how hard I was hitting. I wasn’t even concerned about how embarrassing it looked for me. I was feeling bad for her and what she has to endure from me when she’s not well. Needless to say, I lightened my strikes for the rest of class.

It was frustrating to try this new waza. Sempai told me after class that I should continue to come to the beginner class in addition to the advanced class. I’ve already told her before that I can only come to one class per day. My job has the highest priority in my life, followed by sleeping so I can do my job. Whatever is left is devoted to Kendo. Kendo is a lot of fun, but it does not pay my mortgage. So, when there are odd days in my working schedule that grant me freedom to attend both classes in a day, I’ll do that. In the meantime, I’ll continue to come to the advanced class. Maybe I do need to sharpen a few basics, but I won’t be pushed to become better overall if I only attend the basic class.

Sensei and I had a nice, long talk after class about planning out the next segment of my Kendo journey. Technically, one is supposed to wait 90 days between testings, but we like to take a little extra time to be sure. He feels that my next testing should be in October and then apply for ni-kyu. Since I would be asking for something less than ik-kyu, the judges would be more flexible. If they felt I was not ni-kyu material, they would still promote me to san-kyu. According to sensei, the panel of judges thought that I was in the grey area between yan-kyu and san-kyu. The day of testing, I was not quite perfect, so they gave me yan-kyu. If this is true, then taking the extra time until October sounds like a good time to ask for ni-kyu. Even if I don’t get that, I should be san-kyu by then.

I’m no stranger to travelling, but the testing in October is to be in Washington D.C. I’m not so comfortable going into the big city and staying there. I’m a nervous sort, so I’m always upset at the news reports of crime. It’s still a long ways off, so I’ll deal with it when it comes. It’s not too far from my house, so maybe I can just drive there and then drive back to sleep at home. As soon as I learn exactly where it is, I’ll make more plans. Sensei says he’s planning his next testing next year, so maybe we’ll all go and cheer him on wherever that is.