A Beginner's Point of View 50-51

Day 50:

Tonight was a lot of work. We started off doing a lot of new things. We learned a new waza that involved parrying your opponent’s shinai off to the side, then striking their men. It was called suriage waza. It’s used to deflect an enemy attack and force a suki open to attack. I did not do well at all. It seemed that every time I parried the shinai, my opponent was even with me and I could not reach out to strike. If I would reach, then I would be too close for a proper strike. Over and over I tried, but I couldn’t even hit one. When it was my turn to allow others to hit me, I did average. I needed to be told to actually try to strike men in order to let the others learn to parry me. We would change partners in accordance to our normal rotation. In rotating, we would normally rotate each position counter-clockwise, except for the sensei, who would keep his position. The one rotating next to him would walk behind Sensei to the next position.

We also added in a simple stepping maneuver to this waza. We would practice simply stepping to the left, right, or even backwards to remove ourselves from our opponent’s strike while counterattacking. I was so confused by the last waza that I kept trying to complete it during the new waza practice. It was after we rotated partners again that I saw that no one was doing the previous one. I felt foolish and changed what I was doing.

There was a drill that was new tonight. The class splits into two groups. Each group stands in a line on opposite sides of the dojo. One member stands in the middle. First one person from one side would semin, then strike men. The person in the middle would try to strike men back, then turn around to face the opposite way. One person from the new line would perform the same drill. The person in the middle would try to strike back and then turn around. Over and over, alternating lines each time, the person in the middle would maintain their composure while fending off the entire class. Both lines would speed up their attacks so the person in the middle would not get a break, thus pushing them to the limits of their endurance. We would all rotate being the one in the middle and fending off the class. When it came my turn, I was struck every time and failed to hit back most every time. My arms were just not fast. I was wondering if it was because I was slow or if I was getting tired.

We then stopped and then began lining up to practice keiko. The dojo was separated into two imaginary ‘courts’ and each one was hosted by a different instructor. My first keiko did not go well at all. I tried to use the new waza we were just practicing, but I could not land a single strike. So, after a couple of minutes, I just decided to go for quick, simple strikes. Even those did not land at all, much less properly. My opponent even lessened his Kendo to try to allow me to feel better about fighting him. Once, he even totally dropped his shinai to his side and said, “Attack me!” Immediately, my brain retorted, “It’s a trap! Don’t attack his men!” So, I tried to attack his kote and missed. At the end of keiko, he came over to tell me to be more assertive in my Kendo. I let him know that I was overanalyzing and hesitating.

My next opponent was much closer to my own level of Kendo. It was fairly even although his strikes were clearly more accurate. This was because I was out of breath while he was pacing himself. Over and over we sparred for minutes until I raised my right hand, calling for a stop. After breathing deeply a couple of times, we returned to keiko. After a couple of more minutes, I raised it again and said I had to stop. My opponent graciously accepted. When we rotated, I stepped out of both courts and just stood as straight as I could and breathed. Sensei was concerned enough to ask if I was all right. I said I was and it was only a few more minutes until the end of keiko. We had a couple of minutes to wait as we got ready for kata practice.

I like kata practice. It’s just as intense as keiko, but not taxing to the body. We practiced kata 1 and 2 over and over. My partner for kata was the same as my partner for my first keiko. He’s a tall guy with power. This time I was shidachi first, then uchidachi. The first time we did kata 1, I led with the wrong foot. When we finished, Sensei asked us how we think we did. When I mentioned my error, he was surprised that he did not see it. He gave us all pointers and then told us to rotate. This time, I did both kata much better. I still think I look awkward doing it, but that comes from being new. I will get better in time.

Sensei also said something profound tonight. He was trying to explain that we should approach tournament, testing, and keiko with the same attitude. We should not save our best Kendo for special occasions and then do something different other times. To paraphrase Sensei, “The Kendo you do at the tournament should not be different than the Kendo that you do at testing or anything else. You do not use big strikes for one and little strikes for the other. You always do the same for everything. Tournament, testing, and keiko are three different activities, but you do the same Kendo for all of them. There is only ‘one Kendo’.”

After class, I was driving back home when it occurred to me that sempai was not present in class. I was thinking about how smoothly class went and whether or not I preferred Sempai to be present in class. I then realized that most of the advice Sempai gives me is criticism while Sensei gives me mostly compliments. I decided that it was foolish to take Sempai’s comments too personally and it would have been better had been present. I need to hear both compliments and criticism or else I miss something. I should know when I do something right so I know to keep doing it that way. I also need to know when I am not doing something right so I know to correct it. I’m not sure if anyone else would understand the reference, but Sensei and Sempai are like my own Euripides and Voltaire. Euripides was a Greek playwright while Voltaire was a French philosopher. Euripides would write sympathetic comedies that attempt to reconcile human flaws. Voltaire was known for sharp criticism about controversial subjects that needed just debate. Without both, something is not said and that is tragedy. So, I will try not to let Sensei’s praise go to my head and I will try to look forward to Sempai’s comments as things that will make me better.

Day 51:

Today was a much better day for instruction. When I arrived, the beginner class was winding up. I changed into my uniform and then stretched out carefully. No sense re-pulling old wounds back open, right? After suiting up in doh and tare, I took my shinai and joined the end of the beginner class. Sensei and Sempai were forming two lines and each was teaching the class in how to strike basic strikes. There were some men and kote done, however the focus was on kote-men and doh strikes. We took turns practicing normal doh strikes and same-side-doh strikes. The proper way to strike doh is to start off exactly like a men strike, raising the shinai straight up. Then you bring the shinai down tracing like a half-heart shape to strike the side of the doh armor kinda diagonally, then holding the shinai horizontal as you pass on through.

After a while doing that, Sensei did a new drill. He stood in the center and took one student at a time. He would call out a target, and the student would strike and pass on through. Then he would turn to the same student and call out another target. The student would strike that target and pass on through. Over and over he would call out targets. Students were expected to semin, strike, pass, zanshin, and start all over with no breaks. Afterwards, Sensei revealed that he wanted to see if we were still acting under ‘one Kendo’. If we were approaching all targets in the exact same technique at the start and then finish with good form, then we had ‘one Kendo’. In other words, a men strike, a kote strike, a doh strike, and a kote-men strike should all start off looking identical.

After that, we lined up with partners to practice good basic strikes. Tonight, the advanced class was an extension of the beginner class, which is good for me. We practiced giving and receiving men strikes and kote strikes. After that, we did some keiko. My first keiko was against Sensei. I gave it my all. I tried to establish suki and then take the suki. I tried to control the match. I made sure to keep my energy up by using kiai more often. At the end of the keiko, I was out of breath and had to raise my hand. Each week, I get a little bit better with my breathing and endurance, but I still need to take the occasional break for hard practice, especially keiko. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to buy a treadmill and practice walking and running for long periods of time at home on days when I’m not going to the dojo.

When keiko was finished, it was time for more kata. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Kata is fun. All the intensity of keiko without the lack of oxygen. We practiced kata 1 over and over, trying to perfect it. I learned a few things that I was doing wrong. When you are uchidachi, you must do almost all of the movements first. The shidachi must react to you, except when they are driving you back. I also must learn to be more smooth with my movements. I have a tendency to have staccato, jerky movements. I must also learn to swing down the center all the time. If my partner appears to be too close, I sometimes tend to swing downward off to the side. I look forward to more kata practice. I could use the refining, and it’s just as fun as keiko.

For me, class ends late. So late that I seem to need to go to bed right after walking in the door. However, my body is too awake right after class. I tried something different. I took two different 30-minute naps before class to push back my body’s needed amount of sleep before work. It seems to have worked this time, so maybe I’ll make that a habit before going to class. 05:30 comes really early, you know.