A Beginner's Point of View 104-105

Day 104:

This lesson was all about the center. Consider a vertical line that splits your opponent in half. This is the center line. Before you attack, you must always take the center line. Because two opponents always face each other, their center lines match up. This means that only one kendoka can have their shinai in the center line. The other is pushed out of the way. The one who has the center line is the one who will strike the target if they attack. We spent some time performing kiri-kaeshi and then we practiced pushing each other’s shinai out of the way to strike kote. Kote is much easier to hit if you take the center for yourself.

During the center line drills, I cut my toe on an exposed nail in the floor. I mentioned it to the group and Sensei made mental plans to speak to the people responsible for maintaining the building. They will have to drive in the nail and cover it up to avoid anyone else getting more seriously injured than I was.

Sensei had to leave class after it was mostly over to conduct the club’s business. One of the senior students ran the class. We practiced some men strikes and then did keiko. After the keiko, we paired up and did kata. I specifically chose my partner because he did not yet own a bokken and he had not really studied kata before. I took my shinai and taught him the first two kata, both uchidachi and shidachi. It was enjoyable to teach another person what I knew. He will definitely learn the kata well with practice.

Day 105:

Today the Guest Sensei showed up again. We practiced more with taking the center and striking. Most of the time I would be paired with a student who was not in bogu, so I had to be the target. Often the student would be rushing and miss the target, whether it be men or kote. I had to tell them to slow down and take center before moving in. The advice worked.

Occasionally, our rotations would get out of sequence and I would spar with others. When I would practice with Guest Sensei, I would strike him and then pass by and strike while retreating. I was enjoying practicing hiki-men and hiki-doh. He told me to not rely so much on multiple strikes. To impress the shinpan, I only needed to strike once and pass through. I guess he’s right. I should only use hiki strikes when my initial strike fails.

There was a segment where we did keiko after keiko. I did two in a row and began getting really tired. Then I was scheduled to keiko with Guest Sensei. I did not want to show him that I was a quitter. So even when I was breathing hard, I did keiko with him. After time passed, I felt weak and ready to pass out. Still, I pushed forward and kept fighting. After it was over, I bowed out and left the floor to sit and rest near the equipment bags.

After a while of watching more keiko, it was time for kata. I paired up with someone who would be testing for ikkyu, so we did the first three kata over and over. I learned to refine my second kata by making sure to take a diagonal step back rather than take a sideways step back if I am shidachi. I wasn’t aware I was taking a side step, but it would explain why I automatically swing the bokken a little circular style (to avoid hitting my partner’s shinai).