A Beginner's Point of View 126-127

Day 126:

Today was the day of the balloon kendo event we planned on having last class, but it got pushed back to today. We tied a normal balloon on top of the men-gane and then we tried something new. We took one of the long, thin balloons and tied it around the right kote. The objective is to pop a balloon on your opponent. This shows you scored a point and you advance. Obviously, the balloons would not stay in place. They flop and bounce all over, making it hard to strike. The result is that it was a lot of fun, chasing the balloons all over the place. It made a fitting end for the year with a lot of laughter and exploded balloon fragments all over the floor. During one of my matches, my partner whacked me it my right elbow while trying to strike doh. It hurt, but I recovered.

After the balloon tournament, we broke into ji-geiko. My next partner was very enthusiastic. She would wait until I tried to strike men, and then she would launch into a doh counterattack. She was fast enough that she kept closing distance before I did, which means my elbow was struck three more times in the exact same spot. After the last time, I called a halt and stepped out. I had to stop before I got hurt. I spent the rest of class cleaning up the dojo floor of all the debris and helping to close up the hall for the night.

Day 127:

Today was back to normal for Kendo. I showed up on time for advanced class only to find out there was only four people there. I dressed, stretched, and joined the group. We concentrated on kote strikes for the most part today. I found that when I slowed down to take my time in taking center, then I hit more often. We also practiced kiri-kaeshi a few times, both giving and receiving.

After that, we did some practices matches and then received criticism afterwards. It was very helpful to know what we may do wrong when we aren’t thinking about it. We also practiced some new drills to help in matches. These drills would be like tricks or occasional techniques to help sway the flow of combat.

For example, if you are stuck at tsuba-zeriai try to take a step back and knock your opponent’s shinai away. In a continuation of the action, trace a kind of circle in the air to bring your shinai back to center and then down for hiki-man strike all in one fluid motion. It’s more difficult to do than it sounds.

Another trick is how to counter a hiki-men strike against you. Wait until your opponent attempts to move first. He will perform hiki-men and you counter by moving your shinai up like in jo-dan kamae. Immediately after you block the strike, you stride forward, pushing him backwards while you bring your shinai down and strike men. This is a little simpler to do than the other trick, but it takes practice.

We also practiced pressing the advantage by striking men repeatedly over and over while our opponent moves backwards and forwards the whole length of the court. It teaches us to never stop and to never think “I’m done”. You never think that until the shinpan-cho calls you to stop. Once, Sensei placed his shinai above his head in a purely defensive block (holding it horizontal above his head) and placed his kote down on his hip. He was testing to me to see if I would at least try to strike something. Not only did I try, I did strike his lowered kote with a good strike. He praised me for the attempt and even more for the good strike. The secret is not to think about it so much. Yes, you see the target. Yes, you plan for it. Yes, you try it. However, you do not stare at the target. Instead, you establish maai and then “believe” you can hit it. It really works with practice.