Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Beginner's Point of View 190-191

Day 190:

My job was very taxing on the spirit and body today. I am going to rest and not go to class.

Day 191:

Today was a big surprise. It’s the last practice before our tournament this weekend. This is our time to cool down and work on form rather than work too hard so that we are exhausted. However, just as we were getting ready to start, one of our previous Guest Sensei showed up with his son for some Kendo. We were thrilled to have them both, especially since we didn’t know they were coming. Guest Sensei is a roku-dan and I think his son is either a ni-dan or san-dan.

We started off doing a lot of kiri-kaeshi. I guess Sensei wanted to show all of us off to Guest Sensei for his advice. Guest Sensei is a humble man, which means he did not just walk in and take over the class even though he could have done so. Instead, he asked permission to give advice from time to time. Guest Sensei really carries himself with a lot of class. After kiri-kaeshi, we did a few rounds of one-step men. Guest Sensei tried to teach us a technique where we would not bother to knock aside our opponent’s shinai. Instead, we hold center of chudan very hard and push forward, keeping our shinai low until the last moment. Then we quickly strike sashi-men. This is a lot harder than it sounds and we didn’t do a very good job. Still, we tried hard. After that we did a few rounds of kote-men. Guest Sensei was walking around, giving more advice to individual people. He watched me do kote-men and told me that when it came time for the men strike, to lift my arms higher and then flew my wrists. My finishing strike was too close and bouncing off the front of the men-gane. His advice worked.

We divided up into two groups, beginners and advanced. Each group rotated amongst themselves for a few rounds of keiko. I was in the beginner group. I did a few rounds of keiko, trying to pick up speed like in previous weeks of pushing myself to fly faster and faster. It didn’t quite work, although I remember how to do it. I really needed a rest after that. Guest Sensei and his son opened themselves up for keiko with anyone who wanted it. I got in line. First, it would be keiko with Sensei, then Guest Sensei’s son, then Guest Sensei. After keiko with Sensei, I waited patiently, but then time ran out and we bowed out. After rei-hou, we gathered around Guest Sensei for his advice. He remembered me and complimented me on my kiai. He said kiai is very important and can overcome an opponent’s muscles and even skill. He said my kiai was very good and to keep improving it. When I asked Guest Sensei’s son for his advice, he said the same thing. I had a good, strong kiai and keeping it up will help a lot.

No comments:

Post a Comment