A Beginner's Point of View 232-233

Day 232:

In Iaido, Sensei was getting a couple of students ready for a seminar up north. In class, we concentrated on rei-hou mostly. Sensei would show us how to bow in and out properly. We would follow along as best as we could. I obviously needed a lot of practice. I would bow in, perform the first kata, then bow out. I had to remember to seiza the right way and all of the sageo steps in my checklist. I think it’s time to smooth over the checklist to a more refined form. I did the whole routine twice by the end of class. I’m getting smoother, but I still only know the first kata (and twelfth, but that’s for later).

In Kendo, there were a lot of people present. We had to have three lines for warm-ups and suburi. Then we all put on men and did one-step men and one-step doh drills. I would take turns receiving men and doh as well as giving men and doh.

Day 233:

In Iaido, Sensei was getting some of us ready to go to a seminar and promotional exam. We would do the bow-in, kata, and bow out. I only knew the first kata, so I did that one. I did all right bowing in and out, although I’m still feeling out the line. I should be closer but I don’t want to have my knees on the line just yet. For the first kata, doing the sword movements was easy, but I seem to forget to switch forward feet exactly half of the time. It seems that every other time I try to noto with the right foot forward and left foot back. Also tonight the saya did not seem to swing to the back for sayabiki like it should. I’ll have to ask Sensei some questions about the tightness of the obi and placement of the saya. On top of that, every third time I did the first kata I would forget to bring my knee down to the floor in the second half of the noto. It’s not hard to do, it’s just that doing the kata in stages like Sensei teaches ingrains patterns which are hard to break.

In Kendo, Head Sensei showed up today. After warm-ups, he taught the class like everybody was going to test for promotion soon. The spring tournament is coming in a couple of months, so I should expect this. We did lots of kiri-kaeshi, one-step men, and one-step doh. As I went through the lines, one of the instructors asked me to take his place. So, I received for a large portion of the class. Once, Head Sensei told me that when receiving for a shorter student that I should lean my head forward a little to let them strike the top. It gave me a slight headache to do so, but not bad.

In Advanced Kendo, Head Sensei continued to drill everyone as if they were going to test. Lots more of kiri-kaeshi and one-step men. Many, many drills of that. Eventually, I had to step out and rest. I just couldn’t get my breath back. After a while, I got back into it. Head Sensei was setting up impromptu matches and saying that they were the promotional keiko matches. The nidans were competing for the sandan victory. The mudansha were competing for the ikkyu victory. I stepped onto the floor at the end of it, so I didn’t get a match. Head Sensei wanted everyone to do kakari-geiko with enthusiasm. In our dojo, the phrase ‘with enthusiasm’ means ‘scream like a maniac’, so people love to do it. When we did kakari-geiko, the nidans received and would make opening like we’ve been drilling for weeks. Kakari-geiko with Head Sensei was very taxing, but I hung in there. To finish class, we did long keiko with partners. I had a short one with Head Sensei and then two longer ones with other students. I left openings for a lower-ranking student and pushed myself to win against a higher-ranking student.