A Beginner's Point of View 240-241

Day 240:

In Iaido class, we did some refinement of the sixth kata. For the thrust to tsuki, Sensei said I was aiming too high. From Kendo class, I am taught to thrust to the throat for tsuki. In Iaido, I am taught to thrust for the sternum or just below in the fleshy part. Another thing I was doing wrong was in the turning around parts, I was dipping my sword down, twisting it, then raising it up. The sword should never come down after it has already cut. I need to practice only raising up instead of any other motions.

In Kendo class, we had a new person. He is a yandan who says he is joining the dojo. Well, we’ll see. Others have joined before and then not come back. In any case, he participated in warm-ups with us as well as suburi. Today’s lesson was about simple men strikes, including making them smoother. I helped receive men from the unranked students for a while until one of them came over with bogu. She rotated me out while I put on bogu, then got into line to practice. I noticed guest sensei watching me a lot during waza. At first, I thought he was scrutinizing me for advice on making shodan. We did some kiri-kaeshi as well for more shomen practice. At first I received, but then I gave as well. At the end of class, I introduced myself to the guest sensei. He gave me a lot of advice. He was mentioning that I was using sashi-men for kiri-kaeshi and that was not correct. I was also using too big of a fumi-kommi to the point where I was partially showing my foot-bottom as I go forward. Not only is that dangerous for myself, it’s also somewhat rude. I need to fix that, but I can’t seem to find a proper way to move in a keiko situation where I am excited and not thinking too deeply. Maybe if I just imagine charging up stairs that will work. I’m also certain I must be twisting my left foot still as I walk.

Day 241:

I opened Iaido class by practicing rei-hou and then 1-2-6-12 over and over. Sensei offered to teach a new kata and I accepted. He taught me the seventh kata, which demonstrates the act of stepping through a gate into an ambush. You take three normal steps forward. On the fourth step, you put your right hand upon the sword. The fifth step you slide your right foot forward and to the right, turning your foot diagonally to the right, ready to swing. You draw the sword and cut vertically to the right. Then you turn on your feet where they are and cut vertically to the left. Then you use your right foot to step to the original forward direction and cut vertically. You step backwards into left jodan. You do chiburi while sliding your left foot backwards into normal stance and then noto. You step backwards to your original starting point. I was a little awkward at first, getting the footwork right is key. By the end of class, I was doing it smoothly and quickly. I’m not saying it was perfect, I’m just saying that I got the steps down. Now I just need to refine it. The seventh kata is really fun. It’s my favorite so far.

In Kendo class, I led the opening ceremony. After warm-ups and suburi, we started class by putting on bogu and doing suri-ashi and fumi-komi drills. I tried to pay attention to my fumi-komi to make sure my foot did not curl up while doing it. We divided into two lines and faced each other. We did men strikes, kote-strikes, kote-men strikes, and kiri-kaeshi. The students without bogu had to block with their shinais, so those of us in bogu slowed down for them. While doing men strikes and kiri-kaeshi, I tried to remember to always do oh-men strike and not sashi-men like guest sensei said to do. He didn’t show up today, but I expect him back another time.