Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Beginner's Point of View 242-243

Day 242-243:

In Iaido class, we spent the time practicing anything we wanted. I went through my usual 1-2-6-7-12 formation. I repeated number six and number twelve several times, trying to get the motions just right. I keep seeming to rub my iaito up against my saya for the twelth kata and I can’t seem to get a consistent initial draw for the sixth kata. I need to remember to pull the saya up and twist the upper surface outward to draw correctly. Sensei said he’d teach me a new kata next week.

In Kendo class, we got a lot of instruction on how to do rei-hou well. Apparently, I don’t do it as well as I thought I was doing. You must wait for ‘taito’ before bringing the sword to the hip. When going down into seiza for Kendo, you do not do the parting of the hakama like in Iaido. You put the leather-bound saki on the floor with your left knee and then slide it backwards silently to put the shinai on the floor quietly. Mokuso is not performed by putting your hands in your lap and resting them. You keep then raised in front of your navel and hold them there.

There were a lot of people in class, so suburi was very crowded. We did more charging drills, including one where you charge and strike men half way through, repeating it backward and then do it forwards again. That was a very good drill. Afterwards, I put on men and did men strikes and kote strikes against senior students. Later, I stood in the receiving line to receive men and kiri-kaeshi. Finally, we did uchikomi-geiko. I would make openings for students for about four strikes while they hit me. We had a visitor from a university in another state. I had no idea what rank he is, but he seems confident enough to be at least my rank.

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