A Beginner's Point of View 333-334

Day 333:

In Iaido, we had free practice. I practiced my full set of kata. During number eleven, I accidentally did zanshin in jodan like I was finishing the seventh kata. It can be awkward to remember. We had a practice test at the end of class. I got 5:30 for a time, very nice. The instructor told me that 5:45 is an ideal time to try for.

In Kendo, I led the class in warm-ups and did not forget any stretches this time. Very good. I should try to remember the sequence to avoid embarrassment like that. For class, we did Kendo bokken waza kata. The drills of men-kote-doh-tsuki, kote-men, harai-kote, and men-keashi-doh were a nice change of pace. Then we put on men for kiri-kaeshi, men-ouchi, kote-ouchi, doh-ouchi, and finally kakari-geiko for the students.

At the end of class, the instructor confided in me that the motion I used with my left arm when I rei after a drill is wrong. I was just imitating Sensei when he bows out of a match. I guess I’m not supposed to do that. However, I really would have liked to have known that a lot sooner. Now I’ve got about three years of muscle memory to unlearn.

Day 334:

In Iaido, we started with some free practice, but then went into practice tests. We learned about the set-up and commands for the test. On the first test, I messed up the act of putting the saya in my obi. It just wouldn’t go in. I rushed it and had to speed through my kata. I got a time of 5:45, but it didn’t look good. The instructor commented about how I might be marked down in score even though I got a good time. The second test, I nailed it the first time and slowed down. I got 5:50 without any errors. Much better.

We had a discussion at the end of Iaido practice about the upcoming seminar, so we missed Kendo opening rei-hou. I put on doh and tare and stepped into line at the end of the student line. I did not miss warm-ups or suburi. The instructor went through the exercises at double the pace. If I was a beginner, I would have had to stop and catch my breath. I’m used to the exercises and I’m in better shape than when I had started taking Kendo, I was able to finish. Some of the mudansha were really suffering from lack of breath. One had to stop outright twice to avoid having her breathing stop all together.

Today we had more of the bokken waza. We practiced men-kote-doh-tsuki, kote-men, and men-nuki-men. We kept extra spacing for safety, of course. After practicing those waza with bokken, we switched into full bogu and repeated the drills with shinai and full striking. Very nice way to practice.

Day 334.5

Today we had a special day of Iaido. Normally, we have 45 minutes for a class. We had 2 hours of uninterrupted Iaido. It was like a mini-seminar. We had about a half-hour of free practice and then we went into deep discussion and practice of individual kata. We would practice each kata without interruption, and then we would do them by stopping our motion and posture with each significant sword motion, like a cut, chiburi, or thrust. The instructor would come by each of us and give minor corrections. Then we would repeat the kata with the adjusted motions. We practiced 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. We were supposed to save some time for practice tests, but time ran out. Next week, we’ll finish up the kata and save perhaps half an hour or so for practice tests.