A Beginner's Point of View 451-452

Day 451:

Today for Iaido it was only myself and the instricytor. I did my three sets of kata quietly, trying to keep the changes in practice.

In Kendo, we did warm-ups and then several rounds of vigorous suri-ashi, kiri-kaeshi, and men-ouchi. I felt out of breath again. I think the prolonged kiai during suri-ashi drills are what taxes my breath. I had to sit out for a while, missing kote-ouchi and doh-ouchi. However, I was good enough for a couple rounds of ji-geiko at the end.

Day 452:

In Iaido, we spent most of class in lecture and practice for the fifth and ninth katas. Make sure to cut upwards and not sideways both up and down. In the ninth kata, be sure to pull yourself back using saya-biki and bring your sword hand down in chiburi.

Today we had a new format of Kendo class. After warm-ups, we skipped regular suri-ashi and arranged ourselves in pair going lengthwise. We then did running sets of drills about suri-ashi, kiri-kaeshi (going only one way), renzoku-men, and renzoku-kote-men. Only one iteration and then we switch pairs. After each switch you swap partners. This really kept class moving. I also wasn’t so out of breath and finished the class without sitting out!