A Beginner's Point of View 754-755

Day 754:

In Iaido, we had two new students. Sensei spent time with them teaching them the basics. This would normally be the time to have the class practice the finer points of kata and practice test.

I got to complete 1 set of kata. Then my fellow student asked me to run him a sample test. Sensei was okay with it. I answered some questions and then taught him the basics of how to perform the test. He forgets to do the opening rei-hou properly.

In Kendo, there were five new students. This month Sensei offered to take the beginners. We have to split the dojo floor to accommodate everyone.

I got deferred to as instructor. The other nidan acted like my assistant. I ran the class for learning kihon. We did suburi, kiri-kaeshi, and then the set I came up with. We did men-ouchi, then kote-kiri-kaeshi with tsuki. After that, we practiced kote. We did the same for doh-ouchi. I even gave a short lecture about how to hit doh properly. We then finished with ji-geiko.

Day 755:

In Iaido, I got to complete one set of kata again. I had to answer questions from my fellow student and then give him a practice test. He keeps forgetting the proper rei-hou and even lost his place in the test. He failed one test and then finished the next one what I would call 5-kyu/4-kyu. I should go through a class with the test to give him better understanding.

In Kendo, I had to run the class again. Today I wanted to focus on hiki-waza. We had the most people ever that I’ve seen, with even more beginners. We were crammed in tightly but still finished the class. We did kiri-kaeshi, kihon, then men-hiki-men and men-hiki-kote. My fellow student in Iaido was in his first time in bogu in Kendo. We finished with ji-geiko. After class, I gave a short speech about how I’m not good at hiki-waza so I expect to practice things I’m not good at. I was trying to inspire others to not be embarrassed about missing in class.