Saturday, May 28, 2016

A Beginner's Point of View 786-787

Day 786:

In Iaido class, I felt better in my leg. I completed 2.5 sets of kata.

In Kendo, it was a kata day. I always love kata best of all things. I was doing well today. I need to be closer for the kodachi kata.

In Kendo I was feeling very aggressive. I got in several very good hits in both waza and ji-geiko.

Day 787:

Today was a very hot and humid. Very hot and humid. It was in the 90’s temperature today. Still, I was energetic enough for 3 full sets of kata.

In Kendo, it was a hot day. Kiri-kaeshi, kihon, and tournament-style waza such as debana-kote and suriage-men. I had to step out due to overheating. Ouch, I nearly collapsed from heat.

However, some visitors came to practice with us. One of them was really unsatisfied with my tsuba-zeriai. She decided that during ji-geiko it was a good idea she should grab my shinai blade with her hand and move it around. What the $%^& is wrong with her? I really was very angry with her, but I tried not to yell at her. Instead, I just continued until the end of class and walked away. I refuse to listen to anything she does that would be an immediate hansoku.

To be fair, she was just trying to help. I shouldn’t have been angry at all. I know her. But still, it really made me instantly angry.

I’m not sure this blog is helping me anymore. I think I’ll continue for at least next week when we have our tournament and testing. I plan to test for sandan. I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t expect to pass first time like all my other promotion exams, but still I feel good in giving a strong offering.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

A Beginner's Point of View 784-785

Day 784:

Today was okay for me. My leg felt okay. I did two sets of Iaido kata, including the 4th kata with some feeling.

In Kendo, it was a kata day. I did all 10 kata and I feel I did well. I need to take smaller steps backwards to avoid going too far back and making the maai awkward.

We then did kiri-kaeshi, kihon, men-debana-kote, men-nuki-doh, and ji-geiko. This is because Sensei wants us to practice taikai techniques for a better match. I felt assertive today, so I scored many points in ji-geiko.

Day 785:

In Iaido, I did 2.25 sets of kata fairly fast. My leg isn’t great. Apparently, I overdid it last class. My healing is slower than I expect. The fumi-komi in the 4th kata last class hurt me. I hope I’m healed enough for the test.

In Kendo, it was a stamina day. We did kiri-kaeshi, kihon, men-debana-kote, men-nuki-doh, and ji-geiko quickly. We spent the second half of class doing a practice tournament for the beginners who will have their first tournament next month. I got to practice being a shinpan for several matches before getting three matches of my own. I fought a sandan, another sandan, and a nidan. My results were to tie, lose by one point, and then tie. That’s not too different than how I do in real tournaments.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

A Beginner's Point of View 782-783

Day 782:

In Iaido class, I got to complete 2.5 sets of kata. My hip is getting better but my leg is still bad. It’s getting up from tate-heiza that hurts. It’s not bad enough to stop, it’s just uncomfortable. I certainly can’t add fumi-komi to it.

In Kendo class, it was a kata day. We have a student testing for ikkyu but she hasn’t practiced nearly enough. I’m not being mean but this student is really not good at kata. They need much more practice.

We finished the class with kihon, kiri-kaeshi, and then Sensei built up our stamina with rotating uchikomi-geiko practice at high speed.

Day 783:

In Iaido, I was really distracted today. I only got to complete 1.5 sets of kata. I stopped to listen in as Sensei taught a student how to tie their new uniform of keiko-gi and hakama. I think I may be making a small mistake in my hakama-himo (is that the right word? Hakama-obi maybe? The build-in part, not the separate obi I use for Iaido). I tie it in the center and no-one’s ever corrected me.

In Kendo, it was a day of practice for stamina and accuracy. It was kihon, kiri-kaeshi, men-debana-kote, kote-suriage-men, and ji-geiko. I was not feeling assertive today. I tried but I was just so slow. All I can do is keep going.

After class, Sensei gave the advice to attack form the hips rather the arms and fix the fumi-komi to be stronger and synchronized.

Monday, May 9, 2016

A Beginner's Point of View 778-779

Day 780:

In Iaido, I did 2 sets of kata. It seems doing the breathing shall forever slow me down. That’s good for my time limit on embu. I need to be smoother, not faster.

In kendo, I stayed for the kata class. Sensei took the other nidan and myself to take us through all 10 kata. He reminded me that in the kodachi kata, I need to step in the second kodachi kata and straighten my sword before uke.

I did not stay for keiko. The last class had several drills to strengthen us. The frog hop drill injured my hip and hamstring (again).

Day 781:

In Iaido, I did two sets of kata, skipping the 4th kata. That hurts my hip. I’m a little better but not good enough for Kendo class this time.