A Beginner's Point of View 491-492

Day 491:

Today I did a full two sets of Iaido kata and up to the ninth kata when the instructor started to lecture. He told us of how at the seminar he learned that during the seventh and eighth katas you are supposed to transfer the sword over your head using one hand and meet up with the other hand when the uke part of the blade is overhead.

The instructor also mentioned after class how he was promoted to sandan. I guess I should call him sensei now.

In Kendo, we drilled hard in suburi, orukri-ashi, men-ouchi, kote-ouchi, doh-ouchi, and fumi-komi. The instructor said we are coming up on our tournament, so it’s time to start hard conditioning of our bodies. It was really hot and humid inside my men. Often I thought of stepping out, thinking, ‘That’s it. One more and I’m done.’ Still, I kept pushing. One more, one more, one more… I finished class just barely without stepping out. I won several exchanges of ji-geiko, including against the instructor.

Day 492:

In Iaido, I had a lot of energy. I finished three sets of kata and a few spare kata. I asked the sensei about the cutting path on the fifth kata. He answered by saying the path up and the path back are the same. You stop with your left hand in the center and the ki-saki to the left, by the hip. That’s different than some of the study guides, but that’s the way it’s done now.

In Kendo, our Head Sensei showed up randomly. He made several changes to our training. Like he does not want us to take it easy in suburi. Each cut with a bokken must be as if we were in shiai. I need to stop my men strike with a slight bend in my right arm, not locked out like I often do. We must never cross our foot in sashi-men drills, even if building up for timing of fumi-komi.

We did men-ouchi drills over and over many times, getting the timing down. We did some kiri-kaeshi and a drill we’ve done in the past. Ten haya-suburi quickly with the last one charging through.

He also lectured over and over about loud kiai with each strike. He said to ‘celebrate each men strike’.