A Beginner's Point of View 656-657

Day 656:

Today was a normal, regular day of kata. I completed three sets of kata.

In Kendo, we had a hard day. We did kihon in pairs. One person does two men-ouchi and then the other person does men-ouchi. Then you repeat as many times as sensei called. I like this one. Catching breath and keeping it lively. We had more ji-geiko. Afterwards, I was told by sensei to start being more definite in my setup.

Day 657:

Today we had more testing. I completed 1.75 kata and then did 2 tests. I averaged 5:36 because I was speeding up the cutting and rei-hou. I need to slow down and not skip the 2 breaths before the first kata.

Today was a hard day of Kendo. One of the sensei did not show up, so I was asked to start the class with kiri-kaeshi and kihon. Afterwards, sensei had us do some oji-waza. I was out of breath and tired to the point of collapse. I had decided to step out after a few more rounds, only to have sensei want to practice hiki-waza, which is less demanding. I was able to catch my breath by the time we had ji-geiko.