Day 148:
Today sensei was not here again. One of the senior students taught the class. We spent extra time doing warm-ups. He was stressing about tenouchi and stopping the sword at the end of the strike. We skipped doing haya-suburi as a warm-up because it was the focus of the class.
We would line up in two lines across from each other and practice doing haya-suburi in counts of twenty paying attention to different things. First we concentrated on footwork while doing it slowly. Then we would concentrate on swinging arc by doing it quickly. By the time the class was over halfway through we were all doing it very well.
We filled out the class by doing basic strikes with a partner. Without putting on full bogu, we would hold our shinai for a strike five times, then repeat for kote, and then for doh. We would then switch roles for partners. After a full set, we would rotate partners and do it over again. By the time we did this three full times class was over.
Day 149:
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 146-147
Day 146:
No class today as I am working at my job.
Day 147:
No class today as I am working at my job.
No class today as I am working at my job.
Day 147:
No class today as I am working at my job.
Friday, March 5, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 144-145
Day 144:
This time I was at the advanced class and there was a full complement of people there. We had a normal class where we divided up into two lines and worked hard. Most of the class was the same kind of drill over and over. One side would do five times kote strike while the other side would react any way they wished. This would push the one striking only kote to develop timing and an unreadable stance to sneak in and take the kote. We would also mix in aiouchi-men and kote-men for variety.
I had taken my shinai apart for maintenance to find another cracked staff. It had to be destroyed for safety, but I had a few spares that fit. So my shinai is ready to be used. However, I chose to use the thinner, new shinai I had bought. Wow!!! It flew in my hands so fast! I’m actually swinging as fast as I’m thinking now. I like this much better than the thicker shinai. I think I’ll try to buy these kind from now on. I even appear more smooth and swift when I shiai.
Afterwards, we did kata. I love kata. We practiced the first three kata over and over, trying to refine it. My partner was not experienced with kata so I wound up teaching as much as I was learning. I would walk him through his steps while doing mine. I don’t mind. I know I had trouble with my first kata. I think I still confuse the footwork on the third kata. We also practiced the fifth kata. That’s the one where uchidachi moves into left jodan and the shidachi simply adjust chudan to threaten the uchidachi’s left kote. Three steps forward and the uchidachi attacks. The shidachi performs men-suriage-men and traces down the uchidachi’s face. The shidachi immediately moves backwards into left jodan and then relaxes into chudan. The pair walk three small steps towards the uchidachi. It’s a tricky one if you don’t remember to move your right foot as you move backwards into left jodan.
Day 145:
Last class I must have done something wrong because when I went to bed that night, my left knee was filled with pain. The next day it was as stiff as an oak tree. Still, nothing felt broken or out of place, just stiff and sore. So I slowly stretched it out over the course of the entire next day. It just felt as if all the connections surrounding my knee were stiffened for some reason.
Today at class, my knee felt better. I went to beginner class in order to ‘break in’ my knee. After warm-ups, the senior students would put on their men and kote and the others would practice strikes on them. It was the type of drill where the class would line up in a single line in the corner of the dojo while one student in bogu stood in the center. Each student would strike men and pass through, then turn around and strike men and pass through. Finally, the attacking student would get back in line at the end. This would continue until all of the students had done the men drill. Then the students would repeat with kote strikes. Finally, the students would repeat with doh strikes. Occasionally, we would rotate who is receiving strikes.
The next drill was the one where there would be two lines, one at each opposite end of the dojo. The one student in the middle would defend himself against a student from one of the lines and counter-attack. Then they would turn around and defend himself from a student from the other line and counter-attack. Constantly alternating each line gives the middle student no rest as they constantly defend, counter-attack, and then turn around. It’s a fun drill.
Finally, we did a drill where each student in no bogu would pair with a student in bogu in a line at one end of the dojo. The student with no bogu would attack men several times while the student in bogu constantly retreated to the opposite end of the dojo. Then we would do the drill with the student in bogu advancing and the student with no bogu retreating and still attacking until we went back to our starting position. We did this drill a couple of times until the class ended.
This time I was at the advanced class and there was a full complement of people there. We had a normal class where we divided up into two lines and worked hard. Most of the class was the same kind of drill over and over. One side would do five times kote strike while the other side would react any way they wished. This would push the one striking only kote to develop timing and an unreadable stance to sneak in and take the kote. We would also mix in aiouchi-men and kote-men for variety.
I had taken my shinai apart for maintenance to find another cracked staff. It had to be destroyed for safety, but I had a few spares that fit. So my shinai is ready to be used. However, I chose to use the thinner, new shinai I had bought. Wow!!! It flew in my hands so fast! I’m actually swinging as fast as I’m thinking now. I like this much better than the thicker shinai. I think I’ll try to buy these kind from now on. I even appear more smooth and swift when I shiai.
Afterwards, we did kata. I love kata. We practiced the first three kata over and over, trying to refine it. My partner was not experienced with kata so I wound up teaching as much as I was learning. I would walk him through his steps while doing mine. I don’t mind. I know I had trouble with my first kata. I think I still confuse the footwork on the third kata. We also practiced the fifth kata. That’s the one where uchidachi moves into left jodan and the shidachi simply adjust chudan to threaten the uchidachi’s left kote. Three steps forward and the uchidachi attacks. The shidachi performs men-suriage-men and traces down the uchidachi’s face. The shidachi immediately moves backwards into left jodan and then relaxes into chudan. The pair walk three small steps towards the uchidachi. It’s a tricky one if you don’t remember to move your right foot as you move backwards into left jodan.
Day 145:
Last class I must have done something wrong because when I went to bed that night, my left knee was filled with pain. The next day it was as stiff as an oak tree. Still, nothing felt broken or out of place, just stiff and sore. So I slowly stretched it out over the course of the entire next day. It just felt as if all the connections surrounding my knee were stiffened for some reason.
Today at class, my knee felt better. I went to beginner class in order to ‘break in’ my knee. After warm-ups, the senior students would put on their men and kote and the others would practice strikes on them. It was the type of drill where the class would line up in a single line in the corner of the dojo while one student in bogu stood in the center. Each student would strike men and pass through, then turn around and strike men and pass through. Finally, the attacking student would get back in line at the end. This would continue until all of the students had done the men drill. Then the students would repeat with kote strikes. Finally, the students would repeat with doh strikes. Occasionally, we would rotate who is receiving strikes.
The next drill was the one where there would be two lines, one at each opposite end of the dojo. The one student in the middle would defend himself against a student from one of the lines and counter-attack. Then they would turn around and defend himself from a student from the other line and counter-attack. Constantly alternating each line gives the middle student no rest as they constantly defend, counter-attack, and then turn around. It’s a fun drill.
Finally, we did a drill where each student in no bogu would pair with a student in bogu in a line at one end of the dojo. The student with no bogu would attack men several times while the student in bogu constantly retreated to the opposite end of the dojo. Then we would do the drill with the student in bogu advancing and the student with no bogu retreating and still attacking until we went back to our starting position. We did this drill a couple of times until the class ended.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 142-143
Day 142:
Today my job is interfering with my ability to be in the advanced class, so I showed up for the beginner class. Sensei didn’t show up again. I hear he is working extra hours at his job. So, I led the class in warm-ups. I went through the basic set: okii-suburi, shomen-suburi, and katate-suburi. To finish it off, I decided to teach the class something new for them. I showed them how to do kiri-kae-suburi. I like doing that one, it’s fun. The others were a little clumsy, but no more than I was when I first started. We then did the breathing exercise and bowed out.
The most senior student decided to take over the class and instructed anyone who had bogu to put it on right away. Regardless of rank, all of the students who had bogu were on the ‘dan’ side while everyone else was on the ‘kyu’ side. The people on the kyu side would do the instructed drill and then rotate, while the ones on the dan side would stay in place. I spent the whole class helping others by letting them strike my men and kote while reminding them to keep center. It reminds me of how my old sempai used to train me.
I bought a new shinai because my old one had broken enough staves to not have four full staves anymore, even with trying to fit in replacements form the previous shinai. However, at first I thought the shinai were the wrong size or meant for the other gender because they were so much thinner and felt lighter than all my previous shinai. However, it was stamped ‘39’ like it should. All of the shinai in the bulk set were this way so it was not a fluke. I’m going to ask sensei about it next class.
Day 143:
Today I attended both beginner and advanced classes. The beginner class was much of the same as Monday, except Sensei was present. I was in full bogu all class and allowed the students to strike me. There was a lot more kiri-kaeshi today. Letting all those students strike my men was giving me a headache.
Sensei gave the beginner class (and by extension the advanced class) a lecture on the two different types of shinai. He pointed out that a thicker and thinner shinai are both legal because of length and weight class, because weight class is a range rather than a target number. The thicker shinai have a different center of mass than the thinner shinai so you may torque it quickly to circumvent your opponent’s kamae quicker. The thinner one’s center of mass allows it to swing forward faster for distance strikes.
Afterwards in advanced class, there was only myself, one other student, and Sensei. Sensei decided to have a ‘lab’ day where instead of working hard, we practice more precisely and work on our finesse. We spent a lot of time listening to him lecture on not just how to do a strike or hold a kamae, but why you do it the way you do it. He would demonstrate the proper way as being the one where you may attack or defend efficiently. We worked on kote strike, kote-debana-kote, and kote-suriage-men. Afterwards, we did kata. I love kata. We quickly went through the first three kata and then practiced kata number eight and ten. Sensei brought both of his bokken to class, the smaller one and the larger one. We took turns practicing the uchidachi side of kata eight and ten while Sensei would perform the shidachi side. Sensei says he loves katas eight through ten because using the shorter bokken means you have to get closer to your opponent. It’s a much more intense match.
Today my job is interfering with my ability to be in the advanced class, so I showed up for the beginner class. Sensei didn’t show up again. I hear he is working extra hours at his job. So, I led the class in warm-ups. I went through the basic set: okii-suburi, shomen-suburi, and katate-suburi. To finish it off, I decided to teach the class something new for them. I showed them how to do kiri-kae-suburi. I like doing that one, it’s fun. The others were a little clumsy, but no more than I was when I first started. We then did the breathing exercise and bowed out.
The most senior student decided to take over the class and instructed anyone who had bogu to put it on right away. Regardless of rank, all of the students who had bogu were on the ‘dan’ side while everyone else was on the ‘kyu’ side. The people on the kyu side would do the instructed drill and then rotate, while the ones on the dan side would stay in place. I spent the whole class helping others by letting them strike my men and kote while reminding them to keep center. It reminds me of how my old sempai used to train me.
I bought a new shinai because my old one had broken enough staves to not have four full staves anymore, even with trying to fit in replacements form the previous shinai. However, at first I thought the shinai were the wrong size or meant for the other gender because they were so much thinner and felt lighter than all my previous shinai. However, it was stamped ‘39’ like it should. All of the shinai in the bulk set were this way so it was not a fluke. I’m going to ask sensei about it next class.
Day 143:
Today I attended both beginner and advanced classes. The beginner class was much of the same as Monday, except Sensei was present. I was in full bogu all class and allowed the students to strike me. There was a lot more kiri-kaeshi today. Letting all those students strike my men was giving me a headache.
Sensei gave the beginner class (and by extension the advanced class) a lecture on the two different types of shinai. He pointed out that a thicker and thinner shinai are both legal because of length and weight class, because weight class is a range rather than a target number. The thicker shinai have a different center of mass than the thinner shinai so you may torque it quickly to circumvent your opponent’s kamae quicker. The thinner one’s center of mass allows it to swing forward faster for distance strikes.
Afterwards in advanced class, there was only myself, one other student, and Sensei. Sensei decided to have a ‘lab’ day where instead of working hard, we practice more precisely and work on our finesse. We spent a lot of time listening to him lecture on not just how to do a strike or hold a kamae, but why you do it the way you do it. He would demonstrate the proper way as being the one where you may attack or defend efficiently. We worked on kote strike, kote-debana-kote, and kote-suriage-men. Afterwards, we did kata. I love kata. We quickly went through the first three kata and then practiced kata number eight and ten. Sensei brought both of his bokken to class, the smaller one and the larger one. We took turns practicing the uchidachi side of kata eight and ten while Sensei would perform the shidachi side. Sensei says he loves katas eight through ten because using the shorter bokken means you have to get closer to your opponent. It’s a much more intense match.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 140-141
Day 140:
No class today as I am working at my job.
Day 141:
Sensei did not show up for class again. I suspect his job kept him away. Today I had a late shift at work to do after Kendo, so I went to the beginner class instead. We did a vigorous warm-up exercise and then separated immediately into two lines. Nearly all of us had bogu, so we practiced kiri-kaeshi. After that, we worked on basics over and over. We did one-step men, one-step kote, kote-men, and then slow doh strikes.
I learned that when expecting to do doh I have a bad habit of angling the shinai to the left as I raise it up. That’s bad as it tips off my opponent as to my intention. It also doesn’t help me when aiming for the side of the doh armor. I need to keep my shinai straight up and down when sparring or else I will wind up missing.
No class today as I am working at my job.
Day 141:
Sensei did not show up for class again. I suspect his job kept him away. Today I had a late shift at work to do after Kendo, so I went to the beginner class instead. We did a vigorous warm-up exercise and then separated immediately into two lines. Nearly all of us had bogu, so we practiced kiri-kaeshi. After that, we worked on basics over and over. We did one-step men, one-step kote, kote-men, and then slow doh strikes.
I learned that when expecting to do doh I have a bad habit of angling the shinai to the left as I raise it up. That’s bad as it tips off my opponent as to my intention. It also doesn’t help me when aiming for the side of the doh armor. I need to keep my shinai straight up and down when sparring or else I will wind up missing.
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 138-139
Day 138:
Due to the severe conditions of the inter storm and the local area’s broken snow removal equipment, class was cancelled for driver safety.
Day 139:
Due to the severe conditions of the inter storm and the local area’s broken snow removal equipment, class was cancelled for driver safety.
Due to the severe conditions of the inter storm and the local area’s broken snow removal equipment, class was cancelled for driver safety.
Day 139:
Due to the severe conditions of the inter storm and the local area’s broken snow removal equipment, class was cancelled for driver safety.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 136-137
Day 136:
Today was a more structured day rather than a hard day. We spent most of the class “building up”. We would pair off and one side would strike men a couple of times. Then that side would strike men while the other side would do some kind of suriage. Then we would rotate. Once we got to do that on a full rotation, we would move to kote and then doh.
We culminated it into a new drill. We would line up from highest-ranking to lowest ranking. The lowest would move to the second-lowest and do 3 kote-men. The second-lowest would do 3 kote-men. The lowest would move to the third-lowest and repeat. The lowest would move to the fourth-lowest and repeat. The second-lowest would move to the third-lowest and do the same drill. Over and over we did that drill until we all finished by drilling with sensei. Each time we drilled with the next rank up, we would step up our skill level to get better and better.
We finished with a couple of round of keiko. I noticed my keiko was a little better than usual. Also, at the beginning of class there was an odd number of people so I had a chance to be the odd person out and rest.
Day 137:
Today was a day for oji-waza. We practiced a lot of kote-men and then all the ways to open up kote. We practiced kote-suriage-men and harai-men a lot. Sensei was sharpening our skills for being able to receive strikes, parry them, and then step in for a strike of our own.
Today was a more structured day rather than a hard day. We spent most of the class “building up”. We would pair off and one side would strike men a couple of times. Then that side would strike men while the other side would do some kind of suriage. Then we would rotate. Once we got to do that on a full rotation, we would move to kote and then doh.
We culminated it into a new drill. We would line up from highest-ranking to lowest ranking. The lowest would move to the second-lowest and do 3 kote-men. The second-lowest would do 3 kote-men. The lowest would move to the third-lowest and repeat. The lowest would move to the fourth-lowest and repeat. The second-lowest would move to the third-lowest and do the same drill. Over and over we did that drill until we all finished by drilling with sensei. Each time we drilled with the next rank up, we would step up our skill level to get better and better.
We finished with a couple of round of keiko. I noticed my keiko was a little better than usual. Also, at the beginning of class there was an odd number of people so I had a chance to be the odd person out and rest.
Day 137:
Today was a day for oji-waza. We practiced a lot of kote-men and then all the ways to open up kote. We practiced kote-suriage-men and harai-men a lot. Sensei was sharpening our skills for being able to receive strikes, parry them, and then step in for a strike of our own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)