Day 688:
In Iaido class, I completed three sets of kata. I feel better compared to during the tournament.
In Kendo class, we did kihon and then went into what sensei calls “semete” waza. Start at to-maa, kiai, step in, create the opening, and then strike. Each of men, kote, and doh have their own opening. Men-uchi uses a harai-waza of pushing the shinai aside and down. Kote-uchi uses the tricking opening of raising up after asserting sideways pressure. Doh-uchi provokes the uchidachi to strike men. During class, one of our students lodged a huge splinter in his foot. Taking it out caused a large amount of bleeding. Sensei called for a check of the floor and to tape up the problem area.
I was told sensei would be out for an Iaido seminar so I was to teach the next class using the same techniques.
Day 689:
In Iaido class, I completed three sets of kata. No sensei today, so I had to signal the end of class. It felt weird.
In Kendo, I taught the class. One of our shodans offered to lead warm-ups. That was helpful. He was really chatty since the beginners were joining us. I had to silently gesture to speed things up. Reminds me of when I was told the same thing.
In class after kihon, I started in more lecture and practice for semete. I made sure to explain why it worked. Some people were starting already at issokou-no-maai, which is counter to the stepping in. After several rounds of semete, we used it in uchikomi-geiko and kakari-geiko for active practice. Then several rounds of ji-geiko. I even called for one round of dreamlight, but then even I forgot to perform the hiki-waza portion. I guess I don’t like hiki-waza.
At the end of class, I gave a short lecture on the dojo working because we are “Together”. Comraderie and safety were the important points.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Sunday, June 14, 2015
A Beginner's Point of View 686-687.5
Day 686:
No class today as I am ill.
Day 687:
No class today as I am ill.
Day 687.5 Tournament:
I have arrived at our tournament. I have spent the last week sick and I’m not really recovered. Still, the dojo needs me. I was put in charge of Table A. I spent hours making sure fighters had their ribbons tied and calling out matches. Eventually I had my two matches. I lost both outright. I took my second match into encho so I was at least not useless. It must have been 12 hours since my last meal. I also was too busy setting up the courts to warm up with the others. All day we were running late.
I had a sandwich and chips at lunch with a bottled drink. That should be good enough to finish the day. In our team match, I actually won my match 1-0. We advanced to second round, where we were defeated soundly, as usual. Still, I’m happy enough to win a match today. The first men my second team opponent struck I thought was not right. It was on the very left edge of my skull, not on center. Still, you don’t argue with shinpan. I kinda know how my opponent felt at the tournament before this one. He gave the shinpan a glare but said nothing. I tried an all-or-nothing men attack from to-ma. He countered with a quick men and got me solidly. At the end of the day, I was completely exhausted.
No class today as I am ill.
Day 687:
No class today as I am ill.
Day 687.5 Tournament:
I have arrived at our tournament. I have spent the last week sick and I’m not really recovered. Still, the dojo needs me. I was put in charge of Table A. I spent hours making sure fighters had their ribbons tied and calling out matches. Eventually I had my two matches. I lost both outright. I took my second match into encho so I was at least not useless. It must have been 12 hours since my last meal. I also was too busy setting up the courts to warm up with the others. All day we were running late.
I had a sandwich and chips at lunch with a bottled drink. That should be good enough to finish the day. In our team match, I actually won my match 1-0. We advanced to second round, where we were defeated soundly, as usual. Still, I’m happy enough to win a match today. The first men my second team opponent struck I thought was not right. It was on the very left edge of my skull, not on center. Still, you don’t argue with shinpan. I kinda know how my opponent felt at the tournament before this one. He gave the shinpan a glare but said nothing. I tried an all-or-nothing men attack from to-ma. He countered with a quick men and got me solidly. At the end of the day, I was completely exhausted.
Friday, June 5, 2015
A Beginner's Point of View 684-685
Day 684:
Today I went back to class. I hope I did not push myself too hard and reinjure myself. End of next week is our tournament.
In Iaido class I completed three full sets. No pain yet.
In Kendo class, I was asked to warm up the class. I chose not to do the haya-suburi fully just to be safe. After kihon, we did some kiri-kaeshi and then sensei joined us. He had us do a class to make openings. We practiced step-men, harai-men, harai-kote, osai-men, uchi-komi-geiko (openings), kakari-geiko (no openings), and ji-geiko.
I hope I didn’t push myself too hard. Hamstrings are notorious to re-injure.
Day 685:
In Iaido class, I did 2 full sets and nine kata. Still no pain.
Our other nidan was out today, so I was asked to teach the beginners. Repeating his lessons about walking and 3-step men, I added lessons on two-step men, three-step kote, and two-step kote. I added a few Japanese words to round out the class.
One of the students looked really fatigued at the end. He said he saw black spots. I told him to relax and sit down. After a minute, he was okay.
Today I went back to class. I hope I did not push myself too hard and reinjure myself. End of next week is our tournament.
In Iaido class I completed three full sets. No pain yet.
In Kendo class, I was asked to warm up the class. I chose not to do the haya-suburi fully just to be safe. After kihon, we did some kiri-kaeshi and then sensei joined us. He had us do a class to make openings. We practiced step-men, harai-men, harai-kote, osai-men, uchi-komi-geiko (openings), kakari-geiko (no openings), and ji-geiko.
I hope I didn’t push myself too hard. Hamstrings are notorious to re-injure.
Day 685:
In Iaido class, I did 2 full sets and nine kata. Still no pain.
Our other nidan was out today, so I was asked to teach the beginners. Repeating his lessons about walking and 3-step men, I added lessons on two-step men, three-step kote, and two-step kote. I added a few Japanese words to round out the class.
One of the students looked really fatigued at the end. He said he saw black spots. I told him to relax and sit down. After a minute, he was okay.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
A Beginner's Point of View 680-683
Day 680:
No class today as I am injured.
Day 681:
No class today as I am injured.
Day 682:
No class today because of the holiday.
Day 683:
No class today as I am injured.
No class today as I am injured.
Day 681:
No class today as I am injured.
Day 682:
No class today because of the holiday.
Day 683:
No class today as I am injured.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
A Beginner's Point of View 678-679
Day 678:
In Iaido class, our Sensei was ill, so our shodan ran the class. I completed three sets of kata on my own.
In Kendo class, Sensei showed up but was not well. So, he asked me to run the class. This was the perfect opportunity to try the class I designed in my spare time.
I led the stretches, suburi, and kihon. For the waza drills, I was trying to progressively teach to move to the proper maai and then strike. We then did kote-men, kote-kiri-kaeshi-with-tsuki, kote-suriage-men, step-kote, uchi-komi-geiko, men-debana-kote, ippon-shobu, and multiple ji-geiko.
After class, Sensei said he had no advice to give for the day’s lesson, which I interpret to be a good thing.
Day 679:
In Iaido class, I completed 2 sets and 8 kata before the end of class. I had a question about the tsuka-ate of the eighth kata. He said not to adjust the tsuka’s angle, just thrust directly. I guess the point is not necessarily to knock the opponent unconscious; it’s to disrupt their attack.
In Kendo class, it was one of our sensei’s last practice. He was moving away. Today’s class was all about lots of ji-geiko. We had lots of people come to practice with us to see him off.
After we did kihon, we moved right into ji-geiko. We lined up two lines and all went at the same time. That was really tight to try. Two more people stood in with us and we had to shift to having a rotating motodachi line.
I fought against our departing sensei and did very well. I scored a lot of points and felt great. I then had a fight against a visiting sensei and only did okay. I scored a couple of points because he had better center. I did pull a trick of coming to tsuba-zeriai, slowly stepping back while rolling his arms to my right. That opened up his center and I scored a hiki-men. He smiled and was pleased. Then I was asked to step into the motodachi line and I fought a lot of ji-geiko. Against people ranked shodan or lower, I seemed to have a lot of trouble finding the target. I also have trouble trying for debana-kote without dropping my sword and leaving men open.
After class, I complimented Sensei for making us better at Kendo. He complimented me by saying that I made a lot of improvement since he showed up.
In Iaido class, our Sensei was ill, so our shodan ran the class. I completed three sets of kata on my own.
In Kendo class, Sensei showed up but was not well. So, he asked me to run the class. This was the perfect opportunity to try the class I designed in my spare time.
I led the stretches, suburi, and kihon. For the waza drills, I was trying to progressively teach to move to the proper maai and then strike. We then did kote-men, kote-kiri-kaeshi-with-tsuki, kote-suriage-men, step-kote, uchi-komi-geiko, men-debana-kote, ippon-shobu, and multiple ji-geiko.
After class, Sensei said he had no advice to give for the day’s lesson, which I interpret to be a good thing.
Day 679:
In Iaido class, I completed 2 sets and 8 kata before the end of class. I had a question about the tsuka-ate of the eighth kata. He said not to adjust the tsuka’s angle, just thrust directly. I guess the point is not necessarily to knock the opponent unconscious; it’s to disrupt their attack.
In Kendo class, it was one of our sensei’s last practice. He was moving away. Today’s class was all about lots of ji-geiko. We had lots of people come to practice with us to see him off.
After we did kihon, we moved right into ji-geiko. We lined up two lines and all went at the same time. That was really tight to try. Two more people stood in with us and we had to shift to having a rotating motodachi line.
I fought against our departing sensei and did very well. I scored a lot of points and felt great. I then had a fight against a visiting sensei and only did okay. I scored a couple of points because he had better center. I did pull a trick of coming to tsuba-zeriai, slowly stepping back while rolling his arms to my right. That opened up his center and I scored a hiki-men. He smiled and was pleased. Then I was asked to step into the motodachi line and I fought a lot of ji-geiko. Against people ranked shodan or lower, I seemed to have a lot of trouble finding the target. I also have trouble trying for debana-kote without dropping my sword and leaving men open.
After class, I complimented Sensei for making us better at Kendo. He complimented me by saying that I made a lot of improvement since he showed up.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
A Beginner's Point of View 676-677
Day 676:
No class today as I am ill.
Day 677:
In Iaido class today we had no sensei. He was out sick, so our shodan ran the class. There was no group lesson. She spent her time training our lowest ranking Iaidoka. So, I completed three sets of kata and then a couple of stretching exercises to fill the time.
In Kendo class, our other sensei taught the class. Surprisingly, one of our former students showed up today to visit. Our class consisted of the lesson about taking center and then striking when you are at the proper maai. Lots of stepping in and then striking. Taking center by staying on tsuki, ai-men, step-in-men, seme-men, push aside the shinai to strike men, kote-kiri-kaeshi with tsuki, doh kiri-kaeshi-with-tsuki, and then ji-geiko.
No class today as I am ill.
Day 677:
In Iaido class today we had no sensei. He was out sick, so our shodan ran the class. There was no group lesson. She spent her time training our lowest ranking Iaidoka. So, I completed three sets of kata and then a couple of stretching exercises to fill the time.
In Kendo class, our other sensei taught the class. Surprisingly, one of our former students showed up today to visit. Our class consisted of the lesson about taking center and then striking when you are at the proper maai. Lots of stepping in and then striking. Taking center by staying on tsuki, ai-men, step-in-men, seme-men, push aside the shinai to strike men, kote-kiri-kaeshi with tsuki, doh kiri-kaeshi-with-tsuki, and then ji-geiko.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
A Beginner's Point of View 674-675
Day 674:
In Iaido class, we got to practice about 9 kata before Sensei called for a group exercise. As a class we crossed the floor using a vertical cut eight times. Then we did a drill when we did the turn in the sixth kata with the cut. Afterwards, I was so dizzy I almost fell over. Sensei said to lead with the head more to avoid being dizzy. We spent the rest of the class doing kata. I finished my set and half of the next.
In Kendo, our other Sensei did not show up so our other nidan taught the class. He definitely gave this some thought. He wanted a class to teach no hesitation and take center by pushing forward rather than to the side. It was more advanced than the class I would have taught.
We did kihon and lots of low-energy waza to take center. Seme drills, take-center-and-strike, making openings, kote-men, and then ji-geiko.
Day 675:
No class today as I am ill.
In Iaido class, we got to practice about 9 kata before Sensei called for a group exercise. As a class we crossed the floor using a vertical cut eight times. Then we did a drill when we did the turn in the sixth kata with the cut. Afterwards, I was so dizzy I almost fell over. Sensei said to lead with the head more to avoid being dizzy. We spent the rest of the class doing kata. I finished my set and half of the next.
In Kendo, our other Sensei did not show up so our other nidan taught the class. He definitely gave this some thought. He wanted a class to teach no hesitation and take center by pushing forward rather than to the side. It was more advanced than the class I would have taught.
We did kihon and lots of low-energy waza to take center. Seme drills, take-center-and-strike, making openings, kote-men, and then ji-geiko.
Day 675:
No class today as I am ill.
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