Day 160:
There were only five of us in class today, so the size was small. After a quick round of kiri-kaeshi, we got an instruction on proper distance and taking center. Then Sensei had us separate into two lines and did repeated variations of one-step men and one-step kote.
Over and over, each side would do five men or five kote, taking care to line up our opponents, take center, and then strike from the proper distance. We spent just about the entire class performing these two drills. After a few more lectures and demonstrations, we did a couple rounds of one-step doh and a final round of kiri-kaeshi.
Day 161:
Today the focus was on big swings. We did lots of kiri-kaeshi drills, and then lots of one-step men. Sensei gave a lecture on making sure swings were big, like bringing the saki to just behind your head.
We also performed a new drill. We would start in tsuba-zeriai, then strike men going backwards (nuki-men). Once we did that a lot of times, we would practice tsuba-zeriai and then nuki-doh. After a few times of this, we enhanced the drill more. We would start at tsuba-zeriai, then strike nuki-men, and then once we are at one-step distance, we strike men and pass through. It teaches us to not “give up” or feel like “it’s time to stop”. We keep going. We keep fighting until the shinpan tells us to stop.
We even did a drill that was not our usual go-hon and then switch partner roles. I did five nuki-men strikes, then five nuki-doh strikes, then five nuki-men-men strikes, and then finished with five nuki-doh-men strikes. We finished class with several more rounds of kiri-kaeshi.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 158-159
Day 158:
Today is two practices before a tournament. This means Sensei wanted us to work extra hard (i.e. work to death). We had lots of students here today. We were actually full to capacity or so with very little side-to-side movement available.
We had a visitor who was from Ottawa. He walked on one of those metal canes in each hand because he had only one leg. It turns out that he was a sandan! He must be very dedicated.
We did endless rotations of kiri-kaeshi, over and over. Sensei wanted us to get lots of practice in since we would be expected to be able to show it in any promotional. I cannot go to the tournament because of my job. I have had many odd-hours shifts and I have missed lots of sleep. I need to rest and relax this weekend.
After kiri-kaeshi, we would do a lot of one-step men and one-step kote strikes. It was not one-sided, though. Any student who was shodan or above was expected to perform oji-waza on some of the strikes to practice counterattacks. We also did a few one-step kote-men.
After that, we vacated the middle of the floor and paired off for a lot of practice matches. It was only for one point and Sensei was the only shinpan. However, the beginner students who were going to their first tournament were given a lot of matches.
After that was done, we separated into two lines again slowly practiced one-step doh. One we had done this with every other student, we did more kiri-kaeshi drills.
Our visitor stayed with us the entire class, including a couple of practice matches where his opponent would only receive. It was a good lesson in seeing his very crisp, accurate strikes. He could not move very fast while hopping on his one foot, but he made up for it with his striking.
Day 159:
Today was more hard work. Sensei doesn’t believe in working us to death on the practice before tournament, but today we did not coast at all. We had a much smaller class, so we had room. Our one-legged visitor returned again.
We did a structured class of one-step men and one-step kote. We did not work on speed today, we worked on accuracy. Taking center before attacking is vital. Without it, you will miss. The dans again practiced oji-waza to sharpen their defenses.
Our beginner students also got in several practices matches to prepare them for tournament. At the end of class, Sensei asked our visitor to take turns striking all of us in kote, men, and kote-men. It was really interesting to see his crisp strikes from the receiving end.
Today is two practices before a tournament. This means Sensei wanted us to work extra hard (i.e. work to death). We had lots of students here today. We were actually full to capacity or so with very little side-to-side movement available.
We had a visitor who was from Ottawa. He walked on one of those metal canes in each hand because he had only one leg. It turns out that he was a sandan! He must be very dedicated.
We did endless rotations of kiri-kaeshi, over and over. Sensei wanted us to get lots of practice in since we would be expected to be able to show it in any promotional. I cannot go to the tournament because of my job. I have had many odd-hours shifts and I have missed lots of sleep. I need to rest and relax this weekend.
After kiri-kaeshi, we would do a lot of one-step men and one-step kote strikes. It was not one-sided, though. Any student who was shodan or above was expected to perform oji-waza on some of the strikes to practice counterattacks. We also did a few one-step kote-men.
After that, we vacated the middle of the floor and paired off for a lot of practice matches. It was only for one point and Sensei was the only shinpan. However, the beginner students who were going to their first tournament were given a lot of matches.
After that was done, we separated into two lines again slowly practiced one-step doh. One we had done this with every other student, we did more kiri-kaeshi drills.
Our visitor stayed with us the entire class, including a couple of practice matches where his opponent would only receive. It was a good lesson in seeing his very crisp, accurate strikes. He could not move very fast while hopping on his one foot, but he made up for it with his striking.
Day 159:
Today was more hard work. Sensei doesn’t believe in working us to death on the practice before tournament, but today we did not coast at all. We had a much smaller class, so we had room. Our one-legged visitor returned again.
We did a structured class of one-step men and one-step kote. We did not work on speed today, we worked on accuracy. Taking center before attacking is vital. Without it, you will miss. The dans again practiced oji-waza to sharpen their defenses.
Our beginner students also got in several practices matches to prepare them for tournament. At the end of class, Sensei asked our visitor to take turns striking all of us in kote, men, and kote-men. It was really interesting to see his crisp strikes from the receiving end.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 156-157
Day 156:
No class today since I am working at my job.
Day 157:
Today I came to the beginner class to get some practice in. My schedule at work has been chaotic and I need to keep practicing my Kendo. I showed up for the beginner class so I could be on time for work later.
When I showed up, Sensei asked me to lead the class in warm-ups. He especially wanted the class to perform the squat cuts. I led the class through some basic stretches and then some suburi. It was okii-suburi, shomen suburi, and haya-suburi. Sensei was giving some instruction to a student who would be taking his test for ni-dan this coming weekend. They were practicing a lot of kata while we were warming up.
After a short set of breathing, the students lined up and knelt in seiza. Then Sensei called for attention so that he and the student could demonstrate kata for the class. It was enjoyable to watch the kata done. Even though the student made a big, obvious mistake on the fourth kata, he kept going and finished. Then Sensei put on bogu so the class could hit him. During that, I lead the class in lots of sets of squat cuts. We did ten of them for practice, then rested for a moment. Then we did another ten and then I told them a tip about tenouchi at the end of the cut. Then as Sensei finished, we did a set of twenty fast squat cuts. Sensei joked that I was too soft with not going fast enough and too many breaks.
Then we separated into two lines and rotated through both Sensei and the student to be tested. We practiced our one-step men, one-step kote, and then kote-men.
We had a new student who had never been to a Kendo class before. I would have preferred to take him aside to teach him suri-ashi first, but Sensei wanted him in with the other students. I think that eventually someone should take him off to the side and teach him from the start soon so he can learn proper kamae right away.
No class today since I am working at my job.
Day 157:
Today I came to the beginner class to get some practice in. My schedule at work has been chaotic and I need to keep practicing my Kendo. I showed up for the beginner class so I could be on time for work later.
When I showed up, Sensei asked me to lead the class in warm-ups. He especially wanted the class to perform the squat cuts. I led the class through some basic stretches and then some suburi. It was okii-suburi, shomen suburi, and haya-suburi. Sensei was giving some instruction to a student who would be taking his test for ni-dan this coming weekend. They were practicing a lot of kata while we were warming up.
After a short set of breathing, the students lined up and knelt in seiza. Then Sensei called for attention so that he and the student could demonstrate kata for the class. It was enjoyable to watch the kata done. Even though the student made a big, obvious mistake on the fourth kata, he kept going and finished. Then Sensei put on bogu so the class could hit him. During that, I lead the class in lots of sets of squat cuts. We did ten of them for practice, then rested for a moment. Then we did another ten and then I told them a tip about tenouchi at the end of the cut. Then as Sensei finished, we did a set of twenty fast squat cuts. Sensei joked that I was too soft with not going fast enough and too many breaks.
Then we separated into two lines and rotated through both Sensei and the student to be tested. We practiced our one-step men, one-step kote, and then kote-men.
We had a new student who had never been to a Kendo class before. I would have preferred to take him aside to teach him suri-ashi first, but Sensei wanted him in with the other students. I think that eventually someone should take him off to the side and teach him from the start soon so he can learn proper kamae right away.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 154-155
Day 154:
No class today since I am working at my job.
Day 155:
Today was a day to work hard. The weather is warming up a lot, so we have to be careful not to dehydrate. We did endless drills of one-step men, one-step kote, and one-step doh. We did this to increase our speed while keeping our accuracy. We also did this to increase our endurance.
Two of the senior students are recent promotions to shodan, so Sensei was taking them off one by one to give them private one-on-one instruction. The three of us who were in a group did an endless rotation as we alternated between sharpening our skills and helping the junior student learn the proper height of men strike. We did that trick where the odd one out held their shinai above the student’s head so their backswing would strike the shinai and show them the right place to stop the backswing. It went well.
We took a break as a group to rest and hydrate about two-thirds of the way through class. The dojo felt hot, but it was just us exercising a lot.
No class today since I am working at my job.
Day 155:
Today was a day to work hard. The weather is warming up a lot, so we have to be careful not to dehydrate. We did endless drills of one-step men, one-step kote, and one-step doh. We did this to increase our speed while keeping our accuracy. We also did this to increase our endurance.
Two of the senior students are recent promotions to shodan, so Sensei was taking them off one by one to give them private one-on-one instruction. The three of us who were in a group did an endless rotation as we alternated between sharpening our skills and helping the junior student learn the proper height of men strike. We did that trick where the odd one out held their shinai above the student’s head so their backswing would strike the shinai and show them the right place to stop the backswing. It went well.
We took a break as a group to rest and hydrate about two-thirds of the way through class. The dojo felt hot, but it was just us exercising a lot.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 152-153
Day 152:
No class today since I am working at my job.
Day 153:
Today was all about tenouchi. We started off practicing a 4-step men strike back and forth across the room. Then we narrowed it down to a 2-step men strike. Then we paired off and began using tenouchi to augment our one-step men and one-step kote strikes.
We would repeat this drill for each of our classmates before moving on to the next drill. Then we had two rounds of keiko using tenouchi.
No class today since I am working at my job.
Day 153:
Today was all about tenouchi. We started off practicing a 4-step men strike back and forth across the room. Then we narrowed it down to a 2-step men strike. Then we paired off and began using tenouchi to augment our one-step men and one-step kote strikes.
We would repeat this drill for each of our classmates before moving on to the next drill. Then we had two rounds of keiko using tenouchi.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
A Beginner's Point of View 150-151.75
Day 150:
Today Sensei was trying to work us to death. It was the second to last class before tournament and he wanted us to work extra hard to prepare.
We did endless kiri-kaeshi drills. We did endless one-step men and one-step kote. We would slip in the idea that the one receiving would attempt oji-waza halfway through the drill to get the attacker to practice changing up the timing of the strike. We had several matches of keiko to work on our endurance.
Finally, we had lots of practice performing rei-hou, sometimes with keiko and sometimes just rei-hou by itself. We all left practice very tired, very sore, and very happy to have worked so hard in preparation for the tournament and testing.
Day 151:
Today was the last class before tournament, so Sensei decided we would take it easy. He wanted us to recover and have lots of energy, so we had a more instructional class. The entire class was centered around what to do at the promotional testing.
We would put on keiko with matches between all students, being judged on the rules that would govern the promotional test. We would practice etiquette and poise when entering and exiting the court. We would practice coming back to chudan-no-kamae while passing through an opponent’s space. We would practice passing through at an angle so we don’t clip our opponent.
This class had more lecture and example than hard work, but we did work. Now we feel ready for the test.
Day 151.5:
The tournament was familiar to me as I had been here exactly a year ago doing the same thing. I walked around to the tables to see that some of the students from the college were volunteering to work the tables. Since I wasn’t needed, I just started to read the program, stretch out, and perform some suburi.
There was no separate youth division, so we launched right into the Mudansha. I was starting off the sixth bracket of eight for my court, so I had time to watch the others fight. Some of them were very basic, others very more advanced than me. The matches went quickly, and I went to get ready. Somebody had stolen my program from my bag so that made me angry. I forgot to get another one to remember the day.
My first match was against a girl much shorter than me. I decided not to underestimate her. So, when the match started, I studied her and then decided to take the initiative. She gave a weak kiai and then slowly went for doh. I was confused why she would do this, so I took it as a real attack. I perform suriage-men, passed through, showed zanshin. The shinpan-cho did not award a point, so I repeated the action, as did she. Over and over the same pattern. I would kiai, she would slowly attack doh, I would perform some basic oji-waza and struck men firmly but gently, I would pass through, and then show zanshin. Soon, I was award two points and won the match. I felt sorry for the girl as this might have been her first ever tournament match, but I showed dignity and did not celebrate.
I was the first in a bracket of four kendoka, so I did not change ribbons. Apparently, they match up the fighters like this: A-B, C-D, A-D, C-B. This way, each fighter gets to fight two people and no-one needs to change ribbons.
My second match was against someone more my equal. He was just as fast as me, and just as tricky. We would size each other up carefully, launch into an attack, and the other would try either debana or suriage to defeat the other. Over and over would strike men or kote, trying to get that first point. One exchange I broke up by forcing a tsuba-zariei. My opponent tried to shove me down by throwing his arms in my face, but I did not fall. It got more intense with the exchanges. I decided that the match would end in a hantei, so I needed an edge. I allowed my opponent to chase me to the edge of the court. When he tried to charge me, I spun out of the way, letting him step on the boundary. I pushed him so he stepped out of the court. The shinpan called a yame and then a gogi. They conferred, and then decided not to call a hansoku. I was disappointed. The match ended when time ran out, and a hantei was called. The shinpan voted 2-1 against me. Maybe they thought my opponent had better spirit. This eliminated me from the bracket.
My opponent was also eliminated by points, so this is the first time I was not bested by the champion. The day passed quickly, lunch was served after the women’s division. After ‘shodan/nidan’ and the ‘sandan and above’ group, it was time for teams. We had a good chance this year. Our team had strong members, including our two sensei in the top slots. We fought a basic team and won 5-0. Our first two matches won 2-0 in each match against a less-experienced team. We just stuck to meat-and-potatoes Kendo and won cleanly.
If we won the next match, we would place for a medal and attempt to advance to the finals. Unfortunately, we went up against a powerhouse team. Each of our matches ended in a 2-0 loss so the team lost 5-0. It turns out that my opponent in the 2nd position was a nidan! I’m glad I lasted so long against him as I did.
After that, I put my bogu away and resigned to just watch the rest of the matches. One of the coordinators for the tournament addressed me by name and requested that I tie ribbons. For the rest of the tournament, I helped tie ribbons to keep things running smoothly. I thought that the team that eliminated us would win the championship, but that did not happen. I guess my lucky/unlucky streak is broken.
Day 151.75:
Today was testing day. I was number 31 this time. Well in the middle. We all put on doh and tare without zekken and sat in a 12-person wide, 4-person deep formation. They told us to relax and do not consider us required to sit in seiza the entire time. Good thing, because that hard gymnasium floor was cutting off circulation in my legs no matter which position I sat in.
After what seemed an endless wait, it was my turn. The panel of Sensei actually had us perform a full promotional testing this time. Each of us had two partners, one we would perform drills on and one we would receive drills from. We first did kihon, which was two men strikes, two kote strikes, and two doh strikes. Then we did a single pass of kiri-kaeshi. This time, I would shout ‘men’ with each strike and then held a very long ‘meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen’ after the ninth strike and keep holding it until after I pass through and show zanshin. I was completely out of breath by the time it was over. Finally, we did a short keiko. I remembered to trade off times with my partner so that sometimes we would complete, sometimes I would let him strike me, and he would let me strike him. I think our cooperation made us look good. Between my first and second partners, I switched around to the other side of the court, making sure to pass behind everyone and not in front.
At the end of the day, we watched the candidates for ikkyu and shodan perform just keiko and then kata. Finally, just before I left for the day, the panel of Sensei posted the results. I passed! I am now a ni-kyu! Time for some big dessert.
Today Sensei was trying to work us to death. It was the second to last class before tournament and he wanted us to work extra hard to prepare.
We did endless kiri-kaeshi drills. We did endless one-step men and one-step kote. We would slip in the idea that the one receiving would attempt oji-waza halfway through the drill to get the attacker to practice changing up the timing of the strike. We had several matches of keiko to work on our endurance.
Finally, we had lots of practice performing rei-hou, sometimes with keiko and sometimes just rei-hou by itself. We all left practice very tired, very sore, and very happy to have worked so hard in preparation for the tournament and testing.
Day 151:
Today was the last class before tournament, so Sensei decided we would take it easy. He wanted us to recover and have lots of energy, so we had a more instructional class. The entire class was centered around what to do at the promotional testing.
We would put on keiko with matches between all students, being judged on the rules that would govern the promotional test. We would practice etiquette and poise when entering and exiting the court. We would practice coming back to chudan-no-kamae while passing through an opponent’s space. We would practice passing through at an angle so we don’t clip our opponent.
This class had more lecture and example than hard work, but we did work. Now we feel ready for the test.
Day 151.5:
The tournament was familiar to me as I had been here exactly a year ago doing the same thing. I walked around to the tables to see that some of the students from the college were volunteering to work the tables. Since I wasn’t needed, I just started to read the program, stretch out, and perform some suburi.
There was no separate youth division, so we launched right into the Mudansha. I was starting off the sixth bracket of eight for my court, so I had time to watch the others fight. Some of them were very basic, others very more advanced than me. The matches went quickly, and I went to get ready. Somebody had stolen my program from my bag so that made me angry. I forgot to get another one to remember the day.
My first match was against a girl much shorter than me. I decided not to underestimate her. So, when the match started, I studied her and then decided to take the initiative. She gave a weak kiai and then slowly went for doh. I was confused why she would do this, so I took it as a real attack. I perform suriage-men, passed through, showed zanshin. The shinpan-cho did not award a point, so I repeated the action, as did she. Over and over the same pattern. I would kiai, she would slowly attack doh, I would perform some basic oji-waza and struck men firmly but gently, I would pass through, and then show zanshin. Soon, I was award two points and won the match. I felt sorry for the girl as this might have been her first ever tournament match, but I showed dignity and did not celebrate.
I was the first in a bracket of four kendoka, so I did not change ribbons. Apparently, they match up the fighters like this: A-B, C-D, A-D, C-B. This way, each fighter gets to fight two people and no-one needs to change ribbons.
My second match was against someone more my equal. He was just as fast as me, and just as tricky. We would size each other up carefully, launch into an attack, and the other would try either debana or suriage to defeat the other. Over and over would strike men or kote, trying to get that first point. One exchange I broke up by forcing a tsuba-zariei. My opponent tried to shove me down by throwing his arms in my face, but I did not fall. It got more intense with the exchanges. I decided that the match would end in a hantei, so I needed an edge. I allowed my opponent to chase me to the edge of the court. When he tried to charge me, I spun out of the way, letting him step on the boundary. I pushed him so he stepped out of the court. The shinpan called a yame and then a gogi. They conferred, and then decided not to call a hansoku. I was disappointed. The match ended when time ran out, and a hantei was called. The shinpan voted 2-1 against me. Maybe they thought my opponent had better spirit. This eliminated me from the bracket.
My opponent was also eliminated by points, so this is the first time I was not bested by the champion. The day passed quickly, lunch was served after the women’s division. After ‘shodan/nidan’ and the ‘sandan and above’ group, it was time for teams. We had a good chance this year. Our team had strong members, including our two sensei in the top slots. We fought a basic team and won 5-0. Our first two matches won 2-0 in each match against a less-experienced team. We just stuck to meat-and-potatoes Kendo and won cleanly.
If we won the next match, we would place for a medal and attempt to advance to the finals. Unfortunately, we went up against a powerhouse team. Each of our matches ended in a 2-0 loss so the team lost 5-0. It turns out that my opponent in the 2nd position was a nidan! I’m glad I lasted so long against him as I did.
After that, I put my bogu away and resigned to just watch the rest of the matches. One of the coordinators for the tournament addressed me by name and requested that I tie ribbons. For the rest of the tournament, I helped tie ribbons to keep things running smoothly. I thought that the team that eliminated us would win the championship, but that did not happen. I guess my lucky/unlucky streak is broken.
Day 151.75:
Today was testing day. I was number 31 this time. Well in the middle. We all put on doh and tare without zekken and sat in a 12-person wide, 4-person deep formation. They told us to relax and do not consider us required to sit in seiza the entire time. Good thing, because that hard gymnasium floor was cutting off circulation in my legs no matter which position I sat in.
After what seemed an endless wait, it was my turn. The panel of Sensei actually had us perform a full promotional testing this time. Each of us had two partners, one we would perform drills on and one we would receive drills from. We first did kihon, which was two men strikes, two kote strikes, and two doh strikes. Then we did a single pass of kiri-kaeshi. This time, I would shout ‘men’ with each strike and then held a very long ‘meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen’ after the ninth strike and keep holding it until after I pass through and show zanshin. I was completely out of breath by the time it was over. Finally, we did a short keiko. I remembered to trade off times with my partner so that sometimes we would complete, sometimes I would let him strike me, and he would let me strike him. I think our cooperation made us look good. Between my first and second partners, I switched around to the other side of the court, making sure to pass behind everyone and not in front.
At the end of the day, we watched the candidates for ikkyu and shodan perform just keiko and then kata. Finally, just before I left for the day, the panel of Sensei posted the results. I passed! I am now a ni-kyu! Time for some big dessert.
A Beginner's Point of View 148-149
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:
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:
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