Foot Problems

   I don't think I'm going to go to practice today.

   My foot is still bruised and painful to walk on... but on top of that, the school nurse who looked at it yesterday said that it looked infected and that I should stay off of it as much as possible for a few days.

   I hate missing practice, but the last session was painful enough (and against the nurse's advice then too!) that I feel like I should listen this time instead of prolonging my pain. I mean, I can't imagine that stomping and running around on my foot is helping it heal faster... perhaps part of doing this is knowing when to give it a break and recuperate as well.

Kendo VIII - Pain

   I had a bad feeling going into class.

   My foot was hurting a lot -- I found out that it wasn't just the open sores from abrasion, but also bruising from the hard floor, which made it hard for me to walk, let alone put all of my weight on the ball of my foot, which you have to do for a proper stance.

   Still, I was determined to try my best, and even more determined after sensei told me to let him know if it started hurting. Of course, having heard that, I couldn't tell him that it hurt and I wanted to take a break!

   Practice was kihon renshuu -- a lot of it. I did well on my men strikes and I still haven't got the hang of proper dou strikes. I was in a lot of pain and couldn't hold my stance properly, let alone move or turn around. I was limping my way through practice a lot and felt like I was doing absolutely terribly.

   We had three guests -- Miyasaka-sensei and Tozuka-sensei, who are both fifth-dan, as well as a new person I'd never seen before named Koike... not to be confused with another Koike who sometimes comes! I get nervous practicing around Tozuka-sensei sometimes since he works at the same junior high school I work at...

   After doing terribly with sensei for a while, he told me to practice with Koike, who I later found was the same age as me. Koike spoke simpler and louder, so I found him much easier to understand. My major problem this time was that I didn't raise my arms high enough when I struck, which apparently makes it harder to strike accurately. I must have misunderstood something before when I was talking to sensei... but at least I know better now.

   By the end of the practice session, I just wanted to go home; not only did my foot hurt, but my calf was starting to cramp up terribly from the pain and I had a headache as well. It was one of the most grueling practice sessions I've been through so far.

   I had the opportunity to talk to Koike a bit more; he'd studied abroad in England, so we talked a bit in English. He looks amazingly like the curly-haired Kimura Takuya from Change, something that I told him. Very, very friendly guy. We traded e-mail addresses and he invited me to a culture fair that his school is having this weekend.

Blisters

   I try to practice almost every day, so of course I've been tearing up my feet. I seem to practice so often (or perhaps hardwood floors are just hard on my feet) that blisters form and pop within the same practice session.

   So far I have two on the ball of my left foot, which I use all the time for most of my weight when I stand properly. One is from last week, and the other is from tonight. I had a sickening feeling when I felt my foot squelching and sticking to the floor slightly. Of course, I couldn't resist looking; when I looked, it looked pretty bad -- a large flap of white skin hanging over a huge red spot. Well, at least I knew I hadn't stepped in something.

   It's funny; it didn't start hurting all that much until I looked at it... I kept practicing normally despite seeing it and it started hurting even worse, to the point where I couldn't force myself to stand on it and even sensei noticed.

   We all agreed that it's okay since I'm young and will heal quickly.

   There's another one forming on the bottom of my right big toe; I somehow managed to avoid it popping, though it seems like it's inevitable. It's a huge one that covers the entire bottom of my right big toe, so I'm not looking forward to that. That blister probably comes from doing fumikomi improperly.

   I haven't gotten any on my hands yet, so that's a minor blessing. I wish I had longer fingers...

Kendo VII - Foundations

   I can't believe this was only my seventh time at the dojo! It feels like I've been there more times than that... but at the same time, I felt like the gap between Saturday's practice and today's practice was interminable!

   The guest sensei from Kendo V came again -- I found out that his name is Miyasaka. I was surprised for two reasons; one, I'd never encountered that particular name before, and two, "saka" usually turns into "zaka". Nothing big, just something that interested me since I find Japanese names... well, interesting.

   I've been trying to kiai all the time, and to do it properly, so with Miyasaka-sensei there, I was doubly-reminded to try. He gave me encouraging nods several times, so I felt happy.

   To start practice, we counted to 20 in Chinese; sensei then had me review the numbers one through ten before teaching them how to say the numbers 11 through 20 in English. The girl who doesn't wear armor left practice briefly at this point for some reason; she looked pretty queasy when she came back and ended up sitting out for almost all of the practice.

   Today was all basic practice; in kendo, it's called kihon renshuu, or basic practice. kihon can also mean something like "foundation". You're never too good to go back and work on your basics in kendo. In that sense, I don't feel so bad about joining; sensei seems to have taken an opportunity to go back to the basics for everyone as he teaches me for the first time.

   I learned a lot of things about men strikes today -- one of the most important ones in terms of actual performance was that I tend to raise my shinai too high and too far back when I go to strike. Sensei reminded me exactly where I should be putting it and it felt like a load came off of my shoulders. Not only could I strike faster, more accurately, and more smoothly, but it felt right. I was so happy!

   Another important tip that sensei gave us all today because we were having problems with our follow-through after men; he told us to raise our shinai slightly with our arms outstretched, but in such a fashion that our upper fists (right hand) are pointed at the opponent's face as if we're going to punch them. He said that we should strike men and do that, charging forward. If the opponent doesn't move aside, then we should perform a move that I really don't know the name of yet; it's essentially locking tsuka to push them back to create an opportunity for another men strike.

   Sensei also focused a lot on fumikomi, which is stepping/leaping forward and smashing your front foot hard on the ground as you strike. The idea is that most of your body weight is on the ball of your rear foot; when you fumikomi, you're supposed to shift your weight to the ball of your front foot, which in turn makes your attack faster. It's one of the most basic techniques in kendo, I think, and what gives kendo its distinctive look.

   Every strike is supposed to be accompanied by fumikomi and kiai, I believe.

   I'm qualifying this stuff because I'm obviously only a beginner.

   We also worked on dou strikes quite a bit because people (including me, of course) were having major problems doing them properly. A proper dou strike (as I understand it now) will begin as if it were a men strike, but at the apex of the strike, curve downward sharply in a vertical oval. One thing that sensei warned us about repeatedly was that if we do it too horizontally, not only are we opening ourselves up to attack, but we're also running the risk of pulling up and hitting an opponent above their armor, in the armpit.

   He also noted that we should take a step to the side and that our hands should end up at the opposite waist as we complete the cut. After class, he took me aside and demonstrated the technique more clearly using an iaito (sword used for iaido). I'm always grateful that he's willing to take the time to explain things to me, and this was no exception; I feel like I understand what I'm supposed to do much better now.

   Sometimes I have a problem in demonstrations when I'm not sure whether he's demonstrating something bad or something good! I also have a problem where I can't hear him properly through the men sometimes, so he'll say something after I've completed a strike, but I'm not sure if it means I did well or poorly.

   I can't wait until Thursday!

Competition

   One thing about kendo in Japan is that it's kind of like little league in America; if anyone's going to do it, they generally start it when they're a kid. Adults are decidedly at a disadvantage on that front.

   Because of that, the dojo I'm a part of is all kids, so the tournaments and various events are aimed at kids. I can't help but wonder what I'm going to do -- all of the older people that have come to visit are way above me... and all of the kids are, well, kids. The brackets are broken up into lower-elementary, upper-elementary, and junior high school.

   I'm not sure what exactly happens that causes junior high kids not to attend classes at the dojo -- perhaps the stress of entrance exams for high school or the availability of a kendo club (every day, including Saturday!) at school. Once they go on to high school, they just get busier, and the high schools have kendo clubs as well.

   Regardless of the reason, there just don't seem to be many beginners that aren't young. I gather that this isn't such a problem overseas.

New Glasses

   I forgot to mention this, but... I bought a new pair of glasses. My old pair was mostly heavy plastic that didn't sit too well on my nose; they were always sliding down or falling off if I stopped suddenly -- especially if I was sweaty.

   At the beginning and end of every kendo class, we sit in seiza, which is a traditional Japanese way of sitting so that your legs are directly under you. While in seiza, we bow, keeping our backs straight; this meant that my glasses were constantly falling off.

   I tried going without my glasses for a lesson, but my eyes are too bad for that to really be practical; it was really distracting.

   So I decided to get a new pair of glasses. I wanted something light, flexible, and sturdy, which meant metal frames. I was lucky enough to catch a really good sale, so I got a new pair and new lenses on the cheap! They're green, which is odd for me, since I've always had black or gunmetal glasses. But more importantly, they stay on my face during practice.

Kendo VI

   I showed up with my own shinai this time; I'd gone out and bought two on Friday. Size 39, or 3-jaku 9-sun, in old Japanese measurements. That in and of itself was an incredibly interesting experience; I wish I'd had my camera with me then.

   One of the shinai is for me to use on my own for practice, and the other is to leave at the dojo. Everyone was excited that I'd brought my own shinai, too. I was really happy to have my own; free, borrowed stuff is great, but it's also nice to have your own things to take care of.

   I had more trouble cleaning this time than I'd had the time before; sensei pointed out that I had completely forgotten to tuck the sides of my hakama into the himo, which are the cords that go around the waist. That particular technique is called momodachi.

   We spent a lot more time on warmups today, with sensei calling out directions or stances that we had to move in or strike at when he called. I learned some more terminology again: 斜め前 (ななめまえ naname-mae) and 斜め後ろ (ななめうしろ, naname-ushiro), which mean to move diagonally forward (to the right) and diagonally backward (to the left), respectively. It was interesting practice, and I felt incredibly awkward in a lot of stances, since it was the first time I'd ever used them.

   We had a special guest at this practice, too! A very old sensei with an incredibly strong grip. Though we were in the middle of warmups, everyone stopped to rush up and greet him. I got the impression that he came sometimes since everyone knew who he was and there was a chair with cushions set aside for him. Perhaps he is sensei's sensei; he sat to the left of sensei, which is closer to the front and a "superior" position.

   I felt honored that he had come to watch our class; standing and walking were obviously an effort for him.

   One thing I worked a lot on in this class was overcoming my quietness; I tried to kiai loudly and count loudly along with everyone else, although sometimes I slipped back into my old habits.

   Sensei also corrected my grip again... I can tell that this is going to take a while!

   Dou strikes were especially hard for me at this session; I'm beginning to understand that the first time I do something, I won't get a lot of criticism, just basic guidelines, but then as I continue practicing, he'll keep fine-tuning what I do. He established that the dou strike begins by raising the shinai as if you were going to do a men strike, and then when the opponent raises his shinai to block/parry, you bring your shinai down in an arc, like a semicircle or half-heart shape to strike their dou and travel past.

   One problem a lot of students had was that they were holding their hands too high and the shinai was angling downward as they traveled past; sensei demonstrated that this weakens their grip and allows the opponent to force them to drop their shinai by shifting his body.

   Fortunately, there was also an adult kenshi there named Koike! He demonstrated strikes with sensei for us; it was nice to have a clear example of what I should be aiming for.

   This lesson also had a first for me: kote-men strikes. At first, I tried to do quick, light strikes on kote and then men, but sensei pointed out that I should draw my shinai up all the way for both strikes, like I do for a men strike. He also told me that my right foot should hit the ground twice; once for each strike.

   Another first was a parry of a men strike that leads to a dou strike. I tried to figure it out from watching students before me, but I couldn't quite get it. Sensei demonstrated it for me, and it was completely different from what the students were doing! He advised me to step slightly to the side while angling my shinai, then whip it down in an arc for a proper dou strike that would allow me to travel past.

   The students weren't moving to the side at all; I'm not sure if they were doing a different technique, that same technique incorrectly, or if it was something because they were wearing bogu.

   To wrap it all up, all of the kenshi in bogu stood in a circle and a few of us went around twice, doing men strikes. It's interesting because it forces you to keep moving and adjusting to different heights. I also got to use my kiai to wake up some kids who were obviously not paying attention or were facing in different directions.

   One of the most common problems I found myself encountering in this class was tense shoulders; I kept knotting them up and getting really tense, which in turn affected my technique.

   I'm glad I have the opportunity to learn kendo and look forward to the next practice!

Kendo V - Getting to Know Sensei

   My first class in "real" clothes! I showed up in my sportswear, just in case, but the mother showed up a few minutes after me, so I was able to change quickly before I got there.

   I got confused when I was trying to tie the knot in front; my fingers kept trying to tie a bow-style knot, like I used in aikido, and I couldn't remember what exactly sensei did at the previous practice! I asked some of the children, but they didn't really have any clue, either; apparently their mothers helped them dress at home.

   Finally, one of the older students showed up and showed me how to do it; I realized that it was just a square knot! All that grief for nothing!

   It was a challenge learning to sit in seiza and clean properly wearing the hakama... but of course, I was absolutely thrilled!

   Practice was much the same; I felt that I really needed it, too. Sensei had been telling me basic information for the last few practices, and this was my chance to try to pull it all together and use it consistently -- not that I hadn't been doing that before!

   There was a guest, as well; another high-ranking kenshi that was a friend of sensei's. At one point, he pulled me aside and told me that I needed to start using kiai; I hadn't been using it because I was concentrating so much on what to do... and also, it makes me self-conscious!

   However, after he pointed it out, I started trying, and gained some more self-confidence when I realized that nobody was looking at me twice for it. Sensei even started some special kiai practice with us, where we'd stand in front of him and kiai until he felt it was good enough for us to strike.

   The guest sensei watched us all and was kind enough to take me aside again when sensei was busy and give me advice on the grip toward the end of class. I was really excited, because it was starting to feel right, but unfortunately, class was ending, so I didn't get much of a chance to practice it.

   We had an incredibly long talk after class about languages; I found out that sensei is fluent in Chinese because he occasionally travels abroad to teach at other dojos in China and Europe, though he hasn't been to America yet. We joked that he should try going to America sometime; as a nanadan (seventh-degree black belt, the highest achievable being eighth), I'm sure he would be welcomed.

   He also revealed that he had tried for hachidan (eighth degree) four times, but didn't pass, though he intends to keep trying. I find it absolutely astonishing how good his physical condition is even though he's 70 years old! Apparently he has a problem with his arm; it was broken and healed unevenly at some point, so he can't extend it straight.

Kendo IV - A Pleasant Surprise

   This practice seems to be lost in my memory for various reasons.

   I remember that at the beginning, we spent some time practicing how to count in Chinese; sensei is fluent in Chinese as well as Japanese and considers it a part of cultural heritage and respect for the past.

   Then, because I was there, we also had practice counting from one to ten. Sensei emphasized that they needed to count loudly (to improve their memory) and watch my lips/mouth very carefully to learn to produce proper English sounds, rather than Japanese-style English. He said that it was good training for the eyes, and also for them, since as kids, they need to learn English.

   I was surprised he incorporated me into the curriculum, but grateful.

   Another thing that I remember is that he took me aside to discuss how to put on the hakama (different from aikido, I suppose because the bow in front would interfere with the tare [waist armor]), keikogi, and bogu. He also taught me about what the straps and loops on the bogu are called, for future reference.

   My major problem in this class, again, was keeping my feet straight. I kept concentrating on remembering the feeling of my feet being straight and checking them every time I was "up to bat", and eventually, a few times, I found that they were already straight when I checked.

   An interesting thing I do remember from this class is that sensei taught one of the students how to receive tsuki properly. Tsuki is the name of the attack that uses the tip of the shinai to strike the throat guard; because it's a dangerous attack if done improperly, I hear that it's not usually taught until you're more experienced, so I was surprised. Then I realized that it's probably good to learn how to receive it safely, even if you're not learning how to do it.

   One of the reasons I forgot a lot of what happened in this class is that it's all overshadowed by one thing; at the end of class, he brought out a dojo keikogi and a hakama that had been used by a former student who no longer attended; he said that I could wear them from now on. I was incredibly thrilled!

   I didn't take them home that day; one of the mothers came forward and said that she would wash/iron them for me, so I gratefully took her up on the offer. I also received an information packet with suggestions for shinai/bogu as well as diagrams of everything. In the back of the packet was information about the various tournaments and events that the dojo has... one of which I noticed is coming up soon...

   This was also the second time that the other new student came to practice; I haven't seen him since!

Kendo III - A Newcomer

   My first Saturday practice, and I arrived late! Apparently practice had started over half an hour earlier than its usual time, but because they didn't yet have my contact information on hand, they hadn't been able to tell me. I'd completely forgotten my information form at work and told them that I would bring it in on the next practice.

   I was really surprised because not only did practice begin early, but there was another new student. Another kid, of course -- but it meant that I wasn't the only person with sportswear!

   Since I arrived late, I missed cleaning and warmups; I warmed up a little on my own, then grabbed my borrowed shinai to jump into practice. Since I knew what my problems were, I tried to watch other peoples' feet and stances when I wasn't actively practicing with sensei. It was interesting, because a lot of the younger kids tended to stand with angled feet and run rather than doing it the way that sensei was teaching me; the older kids were good examples, though.

   I was also intimidated by some other students I'd not seen before; some older students joined in on the practice -- I guess they were high school students. Apparently they used to go to that dojo, but stopped once school activities and kendo club took all their time, though they still go back occasionally.

   On the up side, I also saw a student I actually knew! She was glad to see me, too, though a bit surprised. Of course, she was also in bogu.

   I learned basic kote and dou strikes, which are wrist and body, respectively. Whereas last time I'd had problems with raising my shinai too high and back too far, this time I was so tense and nervous about performing properly that I didn't raise it enough!

   It's incredibly hard to relax sometimes, because I'm trying to remember everything I do wrong so I can correct it all before I strike. Overthinking in action.

   I was also pretty embarrassed because I missed the kote strikes a few times and completely missed the men strike once.

   One major point that sensei kept reminding me of is that I need to remember to turn around and resume guard once I've struck (or missed) the opponent and moved past them. For a while, I was just striking, moving past, and then walking to the line brooding over my mistakes.

   Something about practice: the people in bogu generally fight each other one-on-one, practicing whatever technique sensei designates. Those without bogu as well as the occasional odd one without a partner, or sometimes, two or three because there isn't enough room for everyone, stand in line and wait to practice against sensei at the front of the dojo.

   The basic practice consists of a straightforward men strike (those in bogu strike and push back), followed by four advancing strikes and five retreating strikes. After doing that one more time, there's a men strike where you travel past sensei and turn around to face him and do it again, ending up with you standing back where you started.

   One thing I noticed is that the kids seem to spend a lot of time fighting in line or swinging their shinai around dangerously (to those of us not in bogu). Kids.

   I kept needing to remember to step forward more than the kids, since with my height and longer shinai, I tended to smack the pictures hanging high on the wall behind us. Oops.

   After practice, sensei took me aside again; instead of a lesson on Japanese terms, he talked about Chinese! There are a bunch of papers taped to the walls, covered in Chinese. Sensei explained that they were originally from China, brought by teachers who taught their students, who became teachers and taught their students, and so on. The Japanese way of reading it is different from the Chinese way, though it preserves the meaning.

   He explained that all of the children had memorized everything, and one day I would have to as well. In addition to that, there was also the kyouiku chokugo (Imperial Rescript on Education) to memorize!

Kendo II - First Practice

   My first practice! I showed up in sports shorts and a t-shirt; I don't really have much in the way of sportswear, but I figured that it would be okay. I was still incredibly intimidated by joining a bunch of kids, but I swear, I'm just a kid inside, too.

   They're all nice kids; three or four of them are actually brothers. There are usually eight or nine people at practice; enough to make for a fun game of handball!

   Apparently one of the pre-practice traditions to warm up is to play handball with a knotted, wet towel. The kids all show up in hakama and keikogi, ready to go, so once enough kids show up, they start splitting into teams. Of course, everyone wanted me on their team since I'm a gigantic adult.

   It was a lot of fun and helped me loosen up. After we played handball for a bit, we all went out to the sink to get more washcloths and wipe the floor. If you've seen Japanese movies or anime with people bent over, running as they press a towel against the floor, you know what we do.

   Sensei paid special attention to me that day in the beginning since it was my first day. He introduced me, told them I was from America, then practice began.

   I was glad I'd had experience in aikido; I knew what to expect in the beginning, with lining up and bowing. If I hadn't had that experience, I probably would have been completely lost!

   From there, sensei found me a shinai that had belonged to a student who had since left; probably an older one, since it was just the right size for me. He showed me the parts of the shinai before moving on to the grip and stance. A shinai is a special practice sword used for kendo; it's made from four bamboo slats carefully fitted together and bound with deerhide.

   The grip is interesting; the left hand grips the bottom of the tsuka, or hilt. The fingers of the left hand grip with decreasing power from the pinkie up; the grip is supposed to be strongest with the pinkie and ring finger, but zero with the thumb and index finger. The right hand grips the tsuka just below the tsuba or crossguard. The right hand's power is supposed to be almost zero as well.

   Another important point is the direction of the palms; rather than facing up or directly toward each other as you might expect, they should be on top of the tsuka, facing downward. Sensei explained and demonstrated that this grip allows you to use more of the body's power.

   As for the stance, both feet should be facing straight forward, with the left foot slightly back and the heel raised. I found that pretty hard to do while keeping my balance!

   Initially, because of practice in aikido, I kept pulling my shinai back so far that it would hang down over my back; I'd been told that that was to protect against strikes from behind. When striking in kendo, the shinai doesn't go back that far at all!

   We spent a lot of the time with me practicing men (head) strikes. I was thrilled at how much fun it was, even as I found myself becoming sore.

   Another thing that I learned was how to sit properly in seiza. Again, previous experience in aikido was detrimental; I had been taught not to sit with my big toes overlapping, but that's the correct way to sit in kendo. I had trouble remembering that I had to sit/rise with specific legs sometimes, so sensei taught me a mnemonic: 左座右起 (さざうき, sazauki), which means left-sit-right-move. When sitting in seiza, the left leg goes down first; when rising, the right leg comes up first.

   My biggest problems that he pointed out were that I needed to make sure my feet were pointed forward, that my shinai, when in guard position, pointed at the opponent's throat, and that I kept my shoulders relaxed when striking.

   All in all, it was incredible. Everything I'd been hoping for since I was a child, and more.

Kendo I - The Beginning

   I went to watch practice for the first time; a student recommended his dojo to me, but I still wanted to see what it was like and talk to the sensei first. I was a bit intimidated -- but not for the reasons you might expect. When I went to watch practice, all of the students were elementary children. Only a few of them have double-digit ages.

   I still thought it looked incredibly interesting, despite the age gap. Kendo is, after all, sort of like little league in Japan; it's something that people generally start when they're young. I hear it also used to be a part of the physical education curriculum, which I can understand. It's quite a workout!

   After practice ended, I met the sensei, and he was incredibly warm and welcoming. He told me about kendo, then iaido (form practice with a blunt sword), then jodo (staff practice), though the jodo practice was way too far away for me to be able to attend. He also completely soothed my worries when it came to practicing with children, so I told him I would come to the next practice ready to go. He said that it was fine to come in sportswear since I was a beginner.

   I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed; not only do I like keikogi (the "karate uniform" top) and hakama (pleated skirtlike pants) that kenshi (kendo practitioners) wear, but I wanted to fit in with the kids so I didn't stand out even more. Much, much greater than my disappointment was my eagerness to start.

   Speaking of not fitting in, I only saw one student who wasn't wearing the bogu, or armor, that kenshi generally wear when they're advanced enough for contact sparring. That student also stood out because she was a girl. I wasn't very surprised, since half of the kenshi I know are female, but I was glad that I wouldn't be the only one without bogu.

   Armed with a form to fill out, I returned home, completely excited about starting practice.