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!