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!