Today I was the first one to arrive at the gym. I like
these times because it gives me the opportunity to relax a little and put
myself in the zone, so to speak. It also gives me the chance to warm up on my
own while I sweep the floor, running back and forth with the big brooms
Not only is this a good lengthy jog, but I get to practice my te-no-uchi on the broom handle. Also, sweeping the gym floor is a good
way to relax my mind. It’s something I learned while doing kyudo, initially,
but sweeping is kind of meditative, especially when I’m alone.
Itou Sensei was absent from practice so things were a
little less intense. Usually the warm up routines at Monday practices are
pretty exhausting, and unfortunately tend to be where I give most of my
strength.
Satou Sensei lead practice today instead. Warm up with
and without bogu was relatively short. We did a brief three round mawari geiko followed by twenty minutes of
ju geiko.
The summer heat is just starting to become oppressive
in the dojo, even if it’s still bearable outside. I need to remember that a
full 2 liters of water should be consumed before
going to practice. Of all the difficulties I was prepared to encounter before
practicing kendo in Japan (strict sensei,
language barrier, strong kendo players
unforgiving of a novice etc) the summer heat has got to be the absolute worst!
Last year during the scorching heat of summer,
practicing in a dojo that was 35 degrees Celsius and 66% humidity, my friends
were shocked bordering on horrified that we practiced for two hours in Canada,
but if I were told that I had to practice in a Japanese summer heat for two
hours without a water break I’d say it was impossible too.
Anyone who has ever enjoyed a summer day lazily lying
in the sun knows that the heat makes you lethargic. Add humidity into the mix,
jumping around in a box of cotton, leather and lacquer and sometimes I’m amazed
that I can even make it to the mawari geiko
portion of practice.
Several times during the summer last year I was
fighting dizziness and fatigue while practicing and it was frustrating to the
point of tears at least once that I was removed from practice because I
couldn’t get my eyes to focus enough to actually see where my opponent was.
This year my goal is to acclimate myself to the heat
as quickly as possible both inside and outside of practice. Running up as many
of the 250 stairs of Tanukidani Fudoin
in the morning should help with that. I’m going to keep careful track of my
liquids consumption and above all, take a breather if / when I become dizzy.
I think one of the mistakes I made when I first
started practicing here was giving too much all at once. I expected that the sensei and the others would have very high expectations of me. Likewise, I wanted
to demonstrate that Canada and my club in particular teach good kendo. While
neither of these is an erroneous way of thinking, it made me put a lot of
physical stress on my body that was unnecessary. I had joined a recreational
club, just as I had wanted, specifically to avoid the hyper competitive
atmosphere that surrounds many university clubs.
Perhaps the best way of looking at it was said at a
practice at the Kyoto City Police Head Quarters during a particularly hot
evening last year. Translated and paraphrased it follows:
“We are here to study kendo, and so we should put our
full efforts into studying kendo. However, if your body is feeling bad, please
take a rest.”
I think it’s a good bit of advice to carry with you during practice in extreme weather conditions. Of course we must always try to improve ourselves, and
improvement comes from stretching the limits a little further each time, but if
we damage our bodies, we will only hinder our advancement. If we are injured or
feeling unwell we should take our practice slowly.
A final thought on this is a bit of advice given to me
by Itou Sensei: “Watching is as much of a practice as participating.” So even
if we are forced by physical limitations to sit out for a few minutes or even a
whole practice, we can still benefit by watching others and learning from their
techniques.
