Fighting New Sensei!

Yesterday was a national holiday in Japan (something like Thanksgiving, only with less turkey and more tourists crawling through our neighbourhood to see the momiji) so there was no kendo, even though my energy has come back and I really wanted to go.

Fortunately, there was women’s practice today! Yuko unfortunately is sick, and so were a bunch of people, because only half as many showed up this month as opposed to last month. I was feeling good, not weighed down at all by the germs that have been plaguing me all month. Finally, I can get back into kendo!

Practice was much the same as it was last time, though we only had one break this time in the middle. We did our warm up and suburi, put on our men and did some men-uchi waza and six rounds of kirikaeshi. My lower back and calves started to seize up half way into the first hour from disuse this month, but I pressed on until the end.

In the second half we did more men, kote and dou-uchi, as well as some hiki-waza. I was complimented on my debana and suriage-waza which was nice considering I’ve been struggling to teach them to myself these past few months.

Keiko was really welcomed, and since there were less people attending, I could fight with all three sensei present which was great! 

The first was really strong. Kuzuta Sensei has a strong seme and likes to press forward quickly so there was little chance to reset myself. It was a lot like fighting Sugaya Sensei, only with less playful teasing and a more serious feeling. I couldn’t get very far with him, because he pressed me so hard and so quickly that I was quickly exhausted, but it was a good exercise nonetheless.

My second fight was with Masuda Sensei. He was somewhat more relaxed in that he didn't constantly press the distance too short, but his seme was still strong. He tagged me twice on the same spot on my hip with a sensei power level strike. It hurt like hell both times and on the second time he stopped and asked if I was all right. Yuko says that I should have said “It hurts! It hurts it hurts it HUUUURTS!!” but I told him I was fine and wiggled in my dou a little to ease the discomfort and we kept going. I prefer to pretend that I’m fine, even if I’m not because if I give in to the thought that I’m in pain, I’m less likely to want to continue, and I NEED to continue.

My last fight was with Toyoda Sensei. He was really fun to fight, probably because his feeling was the most relaxed and it felt more like I was playing than in a life or death battle. I managed to score a hit or two and he seemed to be impressed which was uplifting.

At the end of practice I was pretty exhausted. My lungs were feeling sticky again and the cough was coming back, so I bowed out of the final rounds of kakari-geiko.

I was told that sometimes I cock my elbow out, which tilts me to the side a bit and that I should concentrate on being as straight as possible. I was also told that I had amazing energy, which is a great thing to hear on the first practice back after a month of being sick!

Observations

What a rough month this has been. Just as I was recovering from my cold, it morphed into bronchitis, and just when it seemed that the bronchitis might be clearing up, my cold made a come back. I was knocked flat for 3 days with a fever and the coughing became so bad that I ripped the back of my throat and started coughing up blood. The fever finally broke last Friday and I’ve been feeling better ever since, though it still feels like I’ve swallowed a knife, talking and laughing both hurt, so today I went to practice just to watch.

I like to watch people’s footwork on days when I can’t practice, and the mechanics of their swings. As expected, those who utilize the energy of all of the joints in their arms get the most out of their swings. They are faster and snap harder than those who use only one or two joints. 

Watching people who have mastered the basic mechanics of kendo, it makes it seem like it's easy. Every motion is fluid, timed and connects perfectly. It's always so much harder than it looks, of course, but when I can visualize the motions that I see, I find that I can reproduce them a little bit better. 

When I was just starting kendo, I used to visualize that there was a tennis ball hanging from a short string from the tip of my shinai and that my goal was to hit my opponent in the back of the head with that ball. That visualization helped train me to get my shinai to snap down with the motions of my joints, and not crash down like swinging an ax. 

In the end, there are so many small mechanics of the body that need to work in harmony for the motions of kendo to look as good as they do on some of the guys I watch. So many pieces to the puzzle of great kendo that I'm still looking for and trying to fit together, but watching a practice is as much training as actually participating.

Watching a Test

Today was Yuko’s yon-dan test. I told her after I got my ni-dan that I would come and watch her test and cheer her on. I was really excited when my Sunday class got transferred to another teacher, because it meant I could go from the very early morning to watch from the beginning.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the new Sunday teacher got the flu on Saturday and couldn’t make it for Sunday, so I had to take over her class. The test usually lasts from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, however, so I could watch from 12:30.

When I got there, Yuko had already finished, and she happily told me that she passed!! She only had to do the shiai portion, because she took a three day seminar to be exempt from the kata and the written. She has tried for 6 years to get yon-dan, so understandably, today was a very happy day for her. She said she spent the whole morning before the exam telling herself that she could do it, and visualizing herself moving and striking. There’s a lot to be said about the visualization process before an endeavor. Involving your mind before you involve your body is, perhaps, a more effective warm up than actual suburi or drills. The mind is a very powerful tool in kendo.

Yuko wanted to wait until the end of the test in order to thank all of the sensei who had helped her along the way, which was fine for me, because I wanted to snap some pictures and watch the test.

Apparently, about 500 people were testing today. The gym was packed with people, and even a few foreigners. Yuko explained that in Kyoto for shodan through yon-dan, the test happens four times a year. Go-dan and roku-dan, it’s twice a year, and for nana-dan and hachi-dan, it’s only once a year. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for people to travel to another city to take a test, to maximize the number of times they can take a test in a year. In fact, Satou Sensei took his test today in Nagoya, and a few weeks back, Koyama san took his roku-dan test in Okayama.

In the end, the judges were really strict today. Only 72% of shodan passed, 73% of ni-dan, 76% of san-dan, 32% of yon-dan and 36% of go-dan. The reason stated was there wasn't strong enough kiai and kihon was really lacking. It was obvious that kiai was lacking. Voices were really weak and didn’t project at all. It’s good to remember that basic techniques and a good, strong kiai are the foundation of kendo and ought to never be forgotten.

At the end of the test, I took Yuko out for a celebration slice of cake. We’re going to have a celebration nabe party too, which I’m really looking forward too! For now, we both need to focus on the next step up on our journey, san-dan and go-dan. We can do it!

Well isn’t this just great.

Bronchitis again. Back in Canada, I used to get bronchitis when I was in elementary school. I had a flair up again in senior year of high school, but since then, it hasn’t been an major issue.

Then I moved to Japan. For whatever reason, be it to incredibly dryness of the air in Kyoto winters, or my body still using all of its immune resources to fight colds, leaving none left for bacteria, or maybe over the years I’ve just become more susceptible. Whatever the case, every year since coming to Japan I’ve had to deal with this, sometimes twice a year, and as far as kendo goes, it makes it very very difficult.

I should have known that something was up after practice on Monday. I was absolutely exhausted. Way more than I should have been, even taking into account 6 rounds of mawari-geiko on a bum leg. It took a lot of effort just to ride my bike home afterward, and I all but called it a night as soon as I got home.

For the rest of the week I was just as tired, and progressively, my throat became dryer and itchier, something that no amount of water could fix. By Friday, I was hacking, and there was nothing that could be done. I can do kendo to an extend on a pulled groin, but a pulled groin and bronchitis at the same time is impossible.

Instead, I’ve been focusing on arm and core strength at home with suburi and push ups, and mostly keeping warm under the kotatsu with lots of water, tea and Benylin. After coughing up what can only be described as glue this morning, I think going to kendo would be a bad idea today, so I will stay home and try and get this under control as quickly as possible.