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.