Last Practice of the Year

Today was the last practice of the year for me. So much has happened this year. So many great experiences, new achievements, friends and contacts. I'm satisfied with 2012, and hope 2013 is even better.

I started with some kata practice again, before the official practice started. I was eager to show off that I had mastered nanahon-me at home doing shadow kata alone in my living room. I had Ino-san and Koyama-san help me again today. I was happilly much more confident with roppon-me than I was last week, though I completely forgot shidachi's final move into hidari-jodan at the end. D'oh!

And as eager as I was to show off my new nanahon-me skills, of course, it was still clunky and inaccurate. I managed not to fall this time, and could mostly bring myself down into a crouch smoothly. We worked mostly in the complicated footwork involved in nanahon-me. I bruised my right kneecap again, but I got some valuable tips for creating the right distance and strike. They tried to include some advice as far as feeling and intensity go, but I can't focus on that until my muscles have memorized the correct motions.

Practice felt good today. I opted out of choyaku-suburi again so I wouldn't have clogged airways for the rest of practice. We did a bunch of kirikaeshi wall to wall. I did my best to keep my arms up and my left fist centered again and was mostly successful. We did some stamina exercises involving an ai-waza followed by a continuous five strikes. I'm getting better at these.

Mawari-geiko was a lot of fun too. I got to fight Ino-san again and once again was scolded to go straight and not veer around my opponent. I got to fight Murata-san again. I swear he switched hands for the long shinai. I got a nice bruise on my upper arm for my efforts and wasn't able to strike him once. I was leaning forward too much, and Itou Sensei corrected me on that. It was hesitation and indecision getting in the way of correct kendo, unfortunately. Mawari-geiko must have lasted longer than usual because after a 5 minute break I was stunned to see we only had 10 minutes left.

I used the time to ask Koyama-san to help me correct my dou-uchi. He started me with some very basic stationary strikes, followed by a one step strike and some dou-kirikaeshi. His dou strike is incredibly strong! I'm envious, but I don't want to attempt to strike a strong dou right now while my form is still incorrect. Chances are I'll end up hurting someone or myself. I'm glad to have nanahon-me as an excuse to ask for more dou-uchi instruction.

After five minutes of large motion dou-uchi we did some small motion dou-uchi and then some tiny motion dou-uchi and finally microscopic motion dou-uchi (I exaggerate but still). The point was to get used to making a small, quick strike at the side for nanahon-me. He also corrected my footwork. In an attempt to focus on where my hands are, I have neglected my feet, and as a result, step too far to the right. Instead, I need to work on stepping forward, slightly to the right with a small step. This will ensure that my strike hits the side of the dou and not the front.

We closed practice with a final round of kirikaeshi though I did it twice because Koyama-san was correcting my strikes.

At the end of practice, Itou Sensei called us together to remind us about the importance of correct distance and correct seme. He said that to continuously strike your opponent without care is selfish kendo. That instead we must hold out, pressuring each other with our seme until we cannot hold out any longer. Then we strike boldly at our opponent. I will do my best next year to apply this to my kendo.

To everyone reading, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll continue to fill out the rest of the website over the break and hope to continue to bring you coverage of my kendo experience in Kyoto throughout 2013.