Change the Conversation

This is the third Monday practice in a row that we haven't done mawari-geiko. On one hand it's nice because I get to choose who I practice with and at what pace, but on the other hand, I like having the timed fights at regular intervals; it's good practice for tests.

I got through the beginning 210 suburi with more ease this week, which puts my relieved faith back in the bouce-backability of youth. Don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to count on that though.

Yuko and Ito-sensei were absent again today, both for health reasons. No one is really sure when Ito-sensei might be back, but as long as he's getting better, we can wait. Donna invited me out for a drink later on, pending the result of my visa. Success or failure, we'll be drinking to it. It's the kendo way.

I did a bit of long sparring with Koyama-sensei today who informed me that I'm still coming in from the side. I'm stepping too far to my right and my shinai isn't coming in straight. It's an old habit again that I'll have to put some serious effort into the correct once again. Right foot to right foot-- that is to say, move forward with your right foot as though you mean to step on your opponent's own right foot. This will put you in the path of his center. Of course, thinking of it cause the whole tenuous form to collapse and I got progressively worse while I tried, but that's normal, and Koyama-sensei was, as ever, patient and kind.

Finally, I got to practice with Donna for an appreciable length of time today. I'd forgotten how nice it can be to practice with someone who can speak your own language. She schooled me on the floor, naturally, but she gave me some nice advice that I do appreciate: "Change the conversation. More specifically, she pointed out I have a tendency to press too far to the left with my shinai  against my opponent's shinai. For me this habit evolved from my reliance on the connection between the two shinai to judge the future actions of my opponent. Last week, Sato-sensei also pointed out a weakness in this tactic in that it frequently tilts me off-center.

This week, Donna mentioned that the connection between the two shinai is like a conversation, and my side of the conversation is very one sided and repetitive, to the point that she always knows what I'm going to do, leading to a boring and predictable keiko.

I will try harder in the future to change the conversation, and find ways to not rely so heavily on the connection between the two shiai to gauge my opponent. I'll also spend some time working on new ways of moving my shinai in relation to that of my opponent. I'm going to lose out on a lot of hits while I try this, but that's the nature of the game.