Today was an interesting experiment in how much my body can take when my mind is switched off. This must be the 'no mindedness' that is so pervasive in kendo philosophy. Now, if only I could get there without putting my body in a calorie panic, life would be peachy.
Unfortunately, dieting has its drawbacks too. Aside from the pounding headache I've had all day, I've been forgetting things--little things-- that are usually routine for me. Like how many steps back to take in kata. I was counting the damn steps, but I just didn't stop at five. My head was somewhere else. Fortunately, after that I was able to pull my head back in and do a fairly successful kata sequence, nan-hon-me aside. Fukao sensei is trying to get my to finish the do strike at a 90 degree angle before turning to look at my opponent, but my muscles are having a hard time remembering the intricate details for the whole things, so its slow going.
Suburi was the hardest part of practice though. Trying to reintegrate the idea of throwing the shinai was a bit more difficult than I expected it to be, mostly because when you fix one thing your break three others. Itou sensei had to talk to me about my kiai. Oops.
Kihon was better today than it has been in a while. I was able to get through all the drills with speed and flexibility, mostly, I think, because my brain was completely shut off, and I could just do the thing I needed to do without thinking about it. It was nice, I admit.
I did a few mawari-geiko, too, keeping in mind Fukao sensei's advice of "Don't start something you can't finish." Since my body and mind were working on different worlds, maybe that's why today was a little easier, In any case, my right leg was one massive cramp today, from all the stress I've been putting it through. Hopefully a day of rest tomorrow will sort it out.
I had a mock shiai with Yuko today. It didn't feel as good as the mawari-geiko, but it was all right. I also had a bit of success fighting Sato sensei today.We always finished too close to each other, so I switched my tachi-ai, and was able to get him a few good times on men. That felt good. Even he said it was a good thing to realize and implement.
All in all, it was a good practice, even if it went 25 minutes over the usual time. I got home super late. No time to make a healthy dinner with all the super markets closed. Combini it is.
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