Feb 05
Day 216: Tuesday, Feb 01-05
I have heard that men often make up for technique by using strength. I have therefore decided to make things slightly harder for myself by adding katate suburi.
My suburi plan is now:
30 x jogei (sp?)
30 x sayumen jogei
40 x shomen suburi
100 x shomen (katate, LH)
100 x sayumen (katate, RH)
100 x kote (katate, LH)
100 x do (katate, RH)
100 x kote/men
100 x sayumen
200 x kote/men/sayumen/do
100 x shomenI make two cuts forward, then two back.
My objective is not to build muscle, but to refine my technique to make the suburi as effortless as possible.
When my arms begin to tire I really concentrate on getting the technique right, rather than opting for gritted teeth machismo.
By making things difficult I am also evading the boredom I am starting to encounter.
Day 218: Wednesday, Feb 02-05
More of the same.
It's very difficult to control the bokken with one hand, especially with the aim of keeping a consistent quality.
However, I think this pays off when I return to two handed suburi, which feel more centred and balanced.
Thursday, Feb 03-05
Kendo training.
I am mocked relentlessly. I bought some cod liver oil tablets to help my knee cartilages. Boots also threw in a bottle of cod liver oil, which smashed in my bogu bag.
My kendogi and parts of my bogu now reek like fish. I can clean my uniform quite easily, but I don't know how to get the smell out of my men.
Not that I mind the smell, by the way.
After the training my teacher tells me that my ki-ken-tai is not so hot. He says that my footwork during suburi is good, but I change it to a mad leap when doing ki-ken-tai-ichi.
'It's the same movement' he say. 'You slide your foot forward and then raise it 5 centimetres to make fumikomi.'
He pantomimes what I do - and exaggerated up-step - then shows how to bend the knee and slide the foot forward.
I have the wrong mental image of the movement and resolve to rectify it.
'But don't do it in your apartment' he warns me. 'The neighbours won't like it.'
Day 219: Friday, Feb 04-05 - Day 221: Sunday, Feb 06-05
I change my footwork to better simulate ki-ken-tai. I take jodan, then strike as my right foot slides forward. In reverse I take jodan and strike as I push back off my right foot.
This is a very unconventional approach to suburi, but I am interested to see what effect, if any, it has on my keiko.
I have a cool kendo dream where I am given a shinken by a samurai woman. It is exquisitely made, like spun glass.
'This will bring me back to you more quickly' I tell her (why can't I be this eloquent in real life?)Other than that, I tried to wash the fish oil smell out my kendogi, with mixed results. Now, all my clothes smell like cod liver and the smell lingers in every room of my apartment. It seems to be contagious.
Monday, Feb 07-05
Kendo training. Lots if suburi, kirikaeshi and kakarigeiko. My lack of fitness shows up pretty quickly.
We do kata. I am told to lower my kensen more in toku (?), make only 1 suki in sanbonme (the other is a push from the hips), and think about yonhonme, particularly where the uchitachi tries to evade the shitachi.
Hmm, back to the drawing board;)
Day 222: Tuesday, Feb 08-05 - Day 227: Sunday, Feb 13-05
A very busy schedule combined with visitors from overseas have kept me away from writing this journal, although the suburi have continued unabated.
I am really pushing myself, trying to make the suburi as challenging as possible, if only to ward off the boredom! Now I do around 5-600 katate suburi. My aim is to make them as relaxed and effortless as possible. When I feel pain I consider what part of my technique I can refine.
Most of the time, however, I just feel knackered. I am stumbling between work, parenting, kendo. It is a very intense treadmill. I suppose everyone steps onto some time in their life. Trying to find another 30 minutes for suburi is difficult, but the motivation is still there.
I read the following description of Kendo. Click this link and go down the page to 'Lastly'. By my reckoning I have only another 50 years to go.
My daughter now has the ability to roll onto her side and gurgle. She appears some way off being able to get me a beer from the fridge. I wait and hope.
Monday, Feb 14-05
Valentine's Day. The dojo becomes a single's bar.
When I walk in my teacher says, 'Oh, you've stopped meditating and come down from the mountain to kill us all.'
It's like, totally, you know, weird.
I lead the class through suburi at top speed, then we do kirikaeshi, counter-attacks from men, and other exercises.
I do ji-geiko with a couple of people. Without wishing to sound oxymoronic, I stop thinking about what I am going to do and just do it. My next mental hurdle is to view all opponents as the same.
Last week I gave some tiramisu I had made to an Italian kohai. He took it home and promised to give me marks out of ten. Tonight he says, 'I can't give you ten because I don't think tiramisu should have a St. George's Cross (the flag of England) on the top.'
He mentally gets placed on my 'people to kill next time I do keiko' list. Along with the French.
Lastly we do aiuchi-kakarigeiko until, as the teacher says, 'You just can't do it any more'. He demonstrates the principle with me.
I leave the dojo in one of those, 'isn't kendo great' moods, mentally playing back the session in my head.
Kendo's great, isn't it.
Day 228: Tuesday, Feb 15-05
I continue to challenge myself to refine my technique or face pain. Again, the majority of my suburi are one-handed. 100 on the left, 100 on the right, men, sayu-men, kote, do.
I try and maintain focus all the way through and not be waylaid by trivial thoughts.
I feel reasonably pleased with my style. My new footwork is helping my balance during keiko.
I am very conscious that in a couple of weeks I will have done a quarter of a million suburi. I read the following on an aikido blog.
He also offers an interesting insight on how to fight off zombies.
Day 229: Wednesday, Feb 16-05 - Day 236: Wednesday, Feb 23-05
Another week passes. I want to keep this journal going so that I don't completely lose touch with reality. But it's difficult. After a year of suburi, what is there left to say?
Now I am doing the majority of the suburi in katate style, using either the left or right hand. The pain forces me to relax and refine my technique.
During the suburi I dream of the day when they will be finished. I have the following conversation with my wife as I do my suburi at about 11pm.
Me: Hey! I've done almost a quarter of the suburi
My Wife (From under the duvet): You mean I have to put up with this for another 3 years!She went back to kendo for the first time on Monday leaving me to look after our daughter, who turned 7 months on Feb 17. As someone who never considered children a definite 'must-do', I can say it is probably one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done, waving a wooden stick moronically over my head for a year aside.
Shiai this weekend. Wish me luck.
Friday, Feb 25-05 - Sunday, Feb 27-05
I go to a competition with a group of people I do not know very well, and come back really liking them.
As always, we are judged to a very high standard and, although my team does well, I feel in this context my performance is only satisfactory. Maybe that sounds churlish, I hope it doesn't as it was a fantastic weekend which completely changes the way I look at kendo.
There is simply so much to work on, starting with tenouchi. The coach explained how very old people can still compete because they have the ability to make small but very strong cuts.
What is the secret? Patience and perseverance. Making small cuts over and over again until it starts to happen.
I get home at midnight on Sunday and am so happy to crawl into bed beside my wife.
I go home and feel dizzy with tiredness. I am terrible company.
I do my suburi after supper and feel much better. It really clears my mind.
After the weekend I am concentrating on tenouchi. I try and do as many left-handed katate suburi as possible, but don't feel bad when I swap to two hands to give my left hand a break. I am not interested in building watermelon forearms, only excellent technique.
I try 100 sashi men, looking to generate speed with small movements. It is incredibly difficult. I will be patient and persevere.
I will give some thought to how to change my training to reflect where I am now. At the moment I am running in too many different directions.
I also reflect on my matches over the weekend, trying to see where I could improve.
In comparison to say a year ago I am making points that previously were impossible for me, kaeshi-do, hiki-men, to some extent kote, but I am concious of not having the full armoury of techniques yet. The top guys can strike from anywhere on any target and that is what I should aspire to, along with tenouchi.