October 05

 

Day 390: Saturday, October 01-05 - Day 395: Sunday, October 09-05

I spend these days in something of a depression. 

I train in kendo for three of these days, but my heart is not really in it. And it shows. I basically go through the motions. I get some constructive criticism. This includes:

- making sure I grip the shinai in the correct fingers of the left hand when striking;
- springing off a straight left leg.

I also practice osae-men, remembering to quickly draw the left foot up before striking; hiki-waza from chika-kamae and others.

I do my suburi on the days I don't train, continuing with my emphasis on do and tsuki with the feeling of 'what's the point?' 

I tell my wife 'I am thinking about giving up kendo.' She looks at me as if to say 'Are you mad?'   

This is very unlike me. I get bored of my morose self. 

 

Monday, October 09-05

Kendo training. I bring a friend of mine who is left handed and left footed. He left.

I have a good practice. It's delightful. I enjoy myself. I laugh at my mistakes. I take some nice points. I learn  interesting things, such as how to apply pressure in tsubazeriai and how to visualise pointing with a finger when making a strike. 

This is the essential 1% I have been missing. It lets you ping around the dojo and fence creatively.

P.S. I have updated my links page following a conversation with Lyngby Kendo Club. Drop me a line if you want to be listed.

 

Tuesday, October 10-05

Kendo training for about five clubs in the area. I concentrate on two things: correct distance and hiki-waza. I receive lots of points, but probably this is a good thing. It's almost like relearning kendo, particularly shikake-waza.

In tsubazeriai I really try and make points and I note how people make points from me. At one stage I get so tangled up with my teacher that he traps my arms and leads me around freely. It's kind of funny. 

It's a good practice. I feel like I am pushing the limits of what I know and hope this will develop my kendo in the longer term. 

 

Day 395: Wednesday, October 12-05

My wife goes out and my daughter and I evolve a rather bizarre game where I pull a hat over her eyes and she stands up and walks a few steps before collapsing in a heap of giggles. 

I watch a rather naff film before doing my suburi. Following my recent decision I concentrate mainly on tsuki and do. However, I mix in some kote as I can't seem to make this cut without making a production out of it. 

An ok set. 

 

Thursday, October 13-05

Kendo training. We start with kata and I realise how rusty I have become. With my next exam in December this is not good.

We do warm ups and suburi then dive into armour.

I get to wondering about my tendency to bend my left leg too much. I try and keep is straight, but soon enough I am doing rabbit kendo. I wonder if this is because of the weakness I have there following my accidents and operations. I resolve to find a way to strengthen my knees.

 

Day 396: Friday, October 14-05

At work I notice that my hands are tinted blue. They look rather funny sticking out of a suit. At lunchtime I go running again. In the evening I notice that my weight has dropped 4 kilos since I started.

Suburi in the evening. More tsuki and do. The other day my teacher noted how you can incorporate the dorsal muscles by pushing the sword backwards on the up swing. This is good because naturally the muscles elasticate back.

A good set after a knackering week. 

 

Day 397: Saturday, October 15-05 - Day 398: Sunday, October 16-05

A beautiful weekend, and almost my last free weekend before Christmas. I take my daughter up the hill for our weekly pig-viewing.

I do my suburi both days. I try and get them out the way so I don't have to start late at night. Less and less to report. Is there any point to keeping this diary? Or even counting the days?

 

Monday, October 17-05

Training. Lots of people, as always. We work on seme and osae - the subtleties of kendo. I continue to try and make opportunities from tsubazeriai, with little success. It's interesting, though, or at least as interesting as being smacked on the head a dozen times with the same waza can be.

I fence with my teacher who criticises me for using big and inaccurate waza from too close.

 

Day 399: Tuesday, October 18-05

 

Tomorrow is a big day suburi wise, so tonight I really crank it up. I feel like my right and left hands are starting to do their jobs properly. It is a satisfying feeling.

 

Day 400: Wednesday, October 19-05

 

Day 400. Who would expect to have got this far?

Actually, the more I do these suburi the less I feel like counting the days. It seems quite self-aggrandising to keep track of every day. Perhaps it would be better just to note simply the observations that might prove a valuable reference in the future.

I guess I am looking for the narrative so I can understand this challenge as a journey between the start and the finish, and my role within the story. However, there is no finish in a real sense. And the thoughts I have recorded here do not begin to express the experiences of the last year and a half. 

The nearest I can come is to borrow from Noma Hisashi when he says, 'the true value of Kendo lies at the point where theory and practice come together in unity.' 

 

Thursday, October 20-05

I read an interesting article in The Guardian on a new phenomena 'Schadenblogging'. 

Apparently, being 'honest on a blog leaves one vulnerable to “Schadenblogging”... With the Schadenblog, one surfs the internet to read the online diary of a hated one. Traditionally, one Schadenblogs a few drinks to the good, and with a friend on hand to whom one can repeat choice quotes. Other Schadenbloggers prefer to indulge in company time, merely forwarding the link to everyone they know in an e-mail entitled “Look what the loathsome, joyless freakbag has done now”. 

Apparently, tales of failure, male pattern baldness and pitiful descriptions of ones life 'all make good Schadenblog'.  

The journalist goes on to relate that, 'I have a friend whose vile ex-husband would post his own, thrillingly bad, poetry on his blog. At dinner parties she would print off copies, and after pudding everyone would solemnly recite the most awful ones in unison.'

Oh.

 

Day 401: Friday, October 21-05

 

Yesterday my teacher spends about 10 seconds looking at my feet during suburi. He points out that my left leg needs to be straight in order to get my heel lower, and my right leg gently bent. 

This really seems to help, especially after spending some weeks thinking that my knees are too week to do kendo properly. 

Today I concentrate on my knees and feet. It feels much more comfortable and feel encouraged.  

 

Day 402: Saturday, October 22-05 - Day 403: Sunday, October 23-05

 

It is the weekend, but I am miserable company, tired and grumpy, just like my daughter.

I continue to concentrate on my knees and feet. In fact, I am forced to because my shoulders are so painful I can't swing my bokken. 

I also read Jeri Massi's excellent Tae Kwon Do book - definitely worth a read if you have the time. 

 

Monday, October 24-05

 

Kendo training. I don't feel like going but I drag my arse out anyway. We do suburi, kihon-uchi, ji-geiko and then kata. 

I concentrate on getting my feet, knees and hips into the right position. When I am just practicing footwork this is not too difficult, but when I have a shinai in my hands it becomes complicated.

In ji-geiko I try to be a good motodachi by encouraging good attacks from kohai and showing, by example, shikake-waza.

I fence against my teacher and try and show my best kendo. He does a fantastic tsuki on me, amongst other things. 

Recently I have had my fourth dan examination on my mind. I am hoping to take it in Brussels in December. As I result I am looking at my kendo with a critical eye and can't help thinking, 'If I do that in the exam I will fail'. In particular I am reversing too much and at other times coming in too close. 

With this is mind we move onto to kata. My kata are really rusty but I am with a partner who I work well with and it's good fun. At the end of the course our teacher reminds us that these kata were tested in real life situations and people died testing their efficacy.  The bottom line is to treat them with respect.

 

Day 402: Tuesday, October 25-05

 

I think I may have tweaked a hamstring following Friday's jogging. I felt it last night and all day today. 

So I decide to take this set easy. Experience has taught me to treat injuries with respect or, as the Japanese say, 'Muri shinaide'.

Therefore I do a somewhat relaxed set mainly focussing on not aggravating my leg.. 

 

Day 403: Tuesday, October 26-05

 

Inspiring quote: "How many people do something they really believe in?" said Terry Fox at a news conference. "I just wish people would realize that anything's possible if you try. Dreams are made if people try."

 

Thursday, October 27-05

 

Kendo training. I feel like my kendo is going through a significant change. Now I am trying to become more controlled and to manage my opponent and centre better. This is difficult and I tend to be struck more but it seems to present a path for development in the long term. 

Another thing I have noticed is that, although these suburi have made me calmer in high pressure situations, I think I am becoming too calm and am lacking a combative edge. For the first time in a long time I tell myself 'This is the only the chance you're ever going to get' just before ji-geiko. It helps to fire me up and approach the situation seriously.

My teacher reminds me of the importance of visualising a strike as a point with the index fingers. He also tells me that if someone lands a good point, in this case a tsuki, I should look to get my revenge before the end of the fight. 

I leave in a positive frame of mind, ready for anything. Zanshin!

 

Day 405: Friday, October 28-05 - Day 407: Sunday, October 29-05 

 

My leg feels better and I run on Friday. For the first time it's me saying, 'Let's do another lap!' 

The suburi are better. I continue to focus on do and tsuki, particularly the latter. Somehow I feel as if I am getting rid of the bad habits that have accumulated over the years of kendo training. The shortcut really is the longest way. I increasingly regret not getting the basic right in my rush for getting points.