A lot of people came around today, mainly its because it's the first official training session of the year. I said 'official' as in,approved by teachers and the Penolong Kanan Kokurikulum and all those useless stuff. Well, to me, Kendo is Kendo, and there's no reason to differentiate it between 'official', and 'unofficial'/haram.
I arrived quite late, after picking up Michelle from the train station. She decided to join PBSM so after seeing her off I quickly ran to the dojo. Dressed in hakama, keikogi, do, and tare, I joined the others doing our usual warm up routines. Then by 8.30 the Kendoka were separated into two groups: the newbies, and the ones who have been to more than one training session. Hakim took the newbies while Pang took us in.
Our instructor, and also my Kanashimi Brother, Hakim.
Hakim taught the newbies on the basics of all basics: etiquette in the dojo. If Hakim was the "Book of Five Rings", then what he taught them would be described in the "Ground" section of the book. Basic fundamentals, like bowing, seiza, and so on.
The Book Of Five Rings was written by the famous swordsman Musashi Miyamoto. It contains five sections: Ground, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void. Information is available here: http://www.samurai.com/5rings/
Pang asked us to do cuts in this order:
- Joge suburi
- Three-step men cuts
- Two-step men cuts (Nikyudo suburi)
- Ikkyudo suburi
- Haya-suburi (also called choyaku-suburi)
- Men cut with stamping
- Men-Men
- Men-men-men
- Kote-men
- Kote-men-men
So, everything finished, Hakim beckoned Mark and I for the best part: Bogu practice!!!
Okay. So kirikaeshi first. At the end of my last training last week, I made a mental note to include more spirit in my kirikaeshi. So I kiai as loud as I could and fired away my sayu-men cuts to Hakim's head. It definitely felt better than last week's, and there was a slight increase in speed. However, I felt that my cuts were slightly more helicopter-style. You're supposed to bring up the shinai in a straight motion, not wheel it around in a huge circle.
When it was Hakim's turn to do kirikaeshi on me, I used Abul's advice: don't look down, instead look up. And it worked. The previously vicious cuts were dampened a lot by the men's frontal padding. Last time my chin was down, so Hakim struck the central part of my men, which is not that thick. So that's what caused the pain...
Next!!! Jigeiko. Versus Hakim as well. Like before, he went on just 0.5% power. He let me hit him a lot, only occasionally counterattacking. Never once did he hit my kote or do like last time. But there were a few moments when I wanted to attack and he countered by doing a tsuki thrust to my throat. Twice the tip of his shinai entered beneath the men flaps and grazed the skin of my throat.
My throat. I didn't even realise it until Michelle told me that my neck was red. Stung when I took my shower just now. But it looks kinda cool I think... Like a battle scar =D
Next was kakari-geiko. Abul, if you're reading this, I'd have to tell you that your favorite training method really saps the energy outta you.... Strike continuously, again and again and again, then if you're too slow, Hakim will push you... Mark fell down a few times after being pushed. I almost trripped on my back legs after doing taiatari-hiki-men. Phew.
But, in the end, like all good teachers, Hakim commented on our keiko session.
Turns out that he tsuki us a few times because he had control of the centerline and because we were too hasty. In Kendo, strategy is very important, and you cannot just hope to attack relentlessly. He told us to stop first, set our sights on the opponent, make sure our posture is correct, kamae perfect, wait for an oppurtunity, and then only strike. There were a few times when I just hit men without bothering whether my right leg was in front or left leg was at the back. Also, at times my kamae was very sloppy, and didn't point at the opponent's throat.
So last time I held back too much, and this time I was too offensive. It's okay; someday, I will find the perfect balance for me. Someday. The day might be a month from now, a year, or even a decade. But that day will come.
Ouch, my foot hurts....
Till next time,
Izzaz
3 comments:
LOL. Apasal kena tsuki sampai macam tuh?!! mesti ur head or posture tak betul, thts why can sampai termasuk dalam men... haha
wei, you've really gotta practice, practice, and more practice kay?!! u must learn to crawl before you can walk.. make sure you have mmng solid basic training first, then oni whn you practise in bogu, you can ajdust better. :-)
as miyamoto musashi said, tooo much spirit is weak. too little spirit is weak. I think i had too much until i disregarded basics.... hmmm..... a common beginner;s trap. I must not fall into it again.
Hahaha, now u know is it? I myself haven't been doing kakari in a long time gotta to go back and enjoy it hahahah. But anyway, that's kakari geiko train it with purpose then it will make u stronger a lot more.
And bout tsuki coming in, don't get traumatize by it. It is easy to get traumatize by it, and it leave a mark on ur kendo. I'm telling u this out of experience, fear it then u will fear it forever, Even when u close ur eyes u can feel it.
Good balance between attack and defense are needed in kendo, but in ur level don't care to much bout defending but focus on pressuring and then attacking. The first few level is to knock u down with kendo most basic characteristic, aggressive attack.
Balance is a hard thing, wish i would be practicing today too.
-grandpa of SJI kendo club-
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