Poetry for kendoka.....

Wrote this in Literature class while Ms. Caroline wasn't looking. Haha....

In the future I'll be a hachidan,

That would be really great and so much fun.

I will also enter lots of shiai,

And scare others with my awesome kiai.



But for now, I am still only 5th Kyu,

Still struggling to hit yuko-datotsu.

Everyday I do ninety suburi,

I still cannot achieve ki-ken-tai-chi.



"Do not worry, it's okay," my friend says,

"One day, we will jigeiko like sensei!

"So be you neither worrried nor afraid,

"Let us train until both of us drop dead!"

Best jigeiko ever just now

Wow. Training lasted for four hours just now.

After basic beginner training for two hours, it was then time for bogu prac!!! Today we were extremely lucky, got five of us: Marcus, Hakim, Syrille, Mark, and myself.

Unfortunately hakim came late and Mark had to go. So it was four of us then. I was really happy when Hakim came to me and said "Izzaz! Hit me whereever u can!"

Onegaishimasu, sonkyo, and hajime.

I've been practicing parries at home with an imaginary opponent, and it seems to work for a while, until Hakim took out all his "feints". He really makes it seem as if he wanted to strike men, but then he deviated in mid-air to strike my open do. And then, whenever I counter-attack him to strike men, he just moves his head to the side, and I would miss altogether. All because of a few inches.

Note: Learn to move head to dodge men cuts. Might come in handy one day.

But there came a time when I was really proud of myself. MY FIRST IPPON WITH HAKIM!!!!

He snapped his wriststo strike my kote. I deflected it downwards and attempted to strike his men. But before I could strike him he brought his shinai around to strike my left do while moving backwards. I instinctively shoved my shinai to the left, and his shinai hit my tsuka. As he was moving backwards at the time, I took one great leap forwards with fumikomi-ashi and landed a snap cut on his men, at the same time when my foot landed on the ground. Kiai was there, and zanshin was inserted. IPPPON!!!!!!

Then he entered Jodan-no-kamae. It was my first time fighting anyone in jodan. Mostly strikes were concentrated on my kote and men. He managed to land a few solid blows.

Note: When fighting jodan, keep kamae strong so he may not move forwards.

Next up Syrille. Since it was his third time in bogu, I could practice my nidan wazas, mainly kote-men.

And finally Marcus. The great MARCUS. He was good, but I can feel myself catching up to his standard. I look forward to the day when I can finally contend with him as an equal. Very much like our previous Sunday trainings..... Except for we were both POOPED. I'm still having headaches due to heat exhaustion.

Note: I;m getting better and better!!!!!

This blog is not dead....... being revived

Well, I went through an emotional roller-coaster ride. Enough said, I don't wanna look back to the past now.

What I want to do NOW is to keep on posting good stuff about Kendo again.

Deeply sorry that I left this blog. Was in depression. But that's all taken care of. What's important is that things are finally starting to be bright again.

I'm posting my next post now.

Cheers,

Izzaz

Training 2.5.09. Might be my last training for another two more months

Its been three whole weeks since I last did Kendo, and I almost forgot how it feels like to rush out of the door in the morning to get to training. I miss training so so much, and I haven't touched my shinai for two weeks because of the emotional roller coaster that I experienced two weeks ago. I lost all ability to do anything, even Kendo. I didn't have the mood for it. But after that depression stage was over, everything's okay again.

Hakim handled practice today. Mind you he's very funny. All of the juniors like him, because of the way he teaches and because of his jokes. Did I mention he's funny cos of his pervert-ness? During training there was this so-called hot girl outside the dojo. And then Hakim called me over to the dojo entrance to show off some of his amazing do strikes. Perasan betul, ingat orang nak tengok dia ke.

Hakim emphasized more on ashisabaki today, which is good, i think, because the newbies' ashisabaki were like ________ (fill in the blank yourself). There was an improvement in overall performance at the end of the two hours. After the ashisabaki, there was katate suburi. All the katate suburi that I did in my bedroom during those nights after studying really showed today. My suburi was fast, and tenouchi was alright, better than last time.

At the end of everything, I asked Hakim for a bout of jigeiko. But he said no, he has to go tuition. But, being the kind brother and all, he spent a few minutes to teach me do-suburi. I have basic do-suburi knowledge Marcus taught me, but Hakim built upon those foundations by emphasizing the oomph of a do cut. In order for a do cut to appear effective, the strike must be made hard. Again, willpower comes in. You must strike firmly with the cutting edge. To know that a do-suburi is proper, the shinai must not bounce off and must make a distinct sound. All of these can be attained through proper practice.

And that was it. After that I went for lunch with Michelle to spend a few hours of quality time together. Was really sweet, the next time I'm seeing her is on sunday next week. What a pain. We have never spent more than 7 days not seeing each otherever since we got together 7 months ago. Looks like we're gonna have to break the record, to 8 days. Why? Well haven't you heard? I'm no longer a Sunway University College student...... I'm going to study pre-medicine in Universiti Putra Malaysia for 10 weeks until July.... They;ve got exams every saturday 9-11 am and I have to live there. That sucks. But that is nothing compared to the 9 months of separation that we have to endure when October comes..... I'm going overseas, and only coming back June next year. Come October again, and another 9 months.... the cycle repeats for 6 years. 

Sometimes life does throw a brick at you. But what can we do. Nothing. Instead of asking for a lighter burden, ask instead for larger shoulders.

Rare jodan video clip

Chiba sensei fighting in Jodan-no-kamae.

Jodan is called the kamae of fire, or hi-no-kamae. It is a kamae where a strong, attacking spirit is plainly shown. The disadvantage of jodan is that it opens up the tsuki, do, kote, and therefore is a stance full of suki (openings for attacks). When assuming a jodan-no-kamae, it is important to attack with strong kigurai, and with the feeling of "Come and strike me wherever you like!"

How do you defeat a person who never slows down?

Marcus, I tell you, never shows any sign of slowing down. Me, on the other hand, gets terribly exhausted every time I keiko with him. I still don't understand why. I haven't consumed any soft drinks for two whole days. And I still felt the same weariness that I felt when keiko-ing with him two weeks ago.

Maybe it's because I don't practice enough in bogu..... especially the men. It gets heavier over time, and I have difficulty breathing in it. Especially after kakari-geiko or something strenous, I can hear my heart thumping in my ears. Anyways, next time, I'm gonna go thru prac wearing the men the whole time.

So. Marcus came late. Arrived when it was raining. He parked the car like this:

(to be uploaded soon =P)

I was rendered speechless. Monday ppl are gonna find out that there's a hole in the hall.

Alright. Warmups and moku-so done, we proceeded on towards basic suburi practice. It's kinda difficult to concentrate when you got people shooting an ad for HO-HO-HO-HORLICKS running around. Started off with kirikaeshi waza. I broke a milestone today..... I can finally do Kirikaeshi in one breath!!!! I just gave it my all, poured all heart and soul and spirit, as if it's gonna be the last time I'm gonna do this, then wham-wham-wham-wham (change direction) wham-wham-wham-wham-wham (wait for a while) and a final WHAM.

Under extreme stress, like when doing kirikaeshi with the little oxygen you have, actually makes my cuts go faster. This is why many sensei would recommend kirikaeshi as a staple food in our training menus.

Marcus taught me how to do do-suburi. Keep both arms extended as if going for a men cut, but twist the wrists a bit, and make sure the left hand stays at the centerline. After that tenouchi must be inserted, and follow through. The trajectory of the shinai should graze the opponents' elbow slightly.

Do suburi finished, we did kakari-geiko, and finally jigeiko. By this time, we had only practiced for an hour or so, but I was already out of breath. I remember thinknging as I gasped for breath, "Woah. Marcus is like flooding me with his ki energy and draining my stamina away". And yet, it didn't seem as if the fella was slowing down. Whenever I leapt in to strike he would always have a counterattack ready. I strike men, he would push in, enter tsubazeriai (a position where the two Kendoka are locked against each other) and hiki-men or kote. Heck, he even has counterattacks against MY counterattacks.

It seems as if every time I grow stronger, he grows stronger as well. Or maybe his full strength hasn't been shown to me yet, and he's merely toying with me, offering little bouts of skill bit by bit. He is not someone to be underestimated. I have to be able to overcome him in order to achieve my goal: to be able to best Hakim in a three-point match. First him, then Arif, then Davis, then Pang, Mark, and whomever else that will help me improve. Then I'll be able to be Hakim's equal.

We did nippon shobu just now.

First bout:

I loosed a kiai from my dry and parched throat. Muscles ready to move, I planned to leap forward and strike kote-men. But before I could do that, Marcus brushed my shinai aside, and deftly manipulated his wrists to strike a clean men. Men-ari. Come to think of it, Marcus, it was a lot like a debana-waza to me.

2nd bout:

Tsubazeriai position. Marcus pushed hard, so I pushed harder. Marcus was heavier than me, and was using his weight as an advantage. I stepped back half a step and brought down my raised shinai as hard as I could (hiki-men). Men-ari.

3rd bout:

I had my hands raised, about to strike an opening which I saw on Marcus's do. Maybe it was due to fatigue, or lack of concentration, but I was too slow. Marcus struck my left kote. Kote-ari.

I resolved to do better in the future.

After that we took off our bogu and practiced kata, from the 1st form to the 5th form. We had to look at the book that I bought (KENDO: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE, written by HIROSHI OZAWA) for the fifth form kata. You know, the one with the suriage-men (omote) in it.....

Doing kata after keiko is nice way to cool down a body still high on adrenaline. It also helps us to remember that Kendo was not developed in a day, but through centuries of warfare in Japan. We must also not forget that men died to bring us the techniques that we use today. So, kata to me is to honor those who have developed this art throughout the centuries. And since kata is more of a mental and spiritual activity rather than a physical one, it seems fitting that kata should be practiced every time after keiko, the more physical activity.

I'm off to bed now. My legs are aching. Still, the ache feels good. At least I use my legs. During weekdays I just sit on my buttocks the whole day. Sheesh. Oyasuminasai people. Good night.

izzaz

Niten Ichiryu Musashi Kai

While waiting for the video to load, maybe all of you can read this.

Traditional Kendo is not a sport, but rather a mental discipline conditioning one's self to face a life or death confrontation. Kendo is a martial art; in order to defeat an apponent (who is also a disciplined swordsman) one must concentrate and focus their mind to defend an attack with innate skills that have been developed through daily practice.

Musashi-kai kendo was started in 1600 by Miyamoto Musashi, however, is still taught and practiced today. Kendo is not merely the knowledge of swordsmanship but it is how we should develop ourselves to be more human in our hearts, spirits and mental attitude in our every-day living.

A lapse in concentration, fear, or a moment of doubt can bring a swift defeat. A true swordsman is one who does not think of survival but rather has prepared themselves for death. If the swordsman's thoughts were of self-preservation, then they will be distracted. Therefore, kendo or the art of swordsmanship, is not a physical activity, but rather it is a mental discipline.

--Sasaki Hirotsugu--

Wise words from Sasaki Hirotsugu, master swordsman. The video is about the Niten Ichiryu Musashi Kai school of Kendo. Musashi Kai has inherited Miyamoto Musashi's style of dual swordsmanship and has applied it practically for Kendo. It is after watching this video that I have been doing katate suburi non stop for these past few nights before sleeping.

There are a few benefits of doing katate suburi. It helps strengthen your left hand, for one. As you grow accustomed to doing tenouchi without any support your tenouchi with both hands would be better. It will also be good for your overall Kendo, because 70% of the strength of a suburi comes from the left hand. The right hand merely guides the shinai to the target, acting like a stabilizer fin on an X-Wing fighter.

Plus, If you would observe the jodan players, katate suburi has great range over normal suburi. This would be a great asset for all Kendoka to put in their arsenal. If launched successfully, they can be really effective, able to hit opponents from a large distance. You don't even need to be in issoku-itto-no ma for that.

However, if unsuccessful, it could be a major pain. One handed suburi takes up more energy to pull back after a strike, and during that split second gap your opponent will have struck you with his lightning fast wrist snaps.

I have always been fascinated about nito ryu kendoka. It takes a lot of concentration just to even handle one sword, not to mention two. Niten Ichiryu Musashi Kai has direct links to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi himself, but unlike Hyoho Niten Ichiryu, Musashi Kai deals only with Kendo. Very good Kendo, in fact. Musashi Kai has a dojo in Tokyo if I'm not mistaken, and they meet up twice a month, every second and fourth Saturday. But their trainings are like from noon til midnight!

The shihan (Head Sensei) of Musashi Kai now is Nakamura Tenshin. According to Kendo World forums he is a very nice person. He welcomes all Kendoka, whether young or old, beginner or experienced, Japanese or foreigner, to come train with them on those Saturdays. The only condition is that you have to notify them in advance. Log on to musashikai.jp to contact them.

Nakamura teaches nito based on the fighting techniques developed by the Kensei Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi, in his Book of Five Rings, tells us that fighting with two swords is the way to go in combat. A warrior must make full use of his weaponry, and it is false to sacrifice his life with a weapon still undrawn. When you hold a sword with both hands, it is difficult to wield it left and right. When running it is easier to run with two swords in either hand. When fighting many men it is better to have two swords rather than one to cover all directions.

One day, after i get my go-dan or above, I'm gonna get trained in nito.... haha.

Now I'm off to practice my katate suburis again.....

Izzaz. P/S: The Musashi Kai Kendoka are the ones in white keikogi and hakama