Re: Meeting tomorrow - Dojo & Federation matters

Please note that my wife is organizing a fundraising BBQ and sells $25
tickets for BBQ boxes (Rib House). She'll have a few tickets for sale
so bring some cash with you ;-)

Eddy

Eddy wrote:
> Hi everyone, please note that tomorrow, Sunday May 22nd we will hold
a
> general meeting to discuss Kendo matters and dojo/federation
> organization for the coming year. All people involved in the dojo
over
> the past year, whether past or present members are invited to provide
> their support. Find attached the details:
>
> Purpose:
> To establish Federation outline and tasks
> To announce and assign tasks for upcoming events & activities
>
> Location: Queen's Park Savannah, across from QRC
> Time: 12 pm (noon) - 3 pm
>
> Hope to see you there,
>
> Eddy

Current Curriculum

As explained a few posts back, I've changed significantly the curriculum some weeks ago. Now that most of the guys wear bogu I started doing much more uchikomi-style practices. After some basics (suriashi, tai sabaki, shomen uchi,...) we line up in pairs a start:
- Kirikaeshi (5~7)
- Shomen issoku itto (large)
- very close distance (x5)
- kensen/kensen distance (x5)
- far distance (x5)
- Shomen nissoku itto (large)
- far distance (x5)
...Sometimes kote, do & kote-men also

From this point we either increase the intensity and build up all the way to kakari geiko or we keep on with technical stuff (I started showing them Oji/Shikake techniques recently). Actually these days, with the stifling heat, I tend to go with the latter...

1- increase in intensity
- Shomen (x3) in rapid succession
- Shomen (x3) in rapid succession 1 kiai
- Shomen (x5) in rapid succession
- Shomen (x5) in rapid succession 1 kiai
- Wait for my "men" signal and they go
- Uchikomi
- men-kote-do-men
- kote/men-kote/men-kote/men
- men-taiatari-hikimen (x3) (x5)
- men-kote-do-kote/men-kote/do-men-hikimen-men
- kakarigeiko (x5)
- hai-gakari (x5)
- kirikaeshi

2- technical stuff (examples, depending on the mood and requirement)
- work on seme
- pressure on mune / tsuki / eyes
- too maai
- men, kote or do
- sachi men (started only last week)
- grip exercises ("tighten the towel") - no footwork
- one hand (left)
- two hands (right stays light)
- step forward & sqeeze (just extending arms, no hit), back to kamae
- forward and back non-stop (no hit, just extend)
- add the hit, focusing on slicing forward
- taiatari
- Oji / Shikake
- so far only worked briefly on debana, nuki, suriage & harai
...

First keiko

Had the guys fight each other for the first time yesterday. Well actually it was the second time; about 8 months ago I did the experiment but it failed miserably as they were just not prepared and their basics were still so poor. Yesterday however I was quite pleased with the result. Granted, it was only 2 brothers (K & Jr.) but it was very intense and surprisingly straight. Jr surprised K with a couple of good shots and great zanshin. K was nervous in that first match. He whooped Jr's behind in a rematch that lasted less than a minute. Both were very straight and showed a lot of kiai. That's until they got really tired, about two minutes into it, haha! So the only criticism I got make was that they had to be able to keep it going for at least 5 minutes. Otherwise they kept it simple and I was very surprised to see some very nice Debana and Kaeshi. They'd only been practicing this for a couple of weeks so it's nice to see they're learning well and able to perform under stress. More of these kind of mini-shiai to come.

Meeting tomorrow - Dojo & Federation matters

Hi everyone, please note that tomorrow, Sunday May 22nd we will hold a
general meeting to discuss Kendo matters and dojo/federation
organization for the coming year. All people involved in the dojo over
the past year, whether past or present members are invited to provide
their support. Find attached the details:

Purpose:
To establish Federation outline and tasks
To announce and assign tasks for upcoming events & activities

Location: Queen's Park Savannah, across from QRC
Time: 12 pm (noon) - 3 pm

Hope to see you there,

Eddy

busy busy

Haven't blogged in another long while. I started a new job that demands much of my time, especially because of the planning that is required to launch a whole marketing department. Kendo hasn't slowed down though and actually it's nice to keep going at the same rate. Through thick and thin, Kendo has kept me sane and I'm happy to see that even with a new job I can still keep up. Blogging has been another story obviously. I don't question the validity of writing down my notes in hopes that in hindsight it will serve a purpose (mine probably, when I'm too old or blase to remember the "good ole times") but I think I should start babbling less and focus more on quality posts. I've been posting mostly observations and not so much thoughts on the experience so far. I think I should start doing that more.

Weather ...

Rainy season started last month and since then, the weather has become more and more hot and humid. Soooo hot. Last year we didn't practice in town, where there's less wind than in the east. So when a few weeks ago the heat fell upon us it was a shock to me. Reminded me of some practices in Seoul and Tokyo in August... Looks like we'll have to live through a few months of this; I guess it'll help prepare us to Aruba.

Pause at ISPS

Had to pause classes at the international school because of my new work. Since I'll likely spend most of my time down south, it's unlikely I'll be able to manage giving 2 hours per week up north. Specially in the next couple of months... Perhaps next semester though, we'll see. The coordinator seemed genuinly sad, as it had impacted enourmously on a kid who'se bad behavior at school and at home had drastically changed for the better. His mom was even thinking of private lessons (!). I kinda feel bad but I had told them it might happen and alsowith only 2 kids this semester... But in the long run, I hope to get something going with them.

More and more fun with swords

Today 2 hour class maybe for the first time ever; we usually start late and finish way late. We did 1 hour of kata and 1 hour of mawari keiko (uchikomi). Kata was ok, but I realised that much work still needs to be done for success in Aruba. Still some guys messing up basic things like proper bowing and hand placement. More work on the horizon. I also realized that not everyone going there will be satisfied with the tournament and will want their money's worth in seminar/exam. So although I was planning on focusing very hard on shiai stuff, I might tone it down a bit to make place for more kihon. Anyway, kata was good for the young ones, still improving quick as they go and as I give them grief, but shaky for the older guy(s).

After kata, we did a good hour of uchikomi (lots of kirikaeshi). Then for the first time in bogu I introduced them to the sweet world of Oji and Shikake waza. We didn't have time to do much, but I gave them a good taste of what's to come. We did manage to fit a good session of debana (men debana men) and nuki (kote nuki men). Pretty good results I should say. Saw too many small men instead of the still required big men but I can't blame them for trying; that, to me, is a good sign that they're ready and want to learn the nuances of sashi-men... I was concerned their form would be questionable but they were pretty clean if a bit off center. Noticing that they weren't so straight in their attacks we did a bunch of hai-gakari. That got them tired, centered and focused. End of class. As I said, a tasting of what's to come ;-)

Goju ryu karate

Saturday, as usual, we practiced at the old place, where there's a Karate class just before us. Mario the sensei also tries to practice with us as much as possible and did get his 2 kyu last exam. So even though he attends much less than others, he's got the goods. Well this time I asked him to return the favor and give us an introduction to Goju-ryu karate. We did only a 30 mns warmup with very basic drills and stances but 1- it was excruciating (to me anyway) and 2-it was quite fascinating. I found myself quite comfortable with the (somewhat-odd-for-a-kendoka) footwork and body/hips movements. We have to try that again.

After the quick preview (which we will try again for sure) we went full speed for 1 hour in the scorching midday heat. Lots of kirikaeshi again and uchikomi drills. Fun Fun Fun !!

Kendo... for real

Yesterday was the first time we did what I consider real Kendo. For the first time, almost everyone got in bogu and we spent the night doing kirikaeshi and uchikomi. We've done that before but this time it was facing each other (2 lines). That meant receiving kirikaeshi... That was a disaster at first but they slowly got to speed. Depending on motodachi, they were reacting in a way or another. Flashback to the exam when E was motodachi and they didn't know how to react to his style. My main complaint was that they weren't confident enough to "do their own thing". With everyone in bogu now we can finally start working on that!

Main problems detected today:
- receiving tai-atari
- proper count 4/5 in kirikaeshi
- proper swings with kote on
- speed to put bogu on
- general laziness in lining up and ready to go
- proper hit on top of men

I had to explain why we were suddenly doing all this... prior to today, they were still doing their waza on each other's shinai (without bogu) or on either me or K. But since I gave them the ok to wear the bogu a few weeks ago, there's now nothing to stop us from "going at it".

Now the fun starts...

Exams

Forgot to report on the first grading session... We held a "surprise" shinsa 3 weeks ago, the first ever... Normally I would'lve liked to prepare them a bit better but I felt timing was right. So I told them to be ready for the exam held a week later.

It took everyone by surprise, but that's how I passed many of my exams: last minute notice. Normally a shinsa shouldn't the "big" thing it seems to be for most. Normally you should be ready to test any time your asked.

It consisted of:
- kirikaeshi
- kihon waza
- kakari geiko
- kata (1-3)
The reason for this sudden plan is that I ultimately wanted them to be ready for the tournament in Aruba where an 1-kyu shinsa will be held. Since the best way to get them ready is to actually do an exam they tested for various ranks depending on their respective levels. At first they were concerned about what/how they should do. I told them specifically what we were looking for and we spent a few hours reviewing basics, proper reigi and kata.

The result: everyone passed! That's no surprise of course... There was no plan to fail anyone and the worst that could happen would be a downgrade from one proposed kyu to another. No surprises either on their performance, except.... I knew very well what their weak points were and what needed to be worked on but the advantage of this exercise was that I could have a better, more objective view of the situation. Thankfully E was motodachi so they could focus on the job at hand. In reality though, I was very surprised to see they reacted with much difficulty to E's presence and style. My guess is that they were uncomfortable with his active role (as opposed to the "easier to handle" passive moto) with the consequence being that most of them lost the little self-confidence they had accumulated so far.

Beyond mechanical/technical considerations, what I identified as the biggest problems were:
1- lack of confidence in one's actions and ability to adjust to new or unusual motodachi
2- lack of pressure and aggressiveness in attacks

We filmed the exam and will review asap, so everyone can see themselves and so we can have a good laugh!

I made some fancy diplomas, one in English, one in Japanese (including their names in Katakana) for each of them. Spent a looong time making those, they better hang them proudly on their walls !! Have a look: http://kendo.ipmtt.net/images/Pic1.jpg http://kendo.ipmtt.net/images/Pic2.jpg

And the "award" ceremony was during our little event in the park:
http://kendo.ipmtt.net/images/ceremony.jpg

Lazy...

Haven't blogged in a while, certainly not because of a lack of reasons to. The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least, and I just haven't found the energy to sit down and type. I have a long list of things to say...

I'm currently stuck at the immigration office for what could take most of the morning so I'll try to make progress on my trusty Treo.
UPDATE: wow, immigration record, only one hour this time !!