The monster in you...

The monster in you...

Did an interesting experiment yesterday, put a reatively new guy in bogu after maybe 2-3 months of practices. He was not progressing at an acceptable speed in my mind, and needed to understand what he had to improve: speed, zanshin, kiai.

I usually don't encourage newbies to wear bogu until they are absolutely ready, which can take anywhere from 2 to 6 months on average. Well D-san certainly didn't expect what he got... After only 5 minutes of uchikomi he was in a state, out of breath and seemed to be in serious pain and panick. Had to stop a couple of times to explain that all he had to do was to attack straight when he had a chance. Men. That's all. But because Jr was going after him when he didn't attack or when he protected himself he got hit a lot and that seemed to bother him. Fortunately, one of the goals was achieved in that he started yelling like a madman. Got the monster out... Even after keiko he was still yelling as we were talking to him !? Odd, but hopefully that's a sign that he's coming out of his shell. For probably the next 2 months he'll keep on working on his basics, without bogu, but will have to keep in mind what he hopefully learned yesterday... He has good potential and sure has his heart at the right place, but he needs to step up his intensity, speed and footwork.

Tameshigiri results

Tameshigiri results

so what did I learn cutting bamboo? well, that my cut is pretty straight but follow through is short, due to the tendency in kendo to hit and stop the cut fairly high. I was originally unsure of how the shinken would react to the bamboo so I was holding back a bit. Otherwise my right cut was satisfying. On the left side however it was another story. I was quickly reminded that I had to move my body more in the angle of the blade and back leg, just like for the right side. Except it's not a natural movement in Kendo, but that's because we're lazy and forget about it, and don't focus on actually cutting. Because of the position of the hands on the sword, the swing has little power unless the body is angled in the same direction. Hands are crossed and angle is wrong systematically. But when tilting the body to the left in the same plane as the sword direction (and the back leg) the cut is straight. Easier said than done...

Tameshigiri

Tameshigiri

The evening before my departure he invited me to his house for dinner and some test-cutting (tameshigiri) on bamboo. He pick a few different sizes, from about 2 inches to 5-6 inches wide. His shinken was nice and well balanced, thick blade but not awkward at all. Quite comfortable actually. It was my first time cutting bamboo and it was great! My first victim was the 2 inch "twig" that I took care of very easily, we then moved to more beefy stuff. The challenge in test cutting is to cut with the same angle as the blade. Sounds easy, but very challenging; the blade doesn't go straight unless you make it go straight. So easy to use too much right hand and the blade ends up curving and getting stuck in the the fibrous bamboo. Was a great experience. More on this later.

Kendo in Barbados?

Kendo in Barbados?

Just spent three days for work in Barbados, and had found a Japanese/Canadian man teaching Aikido who happens to be a 3-dan in Kendo. After spending two evenings with him, he made it clear that he didn't have the patience and energy to start Kendo in the island. I totally understand, considering the population is 5 times less than Trinidad and Bajans don't seem to be the most committed people (for something like Kendo anyway). His Aiki students showed limited interest in Kendo. I'll visit Bdos more regularly in the coming year so I plan on bringing my bogu next time.

Aiki-ken

Aiki-ken

During my time in Bdos, my new Aikido friend invited me to a class where they were practicing Aiki-ken; disarming opponent with a sword. That was a lot of fun, and quite difficult to do correctly. Something I want to do more regularly and hopefully introduce to my guys next time he visits Trinidad.

Cross training

No comments... relaxing after some grappling. Old photo discovered on my PC. This was about 7-8 months ago...?

Central practice

Central practice

A few new members joined when we launched the new location. Most of them with lenghty experience in MA (some are "sifu", "sensei" in various disciplines). After a few weeks of practice (at a rate of 1 practice a week) none are left. They stop by from time to time though, but have injuries of one type or another. Otherwise the dojo is very nice and the guy in charge is the nicest guy around. It is costing him an arm and a leg to get this project going and he's doing his best to get people interested but from our perspective Kendo seems to be too tough for people so far.

Sad news...

Sad news...

yesterday, while celebrating my birthday in a downtown restaurant someone broke a window of my truck and stole two bogus usually used by students. Not sure what the thiefs will do with smelly armors. Hopefully they tossed them soon after and they will be recovered, but I'm not holding my breath.

Kendo things that make you go hmmm...

Kendo things that make you go hmmm...

1- When in seiza, why is the bokken blade towards the outside and the shinai tsuru facing the floor ?
2- Really, what is the Tare for ?
3- What's all the fuss with eye protection against "potential" shinai splinters ?
4- Why is the 3rd bokken kihon "Harai waza" ?
5- Why learn waki/hasso kamae ?
6- Why isn't the protection on the right kote systematically different than the left ?
7- Why do 99.9% of the Kendoka not know any Seitei Iai developed by AJKF ?
8- Why is the shinai so much longer than the bokken?
9- Why aren't shinai ready to use after buying them (ie, you have to prep them) ?
10- Why isn't itto-ryu taught?
11- Why each sensei teach a different way of doing kata
12- Why do "Americanized" Japanese sensei (issei/nisei) talk so much during a practice, yet sensei traveling from Japan barely talk?
13- does anyone in Kendo really know the difference between seigan and chudan no kamae?
14- why do tare and do last a lifetime but men and kote don't ?
15- why do they teach "the right way to cut" but we never get to ever cut anything?

Upcoming plans

Upcoming plans

Projects and activities for the coming year:
- keep on hosting "Martial Arts in the Savannah" lime, always fun and a great chance to meet people
- Visit Venezuela in July (Maracaibo) for the second part of their team selection. Will not compete of course but support and attend a few sessions hopefully
- Hopefully host sensei in Trinidad either before or after tournament. Have yet to extend the invitation though...

Everything else is still TBD.

Latest development

Latest development

In no particular order:
- passed my 4-dan in Aruba
- brought a whole team there that performed quite well
- went to Venezuela for the first leg of their national team selection championships
- started a new class in Chaguanas (central Trinidad)
- lost a few students, gained a few
- group is growing at a normal "kendo" rate, the core being pretty strong and improving steadily
- had the visit of E a few times over the past year, always great fun for me and the guys
- lost access to our main location last month due to the church needing the hall full time during their renovations. this will last long enough to warrant us looking for a new place. Two-three potential locations in mind
- otherwise still practicing 3 times a week in the two remaining locations

One more try

One more try

Haven't been blogging for a very long time. About a year as a matter of fact. So to celebrate, (and also since I seem to have a few new readers) let's have another go at it!