This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

I must say that I feel rather fortunate to have fallen in with such a good bunch of people. Class while tough and strict is always so funny and enjoyable. Today we only had a small class so I got to do a bit more ‘teaching’ than usual which I enjoy.

Jodo

Today there was a lot of time spent going through the basic techniques and how they are to be applied. In particular we spent a while working on the 3 kuritsuke techniques. The 3rd technique (tai atari I believe) is a lot softer than the other two and in order to do it right it has to be in a very flowing motion. Essentially as you move in, the jo must remain in contact with the sword, kind of caressing it into position. It has a very nice feel (given that I think I have preference for softer techniques) to it. Very smooth, reminds me of water in a stream.

Makiotoshi was also worked on, I have to make sure that I finish the strike out to my left. Which is necessary in order to throw the sword back around behind the swordsperson. With all the jo ‘throwing’ the sword techniques, the jo always slides along the sword in order to get the flick away. In order to do this and not just club the sword you kind of have to move both hands until you are in contact with the sword and then the topmost hand moves faster which gives you that extra torque. Offcourse this all happens very quickly but that’s what I’m thinking at the moment.

Then I was working on kata 1 and 2 with 2 less experienced students. I was doing the sword side while they focused on learning the jo side. It was quite enjoyable correcting things to make it all look better. It is funny though because I know sensei is behind me watching to see if I make any mistakes on my side which he then interjects and corrects me on. I think I like helping make others better :).

Iaido

After warmups (which were a little different (Western Australia style apparently) and being told I have long arms…) we moved onto kata. We went through each kata 4 times in row. It feels really good when the sword comes out of the saya smoothly. I think I did it once on kata 2 (180 spin) and maybe once or twice between katas 5 and 6 (walking vertical draws). After we had pointers about the later katas in regards to feet positioning and cutting angle(very particular about everything) we went on to free training.

One of the other students asked me to show them kata 3 and so I gladly walked them through it. As I was going through it with them I could see/hear (in my head) all the training we have done on this kata over the weeks involving pairs. Practicing with someone more experienced than yourself really does help, even if they don’t say much, just seeing their form when you interact helps I think. Back to the kata again I could see sensei watching me as I explained things. Ironically I forgot one of the first things of raising the right foot to the toes to begin with because I was focusing on the block. Lack of practice evidently. The paired exercises have really given me a better idea about where we should be blocking and cutting.

After this I went on to practice kata 4 (the painful tatehiza kata). It became apparent that my footwork timing was all wrong. Before the first strike comes out the left foot comes up and hits the ground, followed shortly after by the strike and right foot. Then as you pull the saya off both feet/legs move into their right spots before the strike comes in. Same with turning back to the front. The legs move into position before the strike is completed.