This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

I’ll report in reverse order today. So starting with the end we got some uniforms today :). So I now have the Jodo (blue/indigo) uniform and I’ve ordered the Iaido (black) one from another guy which I should get in a month or so. Now that I have the uniform I’ve come across another great challenge in the art. a) figuring out how to put all the darn stuff on and b) figuring out how to fold it when you put it away. ‘A’ will probably kill me for a week or two, ‘B’ on the other hand could take months for me to get really right. Folding the pleated(7 I believe) correctly and then doing the rather intricate knot at the end is going to take a lot out of me. That’s what is so great about this art. In every way it forces you to be a total beginner :D.

Jodo

More and more Kihon (basic techniques) today. Sorry did I say more and more, I meant more and more and more and more and more Kihon. After the initial run through sensei went through some finer points on Makiotoshi, Kurihanshe and Dobari. For makiotoshi I needed to angle my Jo less straight such that more angle is created between the Jo and sword. Also I need to maintain a strong zanshin(awareness/intent) after the strike/throw on coming forward. Finally something that everyone needed to look into for all techniques was to make sure that we don’t lean for in any of them.

For Kurihanshe (another of the catch and throw techniques… interesting) we were trying to get the sense of keeping the Jo feeling sticky on the sword as we move forward to throw the sword away. The timing of moving the hands and body is very interesting with this one. A lot of peoples problems were that they would move the left hand first (which is fine) but take it too far which releases pressure on the sword (freeing the attacker, not good!). Bringing the left hand to far forward and down moves the tip of the Jo behind you which releases the pressure which I mentioned. The left hand has to move first, but to stop the Jo releasing the pressure you step in at the same time. That forward motion helps to compensate for the left hand movement. Using this, you can get the left hand in a good position, while maintaining pressure, and then produce a strong controlled throw. In Sensei demonstrating the technique on one of the senior student he nearly took him out as he wasn’t expecting as much force. Which was quite funny (only because we have such a light-hearted atmosphere generally, but always serious when it comes to technique).

Finally on Dobari it was once again about the angle of the Jo and the body. Making sure that the back foot doesn’t go past the front foot when you move it back (so when you are standing side on the back foot is just in front of the front foot). Then also as you draw back for the strike, you draw back and over your shoulder (rather than straight back). Sensei demonstrated how the few degrees off in angle make the differences between whether your opponents sword practically falls out of their hands (due to the damage to the wrists, the sword is hit quite violently at an awkward angle) or the sword going down but then easily maneuvered around into a position ready to attack again.

We finished focusing on really applying pressure on an opponent with our spirit/intent. Which led to me hitting a guy on the head (thankfully I managed to pull the strike so it wasn’t full strength)… It is much more enjoyable when you get right into the act, your mind broadens and senses sharpen.

Iaido

Kata work on 1 and 3 in this one. Once again focusing on pressure/intent. My kata 1 was good, my kata 3 terrible. Not being able (due to lack of making time (darn uni)) to practice every technique kata I know each week is starting to show as I forget finer points. Like in 3 I was forgetting to raise my toes on the right foot as the first/second movement, which provides the power for the next move.

Really need to practice more. My Jodo is holding together well, but Iaido not so well.