This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

Sensei was back this week after training with some other sensei who were down in our state last week. Also he was using a Shinken today which we received ample warning about

Jodo

Sensei today was focusing on getting across to us the couple of changes that have occurred recently, which is great seems we have a grading in 3 weeks. The main changes are to Honte and Gyakute, where now the strike comes forward with the rear hand more so than the up forward down that was originally taught. I had to change the angle that I hold the jo at when I raise it before the strike. Basically in the interim position the jo crosses just above the eye, which quite a bit steeper angle than I originally had it. This helps so you don’t slide your hand down the jo instead of moving it.

Following this we learnt some Sotei which apparently is going to be focused more upon in the future. This is the paired form of the the basic techniques (kihon). This was interesting, it also gives you a good chance to practice your zanshin and seme with a real person.

Iaido

As I mentioned Sensei had his shinken along today, as such we were told we are allowed to laugh at him if he cuts himself which I thought is rather ironic as generally you wouldn’t want to laugh at someone holding a Shinken

During warmups we did a few slightly different exercises, one which kills the thighs. We go into seiza (kneeling with the bum just above your heels, must not be touching) and from there continually do a slightly modified version of kata 1 without rising (replace O-chiburi with Yoto-chiburi). We did this for some time between 5-10 minutes I guess and I was sweating pretty bad after it, it took a lot of effort to remain above my heels :).

After this we went onto kata practice in which somewhere along the way I must have stood on my hakama as from then on it was loose and too low so I proceeded to get it caught under my feet all the time which destroys your balance terribly. Then we a mock grading again, in which my opening/closing ceremonies were better than last week but my katas where terrible (due to the hakama issue). Going to have to re-double my efforts (ironically all my uni projects are due next week…).

I forgot to mention we also did a paired exercise where one person executes vertical cuts and the other would listen for where the sound was coming from. This was done in order to try and get our cuts correct. The sound should begin/occur somewhere out in front of the person and above their head height. It was a good exercise. At one stage a 1st Kyu student was helping me with my cuts and he corrected some stuff very nicely. I think I finally did a good cut. First he said I need to let go of the hammer grip (too strong and all fingers) and treat it more like throwing out a rod. Then also the I need to initiate and throw the cut mostly using the lower fingers on the hand (not the index/middle so much). Using this advice and really trying to throw it right out I got a good cut and a bit of a feel for it.

After class Sensei went about figuring out what length sword I should get for my Iaito by getting me to perform Noto with various swords. There was a bit of debate between a 2-4-5 or a 2-5-0. In the end we decided on a 2-4-5 as a 2-5-0 was just pushing it a little for my height. I could manage it but at the moment probably best off with a 2-4-5. As I’ve mentioned I’ve been struggling with Noto, during the measuring Sensei pushed my hands about a bit which taught me a little which I think will help a great deal. With noto the movement of the saya is more back and around a little as opposed to regular saya-biki where the saya goes right around. This was the main point that I think will help me stop pushing the sword out of my hand. Also moving the left hand a fair distance first before moving out the right hand and then moving the right hand out quickly. Moving it out quickly helps with the changing of the hand position providing you have a loose grip. So ironically part of me learning noto is going to be ‘fast is slow’. Ah, just practice practice practice. Shame an Iaito feels so different to the bokken I practice with at home.