This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

So there it is, I’ve hit the big 3 months and boy, do I know nothing :). No wonder it takes people decades to become good. Fair enough I’m lucky if I get 1-2 unsupervised practice sessions outside of class but just the same, everything I do is still so far from the others I see around me. So many of my movements are awkward and as my teachers will tell me, there is no such thing as a natural Iai student. Nevertheless, I still think it’s all awesome even if it is probably the most difficult thing I have ever attempted.

Jodo

Sensei was over in japan for one reason or another (and I hear he received a shinken(sharp japanese sword) and as such we had another sensei come to lead jodo today. The big focus for all of us and particularly me was strikes that hit down on the sword. When learning new techniques you really have to pay attention to everything you do as almost everything is unnatural. Also you can get your muscles and tendons in all sorts of trouble. With the technique I was working on today there came a time where I was getting pins and needles in my hand which I really don’t understand and is a little concerning.

Back to hitting down the sword with the jo, how could this be so hard! First I keep missing the sword with my strike, then after we correct my feet posture and ensure that I twist and sink as I strike I start hitting it. But now I’m hitting it away to the side rather than down. So then I have to focus on bringing the jo in a very vertical line and leaving my twist till late (this is mainly in hikiotoshi for those interested). With the jo so straight you only have a very small margin in which you have to line up in order to hit the jo. As the jo is on a small angle you get a chance but how these guys hit it all the time in kata’s is beyond me. One of the students recommended that I try to aim for the temple of my opponents head when striking, then because of the distance between us the strike will fall short and consequently hit the sword down. Either way I have been told many times to always look at your opponent and never at the sword. I am very grateful for the patience the other people show me.

Iaido

I wasn’t all that happy with my Iai today, we were going through kata’s 1-12 in which I only know 1 and 6 (so I repeat those) but I was always trying to keep up with everyone elses timing. This caused me to divide my attention and consequently my kata’s were terrible. Shows that focus is everything, from it derives the intent to kill and from that the movements gain definition, power and purpose.

After this one of the senior students took me aside and taught me kata 2 and 3 which I am grateful for, but now I must practice them to keep all the details in my memory. These katas involve all sorts of funky twisting of the body (2 deals with enemy behind and 3 deals with enemy on the side) so there are lots of details to keep in mind. Number 3 has a really funky noto(sheathing the blade where you place the blade diagonally down such that it is pointing just past your right knee. Then you take your right hand off and then grab the sword again but with your hand coming from the opposite direction (a somewhat reverse grip). Then your left hand grabs the saya(sheath) and your right hand moves the sword from the right side of your body to being horizontal on the left pretty much in line with the saya. While it feels really ugly when I do it, it looks cool when others do it. I think I have trouble because I haven’t figured out how to smoothly swing it from one side of my body to another.

A smaller thing I was pulled up on again (same as last week I believe, not a good thing to be making the same mistake 2 weeks in a row after being told) was when I put my leg back in order to do noto. I should be making sure my body doesn’t bend forward (very bad thing to do) and try to let the back of my body fall back as my leg moves (this is pretty much the only way to move without the body leaning). Also I need to find the perfect distance for putting my leg back such that when I kneel, my ankle and leg form a perfect 90 angle (yes we do get picky).

A funny thing happened before class (we naturally all had our swords in our hands). The topic of discussion had somehow gotten near dancing and one guy had his leg in the air spinning his ankle around the place. I thought he being rather stupid (in the comedic sense) and so I gave him the ‘Your about to be killed’ stare that we have in our katas. He caught my stare and so we both rapidly reached for our swords and began the draw, shortly after bursting into laughter. It was one of those classic moments. Naturally I don’t do this sort of thing with people who I know are carrying skinken.

Now I just want time to practice.