This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

For something different, one of the students did a Kenbu demonstration today (see end of post)

Jodo

Today we were given a big speech about needing to learn the japanese commands for the warm-ups. Soon it could be my turn to run the warm-ups so I think I better print off the command list, stick it in my uni book and get memorising.

The other thing I was really beaten up about was not looking intent enough. This one I have no idea how to easily correct. Particularly for kata I don’t really know. Somehow I need to keep ‘pressure’ on my opponent even when I am being pushed back and defeated. So bizarre, not sure how I will figure that one out.

An interesting side event happened when we were standing around waiting for Sensei though. I was standing waiting and then out of nowhere I felt this kind of ‘click’ or ‘knock’ in my head which kind of set my body to turn and move my hand. Then before I knew what was happening my hand had parried a playful attack from behind with a jo (about 120 degrees from my front). I still can’t figure out how I knew an attack was coming as I’m pretty sure I couldn’t see them. Maybe it was something like the whole ’sensing a murderous intent’ thing that basically forms the basis of all our Iaido kata. Whatever it was it was unexpected but cool :).

Iaido

We spent our time on kata 1 and kata 3 in class today. In kata 3 sensei particularly wanted us to try and get the entire movement smooth and flowing. It is quite amazing to watch him doing it as he does it with an incredible amount of Jo-Ha-Kyu(speeding up). You see him slowly moving up from a kneeling position and then by the time he is executing the block and cut everything is moving through so fast. I don’t have anything else I particularly want to mention. Except I had a friend come over later and we watched 100 minutes of silent old footage of Einshin Ryu Iaido which was quite interesting.

On finishing up, one of the senior students gave us a demonstration of Kenbu (Basically sword and fan dance). She was very impressive, but it is a much different use of the sword to Iaido in general. Ironically a search for Kenbu on youtube brought up a video of her doing it a year ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqjJOqO3Y9Q). I thought she did it a bit better than on the video, it doesn’t do her Iaido skills credit, but it’s not supposed to, after all it is Kenbu not Iaido. Just the same it was nice to be able to see it performed in person as opposed to just on the internet.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

We had a massive class today, it seems like the people come down from shepperton for the first training of every month. The moral of today was that the first technique includes so many elements of every other technique that follows on, you will never stop needing to practice it. And practice we did :).

Jodo

We went quickly through the initial warm-ups this morning and then proceeded to practice particular ‘tandoku’ (basic techniques) focusing on certain aspects of each one. We worked on honte (1st technique). The first main points here were to make sure the strike finishes with both hands in action. It is not just the bottom hand acting as a fulcrum. This is somewhat similar to the horizontal draw-cut in Iaido where the sword comes out towards the opponent, spins to point at them and then you move your arm such that the sword slices through them. In practice you don’t see it so disjointed as they shouldn’t be distinct phases (except for beginners… like me I often think) but you have to be aware of how the cut (and strike in hontes case) is actually done. It is surprising how so many aspects of these beginner techniques generalise to be important for most other techniques (in Iai and Jo).

The second point (which is also very important for all of Jodo and Iaido) is that your hips should stay at relatively the same height. So even though you are swinging the sword or jo up and around your head, you must not bob up and down. It also looks so much better when you stay the same height, makes it look like you are gliding.

To finish we did kata practice, while the senior students practiced later katas, sensei instructed the group from shepperton and put me in charge of training one of the new girls in kata 1. I always feel rather privileged when I am put in charge of training one of the newer people. It feels like a very important role, like I am passing down the teachings of my sensei who is passing down what was taught to him and so on. Also if I were to train them badly I would be letting down my sensei and so on. Quite a task considering how relatively beginner I am. Offcourse this is all my own thinking and how I view the art, not necessarily reflecting sensei’s view of it. Regardless I enjoy helping others grow.

Anyway it was very difficult training this girl as she is a rather timid one, it will be interesting when she is required to kiai in the future (as an aside, my kai’s are improving. I’m finding that there is a certain amount of tension where if you set your vocal chords right, the air vibrates all the way from your lungs out to your mouth making the sound a lot louder. Also I’ve been practicing exhaling severely on strikes. My brother (karate black belt) tells me that you have to set your body(muscles) up like a spring and when you strike it all explodes, it feels right). So back to the girl, I worked on trying to ingrain the basic correct movements. At times I couldn’t quite correct things because she seems to have short arms (she is a little shorter than me) so some techniques need to be adjusted. Overall I was happy with her improvement, I remember it took me ages to get used to it.

Before I move on, I’ll just mention something funny. In the kata the swordsperson has to cut through where the jo person is standing. It took quite a few minutes to convince her to really get in close and cut at me. I had to explain many a times that if I don’t move and get hit then it is my fault (which was re-iterated to me by one of the senior students in the past). Kata 2 will be interesting, where the jo person has to strike into the sternum(and yes we make contact on this one). I remember 2 senior students on different occasions grilling me to strike them harder (one who is an older guy who has arthritis…).

Back to the training, in kata we have to stare intently at our opposition (preferably in the eyes), manifesting our air of seme (forward pressure and presence) along with zanshin (our awareness of our opponent and everything else). The interaction of both people in the kata staring intently like this at each other is like a battle entirely on another level. I am starting to understand why Miyamoto Musashi talks about it being possible to smash an opponent entirely with your spirit. Anyway when I was teaching this girl, there was one time where she returned the intent glare rather strongly and I could actually feel it ripping at me. Took me totally by surprise, but it is good as it shows she has potential, we just need to train her in the movements. Hopefully she sticks with it.

Iaido

Absolutely massive class (20 odd probably), there are always more Iaidokas than Jodokas. After warm-ups we spent the entire class on kata 1, doing it extra slow focusing on little things sensei would point out. I would rant about how one should never be bored in life as boredom only occurs when you stop paying attention (which you should never do) but this weeks post is already getting very long.

The very end of class was free training in which I was grilled on some more fine points on putting away the sword. Briefly the last third of the sword goes back into the saya very slowly (as you kneel in kneeling katas). This is all to do with Jo-Ha-Kyu (translated roughly as slow-medium-fast or fast-faster-fastest, once again something I’ll leave for another post).

Sensei tells me I should be looking to grade at the end of October (tentative date). I enjoy Iaido so much, drawing and sheathing the sword is such a brilliant sensation, such a wonderful art.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

Jodo

Sensei seems to be going through all the students and having them issue the commands during the warm up. In order to try and ensure that they learn the names of all the techniques. Us new students have been warned that our time will come when we are placed on the spot, so be prepared. I’ve almost got counting to 10 figured out but all the commands.. I doubt it :). Sensei was keen on the fact that the punishment for mistakes today will be that the ground opens up beneath your feet and you fall into a chasm over the usual financial penalties which didn’t seem to be having effect. It always amazes me how funny he is.

Nothing fancy to mention in jodo today. We did warm-ups, paired hickiotoshi practice and finally kata. I enjoyed the kata, gave me practice at being full on with intense concentration and presence on the opponent. Not a backwards step in the face of adversity, once again, something you don’t get to practice in a safe environment usually.

Iaido

Iaido was also rather normal with it’s consistent polishing up on techniques with Sensei stopping us to get us to focus on particular issues. Of particular note was the fact that cuts come out and hit a target at maximum speed, then the blade is allowed to move through the body in what vaguely resembles a follow-through but it is a bad analogy on my behalf.

After basic warm-ups we spent a lot of time on kata 1 (It is the first kata we learn but everyone still has so much to go before reaching perfection) and kata 3. Then after touching on kata 6 we went on to free training. During this I helped demonstrate the pain that is kata 4 (due to the somewhat painful tatehiza kneeling position) and then proceeded to practice kata 5 in particular on my own.

I really enjoy the upside down draw followed by the blade spinning in your hand and then speeding down along the same line as the first cut as your other hand reaches it. When you get it smooth it feels very nice. A bad draw on this kata (5) makes it all terrible though. Something I need to work on is my chiburi (flinging off of the blood). I have make sure my wrist is still firm, not allowing it to brake as I’m doing a little at the moment.

As a side note, the attention, presence and discipline that is required to execute a good move(and eventually kata) is hugely different compared to the extent one exerts themselves during the day. Not even 1% of what is required for an action is generally requested from you in the regular educational settings of school and university. This art really helps to build character and confidence.

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 kuritskae techniques. The 3rd technique (taitari 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 focussing 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.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

Another good class, after 3 hours though you start to forget some of the first corrections you are given in the first stage of jodo practice. Oh well, guess I’ll have to try to commit it more to memory at the time.

Jodo

We just did basic practice followed by a block/throw technique (the one after kuritskae…) in paired form practice. I’m still not used to getting into the kuritskae position to block the sword (getting the jo to land between opponents hands. My form feels terrible when trying to assume it in time. The person I was practicing with this time, cuts in a different fashion so that threw me out a bit too. No matter, practice practice practice.

We spent the rest of the session learning kata 8, which has some rather quick movements in it which once you get used to are quite fun. I couldn’t really commit enough to memory to go really out though so I couldn’t really get in the zone.

Iaido

After basic techniques we did paired form practice of kata 3 with bokkens. So the defender is kneeling, the attacker comes in from the side to cut vertically through their head. The defender sees the attacker in their peripheral vision and draw the sword up and out to parry the blow. In the same motion the sword swings up overhead, is grasped with the other hand and then the now off-balance attacker is slain from shoulder to hip. When practicing this in partner form we were trying to get the footwork correct (aligned at the end and not stepping out too far) as well as showing that the draw does not need to be rushed by the defender. They can do it at the last moment and it should be done while rising not after rising. Also as was pointed out later, don’t raise useful up fully, keep some bend in the knees.

After this we went onto free practice. I worked on kata 3 for awhile with an iaito and then I went on to kata 2. Kata 2 involves starting kneeling, then spinning 180 degrees while drawing and horizontally cut the opponent who was behind you. I was picked up quite severely on this one. On rising from your heels to kneeling the sword is only really having the saya pulled back, not much draw happens from the other hand yet. Then the sword is rotated 90 degrees (for horizontal cut) but still not drawing much more. The drawing happens once you are at the bare minimum past the 90 degrees of the 180 spin. To demonstrate, I had a senior student sit next to me so that I could not draw until I had moved the sword past their position (under threat of death if I did lol). It makes sense and is actually a lot more balanced as the right hand doesn’t come out in a direction that is not at the opponent. By waiting a bit more for the draw, the draw becomes more focused out towards the opponent like in kata 1.

At the end we did kata 1-12 as a group (1-6 for me). In this I saw the correct footwork for going into tatehiza position. After kneeling, the right foot comes forward before the left foot goes underneath. Going into tatehiza was really painful for me today, must be leaning on a piece of bone. I’ll have to experiment during the week.

After class sensei gave me the iaito catalog to have a look through over the week. I look forward to next week. Something like this is a really worthwhile thing to do. It brings a sense of discipline that you don’t get in a ‘normal’ life. And doing it together in a group just helps along the way.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

It was a great class(see Iaido for a new practice we did) in the cold conditions today. The key aspect that was brought to my attention by various unrelated people was intent. This past week I’ve been feeling that I have hit a plateau that I won’t be able to pass unless I increase the intensity of my practice. It feels like my brain is full and my knowledge is shallow. Previously I had space to increase the range of my repertoire and the depth (think of it as level of mastery of a technique). But now I feel like I can’t go any wider, if I do things will just spill out and I won’t improve. It’s a shame it is so cold and wet, I can’t generally practice outside in such conditions (atleast the wet ones) and practicing inside is restricted to kneeling techniques due to insufficient head room. Either way it looks like it is time to move on to the next part of my journey.

Jodo

Training started with the regular warmups, which once again I was picked up on a whole new set of flaws in my technique. It takes a lot of patience and persistence on behalf of the student and what must be a huge amount of patience and compassion on behalf of the teachers to deal with dodgy technique week in week out. It is certainly a much harsher atmosphere than any other education system I’ve been through.

After warmup we did paired kuritskae (block the handle of sword during cut, turn the swordsman and lock sword against opponent). It was mostly practice for the juniors (aka, people like me) in the jo side. Trying to do this technique with an opponent cutting at you makes the whole technique 10 times as difficult. First you no longer have 2 seconds to setup the technique and another 1 or 2 to correct your terrible positioning. Now you have pretty much under a second to setup which means going from a standing position into a block. Next if you positioning is bad you will know because when the block makes contact positioning will be destroyed and you can lose balance a little too. The rest is the same difficulty as last time, trying to finish the technique in line with the opponent to lock them in position.

One of key points made in this was that I needed to execute it with much more intent. Really go all out and lock the opponent in position. It is amazing how different it feels to really do something with strong intent over just concentration.

We finished with kata, which was where once again my intent was requested :). In kata 2, the swordsman goes to execute a overhead cut but he is intercepted by the jo stepping in and thrusting into the sternum. In jodo katas we do make contact (but offcourse try not to injure anyone), my partner wanted me to strike him with much more power. So we repeated the section over and over. Striking someone over and over was quite unnerving for me but my partner was very good about it, pretending to double over in pain occasionally to make us both laugh heartily. And as last week, stronger kiai’s were also requested of me, I don’t know if it is something I will be able to figure out any time soon.

Iaido

Iaido practice today was quite different, but first I’ll back track. I’m a bit stumped on my overhead cutting technique. I can feel when I have done a terrible cut but all the other cuts don’t feel right, it is a bit annoying. All part of the plateau I expect. Moving along we did the warmups and then went on to the new practice.

I had noticed we had a whole lot of newspapers sitting to the side early on, and now I know what they were for. We were cutting them up. In teams of 3 and I tell you now, you may have heard of team exercises for building trust, well this technique must be the extreme super trust builder. What happens is that 2 people hold the top corner of each side of a piece of newspaper at the head height of the 3rd person who is going to cut it(with an Iaito (’blunt’ metal sword)). To make it worse we are using tabloid papers (think Herald Sun, not The Age) and then we don’t always use 2 page wide section to be cut, rather we turn it on it’s side so we cut down the grain, making a smaller target.

So the idea of the technique is to make a cut that causes the paper to be sliced in half, not knocked out of hands or ripped. This requires very light technique (hence the exercises purpose). You want the blade to just enter into the newspaper and then it needs to smoothly drop practically with only the weight of the sword in order to slice. If you muscle the downward motion then the page just rips. I couldn’t get it to slice nicely, but it looked very cool when someone did.

Then we moved on to the next part, drawing cuts from the katas. Not only are these cuts more difficult because you are drawing out the sword in the same motion but they are also not straight cuts. They come through on an angle of probably 20 degrees. Now it is quite scary to be holding a single page of paper on the short corners when someone is coming to draw and cut faster than you can keep a track of with your eyes, on an angle. You have absolutely no choice but to trust them totally. While Iaito are blunt, the points are very pointy and a blow to the hand certainly has potential to do real damage (power in a concentrated area). Now it was scary being on the receiving end, but then offcourse I also have to perform the cuts and I know my draw cuts are not as strong and accurate as I would like them to be. Anyway we all survived and it was a lot of fun :D.

After cleaning up all the paper we finished with free training. I worked on the katas I know and got advice as I went. It is amazing watching some of the senior students who seem to glide so smoothly through some kata, it can leave you in a state of awe sometimes :). I’ve noticed when I practice I tend to go between two different modes. One where I’m trying to correct a aspect of a technique, so I do a technique, analyse, correct and repeat. The second mode is where I try to let it all go and flow. This has a very nice meditative feel to it. I notice that my eyes take on a different focus, they are still focused on an opponent but they are very wide and I can notice things in my peripheral vision (such as a senior analysing my technique) without it affecting my concentration. It is like all my senses feed me information from 360 degrees yet while receiving it I am separated from it and consequently unimpeded by it. It is wonderful really. I wish I had a hardwood floor room with a high roof at home :).

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

We had two new people starting today so that was interesting. Also two other students that are around my experience (but can’t always come to class for one reason or another) were there so there was quite a few people ‘below’ and around my level. Throughout the class I was impressed by how many different roles I get to play and how thorough Iaido and Jodo are at dealing with basically all the areas of my life that I’m working on.

I should touch a little more on how Iaido and Jodo combined teach me(give me practice) with things I’m working on in my life. Confidence is a first rather obvious one. Confidence shows in your techniques but it is more important when it comes to teaching others. I was working with a partner who is not as familiar with the first couple of Jodo katas today so it was necessary to guide them through it. For me this is a good chance to practice speaking loud enough (something that is an issue at times) and to really project myself when demonstrating techniques. You also need courage, courage to continue to reinforce training points and courage to trust your opponent to strike you correctly without injuring you (Particularly in Jodo).

Then there is the opposite of the confidence, the beginner’s mind if you like. Necessary nearly all the time, including techniques you’ve done over many times. There isn’t a technique that I don’t get some correction or advice on now and again and it has been 5 months since I started. Judging by how all the other iaidoka (fits better than calling them students) are treated I expect the correcting will continue for many more years. Also you need to learn a bit of compassion when it comes to teaching others. The techniques we learn feel far from natural and at times they are very weird contortions of the body. You have to understand this (which you learn first hand from your own experience) and give the learning iaidoka all the patience and compassion you can. Without the support of senior students, being a beginner can be terribly repetitive and frustrating.

Jodo

Sensei was off training the two newcomers for class so we went through all the basic techniques to begin with and then on to kata. I was paired up with the same jodoka as last week so we picked up where we left off and continued teaching me kata number 3. To begin with this involved a lot of poking me to fix up my posture (useful torture). In the kata a lot of the motions require a lot more speed than I am used to and consequently I need to practice some of the moves in this way. Also having to actually push someone holding a sword requires a lot more strength than when we are training solo and so that takes a bit of effort to. Thankfully I had memorized all the points that were made out to me last time so a few of my moves had improved and we moved on to other areas.

Of particular note was that they wanted me to work on my Kiai. It seems that at the moment it is more of a mental thing for me where when I strike I open my mouth and say it. I’m told that it should be more of a thing were as you strike, you force the air out and as that happens make a sound. Which brings the focus much more on the technique over the sound. Something to look into next week anyway.

Iaido

Today I learnt how bad distractions can affect your techniques. As the new people were being taught separately occasionally a comment caught my ear and distracted me. I noticed that whenever this happened even though it was only for a split second it was enough to destroy the rest of a technique. Just a little bump in a sword movement destroys its journey and it is not really recoverable. All this shatters the mental concentration, I have to be careful to just focus on correcting mistakes, not being annoyed at myself for getting distracted.

Class was pretty regular, kata practice was focused on kata 1,2 and 3 for myself and those around me. A couple of key things were to

• Keep head and hand/sword movements in sync
• Have the sword further in towards my body so that my right hand can come straight up to grasp it rather than coming around
• On kata 2, don’t really draw until you are turning
• On kata 3, the block is done with the strong reverse part of the blade and it needs to be a very firm push so as to divert the path of the blade

On a final note I’m still working on getting an Iaito and uniform, need to talk to sensei again next week.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

I was early this week as opposed to a little late last week and the hall happened to be open (cleaning from yesterdays opening ceremony). So I went in and started practicing my cuts. Surprising how much difficulty the standard vertical cut still causes. Last week I caught myself in the mirror and noticed that my blade isn’t coming directly over my head, rather it was angled off to the right. So I was working on this, slowly bringing it up above my head (much like how I used to practice guitar in slow-motion) and then also keeping the strike straight as it comes back down. It is quite difficult to get the hands to move independent (in different directions/motions) yet still work together and time themselves with the shoulder/arm movements. I probably cut like this for 15 minutes.

At one stage 2 of the cleaners came in impressed by what I was I doing (It’s amazing how people are fascinated when they see someone a) concentrating and b) holding a sword). I told them they were welcome to come watch us when we train after they had finished their cleaning work but they said they were too busy having to go clean other halls and the like. After a bit more everyone had arrived and we began the class.

Jodo

This week I hadn’t done any Jo practice (using the excuse that it has been cold, raining and I had exams) so my memory and technique was a bit shoddy. Then it didn’t help that the person who was leading this week was rushing things a bit. In the middle we had an interesting discussion about kuritskae(no idea how to spell it :)) in regards to feet and hip position. Essentially you are side on to your sword wielding opponent (who is probably at 45 degrees) and you have your jo over your head pressing up on the sword handle. Then what is required is to break the opponents balance and step in towards him, which swings him around and traps the sword down by the legs. The debate was about where the hara (body center) should be facing. It seemed strange to one student that it would be facing at 90 degrees to the direction of movement but others argued that it was necessary to be that way because the first movement required (which is the strongest movement) is pushing out in the direction of the hara. We concluded that we’d ask one of the japanese sensei next time they come down.

Later on we were practicing kuritskae in partner form. Which led me to conclude that I’m still far to slow on changing from the ready position to the block/catch position. Beyond that my partner decided that every time that I didn’t do the technique right he would show me how the sword would escape and proceed to cut. So for the next 5 minutes I was cut to pieces many times while we worked on various areas of the technique. In particular, on the advance I needed to turn myself inwards a little in order to allow my body a natural turn which enables me to lock the sword against the opponent. Apart from dying so much it was fun.

Finally we finished up with some paired kata, once again my partner was very demanding on perfection due to the fact that the opponent has a sword, any wrong moves result in essential death. It was good learning time and I picked up quite a few points that I have never seen before. I started learning kata 3 which at the moment seems quite convoluted but we ran out of time to finish it.

Iaido

I was using the preferred Iaito this week, it is a little short I think but I like the design of the tsuka (hand guard). It is essentially a bird with it’s wings spread right around representing air/wind which I like the idea of.

Most of training was the regular techniques with the finer points raised here or there about different angles of the saya(sheath) as you draw the sword and the like. All interjected with Sensei’s casual humor. We had two spectators come to see what it was all about and listening to him talk to them almost made me burst out laughing a number of times.

Near the end it was time for free practice but sensei got one of the senior students to show me kata 5 which apparently is notorious for it’s difficult draw, and rightly so. On this one, while walking forward it is necessary to flip the sword over (180 degrees) and then draw it out forwards cutting upwards through your opponent. Then in the continuation of the motion, the sword at the peak of it’s ascent turns around with your wrist, the other hand joins with it and you cut back down along the same line.

The draw is terribly difficult because you need to turn the sword over but after removing the sword your saya hand/wrist still needs to be in a good position in order to do sayabiki(removing of the sheath) behind you to get the sword actually out of the saya. All of this is done in one step. It seems something very useful  to do was to turn the sword and bring it 9/10 of the way out by the time your right foot has come to the same level as your left foot. Then it is easier to do the rest and get it out nicely.

This one is going to take quite a while to get good timing on. Atleast it is not as painful as sitting in tatehiza ;).

On a whole I would have to say I am very grateful to all the people in class as they are always very patient and take the time with you to correct your continual errors. It is very admirable of them and also shows their respect/dedication to Sensei as they are teaching me on his behalf. This all comes back to the fact that Iaido(and Jodo) teaches you to respect both past teachers, current teachers and all those who have gone before. This comes through in a number of ways but none more prominent than in the opening and closing ceremonies of Iaido.

At the end of each class, you always walk backwards away from the front, then bow to the most senior(sensei), then bow to everyone who has taught you something during the class in order of descending rank/experience. Apparently this is really big in japan and can result in lots of bowing but in our dojo it is not so big apart from always bowing to sensei at the end and then anyone who gave prominent teaching.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

We didn’t have Jodo this week and sensei had to leave half way through to have a look at a house but during the time he was there he sure did have a word to us. We spent probably 15 minutes going up and down the hall practicing proper footwork and insuring that we have parallel feet (pointing forwards). Making sure we didn’t bob up and down as we moved. Then he was all over our cutting technique, mine in particular had some issues. For the time being I have to focus on always holding my hands very high overhead when doing vertical cuts and keeping my elbows in. Looking in the mirror I noticed that the sword tip is also going a little over to the left when I raise it up.

So as you can see, it was a brutal session of hard facts. Yet sensei still managed to inject at an appropriate time why he was correcting all these little things and be humorous about it. Which is why he is so great. He even went as far as saying that he thinks in general we have relatively good technique (which I couldn’t really allow to generalise too much to me seems I’m the newest student). But one thing he pointed out is that we all need to pay attention to the small details that he repeatedly points out to us every week. Because without working tirelessly on those details (cutting out, keeping parallel feet etc.) we cannot move on to the more advanced areas.

After sensei left we were to do free practice with the senior students guiding us. So I went through the kata that I know trying to fix things I know have issues. In number 3 I know that after I reach over my head with the block I tend to swing to low and step to early. With all my kata I don’t seem to step far enough back. This results in my legs not being at right angles when I go to kneel while sheathing the blade.

When I was practicing number 6 (involves a vertical draw straight up and over) I did a terrible draw. When you draw to early you can hear the sword scrape against the scabbard as you bring it out. Even though it was probably only a matter of drawing it about an inch to early the sound is easily noticeable. One of the senior students was quick to remind me of this and give me some pointers on the rest of the kata. I good draw is very quiet, achieving it’s purpose without notice.

It’s funny how much harmony(of all aspects) and perfection is desired in the katas. It’s a very nice goal.

This post is part of the First Year of Budo series

Had quite a few people there today, a group that occasionally comes down from shepperton(I think) was there to get some guidance from Sensei.

Jodo

Not a lot to say on the jodo front. Biggest point was to keep your center moving in a flat plane, no bobbing during the technique. I was actually doing fairly well with this. Most other points were small issues of angles of the jo, elbows and wrists (oh and feet offcourse). Every week in Iai and Jo people are reminded to keep their techniques light. The point being firstly that it’s a lot harder to pick the problems in a technique if it is always being flown through at full speed. Secondly it is a lot harder for yourself to notice issues and near impossible to make changes to your technique unless you work slow. Personally I prefer to do most of my practice in a rather slow fashion, firstly because there are some many things to check at each stage and secondly because it helps me become smooth and fluent with the techniques. So then when I just let go I have a much greater chance of gliding through it all which I really enjoy. Which reminds me, one thing I can’t seem to get is how people manage to get so much forward travel on their slides (during a technique). My feet almost always catch on the floor so if I was to go for the travel I would surely trip onto my face :D.

Iaido

Iai was rather quiet for some time. I was using a different Iaito this time around. Whenever I go from using a bokken to an Iaito the difference in weight kills me. My horizontal cuts are using destroyed for awhile and I have to be quite careful with my elbows so as not to strain them on any swings.

The most interesting part of the class was when sensei after correcting some issues I had with kata 3 showed me kata 4. Which is the first kata that involves sitting in Tatehiza. I have to say that it is mighty uncomfortable and verging on painful. It is going to take quite a bit of practice to first get it right and then to try and do it in a balanced and composed fashion. I’m not going to try to explain it now, I’ll wait till I’m more confident that I have it right.

This kata is rather neat in that it has two new moves in it. First move is to move the sword (while still in the saya) and strike the seated opponent in the sternum. Then drawing the sword by taking the saya off with the left hand you do a horizontal stab past your body at a person behind you. I was reminded a few times to make sure I turn myself really side on and pull the left hand back on the saya. Otherwise it is relatively easy to stab the sword through your upper arm. The stab is done very close to your body because it keeps you centered where you can get power into the stab and secondly because the opponent is directly behind you nothing else will do.

To finish the kata it is just a matter of turning back to the front person and finishing them, chiburi and then noto. The extra note on noto is that as you bring the tsuba(handle) back and it reaches your knee you bring your right leg back into the position similar to the start in tatehiza. Then you finish by standing up.

Unrelated to the kata is to make sure you cut your toenails (fingernails to, but toenails in particular). In Iai a lot of katas start with the iaidoka (person doing Iaido) in a kneeling position where the feet are top-side down (like you would sit on your heels with the toes flat). Then as you rise to strike, the feet have to come up with the toes under so that you have some power to push off. If you mistime this or overstretch it is very likely that you will bend the nails on your toes (big toe in particular if you have the proper footwork with parallel feet).

Finally I asked sensei about getting an Iaito and Gi(uniform) and we will look into it next week. The Iaito is likely to cost ~$500 if I get it semi-locally or if I go through sensei’s preferred supplier from Japan ~$900-$1000. We will see which way we go but I have some money around from years of work so it wouldn’t surprise me if I went for the slightly more expensive ones. But that is a story for another time.