It’s been too long since I updated this ^^ Then again, I’d half expected this to happen anyway =P It’s not like there are many who actually bother to read my little rants and thoughts of MY kendo anyway (Hahaha!). Either way, I am going to put up a short one on the latest training session that I’ve attended just a few days ago. Just for the sake of my previous hard work (all the previous typing X_x can’t just let it go to waste).
Traffic was bad that day, and I mean, REALLY REALLY bad as compared to the normal days. It started from PJ Hilton and all the way to Midvalley. My guess was that is was due to the Ramadan month where everyone is let off earlier from work. ^^ By the time I got to the dojo, it was ten minutes or so before 7pm >.< and that new cotton hakama and gi that I’ve got from Kendoshop wasn’t that easy to put on really ^^|| Had to tie the hakama at the right height, otherwise, I’d be tripping all over X_x and THAT won’t be fun. The last thing that I would want to happen is to “fall in style”. Lol. I am still recovering from a bruised pride after that previous fall during the junior bogu session not too long ago. *sighs* Ehem… anyway… I may be kind enough to tell that story another day =P For now, back to business. Not many seniors around that day. Just five of them and then there was Chris-sensei as well. The rest were just us and a few new 7kyus.
Class was led by Mr Lim that day so things were a little different as he placed a lot of emphasis on the basics of basics! It’s a good thing really but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed with myself throughout the entire thing… Why? It was like being constantly slapped with the fact that I was lacking in my reach… T.T I can BARELY reach my aite’s men even from Issoku itto no maai. Yes, even now… and I am already stretching to the max already >.< It sucks really… and at every miserable attempt to stretch further, my posture gets all screwed up and there you go, nothing gets solved. I couldn’t reach and my kendo just got a lot uglier, hahaha ^^||. It’s probably all about the mind, maybe I have a weak left leg or that’s just how it is for me… though, I would prefer the first two. Perhaps there’s still a remote chance that I will be able to clamber over this fence.
My mind was preoccupied with this throughout 80% of keiko and I was already so demoralised by the time we reached “Doh uchi” practice. As expected, I was delivering half-assed doh cuts… lousy footwork, crappy kiai… everything flew out the window. Gah T__T In short, it wasn’t my day. Jigeiko came later but it was different from what usually happens on Wednesdays. We get random aite(s) every round. Five rounds to be exact, each lasting for 30 seconds or was it 1 minute? I don’t quite remember. I deserved to be hit in the head and rundown by my opponents really… I wasn’t putting much of a fight. I was lacking the fighting spirit… So, yeah… Not that great actually. Before class started, I already had a reserved kakarigeiko session with Chris and I was actually looking forward to it. Sadly enough, there wasn’t enough time. Oh well… =.=
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, 18th February 2010.
Before I take you lot for a tour through my thoughts, I would very much like to say this. “HAPPY RAWR YEAR” to all of you ^__^ May your opponents quiver further under your ‘seme’! Hahaha, that was random. Yes, Chinese New Year is the time where we all feast upon good food and grow fat while telling ourselves “Once in a year! It’s okay!”. Yeaaaaa~ see la…. Eat eat eat eat… >.< Now I feel like a deflated tyre during training…
It has been almost 2 weeks since the last time I trained. The week before CNY, my dad actually told me. “You are not going Kendo this week.” T.T Wuuu~ It became unbearable after a while knowing that my peers were training while I was at home, rolling pineapple tarts. Then, it was the ‘balik kampung’ days. I went back to Penang and then Taiping, spending two days each over there, returning only on Wednesday evening. Needless to say, I missed Wednesday training as well. My shinai actually felt heavier when I picked it up to do some suburis that night (haha).
Perhaps I should thank Jessica for dragging me out of my house the next day. (Thank youuu~ XP). Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a reason to go for Kendo as I rely on daddy dearest to take me there despite the fact that I have been pestering him to ‘LET-ME-DRIVE-THERE-MYSELF’ =.= Yeap. What did I tell him? Simple “Pa, my friend asked me to go for karaoke. After that they are dragging me to Kendo.” LOL Karaoke is definitely a good thing before keiko (XD) as my kiai was a lot louder after that.
Anyway, Thursday classes are specially catered for non-bogu students so, we (the ones in armour) didn’t have to put on our men and kote. It’s a blessing really. Lol. Everything looks great without having something in front of your face and best of all, we feel a lot lighter. It was fun for us when it all became some sort of a game to us. Haha.
Warm Up.
The last Thursday session that I attended had a different style of warming up. The old ‘run and suriashi until you feel like you legs are going to fall off’ was replaced with the one we usually do on Wednesdays, which, I shall name it as ‘stand in a ring and follow the leader’. Heehee, forgive me for the lack of originality. Let’s see… we did jogesuburi, men suburi and hayasuburi (40 times as compared to the usual 50 that we usually do on Weds.)
Seiretsu.
It’s quite confusing at times being a bogu student in the non bogu session, truthfully speaking (XD). Sometimes the sensei wants us to be at the first line, sometimes he kicks us waaaay back into the last line. So… we became a herd of sheep for about 5 seconds. Haha. “Shomen ni rei!” That means no “Onegaishimasu” or “Arigato gozaimashita”, guys =P.
Back to Basics!
Partnering time! Pick a person of equal height! Nelson! Lol. He was my partner that day. I think his basics are better than mine, haha. Ashisabaki! Mae, ushiro, migi and hidari. That reminds me of my non-bogu days. We did quite a lot of suburis that day. Possibly more than 300 hayasuburis in total. Out of all the drills in the basic class, the one that I dislike most will be the “slide and hit men (3 step men)”. I find it a little… boring ^^|| Though of course, if the sensei wants me to do a hundred of those, I’d gladly do so. Then it was more hayasuburis. If only everyone could see their faces when Aimi demonstrated hayasuburi. Lol. Her speed is double of what we usually do.
• Ashisabaki – Left foot straight, right heel off the ground. Weight distribution of 50:50. Shinai NEVER moves.
• Suburi – Use less right hand strength. Keep shinai in the centre plane. No pausing before bringing the shinai down. TENOUCHI!
• Hayasuburi – Feet must move and not stay in one spot.
Fun stuff!
This is the part that I’ve alwaaaaays looked forward to in every basic session that I have attended. Uchikomi practice. Although they are similar to what we usually do in bogu practice, the atmosphere is not as intense. Well, at least to us in the ‘bogu group’ =P Yes, Chua-sensei split the class into 3 groups (Bogu, Adults, and the kids). The drills that we did? Men, Kote, Doh (my favourite! ^.^), Men Men, and Kote Men (which then evolved to small kote men on our side after a while). Everything was received with the shinai, except for the doh.
So what was the fun thing here? Lol. Our little inside joke about Jessica’s kiai (XD) that sounded very much like ‘Soup’. Then we all went through the various brands that we could use as kiai. That would’ve been hilarious if we actually did… Imagine yourself going… “Caaaaaaaaaaaampbells!” or “Heeeeeeeeinz!!” That’s where it all started. All the laughing, giggling, snickering while everyone else were trying hard on their side. I did overhear something earlier in the changing room although I am not sure who mentioned it. He said that it is difficult for a bogu student to go back to basics and honestly, I think it is true. ^^ Some things actually feel odd when we go through it during practice. There were a lot of other funny things that we all did. Hahaha. All are unintentional, of course. Especially when we called wrong targets.
• Kote – Stretch out arms and use tenouchi.
• Doh – The moment the cut is executed, the shinai has to ‘stick’ to the doh as tenouchi is applied. This creates the nice popping sound and also gives the feel that the cut is strong.
Ending.
Extra 50 hayasuburi!! At this rate, I think all the beginners can beat me in doing hayasuburi LOL. There is no way that I’d be losing to them!!! From now on, 200 hayasuburis a day for me! Last but not least, thank you sensei for now throwing your shinai at us for fooling around that day. Heehee~.
It has been almost 2 weeks since the last time I trained. The week before CNY, my dad actually told me. “You are not going Kendo this week.” T.T Wuuu~ It became unbearable after a while knowing that my peers were training while I was at home, rolling pineapple tarts. Then, it was the ‘balik kampung’ days. I went back to Penang and then Taiping, spending two days each over there, returning only on Wednesday evening. Needless to say, I missed Wednesday training as well. My shinai actually felt heavier when I picked it up to do some suburis that night (haha).
Perhaps I should thank Jessica for dragging me out of my house the next day. (Thank youuu~ XP). Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a reason to go for Kendo as I rely on daddy dearest to take me there despite the fact that I have been pestering him to ‘LET-ME-DRIVE-THERE-MYSELF’ =.= Yeap. What did I tell him? Simple “Pa, my friend asked me to go for karaoke. After that they are dragging me to Kendo.” LOL Karaoke is definitely a good thing before keiko (XD) as my kiai was a lot louder after that.
Anyway, Thursday classes are specially catered for non-bogu students so, we (the ones in armour) didn’t have to put on our men and kote. It’s a blessing really. Lol. Everything looks great without having something in front of your face and best of all, we feel a lot lighter. It was fun for us when it all became some sort of a game to us. Haha.
Warm Up.
The last Thursday session that I attended had a different style of warming up. The old ‘run and suriashi until you feel like you legs are going to fall off’ was replaced with the one we usually do on Wednesdays, which, I shall name it as ‘stand in a ring and follow the leader’. Heehee, forgive me for the lack of originality. Let’s see… we did jogesuburi, men suburi and hayasuburi (40 times as compared to the usual 50 that we usually do on Weds.)
Seiretsu.
It’s quite confusing at times being a bogu student in the non bogu session, truthfully speaking (XD). Sometimes the sensei wants us to be at the first line, sometimes he kicks us waaaay back into the last line. So… we became a herd of sheep for about 5 seconds. Haha. “Shomen ni rei!” That means no “Onegaishimasu” or “Arigato gozaimashita”, guys =P.
Back to Basics!
Partnering time! Pick a person of equal height! Nelson! Lol. He was my partner that day. I think his basics are better than mine, haha. Ashisabaki! Mae, ushiro, migi and hidari. That reminds me of my non-bogu days. We did quite a lot of suburis that day. Possibly more than 300 hayasuburis in total. Out of all the drills in the basic class, the one that I dislike most will be the “slide and hit men (3 step men)”. I find it a little… boring ^^|| Though of course, if the sensei wants me to do a hundred of those, I’d gladly do so. Then it was more hayasuburis. If only everyone could see their faces when Aimi demonstrated hayasuburi. Lol. Her speed is double of what we usually do.
• Ashisabaki – Left foot straight, right heel off the ground. Weight distribution of 50:50. Shinai NEVER moves.
• Suburi – Use less right hand strength. Keep shinai in the centre plane. No pausing before bringing the shinai down. TENOUCHI!
• Hayasuburi – Feet must move and not stay in one spot.
Fun stuff!
This is the part that I’ve alwaaaaays looked forward to in every basic session that I have attended. Uchikomi practice. Although they are similar to what we usually do in bogu practice, the atmosphere is not as intense. Well, at least to us in the ‘bogu group’ =P Yes, Chua-sensei split the class into 3 groups (Bogu, Adults, and the kids). The drills that we did? Men, Kote, Doh (my favourite! ^.^), Men Men, and Kote Men (which then evolved to small kote men on our side after a while). Everything was received with the shinai, except for the doh.
So what was the fun thing here? Lol. Our little inside joke about Jessica’s kiai (XD) that sounded very much like ‘Soup’. Then we all went through the various brands that we could use as kiai. That would’ve been hilarious if we actually did… Imagine yourself going… “Caaaaaaaaaaaampbells!” or “Heeeeeeeeinz!!” That’s where it all started. All the laughing, giggling, snickering while everyone else were trying hard on their side. I did overhear something earlier in the changing room although I am not sure who mentioned it. He said that it is difficult for a bogu student to go back to basics and honestly, I think it is true. ^^ Some things actually feel odd when we go through it during practice. There were a lot of other funny things that we all did. Hahaha. All are unintentional, of course. Especially when we called wrong targets.
• Kote – Stretch out arms and use tenouchi.
• Doh – The moment the cut is executed, the shinai has to ‘stick’ to the doh as tenouchi is applied. This creates the nice popping sound and also gives the feel that the cut is strong.
Ending.
Extra 50 hayasuburi!! At this rate, I think all the beginners can beat me in doing hayasuburi LOL. There is no way that I’d be losing to them!!! From now on, 200 hayasuburis a day for me! Last but not least, thank you sensei for now throwing your shinai at us for fooling around that day. Heehee~.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wednesday, 3rd February 2010.
It’s been a long time since I last updated my little Kendo diary and I admit that I half-expected this to happen when I reopened this (^^||). I am just plain lazy when it comes to committing to a blog. Then again, I have my excuses. I was quite busy with my attachment with Pantai Hospital for the past two months. Then again, I have no intention of sharing my experience there as an intern here. ^.^ This is, after all, my Kendo haven.
Grading has come and gone and frankly speaking, I didn’t quite expect myself to be able to skip a rank this time since my performance during the last grading was rather disappointing (haha). Yes, I can somewhat tell. My partner during Kihon and Tachiai was a young boy of 8 and I was pretty worried about my entire grading after that. We don’t practice with kids very often during our regular trainings and when you do, everything changes. The distance, the target, and all that… I vaguely remembered someone telling me that I was doing Doh Kirikaeshi during my grading while others were doing the regular Men Kirikaeshi (LOL!) and that gave me a good laugh. Kote Men was a bit tricky, in my opinion, since I have yet to master the adjustment of my maai… So, yeah… all my men hits were off target. Zanshin, zanshin, zanshin! I’ve been told many times now that my zanshin is baaaaaaaaad. Hahaha. I need to raise my shinai over my head when I turn. Right now, I am just lazily sweeping it back to my kamae position from the side ^^||.
Tachiai was the part that I was worried sick about >.< Especially with what happened at the previous grading which I thought was rather pathetic… My two opponents… one was the 8 year old boy (Shiobara) and Alvin from Penang who only gave me more pressure after how Mimi described the match during Kakuya which was held at Penang the year before. I tried to be more aggressive this time… against both of them. Despite how much I told myself not to use small cuts during grading…. I ended up doing so automatically to compensate for my lack of speed (sigh…). Did a lot of men cuts when I was up against Shiobara but almost completely abandoning it when I fought with Alvin. He’s tall and I could barely reach his men buton to make a valid hit. So, I went for kote for most of the time… until the very last moment where I whipped out a Kaeshi Doh out of nowhere without even knowing T__T. That was just plain suicide… Somehow, I managed to do quite well and made a leap from 6th kyu to 4th kyu (^__^). Later that day, we all went out for dinner with out Ipoh and Penang friends ^.^ A wonderful day even though I was already dead tired after the post-grading training.
That was all about my grading in a nutshell… now on with my training on Wednesday!
Federal Highway is a real pain in the arse and with CNY just around the corner… it’s like an additional splinter poking around in my nerves. It was all jammed up and with the new diversion that brings me to Brickfields… it didn’t really help a bit. I missed kata entirely~ *despair*. I am still unsure of nanahonme and haven’t gotten much of a chance to get the timing down yet. Haih~ It was funny how Chris poked his head into the changing room and then saying “Much better.” Haha. I bet he was counting the number of heads present for training that time. Warm up was alright since we did about 90 hayasuburis. Chris should’ve joined in and we would have a nice hundred (Lol). For the past few trainings, I’ve been having some trouble tying my tenugui… nyeh… they either come undone, or just refuse to stay put at all… Frustration… However, once it’s in place, everything’s good. ^.^
Managed to get some things pointed out that day… and also additional points that I should keep in mind.
Kirikaeshi = Left hand should at least clear the eyes during the lift before hitting. Most were merely swinging blindly in front of their eyes (no pun intended). To be done only in two breaths…
Shomen uchi = Once again, left hand has to clear the eyes during the lift. Maai (Issoku Itto no Maai, and nothing more). Left foot must not overlap the right during the initial step to move into issoku itto no maai. Tenouchi.
Seme, Men (Small) = From Toma, an initial step is taken to move into issoku itto no maai. Seme (pressure) is applied by using shinai to glide along the motodachi’s shinai (in a straight line). Caution must be taken as to not to push the motodachi’s shinai to the side in order to create an opening during this practice. There should be a very slight pause during the initial step taken to move into issoku itto no maai before going in for men. It is important to ensure that the monouchi of the shinai is used to cut the men and nothing more than that.
Seme, Kote Men (Small) = Similarly to Seme, Men (Small). Care should be taken as not to take too large a step into issoku itto no maai. Controlling of fumikomi is essential in order to maintain a correct distance for both kote and men cut.
Oji Waza practice = Tried two wazas, Kote nuki Men and Men Kaeshi Doh.
Might have missed out something but I seriously can’t remember. Jigeiko was up next and since I have made up my mind to do more kakarigeiko to allow myself to get used to openings. Kakarigeiko! And who’d be so kind to be my motodachi? Why, Chris himself, of course! Haha! Well, actually I went up to him and asked him for it. =P I don’t quite remember how many I did… 5… maybe 6… He even gave me a little taste of the sets they did for WKC training. Lots to work on really…
- Turning using the right foot as the pivot and hit upon completing the turn (was trying hard to do this all the time).
- Don’t worry about maai as the motodachi will come up to you.
- TRY to do it in one breath per set, which, I keep on forgetting to do.
- All hits should be SHARP.
At the end of the final kakarigeiko, Chris ended it with a set of kirikaeshi and an extra men cut since I missed the final shomen uchi. ^^||. That took up around…. 10 to 15 minutes or so, if I remembered correctly. After that, I was just fighting hard at the corner not to turn green and puke…. =.= Yes, I wasn’t expecting that part.
Grading has come and gone and frankly speaking, I didn’t quite expect myself to be able to skip a rank this time since my performance during the last grading was rather disappointing (haha). Yes, I can somewhat tell. My partner during Kihon and Tachiai was a young boy of 8 and I was pretty worried about my entire grading after that. We don’t practice with kids very often during our regular trainings and when you do, everything changes. The distance, the target, and all that… I vaguely remembered someone telling me that I was doing Doh Kirikaeshi during my grading while others were doing the regular Men Kirikaeshi (LOL!) and that gave me a good laugh. Kote Men was a bit tricky, in my opinion, since I have yet to master the adjustment of my maai… So, yeah… all my men hits were off target. Zanshin, zanshin, zanshin! I’ve been told many times now that my zanshin is baaaaaaaaad. Hahaha. I need to raise my shinai over my head when I turn. Right now, I am just lazily sweeping it back to my kamae position from the side ^^||.
Tachiai was the part that I was worried sick about >.< Especially with what happened at the previous grading which I thought was rather pathetic… My two opponents… one was the 8 year old boy (Shiobara) and Alvin from Penang who only gave me more pressure after how Mimi described the match during Kakuya which was held at Penang the year before. I tried to be more aggressive this time… against both of them. Despite how much I told myself not to use small cuts during grading…. I ended up doing so automatically to compensate for my lack of speed (sigh…). Did a lot of men cuts when I was up against Shiobara but almost completely abandoning it when I fought with Alvin. He’s tall and I could barely reach his men buton to make a valid hit. So, I went for kote for most of the time… until the very last moment where I whipped out a Kaeshi Doh out of nowhere without even knowing T__T. That was just plain suicide… Somehow, I managed to do quite well and made a leap from 6th kyu to 4th kyu (^__^). Later that day, we all went out for dinner with out Ipoh and Penang friends ^.^ A wonderful day even though I was already dead tired after the post-grading training.
That was all about my grading in a nutshell… now on with my training on Wednesday!
Federal Highway is a real pain in the arse and with CNY just around the corner… it’s like an additional splinter poking around in my nerves. It was all jammed up and with the new diversion that brings me to Brickfields… it didn’t really help a bit. I missed kata entirely~ *despair*. I am still unsure of nanahonme and haven’t gotten much of a chance to get the timing down yet. Haih~ It was funny how Chris poked his head into the changing room and then saying “Much better.” Haha. I bet he was counting the number of heads present for training that time. Warm up was alright since we did about 90 hayasuburis. Chris should’ve joined in and we would have a nice hundred (Lol). For the past few trainings, I’ve been having some trouble tying my tenugui… nyeh… they either come undone, or just refuse to stay put at all… Frustration… However, once it’s in place, everything’s good. ^.^
Managed to get some things pointed out that day… and also additional points that I should keep in mind.
Kirikaeshi = Left hand should at least clear the eyes during the lift before hitting. Most were merely swinging blindly in front of their eyes (no pun intended). To be done only in two breaths…
Shomen uchi = Once again, left hand has to clear the eyes during the lift. Maai (Issoku Itto no Maai, and nothing more). Left foot must not overlap the right during the initial step to move into issoku itto no maai. Tenouchi.
Seme, Men (Small) = From Toma, an initial step is taken to move into issoku itto no maai. Seme (pressure) is applied by using shinai to glide along the motodachi’s shinai (in a straight line). Caution must be taken as to not to push the motodachi’s shinai to the side in order to create an opening during this practice. There should be a very slight pause during the initial step taken to move into issoku itto no maai before going in for men. It is important to ensure that the monouchi of the shinai is used to cut the men and nothing more than that.
Seme, Kote Men (Small) = Similarly to Seme, Men (Small). Care should be taken as not to take too large a step into issoku itto no maai. Controlling of fumikomi is essential in order to maintain a correct distance for both kote and men cut.
Oji Waza practice = Tried two wazas, Kote nuki Men and Men Kaeshi Doh.
Might have missed out something but I seriously can’t remember. Jigeiko was up next and since I have made up my mind to do more kakarigeiko to allow myself to get used to openings. Kakarigeiko! And who’d be so kind to be my motodachi? Why, Chris himself, of course! Haha! Well, actually I went up to him and asked him for it. =P I don’t quite remember how many I did… 5… maybe 6… He even gave me a little taste of the sets they did for WKC training. Lots to work on really…
- Turning using the right foot as the pivot and hit upon completing the turn (was trying hard to do this all the time).
- Don’t worry about maai as the motodachi will come up to you.
- TRY to do it in one breath per set, which, I keep on forgetting to do.
- All hits should be SHARP.
At the end of the final kakarigeiko, Chris ended it with a set of kirikaeshi and an extra men cut since I missed the final shomen uchi. ^^||. That took up around…. 10 to 15 minutes or so, if I remembered correctly. After that, I was just fighting hard at the corner not to turn green and puke…. =.= Yes, I wasn’t expecting that part.
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