officially 1 kyu

I've finally obtained 1 kyu 2 weeks ago. I'm glad that finally i don't have to focus as much on the basic stuff, and in the next year to come, on waza and foot work, and the training of the mind. I haven't been practicing as intensely as i used to be, so my skills are really downgrading. it sucks. so now, after exams are done, i'm going for a series of intense training to hopefully get my skills back to normal. i need to train how to be able to focus on the center without paying much attention, or be able to trick my opponent to get my center..

3rd year of kendo begins

I have been sick for the past 2 weeks, and just got back into kendo tuesday. It was quite a tough practice for me. I was leading the warm up, and the line up, lost my voice shouting. I'm glad that Hiro from SFU kendo made it to UBC practice this time. He looks like he is going to keep on practicing once here every tuesday.

Dualling Hiro has made me to learn how to deal with people who don't go straight and hit fast kotes. Harding's idea of kendo is always going straight and fast so before they can hit your kote, you already striked men. however, there are multiple wazas that doesn't require you to go straight, instead, going side ways to strike a kote or men. Those are extra hard to deal with, and they are often employed by higher level people. what i realized is that, whenever i'm surely able to strike a men and raised by hand, there is no going back, i can't just disable opponenent's kote if they hit me fast, and the only way is to retrieve my own kote and go for a punch style men. I have deviced the technique, and is going to try it out this practice. Though, I must first distinquish the distance, that it will only be effective if opponenent is at his/her optimal distance to strike kote and not the too late stage, if it's at that stage, i should defend and then go men.

maybe i should focus on kote for a while... and forget about men, just keep on training kote until I become a kote master, hmm...

and Setobu (sp), the new Japanese san dan girl was teaching me a lesson not to stop after initial hit, if i miss, try to do a backup right away, and then rest. this way your opponenent may not be able to defend the backup hit right away and you score.

Kendo Sept 4th Osborn

since harding sensei gave me the go on 1 kyu exam. I'm going to turn my next 2 month of kendo into complete basic training: I'm going to stop using waza, and do very basic hits in slow but well rounded manner, and not stop and then going in, but to keep on going.

Kendo sept 2nd at Osborn

Harding gave me the go on taking my 1 kyu exam. he said that my first time kitikaish was pretty good. I slowed down a bit and was not trying to speed up by forcing myself to, and also i wasn't taking the 2 breath, but many breath. I think the timing of breath got me agitated to go faster than i can, and that was why my kitikaish looks stiff. Harding emphasized that you must fight relax, no matter if it's 10 min into the shiai or not, so that slowly your kendo become natural to you, and you do it as if it comes to you, not you try to force it happen.

some realizations

My sensei says that in everyone, kendo is supposed to be the same, but after a while I realized that everyone has a different style of kendo, and it totally depends on what kind of personality they have.

Harding sensei is quite honest and straight to the point. His style of kendo doesn't have much of trikery, just always going straight, do waza according to the reaction he got from his opponent: if opponent is too strong in center, he go kote, if his opponent is off center he go for men as fast as possible.

Kagami sensei's kendo is more trickery. he likes to flung his shinai in random motion, tricking his opponent into either defending or attacking, while his real trick is that he is moving forward slightly that you're distracted from seeing that he is because his shinai doesn't look like it is moving. he also likes to focus a lot on the center fighting with shinai tip, pushing or letting go slightly on such random motion that you can't predict what he is doing.

DK is the middle between the two senseis. He uses trickery, always doing a circular motion that distracts his opponent, yet his distraction isn't exactly just doing random thing, at different position of the circle, it is faster to do different waza, at lower end, he does nuki-do's or other nu-ki waza, at top he goes for iyu men and other faster and straight through waza. he circulates his shinai pretty fast so his opponent cannot predict the cycle easily.

I wonder what others think of my kendo, what personality I have from just seeing what i do.

Kelowna Gasshuku August 15 - 17

I guess being an only child, I was never used to having so many people around me all day. I don't even think I can stand it for over a few hours, in fact. Somehow I get the same feeling when I'm just alone when I'm in a large group. The noise, the constant laughter, it gives me an alien feeling and I'd rather not be part of it.

Sensei keeps on saying that kendo is also a community, and you're joining a community. But whenever I'm in any kendo gatherings, I don't exactly feel like I belong to the "pack", the group, the gang, or whatever you call it. I'm not Japanese, and I'm not exactly someone who worships the Japanese culture like a god. I just like kendo and what it stands for, and everything else that links to it just feels alien. Or is it just I don't really like the SFU club? there is some slight and subtle differences between the clubs, mainly due to the nature of sensei's.

with that set aside. it was quite eventful, and I'm glad I had sometime to be alone. I had shiai with Hiro and he was pretty damn good, beat me twice. I got a piece of broken glass caught into my foot, which was kinda bad. I broke my bogu case wheel and handle.

Kendo monday and tuesday this week August 13th

I haven't been written as much about my practice these days, partially because I wasn't exactly doing my best, and also I don't think there are many things significant to write about.

Monday practice at SFU is my last practice for the next 8 month. Sucks that I must go back to 2 times of practice a week again due to school. but I have also missed school greatly. I went to eat with the SFU people one last time afterwards. Won't see them for a long time to go.

Kagami sensei had some good points about my kendo on tuesday. my kitikaish needs to push by body but not my arms. and whenever i try to hit, my shinai whirls before the hit, which is a waste of energy. it must go straight. I still don't understand how that could happen, it would have been better if somebody film me doing kendo.

looking forward to Kelowna Gasshuku... and also having anxieity attacks about it...

kendo thursday july 31st

Harding is not able to make it to the practice today, and Zack had to lead the practice. being zack, the practice was pretty tough, tough enough to make Nicole to have breathing problem in the middle of the practice.

afterwards Len started telling me not to do tsuki too much in sfu, because I fake tsukied Ling and she keeps on blaming me even I have apologized.

Zack also points out that higher ranking people tend to do less pushing during tsuiba seriaki (sp), saving the energy for sudden attacks instead of keep on pushing around.

Kendo Tuesday July 30th

kendo in UBC has been more and more relaxing these days. We only had 1.5 hours of practice on tuesday. I was trying to push myself to hit faster, but resulted in using my shoulders again, so i have to slow down.. a bit.

afterwards, Harding sensei, Zack and me had an interesting conversation regarding kendo recruitment. Zack was saying that beginners need to mingle more with the seniors in order to keep them in the sport, and also break the ice between themselves, and he insist on joined practice during thursday i-house practice.

every kendo club in Vancouver is suffering from the lack of regular people, and most people quit after a while. often we start with 20-30 people, by mid-semester, there is only 10-15, and by the end of 8 month, only 1-2 left. Harding says that it's because most people can't stand the initial training, and because western culture tend to focus on the coolness of kendo/kenjutsu too much, nobody realizes that it requires significant endurance before reaching the cool part, and a lot of people eventually become disgruntled and left. most often people needs a one full year of beginner training before getting the bogu. some people who are more athletic and have exposed to other martial arts are easier to adopt, but some just don't. and if the initial beginner training time is decreased, people will end up lousy when they wear bogu. Harding was also saying that if he gives beginners a really tough practices, more people tend to stay longer, instead, other dojos have tried to do less, and not many people stays. By the end of the conversion, we are still confused between where to cut between the compromise in beginners and the traditions and culture of kendo. to be too lenient, then we lose the spirit of kendo and the spirit of the martial art, to be too tough and we may result in the martial art die out.

kendo on monday July 28th

It's so dark today. It finally started raining again in Vancouver, and since the sun is gone, it looks as if summer has suddenly left us all without a word.

I'm going off topic.

kendo in SFU on monday, I'm kinda felt a bit happy that defeated some higher rank people in shiai. trying to learn Zack's instant backup waza trick, worked on people a bit taller than me (kelvin). I'm going to try that more often.

I was talking to my friends about myself last night, and she reminded me of the kind of person that I have been trying my best not to be at this point of life. Suddenly I realized that I have been using kendo as my masquerade, building my characters base on what I wish myself to be, and at the same time trying to erase the me in my past. it's as if I am wearing the kendo mask for more than just doing the martial art; masking away what i use to be, and be someone else when i am doing kendo, hoping that one day i could just feel like this instead...

anyway

Kendo on thursday and monday this week

got foot padding broken on monday, didn't have a good practice

Thursday. Harding sensei was pointing out some of the flaws I have:

1) elbow always in, so when you go through with your men, you don't elbow the other person, which can be quite hurting if you went through fast

2) backup waza has to keep your elbow in always

3) when streching at the beginning, ease into the position, don't bend too much, you'll end up with injuries at old age (though i still believe sensei should tell me that when i am at my 40's... there is a world of pain and injuires for me to enjoy :D)

in conclusion, i think my foot work is getting a bit better, but sometimes it is still out of sync. I still have to work on more offensive, i defend too much

A Side Note

if kendo is a journey, and human spirit is music, then i can describe myself as the rhythm of "Trap the Worms" from Children of Dune

Kendo July 10th, 14th and 15th

running doesn't work nice together with kendo. i jogged twice on friday and saturday and my feet muscle were so tired i can't really work harder on monday and tuesday. on the other hand, i think my feet and hand coordination is getting a bit better.. i think.

i think for the last month, i should focus on my determination, spar as best as i could just like the begining, and keep the zenshin (keeping a average of 3 practice per week for 8 month was difficult, and treat each practice not as a slug is even more difficult). i overheard on tuesday that Harding sensei was telling Kagami sensei that he is lazy as a slug, and it triggered me that i must fight as hard no matter who the person is, and stop treating different people differently during keico, and in doing so, I can get them to be more serious with me and also I will not slack off.

Several Kendo practices

looks like I haven't posted for a while.

I probably have gotten lazy. I am still learning in each practice, but the progress doesn't feel like a lot. Okusa sensei was teaching some techniques in body checking, and he focuses quite a lot in body checking these few practices. while harding sensei is taking it easy, and teaches me to keep my center even during tsuba suriaki, keeping my elbow in so that he won't recognize that i am attacking when i widens my elbow, which a bad sign for it. with elbow stay in, it is much harder to do any hiki waza, because the direction of the force is not directly on pushing the other person's hands sideways, but to lead them slightly to the side, and use the rest of the saved force to do the attack.

Kendo June 30th

went to SFU kendo yesterday. I was just recovering from my left foot padding problem, and Okusa sensei gave me a pretty tough practice. i think he was dissapointed in me. the weather was pretty hot and along with my foot, i just couldn't do it.

his primary lesson these days is to keep your ground after a forward strike. don't back out if you missed the hit, and if the guy back out, go forward quickly and give a strike, or make them think you want to strike and do a surprise counter. and after the hit, always stand your ground, otherwise he will try to push you out of bound.

June 23rd kendo

went to SFU. my left foot padding broke out very badly, i will need to use tapes for kendo for a while.

sensei was training me to push back during tsuba suriaki, he was giving me a hard lesson, and it turned out that both of us were laughing afterwards. first time seeing sensei laugh during practice. I think he was trying to make me push back, or stand my ground hard enough and don't give a inch, but i still did, just started to manuver side ways to redirect his push.

i still need to watch my distance problem, i attack when it's too close, and i need to listen to opportunities appear, and not do nothing when opportunities appear.

sensei was saying that i have too much extra uncessary motion during basics, i should train to be straight and direct.

I really want to continue my training, but it looks like it's more beneficial to stop and let my foot heal for a while. I'm now just afraid of the after extreme kendo effect, where you practiced so much that you don't know how painful your body really feels because you were loaded with endorphins, but when the exercise is gone after a few days, every part of your body start coming back and screaming with pain. also i could miss my social life really badly. kendo is the only social life i have these days... if you consider that a kind of social life, no talking, no smiling, just screaming at each other and hit each other in the head.

kendo has changed me, now i am more comfortable meeting people pointing a stick at their throat than to smile and talk about random things.

Kendo June 19th

it's probably the most fun kendo day I had today. I was wearing my bloodbath "suck my gut" t-shirt, and Gi-won was accusing me wearing a bad shirt saying "suck my clit". it was such a hilarious phrase, that he kept on laughing the entire practice. and the boys (Len, the noobs) started questioning why am i wearing such bad phrase t shirt, and we started talking about death metal and blood bath, and somehow the topic just kept on changing at random with absolutely no predictable direction.

after practice, Len started telling me to not wearing underwear under hakama, and joking about that all the good guys don't wear underwear underneath (I know Zack does), and that "once you go pantless you'll never go back"

Kendo June 17th

Harding sensei mentioned quite a few points:

1. "cki" needs to push by the waist, not the arms, the shinai is a weapon, after "cki" you can do additional attacks, and don't focus on the retreat part

2. "kitikaish" still needs to have bigger motion after wearing bogu, thus kitikaish needs to focus a lot more on stomach

3. no matter how slow or fast you do, must keep the foot and hands together in motion, and not doing one and not the other, the timing of the two are important to raise attack speed in the future.

probably gona be encouraged to take 1 kyu test this november

Kendo June 16th

went to SFU for kendo today. my focus was mainly based on foot work, whenever i strike i should tap. but i realized that I need to work more on efficient backward techniques. try to score more points using hiki waza. gona focus on hiki waza for the next month.

Practice on June 10th, 12th and 14th 2008

current reason for kendo: conquering the subconsciousness of self, modifying it to become sharper, resillient, and less prone to behavioral response.

since thursday last week, my feet's muscle has not been doing well. somehow if i jump, my nerve will start sending pain signals, making my entire feet feel painful and cannot stand my weight and momentum. I don't really know if it's the muscle's problem or the nervous system's problem, but I know I have been working pretty hard last week. Zack has been pushing me harder, especially in after finishing a hit, I should rush through with full speed and keep the zenshin. it could have been because of that, or it could be that i tapped my right foot too hard during practice. walking was a bit painful until wednesday.

unfortunately, i can't push myself hard enough on tuesday or thursday. tuesday was because of the pain, and after thursday, my left foot's meat padding starts to bleed inside, and I just can't stand the pain. yeah, i know. one of the thing i must be working on is to ignore the pain more effectively, fight on even i feel painful in any part of my body. somehow i cannot get away from that primitive habbit... one of the thing i must be working on.

thursday was better. it was also Giwan (sp)'s Bday, had fun with Bday beat. during geiko, I started to become more defensive when sparring with Zack. I was just able to get away from those defensive habbits last thursday, unfortunately, they came back again.

saturday i practiced in Zosokan (sp). Okusa sensei is still doing his best reminding me to do something after my initial strike, and don't just stand there being hit. bad habbit never change.. eh. I think it's completely the foot problem. if my foot feels painful during practice, i have a tendency not to keep them in stance, and lost my readiness to strike right after attack.

so there are three things i need to work on for my footwork: 1. every strike, i must tap with my foot 2. after strike, get back to kamai (sp) right away 3. after body check, either extend my foot forward to obsorb my opponenet's momentum and my foot stance, or use the energy to fall back and do hiki waza. never leave my foot flat on the floor, it's a terrible habbit.

my back has also been hurting. David is saying that I shouldn't lean back that much during strike, otherwise i lose my momentum. though, it does feel nice to strike with my back, if i swing big enough, my right foot doesn't even have to move forward for body to get the forwarding effect.

Subsitude for the written journal

I don't exactly know if starting a blog regarding my learning of kendo was ironic or not, considering that the spirit of kendo promotes duty and work, yet I am lazy to a point that writing onto papers are becoming a bit of a difficult thing to do. since most of my time are spent on my computer, it makes me feel more compelled to write here than on my private journal books.

so here goes nothing.