So today's practice was super-crowded given our celebrity visiting Sensei, which meant a three-nanadan practice, though I ended up deferring to my sempai, not practicing with all that many people outside of the dojo, actually. But it was a good practice, with a solid hour of jigeiko and one practice with a sensei I normally do not see at all. I think what I need to focus on is the difference between how I practice with kohai and with sempai or sensei. The main pointers, being posture upright and hip power, I think I should also continue to keep in mind, as keeping my back straight has made a big difference, I think, in jigeiko as well as kakarigeiko. I do, however, notice that I very rarely effectively use taiatari in jigeiko. I also tend to stop a few steps even after a good strike which I know to be good. The other recurring criticism I get is the tension in my right arm, which is still far too much. A wider tsukagawa helps in this respect, I think, and I think that doing better kiai like I was today, in which it was quite intense and consistent, will help me to eventually actually put my power in the hara where it belongs, which I never really do.

There was one men strike in particular today, where I felt that my power was emanating from the tip of my shinai, straight forward to strike, cleanly and solidly.

I must also strive to hit better immediately from sonkyo, or to get the first strike.

So today was just what I needed after my discouragement Thursday and skipping Saturday. The Sensei who used to run all Sunday classes finally returned after a long absence spent at one of our sister dojos. And this meant that we had the old condensed Sunday routine from before, which goes something like this: (ashi-sabaki) ayumi-ashix2, okuri-ashix2, ayumi-ashi fasterx2, okuri-ashi fasterx2, back-and-forthx2, back-and-forth plus men, back-and-forth plus kote-men; (kihon without men) menx3x2, kote-menx3x2, hiki-menx3x2; (men-o-tsuke) kirikaeshi, suri-ashi menx3, tobi-komi menx3, kihon menx3, sashi-menx3, kihon kote-menx3, small kote-menx3, omote-harai-menx3, ura-harai-menx3, tsukix3 (optional), hiki-menx3; (without bogu go off to the side) waza-practice on the blocksx2 each: otagae-ni-menx2, debana-kotex2, men-nuki-dox2, ai-kote-menx2, kote-kaeshi-menx2, kote-nuki-menx2, otagae-ni-hiki-menx2; karari-geiko: menx2, kote-menx2, men-or-kote-menx1. Sonkyo. Whew.

In keiko with said sensei, I felt for the first time that he was taking seriously, though by that I just mean that he kept the pressure on, rather than going straight through after a point, walking to the other side casually, turning around and resetting deliberately--it felt more like five minutes of continuous practice, though this does not mean that I scored a solitary solid point. With Sensei I scored a few clean shikake-waza points, but was still too tense, and he cautioned me afterward that bad tenouchi leads to painful strikes for motodachi. I'm torn because part of me wants to work on my hikiwaza, but the rest of me knows that it's really more important to work on basics, basics, basics, and there are plenty of other things (such as simple tenouchi, zanshin) which would improve my overall far more.

Also, in trying to keep my back straighter, both in kakari-geiko and again senseis, I find that my form improves, but I tend to be a lot more tired and sore, which can only men I should be more consistently upright.

Skipping practice to have drinks and dinner. Really should go and squeeze in some suburi, but too tired.

A less than satisfying practice, and I'm not sure why--kihon and uchikomi practice went pretty well, though I guess in this case, I actually would have appreciated some kakarigeiko at the end of things. But I think things had gone okay even though my first two jigeiko bouts, but it was the unexpected interruption in the end (though I guess there were also a whole bunch of shinai malfunctions which broke my rhythm and focus) and five minutes of standing around, trying to keep my place in line and feeling very sleepy. By the last bout, I felt like I hadn't really pushed myself, nor gotten a chance to practice with Sensei. I guess I just need to work harder Saturday.

Arriving late to practice meant that I had to squeeze in some kirikaeshi with a beginner before launching into a couple of quick jigeiko bouts. One with a sempai who counseled me to launch more with the left foot rather than hitting with my hands: I need to be more aggressive against sempai rather than waiting for them to attack. And then with a kohai who attacks too big in keiko but then strikes to small in kirikaeshi. I'm sure I do the same, and I gave in again, in the desire for a brief but strenuous practice, to waiting for his attack before striking straight and small, rather than using big but well-timed attacks. But it's a nice pair of contrasts in terms of how my style and performance changes based upon my partner.

I'm launching this blog too late for the last two practices, but to separate my kendo blog and progress from my daily life and blog. The aim here is to provide a summary of each jigeiko bout as well as a place to reflect and set goals beyond the steno-pad paper form.