Tonight's return was rejuvenating: the usual tiredness and hunger faded before the warmups were even over. A blister I've had for a while finally burst today, so there was some raw skin on my left hand, but luckily just below where I grip the base of the shinai, so it didn't really hurt me and my technique. Sensei led today, which meant plenty of kihon but also nuki-waza. Apparently "nuki" means "you-thought-it-was-there-but-wait-it-isn't." This included one of my favorites, kote-nuki-men, but also new stuff like do-nuki-men. It's my sort of practice including the dreaded okuri-ashi backwards but then strike men (or men-men, or men-men-men) forward on the blocks with no delay ashi-sabaki prctice, plus no-nonsense kirikaeshi and then kakarigeiko.

The most regular sensei counsels that I should avoid using all of those new fancy small-waza, instead favoring the big kihon that better befits my ikkyu status. Sensei meanwhile compares kendo to a buttress which is, um, buttressing a wall. It must support the wall, providing constant pressure. I tend instead to slip off my target, the point sliding off the opponent rather than making a bee-line laser-sight type pushy intensity. I feel happier against tall opponents, that I'm trying for debana men or men rather than the easy way out which is kote. The problem is that I need to counter kote better: and there are so many ways--nuki-men, suriage-men, kaeshi-men, ai-kote-men. Unfortunately I'm only good at nuki-men, and even then sporadically. I just need to keep pushing forward and do more suburi & squats.