I really need to be more conscientious about keeping this up, especially if I put into effect my plan to start some Friday budo at some point (probably February, after things settle down grad schoolwise). At that point, I will have a lot more to keep track of.

Sunday practice was short and to the point, led by Sunday Sensei with all the old standbys, modulo some omitted kihon-men-waza, and perhaps more tsuki than usual. I am now a big fan of tsuki, though I'm sure it's all psychological. Other than that, it was hot but I didn't feel that despite my too-wet tenugui, and there was a nice variety of keiko, including four sensei. Sensei himself remarks that although I managed to hit his men, my shisei was wrong--as I was shrinking backwards rather than remaining upright and moving forward. Smaller waza also seem to be the order of the day, befitting my rank, or so I'm told. Relax relax relax. I do feel better, though, when in regular kamae at least, but it's the after-wards which matters more.

With kyudo it's hard to know. We take two shots. Does that mean that we should make the first just like the second? That we should have them stack up like Robin Hood? Or should each shot be individual, subject to its own type of reflection? Group shooting looks interesting, like a game of Chinese Whispers--go not by what you have to say but what others have already said, as best as you can get. I felt like my left shoulder couldn't quite stay straight and perpendicular, and often more than before, as if I was losing my grasp with my right hand. My hikitori is still not very good, especially my righthand not drawing back over the ear, and my left hand going too far horizontal rather than diagonally-toward.