It occurred to me as I was walking to work today to think about my mental images of good kendo. It's hard to catalog, because the moment you realize you're in a period it's almost too late, but I mean the one strike I play over and over again in my head when I'm walking around or not in the dojo, otherwise daydreaming about kendo.

For a while, it used to be regular men-uchi--good, straight, right on top of the buton.

Sometimes I combine this mentally with my favorite waza (that I can actually do), kote-nuki-men, which leads to a very satisfying and surprising men... All my best, most spontaneous men in shiai have been like this.

Since Hayashi-Sensei's visit, however, I've been thinking about (and trying in keiko more often) men-kaeshi-do, which is his especiality, not mine. I think my kendo has suffered.