Fitness Fail

I know this is starting to sound like i'm making it up but I managed to pick up another cough/chest virus late Jan/early Feb. That makes three since the end of November... i've never picked up so many illnesses in such a short space of time before.

One a happier note i've been practicing without an ankle support so at least that injury is on the mend (touch wood). My wrist is improving but i'm still wearing a support during the day.

Last week was the first time I managed three practices since the start of December. It was horrendous. My cardio was virtually non-existent, the cough has done a proper number on my lungs. My visit to Mumeishi was also horrible, i've not felt that out of breath since my beginners days and I felt a bit of a dick gasping in front of the locals. My thursday and friday sessions were also very uncomfortable but what upset me the most is i've lost the 'mobile' feeling I'd discovered in December. Gutted, hopefully I can find it again over the next few weeks.

Mumeishi last night was another difficult one. Holt sensei was out of armour and observed my jigeiko, he pulled me up on a number of worrying fundamentals, many are very familiar:

• Attacking far too close;
• When I try and maintain distance I don't engage with my opponent;
• Too much right hand, practice tenouchi;
• No zanshin;
• Weak attacking presence;
• More confidence!
• Dont flick my kensen about; and
• Work on getting my fitness back.

One crucial point he raised is that I seem to treat jigeiko as shiai (i.e. I don't want to lose). This is worrying as I didn't realise I was doing this. Sensei was kind enough to explain that losing is part of learning and to view it as a necessity.

Other than that everything was ok.. Ha!.

So much to fix it's hard to know where to start. Sensei suggested I work on my distance to begin with as it's my biggest advantage. I've been pulled up about my distance so many times over the years but I never learn, will I ever get it?

//edit: After an improved end to the week I was planning to visit squad training in Birmingham. Unfortunately, soreness after Friday training convinced me that two days of hardcore training wasn't the best method of recovery. Fingers crossed I can attend in March.

Ouch v2.0

Another bloody injury.

A week last friday I was fighting a clubmate during Jigeiko and I slammed my left foot into his, resulting in a knackered second toe. I taped it up against the neighbouring toe but I still suffered a stabbing pain ever time I launched for a cut.

After a week hobbling about it was rested enough for Thursday's club visit to Tora dojo. I've not visited those guys for a few months so it was fun to take part in their kihon again. However, this made me realise that i've lost all the fitness built up over the summer with UCL :(

There was no Friday practice due to building work at our gym so I visited UCL. It was much busier than the summer due to returning students and new beginners. They also have a good contingent of Japanese kendoka who are handy with a shinai! This includes a Jodan player who has a cracking katate kote. I thought I held my ground pretty well against these guys but the difference in class was pretty apparent. Kihon was a killer though, three string kirikaeshi swapping with 3x men, kote men, waza etc... i nearly died. I also stubbed my bad left toe again and the knuckle has swollen right up.

I feel that i'm improving with my kamae. Since i've been working on moving my balance from back to front foot I seem to be able to launch forward quicker. Still lots of work but I think i'm changing.

Blake sensei has also set me a task to work on. I have to improve my attacking attitude and not kill my spirit after one cut. Therefore, he told me to try and take the last cut in an attack (e.g. kote - men or hiki waza) in order to raise zanshin and dominate my opponent. The trick is to do this and avoid turning it into kagarigeiko.

Three parts to the cut

During tuesday practice Blake sensei taught a kihon lesson which broke an attack into three parts.

The first was to step into issoku-itto-no-maai with either an overpowering centre, harai or uchiotoshi technique. Next was to make a big cut (making sure it was timing of '1') and the final step was to step into tsubazeriai.

We were encouraged to cut straight with tenouchi so that the superior cut will win, and to maintain a high degree of zanshin after the third part. This meant that we were aware of a weakness in technique or spirit in our opponent after the initial cut which then allows continuous attack (e.g. second men or hiki waza).

This proved to be an intense exercise which didn't allow a drop in energy or mental concentration.

New Dojo

I visited Mumeishi for the first time today which proved very enjoyable and helpful. They have Holt sensei, Salmon sensei and a few high grade Japanese sensei who are nice to practice with. They also have and a bunch of kids who are lightening.

I first practiced with Funaki sensei who immediately picked up on my continual problem of weak seme and not relaxing my arms/shoulders. He also told me not to move backwards (I seem to do this more when I visit an unfamiliar dojo... must be the nerves). I performed a number of shomen cuts with seme and relaxed posture which gained approval. Why cant I do this all the time?

He also told me to concentrate intently, focusing on my opponents's eyes but viewing the whole body (The whole mountain).

I think i'll acknowledge seme and tense arms as a long term issue as it's pointless me repeating the same kind of post all the time. Coincidentally, the BKA recently posted a good article on Seme and Tame here, an article by Kenshi247 is here. A poster on KendoWorld forum submitted an interesting seme vid here.

I also practiced with Holt sensei who taught me improved zanshin. I tend to run though too far after a men cut so sensei explained I need only to run slightly over two shinai distances away (mine + my opponents). In addition, I need to keep my hands up and shinai forward during the run though and as I rotate to face my aite, not pull them into my chest like i'm doing now. This will stop people creeping up behind me and cutting as I turn.

Holt sensei's final point for better zashin is to turn the correct way to face my aite. If they are behind and to the left then turn anti-clockwaise, behind right then turn clockwise to face them.