More Homeless Kendo

Its been a few weeks since my layoff with a heavy cold and kendo has been very sparse during this time. My main club and most backups are all closed for the summer so its been a case of hunting down suitable sessions outside my usual Thursday practice. Kendo in London seems particularly quiet this summer.

First of all I visited UCL at their temporary dojo. This is located in the university gym in Bloomsbury which has good facilities and a nice floor (with the exception of a few holes). However, the room was uberhot - combined with UCLs intense kihon and a drop in my fitness, I was left shaking by the end. That was the hardest practice i've had for a loooong time, it hurt.

The practice was enjoyable nonetheless and the only downer was a big cut on the ball of my left foot when slid into one of the holes.

I also visited Wakaba which had a good turnout of dojomates. During the motodachi-geiko section of the session I asked one of their seniors (Junji) if he could help my cutting from distance. He instructed that I need to move forward from the hips, maintaining my kensen in a central position - as if I was going to attack tsuki. I should then finish the cut with a small men.

Last night I drove over to Mumeishi after work for their Tuesday training. I was a little nervous as this was the first time I visited during the week, the practice was well attended with 10-12 people including two nanadans.

Practice turned out to be a night of 'home truths'. Training with new people meant they were able to look at me with fresh eyes, they spotted many of my old habits which I thought I'd resolved and my regular dojo-mates have become used to. These include:

• Inability to build up ki during Issoku ittō-no-maai which resulted in no 'mind contact' and pointless attacks. 
• Crap Zanshin. 
• Not launching fast/strong enough from back foot/leg - I suspect my weight balance isn't correct. 
• Leaning forward from the shoulders when cutting from distance.

I honestly thought I was getting on top of these issues but it seems I still have a way to go. I feel a little disappointed as its the same old problems of posture and distance AGAIN.

On a more cheerful note. I received my new men and kote care of Miyako Kendogu. I tested the kote at Mumeishi which require a bit of wearing in, i'll try the new men this weekend -ahh, the joys of breaking in new armour!

Urghhh

Another cold, kill me.

No kendo tonight.

Putting into Practice

I recently missed a week of practice after the Chiba sensei seminar due to a boozy stag do in Albufeira (Portugal). I was fearful that missed training combined with excessive drinking would kill off my kendo fitness but I managed some satisfying sessions on my return.

My focus was to try and put into practice some of the techniques taught by Chiba sensei, mainly relaxing the body. I made a concerted effort to loosen the hands and arms and not choke the hell out of my shinai when attempting te-no-uchi, it's early days but I felt like i've made an improvement. During kihon I managed to remain relaxed and relatively energised compared to a few dojo mates who were tiring due to increased arm/shoulder power. I also received some encouragement from seniors during jigeiko, I think improved relaxation allowed me to concentrate on the opponent rather than fight my own body to perform techniques.

In conjunction with this I am also reading 'The Inner Game of Tennis' by Timothy Gallwey which a dojo mate recommended I buy. You may wonder what tennis has to do with kendo? I did... however, the premise of this book is to define a mental approach to training which can be applied to any sport. You can probably tell from my posts that I suffer a degree of self doubt and over analysis of my kendo (maybe this blog is a product of it? Oops).

'The Inner Game' splits a person's personality into "Self 1" and "Self 2". Self 1 is the term given to the conscious ego-mind which tries to control and dictate Self 2. Self 2 is your subconscious ability, muscle memory, waza 'toolbox' and your fighting personality. In other words, Self 1 is the "teller" and Self 2 the "doer".

You can see Self 1 and 2 in action when you observe people cursing themselves after a wayward cut (or tennis forehand, poor shot on goal in football or pulled golf swing for that matter). This is the conscious ego-mind Self 1 chastising the 'doer' Self 2. This internal conflict means that Self 1 tries to take over the action, resulting in tightened muscles, clenched teeth and increased spent effort in trying to mentally drive a certain technique though (a.k.a 'trying too hard'!). We've all done it, mentally instructing yourself to "cut faster", "draw up left foot quicker" or "straighten back" etc... usually resulting in another part of your cut going wonky.

It seems more effort does not necessarily mean better results.

The aim of the book is to quieten Self 1 and trust the internal ability of Self 2, thus reducing conflict in the mind and aiding relaxation. One method Gallwey suggests is to try and remove self judgment from practice (e.g. "my kote is shit" or "my hiki waza is ace"). By removing emotive 'good' and 'bad' judgements means reviewing performance is based purely on facts (e.g. "my kote needs to be performed from greater distance to improve success"). This then leads to a clear plan of action for kihon. There's much more to this concept which is explained in the book.

I'm only a 3rd of the way though the guide so far but it's like it was written for me. It's very insightful. I feel it has helped me start to clear my 'ego-mind' during jigeiko which in turn has improved concentration. I'm no way there yet, but its definitely boosted my enjoyment during the past week. The trick is to retain this methodology and not fall back to my old ways.

Chiba Sensei Seminar 2011

Just enjoyed four interesting days of kendo.

Last week Chiba sensei made his annual trip over to the UK for a weekend seminar. However, I was lucky enough to attend two additional practices on Thursday and Friday before the ‘main event’. This was because Chiba sensei, accompanied by Salmon sensei, visited my regular Thursday and Friday club night.

This meant I was lucky enough to experience two jigeiko with Chiba sensei in as many days. As a result, I was happy that if I missed out on any further opportunities over the weekend (which ended up being the case).

Right, onto the seminar….

The main themes of the day was Te-no-uchi and Seme.

Te-no-uchi

Chiba sensei main focus (as with previous years) was the use of correct Te-no-uchi in order to achieve a correct cut and Ki-Ken-Tai-Ichi (KKTI). This was our first lesson on day one.

Firstly Chiba sensei instructed how to hold the shinai correctly with the base of the tsuka in the heel of the palm with it running diagonally across to the index finger. The tsuka is held lightly with the little fingers while the right hand grips very loosely, also with the little fingers.

With a light grip the cut is performed with a snap from the wrists, at no point did he strain his arm muscles or elbows to create Te-no-uchi. He simply tweaked his little fingers, I could hardly see any movement in his right hand while doing this.

Chiba sensei’s cut was made though the target. So to stike men he cut to the chin, kote was though the wrist (but with less power). Performing this with a relaxed grip and Te-no-uchi created a very quick cut with a powerful *pop*. Sensei explained that cutting with an ‘axe grip’ with too much arm power, the shinai will finish at the wrong angle (point too high).

This lead onto KKTI training with large cutting with correct Te-no-uchi. We were instructed to raise the shini slowly before stepping forward, then using hips/left foot push, increase the speed of cut down using the wrists. This should be performed fluently without a pause (timing of one), with fumikomi, cut and kiai all landing at the same time.

During all our drills, sensei emphasised the need to maintain a soft grip in kamae.

Sensei also has us practicing continuous do cuts without moving our feet (image a static do kirikaeshi). I’ve always been taught to cut do at a 45 degree angle down, yet Chiba sensei advocates an almost horizontal cut. I have to admit I had difficulty applying this alternative method.

From what I could see, this style od do involves moving the left hand up and down for each cut while the right hand moves over either to it’s left or right. It’s imperative that the left hand remains centralised and moves above the forehead for each cut. This results in a quick wrist based do stike that reduces the heave created by a shoulder based cut and possesses an advantage when performing techniques like men kaeshi do.

Salmon sensei better explains HERE.

Seme

Chiba senesi outlined the fundamentals of seme. He explained it was a combination of distance (different heights and techniques = different distances) and forcing your opponent to react.

There was a lot to take in on this subject so my recall is a bit patchy, I might be able to fill in the blanks when I get to see some video footage.

Sensei split the use of seme in shikake and oji waza.

Shikake waza

We were urged to step in and harai to open up the kote or kote-men, this involved using a sharp deflection to the right using the wrist, opening up a target.

We were also instructed to use a slower push to the left hand side of an opponent’s kensen. This encourages the opponent to push back which leaves his kote open if you lift your sword slightly – letting his kensen jerk right.

Sensei demonstrated additional techniques to make your opponent react. This included stepping in and dropping your kensen below an opponents shinai, this ‘should’ make then drop their point opening up their men. Another example involved stepping in and riding your shinai over the top of your opponents (pointing to their right kote), allowing a quick men cut (osae waza I think).

The final method he demonstrated is to seme in and use a high thrust (towards their right eye I think). This makes them lift up/across, instantly opening up their kote or do.

Oji Waza

We progressed onto oji waza after our initial shikake waza drills. For this training we were instructed to seme the motodachi who then performed a pre arranged men or kote cut.

We were shown how to perform men kaeshi do/suriage men (omote & ura)/ nuki do and kote suriage men/kaeshi men/nuki men.

I have practiced all these before, but following Chiba sensei’s instruction I realised the reason why many of my techniques do not work is because my hands/arms are not relaxed when deflecting the opponent’s shinai then cutting.

The biggest ‘lightbulb’ moment was with men kaeshi do. I tend to cut do too close using big movements, meaning I hit the front of the do while facing away from my target. During the drills Chiba sensei demonstrated to me how to ‘catch’ then quickly rotate the wrists to cut using very little arm movement. This increases cutting speed thus creating distance. I’m in no way proficient at this, but it’s a marked improvement in what I have been doing.

Regarding suriage men, again this needs to be performed with relaxed arms and good Te-no-uchi. An important point demonstrated by sensei is to rotate the hands anti-clockwise when deflecting a kote attack from the omote (left hand side). This means at the point of deflection the left hand is almost underneath the right arm, the kensen should still in the centre and the ‘blade’ of the shinai facing outwards… this is performed as a thrust forward and completed with a wristy snap on the opponent’s men.

I landed a few half decent cuts when deflecting men suriage men from the omote (although I was a bit too close). However, I was terrible from the ura – couldn’t achieve any timing. I need to work on this one.

By the end of the two days and 12 hours in the dojo my body was broken, the soles of my feet were in ribbons, ha! The challenge now is trying to remember sensei’s techniques and apply them during normal practice.

The guys at Imperial Kendo Club and Katsuya sensei have kindly uploaded short vids of Chiba sensei's teaching HERE (all 58 of them!).

London Cup 2011

Due to a wedding reception and lots of booze I was only able to attend the team competition on Saturday.  Sunday was a write off with a horrible hang over, i'm glad I didn't sign up for both days.

This year I was fighting senpo for our 'B' team and was the first time I've had the responsibility of setting the pace by fighting first.  I was hoping to put in a good show to try and settle a couple of team members nerves who'd never fought in a competition before.

Well, that was my plan.

Our first opponents in the pool stage was 'International Men'.  This team comprised of a mix of Swedish and Greek (I think) fighters.  They had already fought and beat our second opponents (UCL A) before we lined up in front of them.

I wasn't feeling that nervous when I entered the shiai jo.  However, on the shout of 'HAJIME!' all I can say was I froze... I felt like a rabbit in the headlights and not in control at all.  The guy I was fighting was very nippy and attacked at speed, I seemed to be second best the cut every time.  I could suggest that he was already warmed up from his first fight but he was simply much better then me.  I was finished off before the bell with two men cuts.  The rest of the team tumbled to a whitewash with the exception of Oli (our Taisho) who managed a draw.

I was very disappointed with myself and felt I'd let the team down.  Saying that, 'International Men' ended up taking third place so we were fighting experienced players.

Our second match against UCL A was straight up after.  I was determined to give it a better go so tried to increase my kiai and aggression.  I cant really remember much of the match but I recall chasing the guy around the shiai jo every time he did the old 'cut and run away' thing, it must have looked amusing from the sidelines.  I managed ippon first, I think we both went for men but I snuck my cut in first... unfortunately, he took a point back with a men after I performed a dodgy kote.  Drat.

The rest of the team gave it the best but we defeated in the end with three losses and two draws.  Unlucky chaps.

It was nice to see our team members gain experience in the competitive side of kendo and for the first time I kind of enjoyed the fight.  I didn't feel the terror of previous years, I just need to start winning some matches.

Cardiff squad training weekend

First week back after my holiday and it was hard. Thought i'd try and burn though my dip in fitness so attended the usual three training sessions during the week, with two days squad in Cardiff at the weekend.

This was the first time i've attended squad outside the southeast area so it required a night in a hotel on Saturday. We all had an evening meal together which allowed me to meet and get to know kendoka from other parts of the UK.

The theme of the weekend was kakarigeiko. Mano sensei explained that the ability to strike an open target automatically is helped by practicing kakarigeiko with full spirit, this can make all the difference during competition as it improves awareness, continuous attacking skills and fitness.

We also had practice shiai matches. I only fought once and lost to a lad 1-0 with a quick kote-men..... i'm still having trouble scoring in competition situations. However, speaking to Mano and Starr sensei afterward they explained that my main problem is poor kiai. A senior grade told me that I cut a certain ippon with good ki ken tai ichi and distance, but a feeble kiai let me down.

This made me wonder and I self analysed my kiai during my next jigeiko. The penny dropped.... I found that when I *think* I've scored ippon I kiai properly, but if I'm interrupted or feel the cut didn't connect then my kiai is weak. The problem is I'm to pessimistic when judging my success so there's always a chance I will produce a feeble kiai when i've actually scored. Mano sensei instructed that I should kiai loudly for every attack, successful or not. This will help score ippon, improve my spirit and could even persuade a shinpan to score a cut if they are 50/50 about its success during competition.

Mano sensei also warned me about my use of harai waza.  I'm not using sharp movements which leaves my kensen off centre, this leaves my kote wide open for my opponent.

Overall, I found training was great. Mano sensei kept us at a high tempo throughout both days, managing to avoid us burning out too early. I practiced with some new people and was pretty happy with my performance over the two days. It was an enjoyable weekend.

Kendo Expedition

I’ve not updated my blog for a while because I've been away for nearly three weeks on a belated honeymoon.

We visited various cities on in the north east area including New York City and Chicago. Luckily my missus was happy for me to take my gear and arrange a few practices with US dojos! I contacted Ken Zen in NYC and Chicago Kendo Club who were very welcoming and lent a Do and Shinai to use.

KEN ZEN DOJO
First up was Ken Zen two days after landing in the US. I was a bit nervous visiting a foreign dojo for the first time and was still feeling the effects of jet lag (Practice was like stating at 1am in the UK). However, I introduced myself to Ebihara sensei (7DK) and other members of the club and my nerves started to settle a little.

I also managed a look around their dojo. They own the building so have managed to create a permanent shrine area with taiko drum etc and installed a bespoke spung floor. I’d love to see something similar in London.

The lesson itself was mainly concerned with Kendo kata. Ebihara sensei emphasised that all shinai kendo originates from the techniques developed in kata, this was demonstrated by two seniors who displayed 1-7 forms at a very high standard. Ebihara sensei explained the shinai can be used in the same way as a bokuto to ride an opponents attack and return it, the same as the tsuki-counter tsuki in sanbonme, he used the phrase ‘Sen no Sen’. We practiced this in full armour.

The final 20 minutes of the session was jigeiko. I fought a number of their seniors who pretty much wiped the floor with me, they were so quick. My practice with Ebihara sensei went the way as most of my fights with high grades, I tried various things but pretty much hit a brick wall haha.

I found the general standard very high at the club. They were very straight and fast, they did not sacrifice their attractive form/posture to achieve speed. I’d love to be able to do the same.

Main points and advice Ebihara sensei gave to me:

- When moving from the hips, imagine someone is pushing you from the small of your back. - Keep elbows in during chudan. - My hands are finishing to high when cutting men (too horizontal), meaning I’m not cutting the target area above the forehead correctly. I need finish with my hands lower – nearer my chest.

The overall felling I took from the evening was I need to improve my kata (I felt a bit embarrassed of my standard on the night) and integrate it into my shinai kendo.

CHICAGO KENDO CLUB
I felt a bit more relaxed about my second practice as I’d broken my duck in NYC and I wasn’t jet lagged.

CKC is based in a church so wasn’t as salubrious as Ken Zen. However, the floor was sprung and the hall spacious.

To my understanding the club doesn’t have a traditional club ‘sensei’ as such, at 90 years old their founding member Matsumoto sensei moved to Detroit last year. So the reigns have been taken up by his students who are a mixture of 4 th and 5 th dan sensei, Miyamoto sensei ran the class on the night (I can’t remember if she is 4 th or 5 th dan).

Practice started with kata and progressed to kihon (men, kote, do… you know the drill).

We had a bit longer for jigeiko here and firstly practiced against a few of their ‘junior’ members… I fought against one young lad who kicked my arse. He was so fast and positive that I couldn’t deal with him!

I queued up for Miyamoto sensei and tried my best against her. Again, her timing and speed was excellent and took degote on a number of occasions leaving me cutting fresh air. I think I gave her a fight but the difference in class was obvious.

After practice Miyamoto sensei gave me a few pointers:

- Not utilising my distance (yup.. heard that before!) - Not powering though after a cut. She said I’d caught her with a kote-men but messed it up by not running though with zanshin.

A number of things impressed me about CKC. Their level of spirit an kiai was great and the quality of beginners was noticeable.

Beginners are not allowed into full bogu until deemed ready, a few of the guys there had practiced for a year and still not worn men (they were wearing kote and do). I noticed the effectiveness of this style of training during kihon, the quality of beginners cuts were very good for their level of experience comparable to the UK. It still begs the question that wearing full armour isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, finding this out after 12+ months of training can be a waste of everyone’s time. I suppose there’s pros and cons with all methods of training.

After practice I joined them for a few beers at a local bar and had a good chinwag. They are a great bunch. They kindly gave me a club tenagui as a present.

My aim now is to work off the extra weight I’ve gained in the US!