Happy xmas!

I've managed to pick up another cough/cold (third in two months!), which ruined my chance of attending the last practice of the year. I'm a bit concerned why my immune system is shot to shit, i'm wondering if it's due to the increased stress/poor sleep i'm suffering due to uni studies? These colds seem to coincide with periods of heavy training (i.e. squad), apparently the immune system dips after intense exercise.

Looking forward to 2012 which is shaping up to be a big year. I am planning to take my sandan grading in July and I'll hopefully graduate with a degree in September.... a culmination of 5 years study (nearly as long as i've practiced kendo).

I hope everyone has a good xmas, here's to successful kendo in 2012!

Birmingham Squad Training Weekend

I missed November squad so was keen to get back into it.

Unfortunately, the day didnt start well. I was late into the dojo so my mind was switched off, combined with a drop in stamina (lack of practice) resulted in me blowing after 3 rounds of kirikaeshi. I really struggled during kihon. I did manage to sort myself out for motodachigeiko at the end though.

Goodwin sensei's aim for the day was to concentrate on engaging the back leg/foot to be ready to cut at all times, while maintaining soft arms and wrists. This should present the ability to strike for ippon even if the body is bent or out of position - However, the resultant posture MUST be perfect forKi-ken-tai-ichi and zanshin. I was pretty pleased that this was our focus as i've been working footwork for the last few weeks.

During the session we performed exercises intent on engaging our back leg, sharpening our concentration and developing seme. Including basic seme-men, seme ai-me/kote and 'fighting for centre' ai-seme men. The aim was to try and cause a reaction then capitalise. Blake sensei reiterated the fact that we need to maintain centre when engaging our opponent, spinning away or running at a tangent means we are not ready to attack again.

After kihon we had an hour of motodachigeiko . This was Mano sensei's farewell visit so we had a number of sensei from around the UK turn up (including O'Sullivan and Blake sensei). I managed jigeiko against Goodwin and Starr sensei but just missed out on Mano sensei, I was next when time was called.

The second day dealt with the shiai league. I fought in five matches with varying success:

Match 1: I was against a lad who seemed pretty inexperienced. I scored a quick men then tempted him with a kote - nuki men for the second. Felt good.

Match 2 : My opponent was much wilier and my attempted seme + men attacks proved pretty ineffective. I did notice he was straying near the shiai-jo edge, so attempted to keep him penned in to worry him and maybe grab a hansoku. Didn't work... I merely switched to pushing mode which must have looked pretty shit. Bad kendo. Finished in a draw.

Match 3: The guy knew exactly how to fight taller opponents. I telegraphed and he scored two sweet degote - no complaints.

Match 4: Managed to give as much as take against a more experienced opponent. In spite of this, I switched off near the end and she moved in and took my men. Arse. My fault.

Match 5: Lost to two degote again. Strange match, dunno what to say about that one.

Overall, not a great performance again. I tried to maintain my new footwork, my left calf and arse cheek ache so I must be doing something right. Nevertheless, I found I fell back into old habits when the pressure was on. This means much more kihon before it automatically sticks.

A Bit of Progress

Not updated for a while.

I've had a horrible month with lots of things in my life kicking off at once. Combination of increased university studies (Graphic Design degree), buying/selling our house and busy time at work as eaten into kendo time. I've had to accept the need to re-prioritise which wasn't easy as I hate missing practice... still been managing at least one session a week though.

On the up side I think I've managed a major step forward. For the past 12 months something's not felt right.. I've managed to improve my waza during kihon but struggled with imposing myself during jigeiko. I've been scratching about, changing my kamae, posture and weight distribution with little success. I could never put my finger on it.

However, 3-4 weeks ago Geoff Salmon sensei observed that I break/bend my left leg and raise my heel too much when I seme forward and/or cut, this occurs before the cut and during hikitsuke (drawing up of left foot) . As a result, my fumikiri (launch from back foot) is very weak as a lot of the forward energy is taken by my bent left knee and raised heel.

I took sensei's advice and tried to keep my heel down as much as possible. I initially found it impossible to do and concentrated on it so much I was getting mullered. Yet after a few weeks something clicked during a random jigeiko. From somewhere my leg and back straightened up and I seemed to be able to launch forward quicker than before, I began to feel much more mobile moving forwards and backwards. I tried to remember how this 'epiphany' felt so I could repeat it again.

Over the last few weeks I've been attempting to work this into my every day kendo. I still fall into old habits and have to mentally check myself. Yet, I feel this has been one of the biggest leaps I've enjoyed for the last 18 months. It has been working well for men cuts but I now need to re-engineer my kote and do.

Still lots to fix but pretty pleased over all.

Finally, two of my teachers Geoff Salmon and John O'Sullivan sensei passed their respective ZNKR Kyoshi and Renshi shogo exams. Pleased for them.

Posture Problems

First day back after two weeks off with a chest infection, it hurt. It's gutting how fast you can lose cardio fitness.

Anyways, back to Mumeishi for another dressing down by the locals... my main fault of the day was my posture. Holt sensei observed that i'm leaning back too far which is slowing my reaction time. I was instructed to straighten up and place slightly more weight on my right foot than my left (but not too much), I should be ready to "pounce like a tiger" as he put it. I found it hard to break my bad habit so this will be my 'thing to fix' over the coming weeks.

In addition, he also instructed that when I cut do I should turn with zanshin before the shinai completely moves past the opponent's do (I should have turned as the shinai 'lets go' of the do). This means I will be ready to cut again if the opportunity arises. If I run through in a similar way to a men cut that opportunity will be lost.

Visited Tora on Thursday which was fun. Its the first time i've been there for a while and there were lots of new faces, they've managed to generate a good atmosphere at that club. Impressed.

Back to Nenriki on Friday and managed to practiced with Mansfield sensei (6d Kendo, 7d Iaido, 7d Jodo), who's a very generous teacher. He immediately highlighted my hesitancy due to 'thinking too much' and tried to draw me into cutting instinctively. He had his work cut out!

Sensei explained that I had to 'feel' my opponent rather than seeing -> thinking -> reacting as this makes me 'jump' to my opponent's pressure and react slowly. I understood what he was saying but damn, how the hell do you 'feel' an opponent? When he opened a target my body just seemed to freeze, I could see it but couldn't immediately attack, it was very frustrating.

By the end I managed to achieve a few 'instinctive' cuts but I don't know how the hell I achieved it.... will I be able to reproduce them again on another night?

Again this all seems to come down to self confidence and taking on a forward positive attitude.

It's the Mumeishi 3's in two weeks, I hope I can regain some sort of form for then.

Another Cold

Yes, its that time of year again. Looks like this week's training will be screwed due to a honking cold.

//edit: I'm now entering my third week of a cough I can't shift (thus no kendo).  Gonna visit the docs on Monday.

Shiai Time

Wow.. not updates the blog for a while. I'll give a summary for October so far which was mainly concerned with injury and shiai.

First of all our club held the Lidstone Kyusha Taikai for the first time in six years. Due to past UK kendo political upheavals, this event was cancelled in 2005 (the year I started kendo) which meant I never got the chance to compete in it. Fortunately, the club is now in a position to relaunch the competition and we ran our 36th event on the 8th October.

We had 39 competitors this year, mainly from the southern region although we had a few travel down from Stoke way. Club members helped with running the comp and I was taked with operating one of the scoreboards. I was surprised how much concentration was needed to avoid missing the type of point/hansoku scored.

The competition is centred around providing beginners and inexperienced shinpan with their first steps into the world of shiai. You could see the full spectrum of abilities from fresh '6 monthers' to guys that are pretty much dan grade ability (the cut off was 2 years experience max). It was enjoyable to watch and I think most people who attended benefitted in some way.

Other than a fire alarm disrupting our post competition keiko the event ran like clockwork, full credit goes to the organisational skills of Tony the club Secretary. I hope 2012 is just as successful and able to attract more competitors.

The following week was the British Open based at Mumeishi. This proved a bit of a disaster. I was drawn against a lady from Oxford dojo, who was half my height. Sh*t. I always struggle against short people.

As I prepared to enter the shiai-jo I knew I had to expect debana kote. But you guessed, I walked straight into it. Full credit to my opponent as her two kote were very sharp (she finished second in the ladies comp), she was much more skilful than me. However, I still left annoyed that I let her do what I knew would happen.

Time in British Open 2011 = 1 min 30 seconds.

On a positive note, I attended squad training up in Wolverhampton last weekend which proved more productive. We were introduced to Goodwin Sensei the new GB coach. Sadly Mano sensei is returning to Japan which is a shame, he was a great source of advice.

Goodwin sensei is an ex-squad member and spoke very passionately when he addressed the group. His approach was different from Mano sensei's which seems to mark a diversion from a holistic 'intensive training' approach, to 100% focused on improving the squad. Not to say they are discouraging people like me in attending, who are there to improve rather than gain selection to squad.

The focus of the weekend was to raise our effort, energy levels and engagement during shiai. This meant we concentrated on fast footwork and soft hands/arms. The aim is to engage with full intention and spirit in order to 'explode' at the opponent.

Sensei wasn't afraid to kick us up the backside if he didn't see 100% and the results were marked. By the end of the second day it was visible that people had raised their game and were giving all they had during shiaigeiko, the energy levels were great. I felt that I'd improved over the weekend, i hope I can replicate this intensity during club practices.

Various seniors picked me up on some key points:

* Stopping after kote-men which leaves an opportunity to be hit. I need to explode through after all cuts, either forward or backwards. * Wake up in tsubazeriai - I was caught napping with hikiwaza on quite a few occasions. * I'm reacting too much to my opponent's seme ('jumping' my shinai etc). I need to be more proactive rather than reactive.

October has also been awkward in regards to my damaged ankle. I've been wearing a brace which has helped but it still hurts if I twist and land on it in a certain way. Luckily one of the squad guys is a physio and identified the offending ligament, he taped up an area on my shin which helped relieve the pain slightly. The difficulty will be trying to replicate this taping for myself.

Great to be back

Managed my first practice for weeks last night, I was pretty rusty and conscious of my ankle..... But it felt ace to be back!

//edit: Spoke too soon.  Three practices in and it went again.  Bugger.