Here I write again, after friday training at USYD.
It was quite a different training regime, with the upcoming Uni Games & ACT competition. I would compete, but I have other committments i'm afraid.
Anyway, we started off training with warm up, lasting about 30 minutes or so, and then we had Shiai practice while the beginners sat down and watched us.
Matches came and went in a maximum of 2minute bouts, which was enough for me to work up a sweat. When my match came, I was pumped up. I wasn't thinking of anything, just attacking and showing my spirit, in which both my opponent and I received compliments about from a Sempai. However, one thing that was apparently lacking was zanshin, in respect to our kote strikes.
One thing i'm not sure about what my opponent did, was not maintaining chuudan. I have encountered this technique before, and mainly it was a technique to induce the aite into going for men and then countering that with a debana kote usually. I generally kept my distance where I noticed him creeping closer when employing this technique.
Eventually, I scored a kote off him, and he got a point off me in which the match ended in a draw.
After our shiai practice, it was followed up with Ippon Shobu for 30 seconds with hayasuburi as punishment. I did hayasuburi every rotation unfortunately- mainly drawing but also losing to a person or 2.
This was followed with Free-jigeiko.
One thing that I tried to practice during both Ippon Shobu & Jigeiko, was kote-nuki men. I was able to avoid their kote hits, but wasn't able to push off to complete a good, clean men cut. Oh well, more practice.
This sums it up for now.
My current focus atm is:
- Posture
- Zanshin
- Men cuts (I have been focusing too much on kote cuts lately, so best to go back to the fundamentals)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Good training
Yesterday was my first training in a while, I forgot how it felt to train.. I missed it.
It may have been because of the good streak that I had this week, but I felt training was good training for me. My cuts in basic training felt crisp (all except my dou cuts >_>) and I apparently haven't regressed from the time I last played.
A lot of people have improved though, guess it shows through their training. haha, while me and my suburi at home. ;(
Some interestingly new thing we did (well for me) in training today. Seme-ing and fighting for center, and once you feel the pressure of their shinai fighting back, lift up and go for kote as your shinai would be gone, leaving nothing but air as resistance against the aito's shinai, hence opening up kote. Much more efficient than harai waza in my opinion. I tried to use it several times during jigeiko with no avail, but I guess I can always practice it more.
Another thing is Penalty Ippon Shobu. Pretty interesting - I knew what it was from a sempai's blog post, but it was nice to try it out. Albeit, i lost/drew every round so I had to do hayasuburi every match. Oh well, no pain no gain!
Short post today. Anyway, until next training,
Happy training!
- Kent
It may have been because of the good streak that I had this week, but I felt training was good training for me. My cuts in basic training felt crisp (all except my dou cuts >_>) and I apparently haven't regressed from the time I last played.
A lot of people have improved though, guess it shows through their training. haha, while me and my suburi at home. ;(
Some interestingly new thing we did (well for me) in training today. Seme-ing and fighting for center, and once you feel the pressure of their shinai fighting back, lift up and go for kote as your shinai would be gone, leaving nothing but air as resistance against the aito's shinai, hence opening up kote. Much more efficient than harai waza in my opinion. I tried to use it several times during jigeiko with no avail, but I guess I can always practice it more.
Another thing is Penalty Ippon Shobu. Pretty interesting - I knew what it was from a sempai's blog post, but it was nice to try it out. Albeit, i lost/drew every round so I had to do hayasuburi every match. Oh well, no pain no gain!
Short post today. Anyway, until next training,
Happy training!
- Kent
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Ash like snow
I haven't been training for a while, missing last weeks training due to sickness, going to Blue Leaf Dojo a fortnight ago, and not training 3 weeks before that.
Needless to say, I was quite anxious to go training tonight - despite the cold weather. There wasn't much of a big turn out. There were 4 of us including the instructor as he likes us to refer to him. (Whom I must congratulate for obtaining Shodan in Iaido).
Anyway, due to the cold weather, (and to my disappointment being psyched up for training) we did Kata. I wasn't unhappy with doing kata, but I would've preferred Jigeiko/waza training. But all is well, as training is training.
There are several points that Kata and reinforced during tonight. Mainly:
- Control [relating to me mostly, as for some reason I bursted into fits of laughter]
- Zanshin
- "Presence" - This related to projecting one's ki onto the other person. Due to the the lack of physical contact in kata, this would (I Believe) improve one's ability to seme in kendo.
- Distance
- Footwork
I have no idea why I bursted into fits of laughter, but it is something that I will have to correct. I don't believe that the judges, when i'm grading for Ikkyu [as corrected by Don], would appreciate my laughing during Kata.
Zanshin - speaks for itself. Was illustrated several times during the night when one of us did something wrong, we sometimes stopped, instead of going on. Is related straight into kendo. You go for kote but miss. You would attempt another cut (ie, Nidan waza) such as men or any other opening. Why? Because if you have awareness that you didn't make the cut, the aite would also know. However, his guard may let down for a split second and in that split second, you may be able to take that point if you were on guard all the time.
Presence - kinda relating to seme & intention to cut.
Distance - a prevailing problem getting all of us. The differences in height between people during rotation is noticeable. Ie; if they take too much of a big/not big enough step. As has been reiterated many times, Kata is a 'partnership' of trust. There needs to be compensation between the Uchidachi & Shidachi - they need to work together.
Footwork - must I say? haha. Footwork is the fundamentals of kendo and any martial art. Relates to distance as well as presence - depending on how you move (ie; with the shoulders or hara) effects your presence and ultimately, Seme.
These are some of the things that was picked up on tonight. There are more, but I don't have the time to write about all of them.
Anyway, until next time, Happy Kendo-ing!
Needless to say, I was quite anxious to go training tonight - despite the cold weather. There wasn't much of a big turn out. There were 4 of us including the instructor as he likes us to refer to him. (Whom I must congratulate for obtaining Shodan in Iaido).
Anyway, due to the cold weather, (and to my disappointment being psyched up for training) we did Kata. I wasn't unhappy with doing kata, but I would've preferred Jigeiko/waza training. But all is well, as training is training.
There are several points that Kata and reinforced during tonight. Mainly:
- Control [relating to me mostly, as for some reason I bursted into fits of laughter]
- Zanshin
- "Presence" - This related to projecting one's ki onto the other person. Due to the the lack of physical contact in kata, this would (I Believe) improve one's ability to seme in kendo.
- Distance
- Footwork
I have no idea why I bursted into fits of laughter, but it is something that I will have to correct. I don't believe that the judges, when i'm grading for Ikkyu [as corrected by Don], would appreciate my laughing during Kata.
Zanshin - speaks for itself. Was illustrated several times during the night when one of us did something wrong, we sometimes stopped, instead of going on. Is related straight into kendo. You go for kote but miss. You would attempt another cut (ie, Nidan waza) such as men or any other opening. Why? Because if you have awareness that you didn't make the cut, the aite would also know. However, his guard may let down for a split second and in that split second, you may be able to take that point if you were on guard all the time.
Presence - kinda relating to seme & intention to cut.
Distance - a prevailing problem getting all of us. The differences in height between people during rotation is noticeable. Ie; if they take too much of a big/not big enough step. As has been reiterated many times, Kata is a 'partnership' of trust. There needs to be compensation between the Uchidachi & Shidachi - they need to work together.
Footwork - must I say? haha. Footwork is the fundamentals of kendo and any martial art. Relates to distance as well as presence - depending on how you move (ie; with the shoulders or hara) effects your presence and ultimately, Seme.
These are some of the things that was picked up on tonight. There are more, but I don't have the time to write about all of them.
Anyway, until next time, Happy Kendo-ing!
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Flavour of Life
I haven't been training for the past few weeks, nor have I picked up my shinai for an extended period of time. It feels like everything is starting to fall apart; University is getting busy, work wants me to work more hours, need to apply for Graduate jobs, injury is preventing me from training, and just general problems in my life that don't seem to be worth thinking about.. yet I do.
It feels like i've reached one of many plateaus that I'll experience in my life. It doesn't feel nice, where nothing feels like it's going right. I feel that I've changed from the person that I was a few years ago. I was carefree, had little to nothing on my mind, stress-free, etc. Now, it seems like i've regressed into a person that I didn't want to become. Being afraid of making decisions in life.
I guess I need to re-evaluate my position in life... re-prioritise some things. Because, somethings don't seem to be important enough to be worth the hassle it is (no I'm not going to quit kendo). Just something in my life that has gotten me acting weirder & changing. Changing into this person I don't want to be..
Currently, it seems that I'm taking a lot of things on that I may/may not be able to handle. Overloading the number of subjects I take at uni, Working part time, Kendo.. just doesn't seem to have enough time for me to just relax and take a breather. I don't know how everyone else does it. Guess i'm not as great as I thought I would be.
I'll probably resume training again next week depending on how busy I'm going to be; with all the assignments i've got to do.
Until next time, I promise you that there won't be an emo post in the future to come. Hopefully I'll resolve my problems by that time and become a person that people have came to befriend.
Until then,
ciaossu
It feels like i've reached one of many plateaus that I'll experience in my life. It doesn't feel nice, where nothing feels like it's going right. I feel that I've changed from the person that I was a few years ago. I was carefree, had little to nothing on my mind, stress-free, etc. Now, it seems like i've regressed into a person that I didn't want to become. Being afraid of making decisions in life.
I guess I need to re-evaluate my position in life... re-prioritise some things. Because, somethings don't seem to be important enough to be worth the hassle it is (no I'm not going to quit kendo). Just something in my life that has gotten me acting weirder & changing. Changing into this person I don't want to be..
Currently, it seems that I'm taking a lot of things on that I may/may not be able to handle. Overloading the number of subjects I take at uni, Working part time, Kendo.. just doesn't seem to have enough time for me to just relax and take a breather. I don't know how everyone else does it. Guess i'm not as great as I thought I would be.
I'll probably resume training again next week depending on how busy I'm going to be; with all the assignments i've got to do.
Until next time, I promise you that there won't be an emo post in the future to come. Hopefully I'll resolve my problems by that time and become a person that people have came to befriend.
Until then,
ciaossu
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Never back down.
I haven't trained at my original dojo for a while due to the timings of work, uni, and other misc things that made me unable to go training.
Started off with basic things like warmup, 100 hayasuburi and then basic footwork as we used to do a while ago before putting men on and starting keiko. We first did kirikaeshi followed by kihon Men, 5 times each for 2 rotations, and then Kihon Kote, Kihon dou followed by small cuts.
There was other things that we did as well but I forgot as to what it was.
I've received several comments regarding my small cuts, where when I go to hit men, I dip the shinai down below tsuki towards the Mune of the dou and then bring the shinai back up to do a men cut, or so that's what I was told what I was doing.
Another comment was that I wasn't hitting hard enough, and another sempai told me that I was whipping my shinai when doing small cuts. Just bring it up and down he told me. I'm not sure how I'm doing the whipping thing, but I believe that relates to the problem I have with the shinai going down towards the mune of the dou.
After that We did Uchikomi-geiko & Kakari-geiko followed with a few bouts of Jigeiko. First jigeiko I wasn't feeling up to scratch, so I tried to feel for more opening.
I then jigeiko'd with another sempai who commented that I was rushing to cut too much which felt predictable. Therefore, I needed to setup the cut in order to succeed.
Still along way for me to go, and not too long till Burwood competition.
Started off with basic things like warmup, 100 hayasuburi and then basic footwork as we used to do a while ago before putting men on and starting keiko. We first did kirikaeshi followed by kihon Men, 5 times each for 2 rotations, and then Kihon Kote, Kihon dou followed by small cuts.
There was other things that we did as well but I forgot as to what it was.
I've received several comments regarding my small cuts, where when I go to hit men, I dip the shinai down below tsuki towards the Mune of the dou and then bring the shinai back up to do a men cut, or so that's what I was told what I was doing.
Another comment was that I wasn't hitting hard enough, and another sempai told me that I was whipping my shinai when doing small cuts. Just bring it up and down he told me. I'm not sure how I'm doing the whipping thing, but I believe that relates to the problem I have with the shinai going down towards the mune of the dou.
After that We did Uchikomi-geiko & Kakari-geiko followed with a few bouts of Jigeiko. First jigeiko I wasn't feeling up to scratch, so I tried to feel for more opening.
I then jigeiko'd with another sempai who commented that I was rushing to cut too much which felt predictable. Therefore, I needed to setup the cut in order to succeed.
Still along way for me to go, and not too long till Burwood competition.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The end of our Way of the sword is to be fearless when confronting our inner enemies and our outer enemies.
—Tesshu Yamaoka, 19th century Kendo master
Just had training today, and I did something that I probably shouldn't do.. but I experimented with Jodan. I didn't play the whole match with jodan, but just a few transverses to jodan to kind of throw off my opponent.
I must say, it is a totally different stance. Employing this stance in jigeiko abandons all defence (besides men) but is supposed to make the opponent scared and back off.
I learnt two things with trying jodan. (Well 3-4 things really)
1. Distance; despite the supposed advantage in distance, must really monitor the distance well due to the lack of shinai. Also footwork must be up to scratch - if your left leg lags behind it defeats the distance advantage of Jodan.
2. Seme - since there is a lack of shinai contact/communication; must be 'physically' present. seme with the whole body and not back away.
3. Attack, attack, attack. When I did jodan, I sometimes waited for him to attack which was wrong. I should be forcing my pressure (ki) onto opponent and threaten to kill. I believe that this will translate to better seme in Chudan; and vice-versa.
There was another thing, but I forgot.
Nontheless, I didn't play the whole match in Jodan. I predominantly used Chuudan and I'm getting the hang of Debana Kote. Currently interested in attempting Kaishi Dou. I tried it in Jigeiko but kinda failed with the distance.
Side note, it's interesting to see the different playing styles of Kumdo & Kendo. Had another kendoka join us for practice who trains Iaido @ Blue Leaf and kendo @ Burwood. Exposure to different types of playing styles is extremely helpful in preparation for the Burwood PCYC Competition coming up on the 9th of May.
Until next time, I bid you all adieu.
And Happy Kendo-ing!
(and hello Kendoka's from Blue leaf!)
Just had training today, and I did something that I probably shouldn't do.. but I experimented with Jodan. I didn't play the whole match with jodan, but just a few transverses to jodan to kind of throw off my opponent.
I must say, it is a totally different stance. Employing this stance in jigeiko abandons all defence (besides men) but is supposed to make the opponent scared and back off.
I learnt two things with trying jodan. (Well 3-4 things really)
1. Distance; despite the supposed advantage in distance, must really monitor the distance well due to the lack of shinai. Also footwork must be up to scratch - if your left leg lags behind it defeats the distance advantage of Jodan.
2. Seme - since there is a lack of shinai contact/communication; must be 'physically' present. seme with the whole body and not back away.
3. Attack, attack, attack. When I did jodan, I sometimes waited for him to attack which was wrong. I should be forcing my pressure (ki) onto opponent and threaten to kill. I believe that this will translate to better seme in Chudan; and vice-versa.
There was another thing, but I forgot.
Nontheless, I didn't play the whole match in Jodan. I predominantly used Chuudan and I'm getting the hang of Debana Kote. Currently interested in attempting Kaishi Dou. I tried it in Jigeiko but kinda failed with the distance.
Side note, it's interesting to see the different playing styles of Kumdo & Kendo. Had another kendoka join us for practice who trains Iaido @ Blue Leaf and kendo @ Burwood. Exposure to different types of playing styles is extremely helpful in preparation for the Burwood PCYC Competition coming up on the 9th of May.
Until next time, I bid you all adieu.
And Happy Kendo-ing!
(and hello Kendoka's from Blue leaf!)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
A warrior must only take care that his spirit is never broken.
Quote from Shissai.
Been busy for the past few weeks, with uni, work, kendo, and other extracurricular activities.
Onto kendo things, nothing much has been going on kendo-wise. Had Sunday-beginner-bogu training, with guidance from a Sempai. i need to concentrate more on my Zanshin (ergo, Turning around too early), Fumikomi, and fluid cuts (not lifting & then moving legs. Lead with the body)
My sempai seemed to be worried about pointing out too many things about my kendo. But I honestly didn't mind. It's better to have been aware of errors in my kendo, rather then to try and fix it later on.
Need to focus more on Fumikomi, and building arm muscles (my arms seem to be lagging behind) hmm.
I seem to be attempting a lot of Nuki-men cuts. (They go for men, i step back and do men), but it seems i wouldn't score with it because of Zanshin. Must remember to zanshin forwards, and not backwards (exceptions = hiki cuts)
So things to improve on:
- Zanshin: require more dedication in each cut. The more dedicated I am to a cut, the more zanshin I would have.
- Fumikomi - Not sure if it's related to the lack of skin on my left foot due to blisters breaking, but it's another thing i must imrpve on;
- Footwork - Sempai advised more suriashi around the house the maintain the blisters.
- Fluid cuts - I've found a way of improving this while experimenting during Kihon practice. When doing 2 step cuts, move feet first and then shinai. Lead with and push with the hara.
Side note; was watching the squad training that was happening after our training, it's amazing though. Especially one of the women. Great kendo.
But, until next time,
Happy kendo-ing.
Been busy for the past few weeks, with uni, work, kendo, and other extracurricular activities.
Onto kendo things, nothing much has been going on kendo-wise. Had Sunday-beginner-bogu training, with guidance from a Sempai. i need to concentrate more on my Zanshin (ergo, Turning around too early), Fumikomi, and fluid cuts (not lifting & then moving legs. Lead with the body)
My sempai seemed to be worried about pointing out too many things about my kendo. But I honestly didn't mind. It's better to have been aware of errors in my kendo, rather then to try and fix it later on.
Need to focus more on Fumikomi, and building arm muscles (my arms seem to be lagging behind) hmm.
I seem to be attempting a lot of Nuki-men cuts. (They go for men, i step back and do men), but it seems i wouldn't score with it because of Zanshin. Must remember to zanshin forwards, and not backwards (exceptions = hiki cuts)
So things to improve on:
- Zanshin: require more dedication in each cut. The more dedicated I am to a cut, the more zanshin I would have.
- Fumikomi - Not sure if it's related to the lack of skin on my left foot due to blisters breaking, but it's another thing i must imrpve on;
- Footwork - Sempai advised more suriashi around the house the maintain the blisters.
- Fluid cuts - I've found a way of improving this while experimenting during Kihon practice. When doing 2 step cuts, move feet first and then shinai. Lead with and push with the hara.
Side note; was watching the squad training that was happening after our training, it's amazing though. Especially one of the women. Great kendo.
But, until next time,
Happy kendo-ing.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
It's been a while
My last post was on Nov. 26th. Since then, there have been a lot of things that have occured since then. The most prominent thing would be the NSWKA championships that was held at USYD.
My first ever shiai. I played pretty good, did better than i had expected.For one, I won 2 matches which was well beyond my expectations. But still have a long way to go after seeing my shiai videos courtesy of peter. Zanshin and explosive left foot power is required.
Skip forward to today and from since then, I've only had 2 training sessions (inclusive of todays training at Sevenhills).
The other training was @ USYD Kendo - Redfern Townhall. Ground was pretty hard but I came prepared with a heel protector ^^
T'was pretty hot that day and I wasn't feeling too well. I felt nauseaus so I stopped for a while to recouperate. This occured during jigeiko, and louis was my partner and he seemed alright with it. Managed to recoup fast enough to get in a few minutes of jigeiko with Louis. A few more rotation and we had to packup as we had to get out of the hall by 6pm.
Training today was pretty good @ Seven Hills. Warmup consisted of moving the chairs onto the side of the hall so we had enough space. One of the beginners had bought bogu. After doing practice for the grading at picton which I will not be attending due to my friend's birthday; the beginner put on his dou & tare and then we got to whack it ^__^
Quite funny though, the set he bought (second and possibly 3rd hand but still in decent condition except for dou Himo), had a gold dou. Haha, was basically saying "HIT ME! HIT ME!"
Anyway, we did Kihon Dou cuts. Good to practice the basics everynow and then. I put on my men afterwards, did Kirikaeshi, Uchikomi-Geko & Keikari-Geko acting as a motodatchi for the beginners and then had a jigeiko session with the coach/sempai who was leading the training.
I'm finding that my left leg lags behind still and my posture goes to shits sometimes. Especially when trying to cut kote. Eventually, I got score a men point; whether or not he gave it to me I'm not too sure but this was a good training session.
One thing that i've also noticed is that I don't have enough dedication in my cuts. I'm hestitant in making some cuts. But I guess this goes back to the point of one cut, one kill; although i really should be worrying about that at this point of stage.
Anyway, untill next time. I shall bid you adieu.
My first ever shiai. I played pretty good, did better than i had expected.For one, I won 2 matches which was well beyond my expectations. But still have a long way to go after seeing my shiai videos courtesy of peter. Zanshin and explosive left foot power is required.
Skip forward to today and from since then, I've only had 2 training sessions (inclusive of todays training at Sevenhills).
The other training was @ USYD Kendo - Redfern Townhall. Ground was pretty hard but I came prepared with a heel protector ^^
T'was pretty hot that day and I wasn't feeling too well. I felt nauseaus so I stopped for a while to recouperate. This occured during jigeiko, and louis was my partner and he seemed alright with it. Managed to recoup fast enough to get in a few minutes of jigeiko with Louis. A few more rotation and we had to packup as we had to get out of the hall by 6pm.
Training today was pretty good @ Seven Hills. Warmup consisted of moving the chairs onto the side of the hall so we had enough space. One of the beginners had bought bogu. After doing practice for the grading at picton which I will not be attending due to my friend's birthday; the beginner put on his dou & tare and then we got to whack it ^__^
Quite funny though, the set he bought (second and possibly 3rd hand but still in decent condition except for dou Himo), had a gold dou. Haha, was basically saying "HIT ME! HIT ME!"
Anyway, we did Kihon Dou cuts. Good to practice the basics everynow and then. I put on my men afterwards, did Kirikaeshi, Uchikomi-Geko & Keikari-Geko acting as a motodatchi for the beginners and then had a jigeiko session with the coach/sempai who was leading the training.
I'm finding that my left leg lags behind still and my posture goes to shits sometimes. Especially when trying to cut kote. Eventually, I got score a men point; whether or not he gave it to me I'm not too sure but this was a good training session.
One thing that i've also noticed is that I don't have enough dedication in my cuts. I'm hestitant in making some cuts. But I guess this goes back to the point of one cut, one kill; although i really should be worrying about that at this point of stage.
Anyway, untill next time. I shall bid you adieu.
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