Apologies for the laxness of the blog updating recently! There has been much training going on and so forth, especially in the run-up to the Varsity match. To make up for it there is a massive post this time! Let's dive straight into the topics; the musings and opinion will be aplenty therein...
2nd Kata
Continuing the descriptions of the kata from the last entry, the 2nd kata form, nihonme, will be discussed. Starting from the nine pace distance, both uchidachi and shidachi maintain chudan and take three steps (ayumi ashi) in to issoku ito no maai. Uchidachi watches for and takes the opportunity to cut kote with a step (okuri ashi) forward and kiai “yah”. Shidachi drops both hands and steps (okuri ashi) diagonally back and to the left, avoiding the cut to the wrist. Following this, shidachi cuts kote with okuriashi and kiai “toh”. Uchidachi watches shidachi for zanshin, and steps back half a step (okuri ashi) to return to the centre. Shidachi moves right (okuri ashi) to return to his point. It is good for uchidachi to keep the point of the bokuto down and delay returning to chudan until after shidachi has reached the starting position in order to avoid ungainly manoeuvring of bokuto around each other.
Basic exercises and looking ahead to armour practice
There has not been much in terms of new exercises and techniques being practised on the Monday sessions, but the intensity of them is increasing. One may be tempted to wonder why it is that the same exercises are just being done over and over again, if there are other techniques and movements, and why it is that these are not being taught. It is important to understand that it is not sufficient to merely do the movements, but to be able to do them correctly, accurately and automatically without thinking about each part of the body. This condition is important as once in armour, the feeling is very different, and it becomes exceedingly difficult to consciously control each individual part of the body. Remember that if cuts are done wildly, it is very easy to incur injury. More advanced techniques require, for safety, both practitioners to be in armour: take the opportunity now to observe how the armour is put on by members of the club; this will give you an idea of what to do when you start using it later this term.
Motodachi geiko
The aim of motodachi geiko is to give the chance for a large number of members to practice many repetitions of waza and exercises in a limited time. Consequently, outside of stopping to give advice, the motodachi will seek to allow as many people to do the exercise as efficiently as possible. Assist the motodachi in this by being ready to step up and begin the exercise quickly; if you are the next person in line, watch the exercise and move up as soon as the person before you is done. Remember that motodachi may choose not to put away the shinai at the end of the exercise and move straight on to receiving the next kakarite. When doing the rei at the end of the exercise, allow the person behind you to move forward into position at the same time. The formality of taking a set number of steps forwards and backward at the beginning of the exercise is relaxed. Finally, and most importantly, never allow a queue to go empty. If a queue is significantly shorter than another, move to the shorter queue. Everyone doing this means that there will be equal opportunities for rest. If you are unwell or unable to continue, it is acceptable let someone know and drop out and move to the side and perhaps rejoin later; however do not hang back and stand around, as it causes confusion. Also there is no need to be polite and let someone go ahead; either person just stepping in and doing the exercise means that both people will finish faster.
Once again, well done for sticking with the practices as they have become harder and intense in order to prepare for moving people into armour this term! The work has been paying off: the improvement that we have seen is most impressive, and I look forward greatly to more members joining the ranks of those in bogu!
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