The Random Ramblings of a Kendo Newb

I'll be back!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 08:58:00 +0000

Hi Folks,

In the words of Arnie the Terminator...."I'll be back!"

I plan on getting back into Kendo in January...these last 2 months have been Kendo free due to work, travel, illness and injury!

Excuses? maybe - but i'm set on coming back in January with a big bang! Am working on getting my fitness up now :-)

Time to start practicing suburi at home......
Mick

Ups and Downs...

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 07:34:00 +0000

Well, its been quite a Kendo free period for me these last 4 weeks or so. With Laura (my partner/girlfriend) back in my life after a year overseas, being really busy at work and now illness (chest congestion making it damn hard to breathe at times), Kendo has taken a bit of a back seat!

I am determined to pickup where I left off to get back into it again - most likely towards the end of this month....still thinking if Kendo, still reading Vivian's blog so my motivation is still there.

Need to get some focus and routine back in my life and get back into Kendo - In the words of some marketing guru - "Nike! - Just do it!".

Back into the Groove!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 02:54:00 +0000

Well its Saturday and I had my first Kendo in 2 weeks - good to get back into it again.

Class started with the usual Saturday warmups and then into Kihon Kote, Kihon Men, Kihon Do etc followed by ji-geiko.

Things to note:

1) Straight posture and drive with the hips.

2) Loosen the grip and Shinai and relax - i am way to tense in ji-geiko.

3) Zanshin!!!! Execute the cut and forward towards opponent and do good Zanshin.

4) Large cuts in Kihon! Don't get into habit of doping small cuts!

Some comments....

I really enjoy the warmup and kihon etc but am not enjoying je-geiko as much. Why? I think I'm too unfit - need to *REALLY* improve my stamina so that I can do good zanshin and keep following up with attacks. Takes me way too long to get my breathe back!

I also am still quite lost in relation of what cuts to do when and an not at all confident in finding/making openings. At times I just stand there and try to think what to do and get hit men and kote! I'm just trying to hit men and kote and follow through at present.

Many things to improve....

Plus I had other things on my mind today - my wonderful girlfriend is flying back from Singapore tonite - yay!!!!

Until next time...

19/9 2nd Time in Bogu

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 21:09:00 +0000

Just a few key points - learnt a lot again today.

The big difference is that now that im in bogu I need to concentrate on my opponent while as a beginner all i had to do was concentrate on my cuts.....

Things to remember....

1) Work on getting correct miai (spacing) - important for lauching the cut and to avoid getting cut yourself.

2) Kiai - Need to improve that - still quite throaty.

3) Drive from the hips - centre of balance is there and not the shoulders so more hip drive - will lead to better cuts.

4) Posture - focus on keep my posture upright.

5) Fitness - really need to work on that - jieiko is tiring and will get worse with summer coming up soon :-)

6) Concentrate on men and kote and follow through in jigeiko - keep it simple for the time being and make sure the cuts become automatic and well done before getting onto any of the more advanced moves.

Shame my next training isn't until next Saturday - more work travel this week.......

"Ouch" - My First Bogu experience!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 13:14:00 +0000

What can I say but "ouch"! I sit and write this just after i got from my first bogu experience - training tonite as the Hornsby Club.

Man, Oh Man - am i sore - covered in blue dye too and bruises everywhere - right elbow, right ribs and left ass :-) I feel like Mike Tyson's boxing bag - well battered!

Where do I start....i arrive at Hornsby tonite and find that its me and another guy both in bogu for the first time - glad someone else is there who is also "fresh meat" :-)

We line up for seiza and when it comes to don the men, I actually manage to tie my tenegui but need Doug's help with my men - at least its tied up now correctly!

My first impressions? Very awkward and feeling like i'm a rank beginner again!!!! Boy does this feel uncomfortable - limited vision, more weight on my head and its so weird holding a shinai wearing kote! Not to mentioned now being half deaf.....

Anyway....we start of with kiri kaeshi and its bad - very awkward and my cuts of just crap - small cuts rather than large ones and its pretty distressing when I get men cuts for the first time (not something you get taught in beginners - how to receive men cuts). I'm finding that the flaps of my new men are also still very stiff and keep restricting my shoulders and lifting off arms - really need to break it in!!!!!

As for technique that I refined over the last 6 months or so.....it flew out the door!!!! I was trying to get used to this new unfamiliar environment that everything was crap - mis-directed cuts, no tenouchi and my kiai was bad - too much throat and no enough diaphram!!!

We then covered some basics - kihon men, kote, do follow by nihon waza - kote men and finally sundan waza - kote, men, do. It was *really* strange having to receive cuts and move back - again something not learnt in the beginners class!!! After this we covered suriage waza and oji waza - again all new stuff for me!

After that it was onto ji-geiko...and boy, was this a challenge!!! I had no idea what to do so i just tried kote and men cuts and actually landed a few!!! Copped cuts everywhere and even went arse over with my men and tenegui flying off and getting a serving from Doug about denying other people - I thought that was a bit harsh..anyway it allowed me to catch my breathe! I was absolutely knackered - with a capital K - I mean big time...i need to improve my fitness! I was so tired in the last j-geiko I could hardly lift my arms and my breathe was laboured!!!! Talk about bloody hard work!!!!

It came as a huge relief to take off my bogo at the end of training!

Some key points I learnt:

Miai - very important to keep distance otherwise i could wear a shinai in the throat :-)

Kiai - more diaphram than throat - not fun sounding like Kermit the frog...all croaky!

Aggression - Need to be aggressive and land cuts and follow through....not to worry about defence but just attack.

Footwork - Fortwork is critical, especially since you need to turn your whole body instead of your head.....which leads to...

Posture - drive forward with the hips and keep a straight posture or you could wear one on the back of the men....easier to launch attacks as well with good posture.

Overall, it was a great training session - a huge lift in intensity but a really new, weird environment to train in. I'm now covered in bruises and will no doubt be sore for the next few days. It will be a huge struggle to make Willoughby training tomorrow. Saturday looks more likely.

Again, really need to work on my fitness - damn hard to play Kendo when your out of breathe and your muscles are burning and its a struggle to get your shinai to chudan no kamae.....i can see now why so many people quit Kendo at this stage....

Anways....i shall keep going and aim to improve my kendo and fitness at the same time!

Until next time....

Bogu!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 23:59:00 +0000

Ahhh - the anticipation! Today is the day me thinks - the day i finally train in full bogu - tare, do, men and kote.

How do I feel? A tad nervous, especially having read some people's experiences on the Kendo World forums but looking forward to stepping up the intensity of training that comes with wearing Bogu. I expect my technique to be all over the place and my first cuts i expect to be very tentative :-)

I've been trying to practice putting on my tenegui and men and found the men easier to tie then the tenegui which looks like a rats nest on my head - hopefully that will improve in neatness over time :-)

Hopefully I will have a few (postive) comments after training tonite...stay tuned.......

Zzzzzz....zzzzzz.....dreaming.....Kendo....

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 02:40:00 +0000

As I sit here half asleep (2hrs time difference is a killer) in a customer’s small computer room (in Perth) my mind drifts to Kendo – I was thinking about my progression since I started the sport in April and the various steps of progression through kendo newbie-ism.

I started off feeling uncomfortable with the concept of swinging a shinai and doing this funny footwork called suri-ashi and training in trackie pants and a T-shirt.

I believe the defining moment for me was when I first started to train in a gi and hakama – from that day forth, my Kendo improved, my confidence improved and things just started to gel into place.

The next step for me in my Kendo development was grading – wearing a tare for the first time and getting graded to 5th Kyu – made me feel like I really belonged with the rest of the club now that I was graded. I think it went a long way to improving my kendo self confidence as well…..

My next goal is to start training in full bogu – which if things go well should be next week!

And then gi-keiko….my list of people I want to play is quite large :-)

Saturday 3/9 - I feel good!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 03:50:00 +0000

Its Saturday, and time for Kendo! Woohoo!

I rocked up and started today's session by strapping on my Tare and do - it actually feels good to train in partial bogu. And I think that this general feeling of goodness was reflected today in my kendo - good clean confident cuts and good footwork and together with good kiai (though I must remember to use less throat and more diagphram).

After the usual warm ups and suburi, Payne Sensei had us newbs line up with everyone else and we proceeded to do fast men and kote men cuts for a while - it felt really good! This then saw the bogu clad kendoka do jigeiko while Payne Sensei took us through doing the basic cuts on each other's shinai etc. I also have to remember to lift my arms more and do larger cuts rather then smaller ones.

The one big thing that went through my mind is that I now consider myself ready for bogu! A big statement indeed but I know I am now ready!

My footwork felt good, my cuts were clean and precise with good use of tenouchi and my fumokomi was happening just nicely.....not to mention good kiai!

My next training session is next Saturday (will be in Perth most of next week with work) so will train then in tare, do and kote and hopefully will train in full bogu at Hornsby on Saturday week - really looking forward to that. Need to start practicing tieing my Men and wearing my tenogui now :-)

Bogu Bogu Bogu!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 07:15:00 +0000

It's here!!!!! Yay! My Bogu has arrived!!!!

Lets just say my enthusiasm for kendo has just increased :-)

Pictures to follow soon....

No Training for 2 weeks.....

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 08:41:00 +0000

Boo!!! Hiss!!!! I hate being sick - that and a work trip to Melbourne next week means no Kendo for 2 weeks! It was my birthday on Wednesday and what did I get - a dose of the flu!!!! ich! Arrgghhh!!

No kendo for 2 weeks......ahh well...back into it when I get back from Melbourne - have to do 3 times a week to catch up!

Saturday 3/8 - It's Grading Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 08:09:00 +0000

Another Saturday, and more Kendo! Yay! Shame its so cold! Brrrrrr - I don't do good Kendo when I'm cold...need a good warm up today!

And its Grading Day today - and I will be going for 6 Kyu (or better) at Hornsby PYC. After an early 6am rise (just not good on Saturday's) I jumped in the car, filled it up and off to pickup Daniel Harrison for our 30min drive to Hornsby.

Just a quick note about petrol - all oil companies are greedy pigs - make you choke and die on all the profits you make - I don't like paying over 80c a litre (let alone $1.15/lt like I did today). Just a bit of a whinge to kick things off....ahhhh...feel better now!

Anyways.....back to Kendo...

We arrive at Hornsby (having stopped in at my local bakery for a nice danish and an average coffee) and socialise until things kicked off at 9am.

Daniel was off with the Dan group (well done on becoming sho-dan) and I joined the rest of the masses going for Kyu grades.

After a huge group warmup taken by Dave Bunder, it was a kyu seminar going over what we we expected to do in grading - sonkyo, ashi-suburi, and men, koti and do kihon. Shame it was so loud I couldn't hear any commands and had to rely on watching the people in front of me.

This was followed by the NSW Kendo Association AGM and a delicious lunch. And then onto Grading................

I was allocated no 36 so had a chalk marked 6-36 on my borrowed tare. To cut a long story short, I was suprised at how little we had to do - sonkyo, ashi-suburi, and men, koti and do kihon. I thought I was ok - could have been better but it must have been ok - everyone was then called to try for 5th Kyu - Kiri-kaeshi - my favourite! We were told this was a last minute change as we were all expecting a repeat of what we did before.....oh well....but hey, I love kiri-kaeshi so I don't mind.

I was finally called up and thought I did ok. Daniel mentioned he thought my part as motodachi went quite well and I thought my men and suyi-men cuts were ok when i was attacking. Time will tell - hopefully get the grading the results soon.

As I type this I'm sitting back and enjoying a relaxing beer and hanging out for the grading results and the Bledisloe Cup game...go Aussies!!!! Had a great day and tried to implement the Kendo principles I have learnt in Kendo these last few months....

Over and out and back to normal training again....

Just found out I got 5th Kyu! Woohoo! Very happy indeed! Must have a beer or 2 to celebrate...

:-)

Wednesday Training 3/8 - Just a quickie

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 08:01:00 +0000

Not much to add after tonite - improving my kata still and then Itakura Sensei took our huge beginners class - mostlly practicing men and kote cuts!

Biggest lesson I learnt was to make every cut count - be 110% committed to each and every cut and leave no doubt!

Won't be attending Saturday's training so only 2 sessions to go before grading....

Tuesday Training 2/8 - Hornsby Hijinks...

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 07:36:00 +0000

Something new, something different - that's what Tuesday's training was for me. I trained with the newly independent Hornsby Kendo Club with Doug and the other bunch of northerners :-) Looking forward to more training there!

Left work, jumped in my Jeep and a finally got there after seeming to drive around half of Hornsby! I was quite excited - first Kendo training session away from Willoughby!

I'm first impression was of the small size of the class (compared to Willoughby) and the large size of the dojo (very nice to have room to train in and not have to strain to hear the Sempai's instructions). It started off with Doug taking the warmup and the usual suburi etc. We then covered grading basics (footwork, men cuts) and then got onto the good stuff - hitting each other :-D

Or the reason we all do Kendo :-)

Beginners and the bogu clad all trained together before the others ended up doing ji-geiko. It was good to practice kote, men and do on Doug.

Some notes....

1) I kind of found all the basketball court lines and markings on the floor distracting - something I will have to ignore - at least its good to get a feel of the physical environment prior to grading there in a weeks time.

2) Kiai was good - in fact i was hoarse at the end of the session. Really lifts your confidence having good kiai - one comment springs to mind " bad cut but great kiai" - now if i can get both right. Beers went down really well afterwards :-)

3) Te-nou-chi - REALLY need to snap the wrist and get the correct cut motion happening - Rick showed me some tips and I'm looking forward to getting it right tonite.

4) Fumikomi - Coming along nicely - my stomp is coming along well...now to get it working correctly with my cuts...

Over all I found Hornsby quite different (and more informal) then Willoughby training am more intense....felt good finishing off covered in sweat :-)

Looking forward to tonite - opportunity to improve my mediocre kata :-)

Onward to better Kendo...

Saturday Training 30/7 - Patience is a Virtue

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 02:55:00 +0000

Two posts in one - now thats value for money! hahaha

First off, last Wednesday's training was not overly exciting for me. Learnt a lot though!!!!

Did Kata to about 8pm and learnt how to do no 3 and no 4 - long way to go before i'm any good at them though :-)

After that Takashi Itakura sensei gave a 30min seminar on the basics - rei, correct posture, bowing etc then into things like how to dress properly and to ensure hakama is tied correctly etc and then into the correct way to execute suburi. Picked up quite a good points - especially about dressing correctly and how to bow etc.

Finally, 15 mins of doing footwork practice - Myee, Ato, Migee, Hidari etc. We paired up and the person opposite had to follow his partner - quite hard as when the command was given i'd do that rather than the opposite - should be watching the partner and following his lead.

So Saturday rolls up again and its off to training - arrived early and was inundated by an invasion of UNSW Kendoka :-)

Warmup was interesting as Doug took it as Payne Sensei was absent. Only real different thing we did was hayasuburi - 50 and then 30! Actually got my heart rate up and I quite enjoyed it - need more of it to increase my exercise :-D

Beginners were then shepharded off outside under Takashi Itakura sensei where we covered the basics - posture, men, kote cuts etc.

The important things I learnt there were:

1) Get the cut right and do it everytime as if going for a kill - technique above speed.
2) Patience - Don't rush things and get the basics right. A wise old man once said that you need to master the basics if you are expected to succeed in greater things...
3) Keep the body straight when doing cuts.
4) Focus!!!!! Watch the opponents eyes when doing cuts - not their kote or other body parts.

I also practice my fumikomi and i think its starting to come together.

Will probably also start training at Hornsby on Tuesday nights. Spoke to one of the guys who trains there (Rick) and he gave me lots of encouragement to train there - looking forward to going there to ramp up my training!

Also, finally paid for my Bogu! Woohoo!!!!!! Getting a Koei G20 series Men, Kote, Do - can't wait to receive and start training in it! Should get it in 5-6 weeks at a guess....

Saturday Training 23/7 - Preparing for Grading...

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 04:47:00 +0000

Saturday is here and I'm keen for training! I'm over my sore throat and all set to give 110% Kiai! Missed Wednesday training due to work's official launch - so tired after that!

Anyway, training today so the usual warmup with Payne Sensei and then the rookies joining the ranks of the Bugu clad for some Kiri-Aeshi and some men waza and then kote, men waza (nihon waza). Got some good words on encouragement from Mr Forrester (motodachi for my line). Thing to remember is don't go around the motodachi after executing a men cut - GO STRAIGHT!!!!!

After 20-30 mins of that (which i really enjoyed) it was off to beginners class taken by Ben Ng. We covered some basics such as drawing the sword and going into sankyo etc. After that it was some basic suburi and later some kote, men and Do cuts - pretty much what is expected in grading. We finished up with some Kiri-Kaeshi - good stuff indeed!

Things I got out of this session:

1) Ten-ouchi and fumokomo - need to work hard to get these 2 techniques correct!

2) Keep my cuts crisp and correct - slow down and do them right (especially in Kiri-Kaeshi - need to make sure my cuts are from above the head and not in front).

Submitted my grading form and am now looking forward to grading....and getting into Bogu!

Bring it on!!!

Saturday Training 16/7 - Continuity is good....

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 03:29:00 +0000

Another glorious winter's day and its time to get up and go do some Kendo training! 3 consecutive sessions in a row now - woohoo!!! I'm stoked with that as I have been missing way too many for my liking due to work!

Saturday training started off like most other training - Sensei Payne getting everyone to do warmups and then Suburi - all good stuff. My men cuts felt a lot better then they did on Wednesday night and I think that having a good warm up really helps me to achieve that!

I felt more confident! I've also been reading a great book on Kendo (lent to me by Daniel Harrison) - "Complete Kendo" by John Donohue and I think that what i have read has also helped me improve my Kendo - great read so far and I highly recommend it to any Kendo beginner!

So anyway, after the usual Suburi, Sensei had all us beginners lined up with the bogu clad veterans and we did some practice of various wazas - in my case (and with the other beginners) starting with Kirae-ashi. I found it very awkward having to land the suyi-men cuts on the sensei's (one of the Japanese senseis - i forget his name) men. Definitely an area to improve and one which I shall have to practice a lot!!!!

Then we moved onto Men, Kote and some Doh cuts - really enjoyed these and the sensei pushed me hard ("faster, faster"). I finished sucking in huge lungfuls of air :-) I got a lot of confidence out of that!!!!!

Some things of note the sensei said...

1) Kiai!!! Really start to use it for each Men cut - don't just yell - yell with spirit and gusto and like you REALLY mean it!!!

2) Look the opponent in the eyes!!!!

3) Go straight - motodachi will move - I was starting to go around and sensei quickly got me going in the right direction - straight!!!

Great little session. We then watched the bigu clad do oji-waza - thing I noticed is that distance is critical - something to remember when I'm into Bogu myself!

Things i still need to improve:

1) Fumokomi - Just not happenening and I really need to practice it more.

2) Te-no-unchi - Slowly getting there but still in need of improvement.

Another good session and I'm looking forward to Wednesday night again - time to improve my kata some more....

Wednesday Training 13/7 - Men, Men, Men!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 11:45:00 +0000

Rocked up to Willoughby today all keen and ready to go....

Started off with some Kata - I practiced mainly Kata 1 (Ippon-me) and Kata 2 (Nihon-me). I'm ok with both but need to watch footwork and remember to step and cut all the way through when doing Sidachi for Ippon-me!

Tried to practice Kata 3 with Andrew Van Hammond but was totally confused with the Tski thrusts and blocking - oh well - something to practice next time.

One thing I found is that going from kata to training with shinais without doing warmups (ala saturdays) means my cuts seem to take a while to get right - something I need to work on....getting cuts right straight away...

Andrew took the beginner class today, and well it was boring - nothing but a whole hour of "Men, Men, Men" men cuts - with some one handed men cuts thrown in for variation! Boring (extremely boring) but important to get the men cut right so its 2nd nature and lands right the 1st time. A point that Andrew emphasised again and again - land the cut right the 1st time!!!!

Things worthy of note:

1) Grip on shinai must be firm but not tight otherwise you will tire quickly (especially when doing nothing but men cuts in the space of 1 hour).
2) Make sure the cut is stopped and not bounced - very important. Comes down to patience and making sure each men cut is crisp (tenouchi needs improvement as well) and well defined!
3) Kiai!!!! Andrew had a go at the seniors and others in bogu about lack of Kiai - most important (though quite annoying when one has a sore throat/throat infection) as it fills you with confidence and making for better and more confident cuts - in fact doing men cuts with no kiai is just plain wrong!

It's been nearly 3 months since i started Kendo and I'm keen to get into bogu - hopefully soon.....

Saturday Training 9/7 - Confidence is up

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 03:05:00 +0000

You beauty! First time in Gi and Hakama today. Having been shown by Daniel how to put it on, I arrived at the Willoughby Doji and felt immediately comfortable. It feels right to wear a gi and hakama and it helped my posture and confidence....

Following the usual Saturday warmup with Payne Sensei (during which I found my technique to be quite good considering i spent the last 10 days in Fiji and missed a few sessions of training) it was beginner training with Rick.

Lots of Men and Kote cuts to get into the habit of doing the cut with left hand and gliding with the right. Footwork is coming along nicely though (distance between feet is ok now) but I still have some issues with left foot and weigh distribution when practice men cuts (1 step 1 cut) to an overhead shinai held up by partner. Need to remember to put more weight on back foot and to push!!!

Otherwise, my men cuts seem to feel ok when doing Kiri kaeshi - coming along nicely and just need to remember to slow down and concentrate on getting the cuts right.

Thats the big message for me today - be patient, slow down and concentrate on technique and then the speed will come....

Saturday Training 25/6

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 07:07:00 +0000

Footwork is something I need to work on - I feel I have my shinai swing ok but don't have my balance right.

Need to concentrate on a few areas...

1) More weight on left foot and remember to glide, glide, glide.

2) Patience!!! Speed is not everything - get the cuts right - especially when doing Kiri-kaeshi!

3) Practice fumikomi - i just can't get it together at the moment so need lots more practice!

Kiai is a must!!!! Nothing like a battle cry to get up one's confidence! ARRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Mick) — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 06:54:00 +0000

I'm a Kendo newbie and these are my random ramblings about a sport that I'm really starting to get into.

Call it an online Kendo diary or call it what you like....