2012-09-08 14:03:00
Last tuesday the new kendo season started and today was the first scheduled class in Almere. We got off to an odd start, what with all three of our sensei being absent: holiday, holiday and holiday(?). So instead, Charel-sempai and Mischa-sempai (who is 2nd dan) took charge of our group. All in all they fared pretty well! Our group usually is (too) low on discipline and so a lot of people are chatty, but they managed to reel them in (with a little occasional support from Nick-sempai and myself).
In the absence of our usual teachers, we focused on basics. Charel and Mischa had both attended the recent summer seminar and were eager to transfer a few of the things they learned.
- Footwork. In general one could say that the weight distribution of the feet is 60/40 on back/front. Put too much on the front and you'll be slow and you'll tip forward. Put too much on the back and your backwards movement is wrong and it also slows you down.
- Men-strikes. In kamae hold your left fist at navel level (I'm always too low) and aim at the opponent's throat. When striking, the right arm should be straight and the left nearly so. We also did the famous "throw a tenugui" test, where you put a tenugui on the tip of your shinai. If, when you strike men, it flies far away then you are doing the proper "snap!". If it drops to the floor, you are obviously not ;)
- Fumikomi. We practiced timing by doing men-strikes without the walkthrough. Just do the strike+stomp.
- Small men strikes. The common exercise at the seminar was to do repeats of 2x5. Five times you relaxedly lift your shinai onto motodachi's shinai and then five times you do small men strikes.
- Zanshin. On the walkthrough, when turning back to face your opponent, it is often too slow to first lift the shinai vertical followed by the turn and back to kamae. You'll quickly get a blow to the head. A faster method is to lift the shinai in an arc to the other side (behind you) at the same time that you're turning "around it".
- Uniform and bogu. Make sure that the knot of the do-himo is horizontal. All nooses must be of equal length and as long as the loose ends. Your keikogi should be straight at the back, no wrinkles! The front of your tare should have space between your belly and the fabric; this is best achieved by putting it on in seiza compared to standing up. When putting on your men, spare your himo by not pulling on the loose ends, but on the himo that run over your head. When taking off the men, first make neat loops of the himo, then pull loose by one men-tare and take off your helmet. Keep it in front of your face while you wipe, then put away.
An interesting class indeed and I'm very grateful for the help of Charel and Mischa.
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