Day 12
Well, today I felt like one of the "big kids". In Kendo, it is tradition to line up for bowing in to class from left to right. The more senior students to the left, with the newer students to the right. I lined up in my usual spot, about 1/4 of the way from the right side and sensei told me to move down to the other end with the rest of the people in kendogi. I went from the right to the left. It defintely felt like progress of some sort. Granted, once I get into the advanced class, I'll be sitting on the right side for quite some time.
During warmups, the 50 haya suburi left me less winded this time, so its good to see some improvement. At the end of class we actually did some striking practice. We lined up 5 to a line, spaced a few feet apart and held our shinai parallel to the ground at the height of our head. The 1st person in line then turned around and moved down the line, striking each shinai. Once we got the hang of it, the line was constantly moving and it was a blast. One of the senior students informed me that I was striking too high on the opponent's shinai, but it was a simple adjustment to make.
I came to a realization during class about the level at which one holds their shinai. I seem to have been holding it up too high, but once I thought about lowering it to where I have a completely unobstructed view in front of me, that seemed to do the trick. It has been hard for me to properly judge where a level point with my throat was, but once I thought of it that way, it seemed to help.
During warmups, the 50 haya suburi left me less winded this time, so its good to see some improvement. At the end of class we actually did some striking practice. We lined up 5 to a line, spaced a few feet apart and held our shinai parallel to the ground at the height of our head. The 1st person in line then turned around and moved down the line, striking each shinai. Once we got the hang of it, the line was constantly moving and it was a blast. One of the senior students informed me that I was striking too high on the opponent's shinai, but it was a simple adjustment to make.
I came to a realization during class about the level at which one holds their shinai. I seem to have been holding it up too high, but once I thought about lowering it to where I have a completely unobstructed view in front of me, that seemed to do the trick. It has been hard for me to properly judge where a level point with my throat was, but once I thought of it that way, it seemed to help.
posted by Bruce at 5:01 PM
1 Comments:
Getting used to holding kamai lower is a trick. I imagine that my neck is quite a bit higher than it actually is, and keep having to lower the tip.
I think I've finally gotten the hang of it, and am surprised at how far away the tip is, when properly lowered for kamai.
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