Loosing is part of the game

Today is again the Dresden league. I lost to Tino 1:2. He got Ippon first with a Hiki-men, followed by my Hiki-men. Then as I faked a men in order to hit his Kote, he striked a Men-Uchi while my strike missed the Kote. My Kote has to be faster and faster Zanshin. I turned sideways but didn't do it fast enough. Afterwards Stephan told me that he was impressed and suprised by my kaeshi-do which nearly got an Ippon.

The worst of all was that my Ki was very weak. Maybe due to the lack of sleep last night?? My muscle and my bones felt light and empty. My toe might also hindered my spirit. This is unfortunatly what I have to learn to overcome. When one fights one has to give it all no matter what happened to him/her earlier that day - be strong.

After the shiai we had free-jigeiko as usual. I fought with David, Stephan and Jan. Stephan gave me a few tips, namely:

• For Harai-waza one has to do it at issoku itto no maai distance. From chikama it's too close to the opponent.
• Touch the opponent's shinai to see what his/her response.

Jan told me:

• not to drop the shinai after uchi. I didn't use to do that before. I think I still need to adjust myself a bit from the 3 weeks of absence.
• have a stronger Ki. (for example the kaeshi-do during the shiai.)

This time I felt there is a gap between my kendo and Jan and Stephan's. I was much slower, and my centerline is not strong enough.

Uni Training

The session at Uni took place an hour after we finished training at the Dresden Budo Club. There were, however, only 4 people - 3 beginners and Yoda, a japanese Exchange student. So Yoda lead the session with me explaining and elaborate the techniques from time to time.

No Jigeiko. We practised some basic uchi's, and lots of time on Hiki-waza. Then we did Kakari-geiko. New things I learned included:

• Zanshin for Hiki-do is similar to Chudan no kamae.

I felt disappointed of loosing to Tino, but it's also part of the game. I have to be strong mentally as well, and recover quickly. I really enjoyed the uni session, as I could make sure that I can do the basics.