Training to obtain the center

Last night I practised at Taipei Kendokan. There are some sempais from the dojo whom I just don't know how to fight. What makes me feel the most hopeless is when I loose over and over again the simplest ai-men strikes. When this happens, I get annoyed and want to make more men-strikes to prove that I can do it, which only makes my moves become even more predictable. I'm not sure how to act in this situation...

This Wed I practised at the Hsing-Hua University Kendo Club. There was a good turn-out rate, especially considering that they just had a competition last week. We started with the ooikomi-geiko with sayu-men, and then renzoku-wazas. My forearms were mildly tense after these exercises. "I used the correct parts of the muscles," I thought.

In the end we had about 20-minutes jigeiko. My opponents were all junior to me, so my goals were to use as much oji-waza as possible. However, I also found that most of them don't know how to hold the center, and how to attack the centerline of their opponents.

This is something really difficult to explain. For me, I understood what the "center" is after training with many Senseis and Sempais with strong centers. I think only when training with such people can one understand what it is.

Tomorrow I will attend the joint practice for all kendokas in Taipei. Looking forward to it!