Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year everyone!!

I've been to every training in the past month. Not for any particular reason, just because I enjoyed it. There have also been a few realizations of my own kendo lately.

• When cutting: One thing particularly important is that, raising the shinai higher and strike down brings more power to the cut. This way I don't loose ai-men easily.

• More successes at nuki-do and kaeshi-do: Timing is critical. And to have the correct timing, one should seme until the opponent launches the attack. I found that smooth and slow seme works the best. For example, sliding the shinai forwards against the opponent's just a couple of inches from the issoku-ito-no-maai distance, if the opponent raise the shinai to strike, then execute the kaeshi-men. If the opponent shows no movement, then back out and seme in again.

• Kamae: If I have a good kamae then I become confident with myself. Maybe it's the reverse, I don't know. But for sure to check for is if I am holding my kamae correctly, and build up the pressure against my opponent from there.

• Kote-men moments: The moment to execute kote-men is rather interesting. Very often the kote gives the opponent a signal to defend and then he blocks the men. The solution one is, to have a blitzing fast kote-men technique, but then the opponent is still be able to block. I think the best way to solve this is to catch the right time for kote-men. One of these moments is when his kensen is low, especially when he is about to attack (debana moment).

• Concentration: There is a common problem to everyone, and that is the temporary black-out of mind. If this happens one basically falls into any trap set up by his opponent. Fake-men then striking kote is one of the most effective tricks. So concentrate!!

2010 Ozawa Sensei in Taiwan

This year Ozawa Sensei came again to Taiwan for a few days. Again this year, Takano Sensei and Fukui Sensei (both 7th Dan) came with him. It was his first time in Taiwan after obtaining the 8th Dan, and was invited to give a seminar aimed at kendo instructors and senior students at university kendo clubs and alike. It was different from the past two years when he came just to visit different dojos and practised, this year he actually instructed, and taught A LOT -- more than what I have ever seen him talking in such a short time.

The seminar ran for two days with many 4-5th Dan kendoka attending.

Warm-up and Kihon

Ozawa Sensei started with some exercised for warming up, like taking large leaps forwards and backwards while maintaining the body balance. This strengthens the leg muscles.

Then he explained some kihon. Kirikaeshi and men-uchi. Because most of the participants are seasoned kendoka, he didn't say too much about them. Only that there are two types of pace for the kirikaeshi: For beginners the cuts should be clear and speed is less important, and for advanced, the cuts will be fast and continuous. Later during lunch, while he answered people's questions, he said that there are three types of receiving the sayu-men cuts for the motodachi:

1. Holding the shinai straight up vertical. This is the normal way.
2. Cutting against the kakarite's shinai while he cuts. This is for against stronger kenshis whose cuts are powerful, or when you want him/her to make powerful cuts.
3. Be flexible with the shinai. This is for receiving cuts from children, women or less powerful kenshis.

Oji-waza

After some basic cuts when we were ready for some more advanced stuffs, we started practising oji-waza. Ozawa Sensei explained some techniques:

• Men-nuki-do: Seme. When the opponent just raises his shinai to attack men, raise the shinai to strike do while quickly stepping to the right. The step to the side needs not to be big, but the timing is critical. The body should stay up-right and should not bend.
• Men-suriage-men: Use the middle part of the shinai to deflect the opponent's shinai in an upward sliding motion, then immediately strike down.
• Men-debana-kote: The critical point is to take the opponent's centerline before he launches his attack. In this way, his shinai naturally moves to his left side to expose his kote. If the opponent takes the centerline, then you must take it back. Otherwise, the kote is hard to hit.

We also practised kata, but I won't write the details here.

Others:

• I am truly grateful that the senseis took special attention to my performance. Whether kihon or kata, the senseis asked me either to demonstrate in front of the others or watch critically. While I was doing suburi, he also watched to check if I was doing it correctly.

• The small men cut is not different from the big cut, except only that the shinai is not raised as high. The rest of motion, raising the arms and cutting down are all identical. He said it's bad to extend the arms and do an upward arc movement. However, I know some senseis specifically teach this way. Well, choose whatever suits you I guess. But I stick to whatever Ozawa sensei says. Unless I become as good as him someday (maybe it will never happen).

• During the only one jigeiko that I managed to have with Ozawa sensei, I took time to seme. Although my performance was poor, especially my lower body was too tired to follow up, it was different from before when I more or less struck relentlessly.

• Takano Sensei said that he understood my will to become stronger, but in jigeiko I should not bend or dodge, otherwise, I would never improve.

• During the dinner on day 1, Ozawa sensei said my upper body became stronger and broader compared to before. He jokingly said that I was so thin that wind can just blew me away, haha. However, my legs are not strong enough. He said that I should strengthen them by doing the exercises he taught me.

• I told Ozawa Sensei that I want to be strong at shiai when I'm still young, and asked him how to prepare for shiais. He only said, " Never give up!"

• After Sensei when back to Japan, he wrote me and said that I must now try to use wazas learned in jigeikos. I will try my best!! See you next year!!

(I've become quite busy in the past few weeks, so finding anytime to write blog has been difficult. Sorry for not writing it in a style more pleasurable for reading!)

One day I will be strong

The past few weeks were packed with activities, kendo or non-kendo related. There was the Taipei Chong-Chung Cup at the end of November, in which the mens team got the forth place and the women got the first. I was teamed up with four strong kenshis (4th and 5th Dans), who out-performed me tremendously. It was fair to say that if I was replaced with a stronger player, maybe 3rd Dan, we would have gotten the first place. I couldn't stop thinking this for a few days following the competition. My performance was poor and made my teammates nervous, so in the last few matches I was placed in the Taisho position, so that I fought the last and wouldn't affect the confidence of the other players. I finally understood the importance of the senpo and jiho, who should never loose.

Though I disappointed myself and my teammates, who still gave me a lot of advices for improvement and encouragement, I can only put things behind and continue to train hard, if not harder. One who gives up is the real looser. One day I will be strong.

More on the hand grip

To elaborate on the method of gripping the shinai I talked about in my last blog entry, I extract some figures from the manuscript from Toshio Matsumoto (9th Dan Hanshi), the same document which I quoted for describing the Natural Stance Kamae.

The position of the end of hand grip should rest in the left hand as shown here:

The two muscles circled in the upper figure should be used to squeeze the end of shinai. (Aki Suzuki Sensei form Tokyo once told me the same.) Likewise, the same muscles of the right hand have also the same function.

The feeling is like supporting an egg with these two muscles without breaking it, as shown above.

The right hand should grip the shinai in a way that is hard outside but soft/flexible inside. To explain, he use the analogy of a "bull crap under the sun (hi na ta gu so)", which is hard outside but soft inside (rather interesting don't you think ;)?).

The position and angle of the thumb should be straight and relaxed, directed roughly parallel to the floor, as shown below:

This is connected to what I described with the right hand grip in my last entry.

Hope the above information helps!

V-shape hand grip

After two weeks of absence, my feet become slow again. After striking, I felt that I was dragging my feet over the floor.

However, Hsu Sensei corrected the way I hold the shinai with my right hand. I should hold it in such a way that makes the V-shape more apparent, facing myself. In other words my index finger is less perpendicular to the hand grip. This way, I naturally use more of my little finger for clutching the shinai.

I really want to get the speed up with my men cut. The slowness seems to have something to do with my foot work. Maybe it's because I don't push fast enough with my left foot, and my body center is not low enough. An indicator is the sound of fumigomi. The ideal should be a sharp "slapping" sound as almost all the japanese kendokas seem to have somehow.