This summary is for the afternoon session in Amstelveen.
After the shinai check and warming-up, the training, as lead by Tanida-sempai, started right away with kirikaeshi and big kihon exercises followed by small and fast kihon exercises. The training ended with kirikaeshi after jigeiko to, all in all, make for a very conventional training.
During the big kihon exercises we did ookii-men, ookii-kote, ookii-dou. Then followed the ni-dan waza ookii-kote-men. The exercises were done in sets of 3 for both shidachi and motodachi.
After this exercise the adults were separated from the children to practice some tsuki.
Point of attention for the big kihon exercises:
- The motodachi should open the targets properly for the shidachi to strike. This requires the motodachi to be in tune with the shidachi in order for the shidachi to have a good exercise.
Then, the big kihon exercises were followed by small fast exercises. Basically we did everything we did during the ookii kihon but smaller and faster.
Some points for training hayai and chiisai waza:
- Decide for yourself what your best distance is.
- Also consider for yourself the speed and size of your strikes.
- When you are told to do an exercise, don’t just conduct the exercise, but also keep in mind the above. If you don’t do that your kendo won’t grow.
- For small dou, the motodachi doesn’t have to pull his shinai all the way up to joudan. Slightly raising your arms should be enough as this is usually what room an attacker has during shiai.
After the regular training there was jigeiko for the adults and shiaigeiko for the kids. This part of the training lasted somewhat longer than usual, so there was a lot of opportunity to spar with many different opponents. As Mark Herbold-sensei joined us for the day’s training, there was an especially good chance to do mitorigeiko when Herbold-sensei and Tanida-sempai were sparring with each other.
The jigeiko ended with kirikaeshi.
As today’s training was relatively low on explanation and emphasis was placed on self-awareness and self-correction. It is even more important to have a good concentration and an alert mind (zanshin). Don’t just do, but intend to do, and do so with commitment. Afterwards consider the outcome of what you did.