Summary of class 16/04Samenvatting les 16/04

Last week and yesterday class was led by Jouke-sempai, who was in the Netherlands for last weekend’s EKC. Where we usually practice upwards of six techniques a night in 2x(2×5) bouts, he now had us repeating the same technique in a 2x(5min) setup. Instead of doing one technique five times twice, we now keep going back and forth until “Yame!” is called.

This dramatically lowered the amount of different things we got to try, but there are two huge benefits:

  1. Muscle memory
  2. The time to reflect

During kihon practice we focused on men (both oki and hayai), hayai kote and kote-men and finally hiki waza. The following points were made:

  • When receiving a kote strike, do not simply turn the shinai to the left. Instead raise your shinai as if deflecting a strike to men. This opens up your kote in a much more credible sense.
  • This is why we practiced hayai kote in two ways. First we pressure and simply go for kote. Then we pressure for men and when motodachi opens we strike kote.

Tsuyuguchi-sensei spent a lot of his time explaining hiki waza to me. Most of it was in Japanese (probably because I had given the impression that I speak it) so I missed big parts of it. However, the essence of what he tried to convey is this:

  1. Keep your hands low and lock the tsuba.
  2. Tsubazeriai is all about the hips, push from the hips.
  3. Put strong pressure against your opponent and push away.
  4. Did I say it’s about the hips? Because you need to work from the hips!
  5. Where you strike depends on the reaction of your opponent, on where his hands and shinai go to.

I really appreciate the effort he put into explaining these things to me! It’s the first time we’ve really spoken, so I went up to him after class to thank him again. Point #3 is a bit confusing for me personally, because I have often been told not to put any pressure in tsubazeriai. Not until you actually push off for your strike.

Summary of class, 5/3Samenvatting les, 5/3

It has been a month of remarkable kendo! First there was the big party, then last week was a tiny group of people and yesterday Furuya-sensei paid us a visit. Stopping over for a single day on his way to the Furuya Cup in Peru, he made sure to come observe the dojo he helped raise in the Netherlands. We were also joined by Mark Herbold-sensei, who recently achieved 7-dan.

With roughly thirtyfive kendoka attending the training session we used the motodachi system, with anyone 3-dan and higher acting as motodachi. We worked on solidifying our basics: kirikaeshi, men, kote-men and kote-do. We closed with half an hour of jigeiko.

The following points were stressed during class:

  • Ki-ken-tai-ichi is everything. Do proper fumikomi and time it right.
  • Kote-do is nothing more than kote-men, which gets changed at the last moment.
  • We do big techniques before small techniques in class, in order to first get the feeling right so we can then speed it up tremendously.
  • When striking do, make sure to do it right! Use the right angle, strike with the kensen and strike the correct spot! Horizontal strikes don’t count. Strikes with the wrong part of the shinai don’t count. Strikes to the front/belly don’t count.

Because our founder’s sensei was present, a lot of attention was paid to mistakes in etiquette. For example:

  • In seiretsu, always make sure that you are in the correct spot in the line. First sort according to rank, then to age. Adults are never to the left of children.
  • If you have an emergency and need to stop, indicate this to a teacher. Do not simply leave the keikojo. Not only is this disrespectful but it is also potentially dangerous (for example, if you faint in the dressing room nobody will know!).
  • If you have a physical discomfort, do not simply stop training. Tell your teacher and keep on training until they indicate that it is alright for you to stop. Trust your teachers! They know how far they can push you without putting you into any danger.

Furuya-sensei indicated that he was happy to be back in the Netherlands and to train with us. He hopes that we will continue training hard, working on improving our kendo. He also hopes that next year we can organize another Furuya Cup in the Netherlands, as it is an important tourney in Europe.Wat een opmerkelijke maand! Eerst hadden we een groot feest met bijbehorende drukbezochte training, daarna hadden we een mini-opkomst vorige week en gisteren was er het bezoek van Furuya-sensei. Hij is onderweg naar de Furuya Cup in Peru en is een dag in Nederland gebleven om te observeren bij de dojo van zijn leerling, Heeren-sensei. Bovendien was ook Mark Herbold-sensei aanwezig.

We gebruikten het motodachi systeem omdat we grofweg vijfendertig kendoka beschikbaar hadden. Iedereen met 3-dan of hoger deed dienst als motodachi. We werkten aan het versterken van onze fundamentele technieken: kirikaeshi, men, kote-men and kote-do. De les werd besloten met een half uur jigeiko.

De volgende punten werden tijdens de les benadrukt:

  • Ki-ken-tai-ichi is alles. Doe een goede fumikomi met juiste timing.
  • Kote-do is niets meer dan een kote-men, waarbij je op het laatste moment voor do gaat. Door voor men te gaan zorg je er voor dat je tegenstander do opent.
  • In de les doen we grote technieken voor de kleine technieken om het juiste gevoel voor de techniek te ontwikkelen. Daarna kunnen we’m sterk versneld uitvoeren.
  • Als je voor do gaat, doe het dan goed! Gebruik de juiste hoek, sla met de kensen en raak de correcte plek. Horizontale slagen tellen niet. Slaan met’t verkeerde deel van de shinai telt niet. Slaan op de buik/voorkant telt niet.

Omdat Furuya-sensei er bij was werd ook nog eens nadruk gelegd op etiquette fouten die in de les zijn gemaakt:

  • Zorg dat je in seiretsu op de juiste plaats staat. Sta op volgorde van rang en sorteer daarna op leeftijd. Volwassenen staan nooit links van kinderen.
  • Is er een noodgeval en moet je stoppen, geef dit dan aan bij een leraar. Verlaat niet zomaar de keikojo! Dit is niet alleen respectloos, maar kan ook gevaarlijk zijn. Wat als je bijvoorbeeld flauwvalt in de kleedkamer zonder dat iemand het doorheeft?
  • Heb je een fysiek ongemak, stop dan niet zomaar met trainen. Geef het aan bij je leraar en ga door met trainen totdat je wordt verteld dat je mag stoppen. Heb vertrouwen in je leraren! Ze weten hoe ver ze je kunnen pushen zonder dat het gevaarlijke wordt.

Furuya-sensei was blij de kans te hebben kort met ons te trainen. Hij hoopt dat we hard doortrainen om onze kendo te verbeteren. Hij hoopt dat we volgend jaar weer een Furuya Cup kunnen organiseren, het is en blijft een belangrijk toernooi in Europa.

Summary of class, 22/01Samenvatting les, 22/01

Tonight’s class was guided by Fukuyama-sensei, in the absence of Heeren-sensei, with Kiwa-sempai providing translations for those not familiar with the Japanese language.

After the usual warming-up routine (no kata practice tonight), we moved on to two separate but entwined subjects:

  1. Seme to tame to butsu
  2. Hiki waza

In kendo we are often taught to “build pressure”, to “feel tension” before launching an attack. This pressure is described with the word seme (攻め) and it is something that is learned through long practice. The Glossary related to budo and kobudo‘ by Guy Buyens offers the following:

“SEME (攻め) in BUDO (武道) is usually used to indicate the initiative to close the distance and maintain the pressure when launching an attack. This can be part of a very decisive and even explosive technique or in combination with TAME (溜め), where pressure is build in a more gradual way and where the final target depends on the reaction of that opponent.”

Tame, from the verb tameru, meaning “to ammass” or “to accumulate”. In this case we are creating seme and then gathering more and more tension. For this particular session, Fukuyama-sensei described our exercise as follows:

  1. Assume issoku itto kamae.
  2. Generate seme.
  3. Inhale deeply and kakegoe (*) strongly.
  4. Do NOT inhale, do NOT exhale further.
  5. Hold your breath for five seconds.
  6. Attack at your fiercest, with a very strong kiai.

Fukuyama-sensei explained that, in this exercise, holding your breath will help you retain focus on your opponent and on seme. This way you are deeply invested in your attack, almost guaranteeing a beautiful strike. He compared it to a story he once heard about olympic sprinters, who would finish their 100m dash without breathing to retain 100% focus.

We practice seme to tame to butsu with different kihon and waza: first with chisai men, kote and dou, then in oji waza where motodachi would attack with chisai men. As usual we were told to do our very best attack, because otherwise the exercise would be useless.

Before moving on to jigeiko, we practiced the various hiki waza: men, kote and dou. These exercises were combined with the previous tame exercises. When it came to hiki dou, Fukuyama-sensei explained that moving backwards can be done in three backwards directions.

  • To the left is sub-optimal, as it makes it hard to properly strike and follow through.
  • Straight, where you remain on the center line of your opponent.
  • To the right, making for an easier strike while also putting you off the opponent’s center.

For showing zanshin after hiki dou, Fukuyama-sensei said that you should relax after striking. Your arms should not be tense and your shinai should not be immovable. Instead, follow through downwards in the natural arc of your strike and relax your arms (so you are also ready for a counter attack).

*: For extensive information on kakegoe, what you could call the “kiai in kamae”, please refer to chapter 13 of Noma Hisashi-sensei’sKendo Reader.De les van vanavond werd, bij afwezigheid van Heeren-sensei, geleid door Fukuyama-sensei (met vertalingen door Kiwa-sempai).

Na de gebruikelijke warming-up (geen kata oefeningen vandaag) leerden wij over twee afzonderlijke, maar verbonden onderwerpen:

  1. Seme to tame to butsu
  2. Hiki waza

In kendo worden wij vaak gezegd dat we “druk moeten bouwen” en dat we “spanning moeten voelen” voor de aanval. Deze spanning wordt beschreven met het woord seme (攻め) en is iets dat je leert met langdurig oefenen. De Glossary related to budo and kobudo‘ van Guy Buyens zegt het volgende

“SEME (攻め) in BUDO (武道) is usually used to indicate the initiative to close the distance and maintain the pressure when launching an attack. This can be part of a very decisive and even explosive technique or in combination with TAME (溜め), where pressure is build in a more gradual way and where the final target depends on the reaction of that opponent.”

Tame, van het werkwoord tameru, betekent “verzamelen” of “opbouwen”. In dit geval maken we seme en verzamelen we meer en meer spanning. Fukuyama-sensei beschrijft de oefening als volgt:

  1. Neem issoku itto kamae aan.
  2. Genereer seme.
  3. Adem diep in en geef een sterke kakegoe (*).
  4. Adem NIET verder uit, adem NIET opnieuw in.
  5. Houdt je adem vijf seconden lang in.
  6. Geef je sterkste aanval, met een krachtige kiai.

Fukuyama-sensei legt uit dat we, door onze adem in te houden, onze focus op de vijand en de seme vasthouden. Op deze manier ga je helemaal in op je aanval, waardoor je haast gegarandeerd een prachtige slag maakt. Hij vergeleek het met een verhaal dat hij ooit over olympische sprinters hoorde, die hun 100m sprint afmaken zonder één ademhaling om maar 100% focus te behouden.

We oefenden seme to tame to butsu met verschillende kihon en waza: eerst met chisai men, kote en dou, daarna met oji waza waar motodachi aanvalt met chisai men. Zoals gebruikelijk worden we er op gewezen dat de men aanval onze beste aanval moet zijn, want anders heeft de oefening geen zin.

Voordat we tot jigeiko overgaan oefenen we ook verscheidene hiki wazamenkote en dou. Deze oefeningen werden gecombineerd met voorgaande tame oefening. Wat betreft hiki dou, legde Fukuyama-sensei uit dat men in drie richtingen achterwaards kan bewegen.

  • Naar links is sub-optimaal, omdat het moeilijk is een goede slag te maken.
  • Rechtuit, waarbij je op de center lijn van je tegenstander blijft.
  • Naar rechts, waarbij de slag gemakkelijker is en je tevens uit het midden verdwijnt.

Om zanshin te tonen na hiki dou moet je je ontspannen na de slag. Je armen moeten niet strak staan, je lijf moet rechtop blijven en je shinai mag NIET rotsvast zitten. Toon zanshin door de natuurlijke boog van je slag neerwaarts af te maken en ontspan je armen (om een tegenaanval op te vangen).

*: Voor uitgebreide informatie over kakegoe, de “kiai in kamae”, verwijs ik graag naar hoofdstuk 13 van Noma Hisashi-sensei’s ‘Kendo Reader.

Summary of class, 12/01Samenvatting les, 12/01

This is the summary of last saturday’s training at the Amstelveen dojo.

As this was the first saturday training of the year, it was a little different from the others in what kind of exercises were done. At the end there was also another reminder about the importance of shinai maintenance. The training consisted of kata practice in the beginning followed by an alternative kihon after a regular warming up and then normal kihon which was conluded by jigeiko at the end. The training itself was closed off with the reminder on shinai maintenance and after the training the buffet party was held.

Training:

So after the now customary kata practice and warming up Heeren-sensei told us to do something very unusual, as it is the first training of the year. He told us to do everything mirrored from what we normally do, so even rotating to your next partner was done towards the left instead of to the right. It was basically a kihon practice but just the other way around, and it consisted of the following exercises:

  • kirikaeshi
  • men
  • kote men
  • do
  • kote men do
  • jigeiko

As everything was mirrored, also the datotsubui were on the other side of the opponent. One also had to do fumikomi with the left foot rather than the right. All this combined made for some very interesting practice, especially in the case of do strikes. It would make one feel like a beginner again. It was also a nice opportunity to find out how much you have already learned physically as, instead of the normal muscles, you had to use muscles that you would normally not use in kendo.

The new year’s practice was followed by a regular training which included:

  • hayai men
  • hayai kirikaeshi
  • men ni taisuru oji waza
  • kote ni taisuru oji waza
  • jigeiko

The regular part of the training was focused on delivering quick attacks and as such, was especially useful for those who want to participate in competitions.

Shinai Maintenance:

After the physical part of the training there was another talk on the importance of shinai maintenance. Heeren-sensei said the same things as he had said before but there was more emphasis on safety and what can go wrong when shinai are not properly cared for.
There was for instance an accident in Germany where a take of a kendoka‘s shinai went into the eye (and brain) of his opponent because his tsuru and leathers were not properly tied. His opponent died from the injury.

Injuries that are far more common because of improperly maintained shinai are splinters entering the skin of the arms and neck of the opponent. Or splinters that get into the eyes of your opponent.

So make absolutely sure you do not have any splinters in your shinai. Check them after every training, and make sure to remove any splinters if you find any. Also sand down parts of your shinai that look like they may develop splinters quickly.

These parts (usually on or near the monouchi) are recognized as either being blueish/dark of colour compared to the rest of the shinai because of all the dye that has gotten between the bamboo fibers due to the many strikes that have connected here, or having many dents on the bamboo because of repeated strikes to the men-gane.

Sand down those areas untill the colour is the same as the rest of the shinai. And in the case of dents, sand it down until the angled edges of those dents have become smooth.

Buffet Party:

After the talk on shinai maintenance preparations were made for the buffet party. There were quite a few families, and the delicious food that was brought in was primarily Japanese obviously but there was a surprising amount of Indonesian food as well. Usually there are some people who also bring in some Dutch dishes (like boerenkool met worst), but this time there were not that many quintessentially Dutch foods to be had.

Alleen Engelse versie beschikbaar! Binnekort ook in het Nederlands.

Summary: central trainingSamenvatting: centrale training

Today’s practice pulled in about 50 people (est. 15 beginners, 15 kyu-graded and 20 dan-graded), with four high-placed sensei and our honored chairman Odinot taking the lead. The agenda was as follows:

  • 25 minutes of joint kihon practice of hayai-techniques. Also, ki-ken-tai-ichi exercises.
  • 80 minutes of waza practice under Vitalis-sensei, while Wouters-sempai instructed the beginners.
  • 20 minutes break/lunch.
  • 60 minutes of jigeiko.

Under Vitalis-sensei, the group was split into mudansha and kodansha so everyone got from practice what they needed. We practiced the following techniques, some of which were new for many of us. Each technique was practiced 2×2 times, after which shugou was called in order to learn the next one.

  • Normal hiki-dou. A dou strike cannot be valid, as long as the opponent has not opened up; if the kamae is maintained, you can strike all you like without scoring. In this practice, motodachi would “help” by reacting to pressure, by lifting upwards a little bit.
  • A variant hiki-dou, using surprise. From tsubazeriai, smack your opponent’s left temple while putting your right foot more to the right (for leverage), which will cause a surprised reaction where he pushes his shinai towards his left/your right. Now the center has opened, so you can perform a hiki-dou.
  • A short-range hiki-kote. Starting from tsubazeriai, while maintaining pressure, put your left foot backwards a bit. Bring your shinai to your shoulder while kicking off, then strike kote where your tsuka goes to your left hip. Show zanshin while moving further backwards, by bringing your shinai back to your center, pointing upwards (not above your head).
  • Men, kaeshi-dou. This technique will simply not work if you’re not efficient enough in your movements. Swing up when motodachi is very near to striking your men, then strike dou using the same movement.
  • Men, suriage-men. Same as the above, you need to be fast and efficient.
  • A backwards men, suriage-men. Sometimes, your opponent will simply be too fast for you. It is then a very valid tactic, to back away from him. You can block his men using suriage, then perform a men strike with zanshin in the normal position (not hiki). Unlike a forward moving suriage-men, the backwards version requires a short pause between the deflection and the return men-strike. You want everyone to know that the strike is valid and not a panicked reaction.
  • Tsuki, suriage-men. You deflect motodachi’s tsuki with a very simple movement: you push your shinai downward straight through the center ever so slightly, over the top of his shinai. This will make the tsuki go wide, leaving you to strike hayai-men.
  • Nuki dou, where you strike dou even before motodachi can hit you. Obviously this means you need to be damn quick ;) No big movements! You do hayai-dou, where your shinai only goes to your shoulder, then you immediately strike!
  • A special nuki dou, which Vitalis-sensei was taught 30 years ago by his teacher in Japan. It had many people baffled! You perform nuki-dou, then quickly raise your shinai straight up, stepping backwards with your right foot while turning in-place while your opponent passes you. Turn to face him and resume kamae.
  • A special nuki dou, where you sink your whole body downwards right before the men strike connects. During this movement your shinai moves to the right. Move backwards to the left, while you strike the left side of opponent’s dou (which is not the side you usually strike).
  • Katate han-men. Another surprise technique where you quickly make a long-range attack. From kamae swing upwards, then step forward with your left foot and do a single handed strike to motodachi’s right temple. Move forward with reverse suriashi, or step through with right and use normal suriashi.

I got a chance to have jigeiko with three of the leading sensei.

  1. I didn’t receive any specific feedback from Barbier-sensei. I tried to use a few of the techniques we learned, combined with some of the stuff Heeren-sensei taught us. After a few minutes, Barbier-sensei asked me to do a round of kirikaeshi.
  2. I very much enjoyed my round with Castelli-sensei, who has a very enthusiastic and energizing personality. She let me try a few techniques, then took me aside to tell me (paraphrased): “You need to want your target. I see you hitting air, making a lot of movement, but never getting to where you want to go. I see you go for men, but you don’t get to my men. I see you go for kote, then don’t hit kote. You need to WANT to hit. You need to WANT to put your shinai on my head! Be hungry! You need to be like an animal of prey“. That was a very interesting realization for me! I hadn’t thought of it like that, but she’s right! The next few attacks I was a lot more focused, after which she took me aside again. “The Japanese say: ichi gan, the eyes are first. I see you very often not looking at your target. You strike my kote, but look somewhere completely else! Don’t! Eyes on the target!“.
  3. Right before the closing kirikaeshi, I had a very short round with Vitalis-sensei. At first I had offered to cede my position to mrs De Jong who outranks me, but Vitalis-sensei said I shouldn’t do that. “I don’t care if they’re 10th dan! In kendo you need to be hungry and egotistical to get the training you want. You need to be fast in dressing, first in line and scramble for practice with the teachers you want!” Based on the few strikes I made for him, he also warned me that right now I shouldn’t yet be trying “patient”/”waiting” kendo. “Make attacks! Make plenty of attacks! Right now you still have plenty of time to make plenty of mistakes. If two out of ten strikes land relatively close, that’s great!” Which certainly sounds a lot like what Kris-fukushou keeps telling me: I wait too much.

During closing, Vitalis-sensei shared the following remarks.

  • Beginners should really make sure to stretch their left arms properly. Don’t hook them! Upon striking men, your right thumb should be pointing to motodachi’s face and your left thumb should point at their tare.
  • Similarly, beginners should also often repeat the ki-ken-tai-ichi exercises: your right hand and your right knee are “connected” by a rope, both go up and down at the same time.
  • Those in bogu should work on efficient movements. Very often it is enough to work from your elbows or even your wrists! Shoulder movements are large and thus slow.
  • He also mentioned that 95% of us did not pass our opponents at maximum speed. Almost nobody actually speeds up after making the strike, which you really should be doing!

Het spijt ons, helaas is dit artikel alleen in het Engels te lezen.

Summary of class, 18/12Samenvatting les, 18/12

Last night was a training out of the ordinary. Seeing how it was the last tuesday-night session for 2012, the turnup was smaller with only one sensei appearing and the group totaling out at roughly fifteen people (nine in bogu). While Roelof-sensei kept an eye on everyone for details, Kiwa-sempai led the advanced group in what I found to be a tremendously educational class.

The first half hour of class was spent on practicing kendo kata. I’m not aware of any pointers given out to other couples, but these are some that Nienke and myself received while repeatedly going through kata #3. This was under the watchful eye of Onno-sempai, Roelof-sensei and Kiwa-sempai

  • When lowering and raising the bokuto, do it slowly. Build tension.
  • When attacking, step in deeply from the hips (which is something Ran-sempai also corrected me on).
  • When defending and pulling back, you can either step back deeper and pull back through the center, or you can compensate for a too-small step by pulling back the bokuto off-center. The prior appears to be preferable.
  • When countering, the pattern is right-left-right-left-right, as opposed to what I had been doing: right-right-left-right-left.

The next half hour was spent on learning the bokuto ni yoru kendo kihon waza keikoho, also known as the kihon bokuto waza. This set of exercises is relatively new and targeted mostly at beginning students and lower-ranked kendo. Here, one practices the various techniques in kendo in a more realistic as well as entry-level setting: unarmoured and with a bokuto, which is shorter than a shinai. Much more information can be read in this excelent PDF. In class we practiced kata #1 through #3, which are:

  1. The four basic targets: men, kote, dou and tsuki.
  2. A successive kote-men.
  3. The harai-men technique.

The last half hour was dedicated to jigeiko. The beginners’ group joined Roelof-sensei for kihon practice, while the advanced group went through their desired routines. Roelof-sensei closed class with remarks regarding the fact that most people still over-use their right hand and that they need to focus more on the left hand. He also reminded us of the year’s closing, the fact that first class of 2013 is on 05/01 and of the buffet on 12/01.

Helaas is er nog geen nederlandse samenvatting van deze les. Alleen in het engels. Sorry :(

Summary of class 1, 15/12Samenvatting les 1, 15/12

This summary is for the Almere group, who practice in the morning.

It’s great to see how our group keeps growing with newbies, who also show great attendance. Sadly, we don’t seem to have much luck with the guys in bogu. On the one hand lenience on attendance is part of the friendly atmosphere of our Almere dojo, but on the other hand it does keep ourselves and our juniors from learning as quickly as we could. We will certainly strive to improve attendance in 2013.

When it comes to our members, it’s also interesting to see how many young kids we attract. We don’t yet rival our mother-dojo in Amstelveen (who have flocks of Japanese children attending training on saturday), but with five under-ten year olds and numerous teenagers we’re certainly a young group.

Now, on to class. After warming-up we started with lunges in order to improve footwork and balance. There are two commonly made mistakes: either you keep a too-narrow stance and can’t keep your balance, or you over-compensate for that and take a too-wide stance (as per graphic A above). Kris-fukushou reminds us that we really should keep our feet at the proper width during the whole practice. Move in straight lines.

We practiced kihon in the motodachi system, with the eight guys in bogu acting as partner for the fourteen or so people without bogu. After that the group was split up as usual and my group moved on to waza practice. The two most important lessons for myself were about debana kote and suriage men.

With debana kote I was always confused: do I need to move my shinai over or under my opponent’s blade? Turns out that it’s neither, because both are too slow :) As per graphic B, Kris explained that your shinai stays almost level, while the opponent moves in for amen-strike. That way you automatically duck under his shinai and you also stay close enough for a quick kote strike.

Now, suriage men is apparently a very difficult technique for kyu-grade students, but it doesn’t hurt to get introduced. Kris-fukushou suggested the D/C-shaped movement that is also mentioned by Salmon-sensei in the linked article. And as Salmon-sensei points out, most of us were having lots of issues with both the movements and the timing. In my case I feel way too slow and I have it in my mind suriage men is a two-stage movement, while it should be more of a single arc where you deflect and strike from the deflect position.

Class was closed with all student in bogu acting as motodachi in uchikomi geiko, which the other students had to run twice. That meant a total of fourteen rounds of five strikes for everyone. A great way to close this last class of the year!

Sorry, er is helaas nog geen Nederlandse vertaling van dit bericht. Excuses voor het ongemak!

Past sunday’s CTCT van afgelopen zondag

This post is about last sunday’s central training, and more specifically about the exam and preparations that were made for the exam (see this post for extra details on kata).

Because of last sunday’s exam, virtually all the classes right after the national championships up until the central training consisted of a lot of specific exam training. Some classes were entirely devoted to kata while others also had light kihon and jigeiko.

The general set up of a class was half an hour kata, followed by half an hour of very basic kihon (men, kote – men, dou, debana kote or men. Both quick and large) with finally half an hour of jigeiko. And as most kendoka were preparing for their first exam the kata mostly focused on were the first three.

As the time between the national championships and the central training was relatively short, Bert Heeren-sensei told us to focus on a single kata each week. Continuing onto the next every subsequent week. At the end of the 3 weeks a beginner of kata would then have sufficiently mastered the required first couple of kata for the exam.

However, even though everybody participated in kata training for the exam, not many of our dojo could participate in the exam because of the exam requirement that a candidate should have attended at least 3 central trainings including the training with the exam itself. But even so, 3 renshinjuka were able to participate in the exam itself, with others attending the non-exam part of the central training.

The central training itself was quite interesting for me, as I had never done an exam before. The setup was as follows:

  1. Warming-up, in which all attendants of the central training participated.
  2. Then the training was split up into 3 groups, beginners, regular attendants and exam candidates.
  3. The exam candidates were also split up into 3 groups (ikkyuu candidates, 1st dan candidates and 2nd and 3rd dan candidates. We all began with light kihon, kirikaeshi, large men and kote, small men and kote, and small kote – men etc. But also some debana waza, and a suriage technique was also practiced.
    Our teacher for the day, Koos van Hattum-sensei, told us that during the exam itself, we should just do what we already know. And that this practice was merely to give us some pointers on what to pay attention to, not so much to learn new things. So the suriage technique for example wasn’t something the ikkyuu candidates (or anyone who doesn’t regularly do this technique) should focus on.
  4. Then we went on to kata practice. This was our chance to ask for some last pointers to improve our kata.
  5. Then after a break the exams themselves started.

Please refer to this post for the following:
The exam itself consists of 3 official parts and a written examination. First a candidate had to show kirikaeshi and do jitsugi (basically a jigeiko specially for exams) twice. Then while waiting for the other candidates to finish their kirikaeshi and jitsugi a candidate would have to do the written part of the exam (called gakka). During this time those who could proceed to the kata part of the exam were announced on papers. So then exam was completed with the final kata part. All in all the entire exam with all the candidates took roughly 2 hours to complete.

In the end Nick Kistemaker from RSJ Almere and myself were able to attain our targeted ranks of shodan and ikkyuu respectively.

Nederlandse versie volgt nog!

Summary of class, 6/11Samenvatting les, 6/11

Class started as usual: running, stretching and suburi.

During seiretsu, Heeren-sensei indicated that we will be using the next few weeks to prepare for the NKR shinsa (25th of november). This means that we will not be focusing on shiai kendo, but on clean and proper kendo. Focal points for the next few weeks are seme, ki-ken-tai ichi, and zanshin. Pay close attention to your posture, to your footwork, to your strikes, so you can demonstrate your ability at its best.

In accordance with our study goals, today’s class focused on kihon practice just like last week. Using the motodachi system we practiced kirikaeshi, oki men, chisai men, oki kote-men, chisai kote-men, oki dou and repetitions of men, kote-men, dou, kote-men-dou. Students were encouraged to display proper kiai and to the timing of their footwork, which should match their strikes.

Heeren-sensei took a little time to demonstrate that oki dou starts out looking like a normal men strike. You start going for men and when your opponent raises his shinai to parry, you bring your shinai to your shoulder (or sometimes higher) and strike dou. As always it is important to:

  • Strike dou on the side and at the proper angle, coming down from the center line at a 45 degree angle.
  • On your strike, your hands are still at the center.
  • While stepping outward to the right, “cut” open the belly while keeping your left hand lower than the right.
  • On passing your opponent, the “cut” is finished by pulling it “through” opponent at which moment the shinai snaps into your center.
  • Show zanshin and then turn to face your opponent once more.

Heeren-sensei indicated that, to practice this dou strike, it is best that motodachi does not open up dou beforehand but that motodachi should only start opening when shidachi moves to strike men. He also suggested that, when paired against someone considerably shorter than yourself, you can slightly lower your posture by sinking down on your legs a bit.

Kihon practice was followed by fifteen minutes of jigeiko and of course kirikaeshi.

After class, Heeren-sensei reiterated that we need to practice proper and good kendo for the examinations. He also informed us that, starting next Saturday, class will include kata geiko which is also needed to prepare for the exams. He advised everybody to prepare by researching the kata they need to know and to watch a few videos. He also asked the kendoka with kata experience to provide guidance to their classmates.Vertaling volgt zsm. Excuses voor de vertraging.

Summary of class 1, 3/11Samenvatting les 1, 3/11

This summary is about the morning practice in Almere.

What with tomorrow’s dutch national championships being right around the corner, obviously we spent some time on practice shiai. Aside from that class followed its usual structure.

Kata practice was very cool, because today we introduced five of our newbies to the first kata. Until now they’d been doing footwork practice and suburi before warming up, while the rest practiced kata. No more! They spent twenty minutes practicing the shidachi (受太刀) side of kata #1, first as a group and then one-on-one with experienced kendoka.

After warming up we spent roughly fifteen minutes footwork practice: okuri ashi. First with normal slides, then with intervals (small-normal-large), then with fumikomi. Eight laps in total. We’ve discussed the most common mistakes:

  • Left overstepping right
  • “Horse stepping” with the right foot
  • The power of fumikomi driving upwards instead of forwards

Seiretsu was followed by kihon practice, where the beginners are again teamed up against motodachi in bogu. Sadly I cannot report on the exercises performed as there was a small, medical emergency to attend to. When the beginners joined the newbies with Ton-sensei, those in bogu (ten or evelen in total) practiced kihon and waza: chisai kote-men, chisai men, ai-men and kaeshi-do, followed by six rounds of ippon shobu jigeiko.

In practicing kaeshi-do Kris-fukushou explained that the do strike actually does not involve a step, but only fumikomi. You receive and parry the attacking strike in place and then strike do while doing fumikomi, standing in the same spot. You then finish your counter by moving forwards and showing zanshin. Of course, “standing in place” does not equal simply standing there and slapping a strike on do! No, you have to show proper attitude and aggression, you have to show intent and zanshin, and your strike should be technically perfect.

The shiai geiko was done with two teams. Every kendoka received some individual pointers from the teachers, to help them in their fights tomorrow. We were also advised to prepare properly for tomorrow: sleep early and well, don’t practice too hard the day before, check all your armor and shinai (repair any splinters etc), make sure you are properly dressed and make a good impression.Dit verslag gaat over de ochtendles in Almere.

Het NK kendo staat voor de deur, dus we hebben vanzelfsprekend aandacht besteed aan shiai. Buiten dat verliep de les als normaal.

De kata oefeningen waren vandaag speciaal omdat we vijf van onze newbies hun eerste kata lieten doen. Tot nu toe hielden zij zich aan het begin van de les bezig met voeten werk en suburi, maar nu niet meer! Ze oefenden de shidachi (受太刀) zijde van kata #1, eerst als groep en daarna één-op-één met ervaren kendoka.

Na de warming up besteedden we een kwartier aan voetenwerk oefeningen: okuri ashi. Eerst met gewone slipstappen, daarna met intervallen (klein-normaal-groot), daarna met fumikomi. In totaal acht rondes rond de zaal. Zoals eerder bespraken we weer de vaak geziene fouten:

  • Links stapt voorbij rechts
  • Hoog opstappen met rechts (“paardenstap”)
  • De kracht van fumikomi duwt opwaarts in plaats van voorwaarts.

Seiretsu werd gevolgd door kihon oefeningen waarbij de beginners weer tegenover motodachi in bogu stonden. Helaas kan ik niet zeggen wat er is geoefend omdat ik bij een klein noodgeval moest helpen. Nadien sloten de beginners zich weer aan bij Ton-sensei en hen in bogu (tien of elf in totaal) deden kihon en wazachisai kote-men, chisai men, ai-men en kaeshi-do, gevolgd door zes rondes ippon shobu jigeiko.

Bij het bespreken van kaeshi-do vertelde Kris-fukushou dat de do slag eigenlijk zonder stap, maar met fumikomi wordt gemaakt. Je ontvangt en parreert de aanvallende slag op de plaats en slaat do met fumikomi terwijl je blijft staan. Daarna maak je het af door voorwaarts te bewegen en zanshin te tonen. Vanzelfsprekend betekent “staand op de plaats” niet dat je als een zoutzak staat te wachten en dan maar eventjes do mept. Nee, je moet de juiste instelling en agressie tonen, je moet intentie en zanshin tonen en je slag moet technisch perfect zijn.

De shiai geiko werd in twee teams uitgevoerd. Elke kendoka kreeg persoonlijke tips en verbeterpunten mee van de leraren. We werden allemaal geadviseerd om goed voorbereid naar een toernooi te trekken. Train niet te hard de dag van tevoren, ga op tijd slapen, controleer je volledige bogu en je shinai (repareer ze goed), zorg dat je netjes voor de dag komt en maak een goede indruk.