Back in bogu, a great class!

2012-09-12 08:16:00

Last night was my return to the Amstelveen dojo, after missing this season's first class due to standby duties. It really was an awesome class!

After putting myself back into the beginners' group in June, I'd been putting off getting back into bogu. Kendo class in Amstelveen is hard work and after my experiences from last season I was fearing another collapse. So instead I just dawdled in the beginners' section. I actually DID want to get back to real fighting though! So I weaseled around my anxieties!! Knowing beforehand that he would approve, I asked Roelof-sensei if he'd allow me back into bogu. It was also a great help that Mischa-sempai indicated that he thought I was being scared of bogu and that I should get back in :) So I did.

At the beginning of the season, Heeren-sensei informed all Renshinjuku kendoka that he would be demanding a higher level of performance from everyone. This would include an emphasis on proper etiquette, on perseverance and on attendance. It would also involve a more traditional training method which, let me tell you, was very helpful to me last night!

In the previous season, we would line up all kendoka against eachother, making a big line of duos. After each practice we'd all move up one slot, thus facing another partner. What this does is ensure diversity, but it's also pretty harsh: there are zero breathers and you also often pit beginner-against-beginner. The more traditional approach that we used yesterday is the motodachi system: seven of our higher dan-graded members and teachers line up and everyone is divided into small groups being pitted against them. This ensures that everyone only fights high level teachers, that people get the chance for a short breather and that you get plenty of mitori geiko (learning by watching). Without this system I would've dropped 'dead' halfway through class, instead of nearly making it to the end :) Hence I made sure to let Heeren-sensei know that I really enjoyed this schedule.

Practice, and some of the pointers I received, were:

• Reiho. In seiretsu, Heeren-sensei chastised us for not having the right order in the lineup. In my stubbornness to place myself left as far as possible, I'd made a faux pas: while I may be mudansha, I am still older than Nienke and Zicarlo and should thus be more to the right. Also, within the same ranking, Heeren-sensei wants visitors to take the right-most place.
• Oki-men. Initially my timing was off, but that came back soon. Ran-sempai noticed that I wasn't pushing off with my left foot, instead letting the right foot do some work. That's utterly wrong! So for the rest of class I made sure to really kick with the left foot, launching myself forward on a strike. Miyahara-sensei also asked me to properly stretch both arms on a strike. Heeren-sensei told me to keep my right arm higher on the strike: I should basically be punching my opponent in the eyes when passing.
• Kirikaeshi. On my first go, Kiwa-sempai stopped me as I was being fast&sloppy. On each strike, stop for an instant and check that it was a good strike. Heeren-sensei also reminded the group to move right forward on the upswing and to properly close with left on the strike. 
• Kote-men. Heeren-sensei impressed upon us that he wants to hear two distinct fumikomi and that he wants it at kirikaeshi speed.
• Kiai. Hearing my kakegoe (pre-attack kiai) Heeren-sensei took some time to point out to the group what you should and should not do. So far I'd been using a growl similar to what Martijn-sempai uses. Heeren-sensei impressed upon us that this impresses nobody: you're clearing your throat, you're uhm-ing, you're thinking... You're NOT being scary! Give a loud kakagoe that goes "over" your opponent and will hopefully have him reeling! In that regard Bobby's cries are perfect! Loud, short and full of energy. I've now adopted a yell, similar to Bobby's.
• Uchikomi keiko. Nothing much to say, except that Heeren-sensei thought we were all being way too slow. You should immediately jump on an attack once an opening is made.
• Jigeiko. Heeren-sensei saw that, when looking for an opening, I shuffle back and forth. He indicates that, sure, I can move about but I need to make all movement snappy. Always immediately close in with the trailing foot, else I lose all speed and mobility. Roelof-sensei saw that I first raise my shinai when going for hiki-men and that my tsubazeriai has my shinai at a huge angle to the right. Instead, I should always keep my shinai straight up (block the center!) and for hiki-men I only need to let it slide down, to whack a speedy hayai-men. After fighting Zicarlo-sempai he complimented me on my kamae (first time for everything!): apparently I was closed pretty well and he needed to work to make an opening. In my third bout, against Bert-sempai, I was almost run dry on energy. He pulled me through keiko though, encouraging me to go for openings he made. He also pulled me through the post-keiko oki-men practice.

Ten minutes before the end of class, after my last round of kihon with Bert-sempai, I caved. I wasn't breathing properly anymore and knew that if I pushed on I'd collapse. I asked permission from Heeren-sensei to bow out, which he gave. While the rest of class finished their kirikaeshi, I did breathing exercises to both regain my breath and to prevent a panic attack. Everything turned out well and I was feeling good again after dressing.

What a great class! I'm looking forward to Saturday and next Tuesday!

kilala.nl tags: kendo, sports,

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