Carpark

Now with all the university projects done I finally have more time to think and plan about training. I have missed 2 weeks of no practice, until --

For the last couple of days I have been swinging weapons around the corner of my block. It's a carpark next to a main road, only that it's 3 meters higher than the road outside due to the slope... anyway, no one really saw me there, so it's pretty safe.

Finally I have the chance to wield my naginata again (after a few months break!! -- I haven't touched it since I moved). With my MP3 player on my hip I can do at least 20 mins of suburi a day, straight after coming home from a 1.5-hr long train journey from Brighton.

Maybe I should do a week of Kendo Marathon starting on Sunday. There is British Open coming up next Sat (and Iaido Taikai this Sat..) and I feel super bad not touching my shinai for so long. Despite I have done 20 mins suburi with the bokuto...

Ganbatte!!

[edit]
...In the 2003 summer I did a lot of suburi-in-the-park at around 9am every morning. Hey I was just waiting for the new academic term to start. Really, this sort of activities are only for people with nothing better to do!! Even in Brighton where there isn't a dojo for me to train in, I still did suburi at the side of my dorm building (there is a balcony kind of thing at the ground level over looking the valley... anyway, no one saw me).

Usually the sequence is like:
Joge-suburi x200
shomen-suburi x200
sayu-men-suburi x200
left hand only: shomen-suburi x100
haya-suburi x100
kirikaeshi x10

Yeah I have a lot of time...
I take breaks, like drinking water, or just stretch my muscles. At that hour only dog walkers or kids will be in the park. Sometimes they come close to ask stupid questions, but most of the time I can ignore them -- because I don't want to be interrupted..

Sometimes in between these sets, if I bring my naginata, I would have fit in something with a naginata. Say, 40 Men-ate, or 40 furikaeshi, etc. It helps using the hips A LOT MORE.

The downside is that I need to wear shoes on the grass, can't stamp on the ground and there is no kiai. But that'll save me a lot of energy as well :D

Sad thing is, I don't have that amount of time anymore. Yesterday I last 20 mins - must have been about 400 suburi only. Maybe I should build it up against to the same level I used to have. Or am I just getting old?