Review

Nope, I didn't go to the Sunday Squad today. Reason: having a fever and too heavy rain. Stayed home all day.

Below is the review schedule for the past 2 months. Had only been in the dojo 16 times out of 2 months, fitting only 1-2 times of kendo a week... Obviously not as bright as I should have been, due to various matters in life. I really need to sort myself out.

Back in there

Thursday afternoon I went to an interview for an overqualifying (not to mention, underpaying) job. It came like a joke to myself, but in the end I felt I did something meaningful. At least I found out I shouldn't be going to ANY place for a design job... Anyway, I went to kendo at my dojo in the evening.

I came in late and as was Eda-sensei. The first things she said in the changing room was about her upcoming weekend business trip to LONDON next month (!)... So I spent sometime explaining where she should go to. Unfortunately that's the same week as the Sumi-sensei's seminar (a.k.a. SSS), so she will miss out the high-grades. Oh well never mind...

When we got into the dojo, people were doing the 3-step men-ute (up, cut, back) exercise with Tanaka-sensei. After that we had a few rounds of kirikaeshi, katate-men, and "kirikaeshi + katate-men + do-kirikaeshi + kirikaeshi" kind of uchikomi without men ... ending with 20+20 hayasuburi. It really feels like nothing (apart from the heat) when Eda-sensei called for a 3-min break.

Putting on our Men on we were then asked to do "one side attack, the other side keep blocking" kind of thing. I thought it was kakari-keiko, but my performance was completely awful (like, messy distance, accuracy and ki-ken-tai-icchi). It has been aaaaages since I did (or see) kakari-keiko so maybe that's one of the problem. Also I got to blame part of my motodachi not really doing their job... uhm

Then Eda-sensei said something like, go for an Ippon. Everything you do should be an Ippon. If you get an Ippon, you don't need the rest, so just finish there.

So for the next 2 rounds I had (against Lo and Amy) I just finished mine with my tokui tobikomi-kote waza.

...That's a bit too boring so I thought I should change to something else. So the other 2 rounds I did Nuki-do and kote-do... Which worked equally well, as I just stood there and wait for the other pairs to finish...

That's not too enjoyable to be honest. Besides popping Ippon straight away on Shodachi, I did't really get enough kakari-keiko...

Over to some Ai-men rounds, I felt I was having some improvement too, after those Shuttle Run rounds the day before. One problem I had with Amy was that, she is faster - but she turned right after the cut without running through (like when people go for hiki-waza...)... Though I wasn't too sure if I am correct, I did tell her to go further.

That come 5 rounds of mawari-keiko. Were all good. Osae-men worked brilliantly.

After that I queued for Tanaka-sensei. It felt like I haven't had him for an enitre month (it probably is!!). He's an Ai-men-maniac, but recently I managed to land my men on him too (previously my shinai didn't even touch his men)... And I actually had him TWICE on kote-men - only that he touched his head in a swiping motion afterwards... My men cuts at kote-men is definitely not solid enough!! Uhmm, I need to work on my grip after the kote cut (quote T-sensei).

It was finally raining today so I can't go for a run. (Also I have a bit of sore throat...symtoms of having a flu... not again, please!) I stayed home and watch some kendo DVDs - actually these are the videos from Last month's UK competition. Only half-way through at the moment but some of the things are quite exciting. It's nice to see the familiar faces in the UK in action again.

:)

Squad #17

Struggling to drag my bogu out at 7.45pm last night, I went to the squad after a week's break. I sent out some letters and told myself, "Yosh! Time to show up!"

On the way I was thinking what excuse I should make for my absence last Sunday... But upon arrival chatting with Chu and Ng (fellow training kohai at the squad) - I found out that no one actually went!! One word, "Lazy". Agnes our captain complained about the low atendance for the men's team - having only one of them last Sunday, as comparing to the 5 at the Ladies' team (but I wasn't there either...).

We were expecting that 250 suburi with 2 shinai and 200 non-stop hayasuburi last night. But maybe because Kishikawa-sensei wasn't the one counting, we all managed to cheat...!!! We did this round in pairs, and I had Agnes facing me, but she shouted "last 20" when it was at 150, and we finished the earliest at 170! I heard last Sunday when K-sensei did the counting, it was like, "...70...80...80...80..."!!

No more cramping this time, apart from the tiredness and heavy breathing, we moved onto waza-keiko with men on. I got Agnes as partner again. Ladies are usually at the far end of the dojo, making me standing right next to K-sensei, and I can't slack off any second...

We did a few rounds of Ai-men from To-maai (from the walls and run into the centre, cutting Ai-men). I began to translate the movement of turn-around into the shuttle-run I did in the previous week. It is *definitely* the case of how sharp I can turn 180-degree - how stable I was, and ready to run to the centre again. I did cut Agnes quite a number of times really spot-on.

After that it was the usual pattern of men/de-kote, kote/de-kote-men (and then moved from issoku-itto to to-ma, etc.) I was still having this problem of not going forward after kote-men, but overall I think I saw more opportunity and was able to cut at the same time, which is a good improvement (and not feel like passing out).

The happiest moment on Earth came with "Yame" being called at 9.45pm!! Then went the unexpected shiai-keiko (ippon shobu). The guys had a few matches, and also I had 2, one against Agnes and the other against Eda-sensei (only 3 of us at the Ladies side this night...) Both fight last quite long (at least 3 mins... I think). I SCORED at debana-men against Agnes's kote, but lost to Eda's hiki-kote. It has been 2 months since I find myself in shiai, and I was quite happy about my performance even after the warm-up suburi at the beginning of the practice.

Afterwards K-sensei said something about how we had improved by attenting the squad over the days. Training pays off. I am not sure tho, especially I lost count of how many times I missed in this few months...

As usual the ending 30mins was for jikeiko. Agnes grabbed me for a long, good one. Sometimes it did feel like we were still at waza-keiko (as we had been partners earlier)... Her advice was that I was cutting from too far (again!?)... I was too used to the ai-men maai, and expecting my opponent moving in while I am cutting (hmm excuses...)

After that I queued for Yu-sensei, who was in a not-too-sharp Jodan fighting Angus... Then Yamada-sensei jumped my queue(!)... It was already the last keiko when I got my chance. Applying the "Get the man while he is down" strategy, I bloody got my Shodachi (tobikomi-men!!! on someone that tall!!!!) Obviously when a sensei is tired, I got my share of uchikomi kinda cut. Comment was that I was still using my right hand to cut (!) - but the men-uchi were quite nice. Ha..

*************
Walked out of the stadium with K-sensei and Yip (a senpai who probably has the highest attendance in the squad). I was about to escape from him (I thought he wanted to scold me..) but ended up having a nice chat about the shiai.

K-sensei: "So what do you think about your shiai today?"
Mingshi: "Err... I wasn't quite sure about the Ippon I made. Agnes hits my kote but it didn't pop on the futon. I cut her men-gane but her head is a bit up... So when I hit the Men I didn't really go through. I don't know why it got scored."
K: "You shouldn't worry about your Ippon. Every cut should be made with full intention. It is shinpan's job to judge whether that is an Ippon or not. You are the player - your job is to play your game!!"
M: ".... hai..."
K: "You made some good attempts before that Ippon. Do you remember that?"
M: "...Yeah. I think my fumikomi was really strong at those, and also the opportunity is good. But the shinai kinda slided off..."
K: "You still practice at Eda's dojo?"
M: "Yeah. Thursdays.."
K: "You should do a lot of kihon. Work on the Men and kote. Get more explosion, and stronger cuts."
M: "Hai."

********************

Today's Shuttle Run records (now with the Mizuno trainers. Mizuno is the official sponsor of the Japanese Volleyball Ladies Team. :D)

10x 10-metres:
Trial #1: 28.52
Trial #2: 28.62
Trial #3: 28.55
Trial #4: 28.33
Trial #5: 28.77

[Note: Police Inspector Standard - Women: 29sec/ Men: 26s; Police Constable - Women: 28.1s/ Men: 24.8s]

So I am still half a second beind... although that's a good improvement.

I did keep in mind about the turning (which helps my ai-men). Also I am getting more used to when to accelerate (explosion) and deccelerate (touching the 10-metre line and turning 180-degree).

Why is it every time I thought I am at the edge of the "quit kendo" abyss, the next keiko was so much more enjoyable...??????

I Wanna Run Away...

After packing up nicely my bogu bag last night, this morning I woke up at 6am, 7am and 8.30am (probably due to some stages of insomina)... I washed my face, came back to my room and decided not going to the squad today. For a simple reason: I don't want to go.

The moment I walked out from my bed I can feel the muscle pain from my left leg. It's still hurting, and only this afternoon I can walk with a less limping movement. If that's what kendo is doing to me, without the feeling of improvement or success, why is it my responsibility to do the suffering? More importantly, the tiring feeling is very discouraging for my normal life. Say, I can't even walk properly for days, and constantly feeling tired without doing much work.

So I am considering dropping out of the squad. In fact I have been doing that for the last couple of Sundays. I used to think that I'll enjoy the challenge - but when the training is turning to be a chore, drag and torture to my normal life, I can't enjoy any minute of it.

Two more weeks and there will be some visitors from Hokkaido - including Eiga Naoki's Sensei, Furukawa sensei. Maybe I'll just go and watch, take a few snaps... and practice with the high-school students...

I seem to have lost my passion - but where is it?

BTW Today I have been back from London for exactly half a year...

**********

The b-day "funding" I got from my grandma was used to buy a decent pair of Mizuno trainers and a pair of Reebok sport shorts. Here's what I made out of 800-metre run this evening:-

1st trial= 3'25"03
2nd trial= 3'36" 83

!!!

I can't believe the equipments had made such a difference...! Even though I admit I went too fast at the starting 100m on the first trial (the shoes are too good and hard to control...) Still, that's more than 30 seconds faster than my previous records...!!!

3'25" is the standard for Men's fitness test for Police Inspector, and I am starting to touch it. Since there are 7 testing subjects (Vertical-jump, Pull-up, Shuttle-run (10x10M), Sit-up, Burpee, Threading, 800m Run) on the same day, I'd have to make sure I can last every single one of them... Even though the minimal standard for some of the subjects are pretty easy. (like sit-up 12 times in 30 sec, WTH?!)

Not Today... Or Now...

I am not talking about I skipped kendo tonight for a birthday dinner (mine!)...

Just that the first thing I know after stepping into my flat - London is exploding here and there!!!

8 hours before walking into the Police HQ - there's always incidents that aid my insomnia.

Is this what is called as "life as an 23-year-old adult"???
_____________

[edit]

With the noise from the overnight thunderstorm, I managed about 3 hours of sleep, and arrived the Police HQ at 8.00am.

I filled out another form which allows me to apply for Police Constable if in case I failed the Inspector application. And then in the "Other Skills" section, I ticked the boxes for "Fluent Mandarin" and "Computer Skills", while adding "Kendo 2nd Dan" to the provided blank space.

All went smoothly when the recruitment officer checked my online application form - until when he asked for my academic records...

Officer Soo: "We will need the original transcript from your university."
Mingshi: "... These are all I got from them." (showing off my undergrad and postgrad certs)
Soo: "You need to get the transcript from your UK uni. I'll give you 6 weeks. Just pop in and tell the officer on duty that you've filled in the forms but just have to show the transcripts."
Mingshi: "Okay.."
Soo: "You can leave now."

Maybe I shouldn't have worried about the eyesight test too much, because... I didn't even managed to get into the rooms....!!!! When people say no employer will ask for university records, they obviously lied!!!

I'll have to make IDD calls now. God knows how fast the British works... Argh...

Shuttle Run

In preparation for the physical test for Police Inspector, today's training was "Shuttle Run" - 10 times 10-meter run (forward then turn around and run forward again). I actually brought along a roll of measuring tape to get an exact 10-metre running track...

Here's my records:-
trial #1= 29.96 sec
trial #2= 29.39 s
trial #3= 29.33 s
trial #4= 28.89 s
trial #5= 29.05 s

The standard is to make it under 29 seconds for female (for guys its under 26 sec) - so I only merely made it ONCE!! Aarrrh!!

It definitely shows my weakness in turning my hips - which was pointed out by Eda-sensei yesterday when I was trying to do hiki-waza after missing kote-men... While one can say kendo is not a sport or whatever, many of the principles about body movements are the same. It explains why I suck at a lot of things in kendo, like endurance (in 200 hayasuburi or 800m run), explosion (in ai-men from to-maai or 10x10m shuttle run), etc. etc.

I am going to break my pair of Converse in any minute, so I'll hunt for a pair of nice trainers tomorrow!!

Today: Squad #16 Mingshi's Series of Unfortunate Events

Email I got after lunch:-
---------------------
We have received your application for the post of Police Inspector.

Please attend our Recruitment Reception Office between 08:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on 2005-07-22, for measurement of height, weight and eyesight test. Please bring along the following documents for verification:

(a) Hong Kong Identity Card; and
(b) Original official documentary proof of academic qualifications.

[blah blah blah]
---------------------

Probably the first disappointment I'll get at 23 years old.

...And its' very very hard to practice the eyesight test using one eye at a time (yes I have been doing some homework obviously - and that's not really helping!!!!)

But then I'll go to the squad today...
---------------------

Mingshi's Series of Unfortunate Events:-

1) Got out late. Missed the bus and stood at the bus stop for aaaaaaages , sweating like hell.

2) At the changing room, Agnes the Captain asked about "haven't seen you for a lot of Sundays.."

3) Start off with 50 oki-suburi + 50 naname-buri + 50 swing-like-kaeshi-do + 50 swing-like-suriage-men + 50 swing-like-kote-kaeshi-kote... These are pretty okay, even with 2 shinai in hand....

4) 200 hayasuburi (downward cut to the floor) - done in one go. "If any of you stop or mess up - we'll all do it all over again!" Ah man... There MUST BE something to do with my lack of exercise lately (kendo or not), as I felt out of breath at 100, and struggle to keep up after 120... Kishigawa-sensei was using a shinai weight thingy (what's the name of it..?) and he stopped at 150.... At this last 50 I was really going to just stop or drop dead, but subconsciously I was thinking that if I cannot finish this while everyone (even kohai!) was at it - how the hell can I manage the Police?

So I just kept going (paused twice to re-adjust my ki-ken-tai-icchi) and counting with the rest of the team, even tho I am swinging twice as slow as some of them did - I kept my feet moving a bit as well. K-sensei's warning about "doing it all over again" obviously has some effect...

5) My left leg cramped a little when we fetched for our men... Also at sonkyu I thought I was going to pass out (it flashes a few times of darkness...uhmm)... But I managed to stand back up. With Jay, probably the most encouraging senpai around, I told myself to last the class as much as I can.

6) Got told to JUMP and GO FORWARD at ai-men from toi-maai, because K-sensei watched me slacking off after cut... Argh... But at men/de-kote I actually scored a few in which he said "nice men" (note: this is not the usual men-de-kote, but both side should have the intention to get Ippon, meaning I am fighting for my Men-uchi as motodachi)

7) After rounds of the "usual" de-kote-men and "make ippon"-waza keiko, with 45 mins left we moved to Ai-men x10 and then the uchikomi (M-hiki-M, M-hiki-K, M-hiki-D, M-kirikaeshi, M-D-kirikaeshi, M-MMDD-MMDDMM, M)

8) When Yame was said and it's jikeiko time, I had to go out and wash my face... tape my foot and hand. Having a nice blister in my palm (due to excessive suburi with 2 shinai - I can't grip 2!!) made me feel like a beginner.

9) Only keiko-ed with Eda-sensei. Got a BRILLIANT tobikomi-men.... But I was told to watch the opportunity of hiki-waza, especially when I missed a men, I should turn sharply and follow with a stronger cut...

10) Lost my new-38 reserved for shiai purposes and suburi.....!! And I came back with a 39 with one shaft broken..!

11) Coming home at 12.15am and finish my "dinner" at 1am... O_O

Explosion

So I went today - which is a Saturday. I am skipping the squad for the 3rd week running... To attend B-day lunch / family gathering for my Grandma. (nice excuse)

We had an "above average" amount of kirikaeshi recently... Like today after doing it against empty air, we put our men on and went through the entire rotation (about 16 people today..!!)...

And then Eda-sensei called for the gender grouping again. So I was stuck with the girls (8 of us today). Not a big problem as after the hard rounds we had really slow kihon with Tanaka-sensei. But I wasn't sure about that other girl who kept dropping out from our round after every few cuts (like, it was just shomen or kote x2...??!?!)

Apart from the (ir)regulars there was this girl whom I haven't seen before - Tam. Actually her kendo is really straight, and better than some of those who came regularly. I hope she carries on despite the busy work hours...

Usually I choose the new faces to practice with at jikeiko time. So I went into a really good fight with Tam. I was quite happy with a lot of the cuts I made (because I got most of what I intented to do). Also I was in a teaching mode suddenly - and have the confidence to commend in Cantonese. She seems to be the type who listens, and thats probably why I bother.

After Tam I had Amy which is also quite a nice fight. Recently I was working on my explosive-ness for my Men. So my kendo has really minimal waza. But it was a good feeling to take someone down with just toikomi-men passing straight through (and not falling over), for more than a couple of times. Yeah of couse my kote snaps, but it's a boring thing to mention (and do).

Oda-san who was watching from the side (because he is having an operation later next week...) came up to me after keiko. He said a couple of my men on Tam was really good. I just say my concentrated training on just straight men is working. Actually I am not sure if it is me who just keep on improving my men during kihon and jikeiko worked, or what Kishigawa-sensei told me about koshi and stuff... Was it from my 750 rope-jumping sessions, or that twice killer 800-metre I ran last Weds made my lower body stronger? (right now the muscles on my SHINS still hurt - why did I run with a pair of Converse??)

Maybe it's the combination of everything. I don't know.

Lost & Found

Yesterday I went for a run before going out... That was around my neighbourhood - I want to know how fast I can go for 800 metres.

First try - 4 mins 5.96 sec
Second Try - 4 mins 6.12 sec

It was really really tough at the last 100 metres... (think about kakari keiko...) I had trouble walking properly with the muscle pain coming up within an hour... And it bloody hurts today.

The standard for Police Inspector is 4 mins 12 sec for women, 3 mins 25 sec for men. What a big gap... But it is nice to have some sort of goal in mind - despite my defected eye sight...

[edit] The standard for Custom Officer/ Inspector is 3 mins 45 sec, for both male and female... Gee thats getting tougher than I thought...

****************
That was before going out for a farewell dinner + partying. I bought the latest issue of Kendo Nippon at Mitsukoshi, and spotted the photo I took for Eda-sensei.

Supposedly I should comment more but at 6am I found out I forgot about my bag at a bar.........!!! Apart from the mag, I had my design notebook and a Muji pen in the bag too...!!!

Scheissen---!!! Too much vodka in my vein is no good :'(

****************
Found the bag. Phew... Gimme some sleep time first before tonight's keiko and I came up with a scan.

****************
Here we go:-


This is the same gym for my dojo and also the squad training.

*****************
Alright. Today's keiko was... pretty much normal. After 30 mins of warm-up stuff, we were having 45 mins of (in rotation) kirikaeshi, men-uchi, kote-men, kote-nuki-men, men-taiatari-hiki waza... That's really training through repetition. I won't say it's "boring" because A) I was with this massive hangover and B) it let me focus on very specific points I need to keep re-working on.

God... Let me sleep, please..!!

Yet Another Sorry Excuse...

What happened last week in London did give me some kind of drive - sending out more letters. I didn't feel like going last Sunday - but I thought, for up to 1 hour ago, that I should go today.

It was quite an exciting experience sending out the electronic application form for the post of Police Inspector yesterday, something I wanted to do for quite "a while" but only yesterday I really "clicked". Today I was busy digging out my graduation certficates and have to post them separately (because I had overseas qualifications need to be proven).

But then within last hour (I should leave home now for tonight's squad if I am going...) that I found out about something... I was reading this local online forum about work and career, and one of the threads being Applying for the Police. Seems to me that the first letter people got will be a weight/height check-up at the Police HQ PLUS eye sight check.

Although glasses is allowed, during the test they have to be removed... The requirement is to read 5 out of 10 alphabets (4.4 cm^2) at about 1-metre distance. I am not sure what font it is - but people are saying that they have difficulties at -3.5 or below.

Yesterday I went to get a new pair of glasses (mainly for this purpose - obviously unnecessary now) and I am getting worse by L -0.25/ R -0.5

So my current readings are L -6.00/ R -6.50....!!!

I printed the forementioned eye test at home and I can't tell the difference between a C and an O standing 1/2 metre away... (to read every thing sharp and clear it has to be at kissing distance)

Argh. What am I doing...?

Intent

The first thing Eda-sensei said to me last night when I was gearing up in the changing room was: "You know about the bombings in London right?"

Yeah. Bad news 20 minutes before going off to keiko. I watched London through BBC live. On the bus I just think that things are so not real in this part of the world. Life still goes on. People going home after a day of work. In a small city (comparatively) much independent from a big nation, people seem to care much less about the world. Ordinary lives we had here.

In fact I was rather focused for Thursday's usual kihon keiko. Warm-ups, rounds of katate-men across the dojo, and then in armour went kirikaeshi. However I did not particularly like the recent arrangement for girls vs girls and men vs men... It's like we were going in rotation with half of the class only. I have been with the guys for my first 3.5 years in kendo - why the sudden change?

Though I must admit the level present yesterday was only average, especially at the girl's end (6 of us) I am really going slower than normal. Got adviced about my kiai again - E-sensei said it was not strong enough... Uhmmm And I notice I kept locking my elbows after the shomen-uchi in kirikaeshi.

The last 30 mins of the day was for jikeiko. When Tanaka-sensei fought against Wong-san (the bully 6 Dan...) I dragged Cheung, a kohai from the men's side, for a 5-min keiko. Not that I am complaining, but when I practice with the girls in my dojo, after a few cuts it always turns into "going slower and no waza", that or it becomes a teaching-learning situation. Contrary with the guys it's really getting me into shiai mode after a minute or so in the game - no matter which level is he at.

I can only FIGHT the girls at around or above my level. If there is no challenge, I can't enjoy my keiko much.

After Cheung I had Wong-san. In previous week I get to know how I should deal with him finally - just act as if my kamae is good and reduce unnecessary cuts. So at the end I got quite a number of pops on him. I also noticed that if the first thing I move is my right foot, I can feel my explosion coming from my back more, and as a result my cut are much faster and stronger.

Wong-san likes finishing jikeiko with around 10 ai-men and a set of kirikaeshi. Exhausted is one thing, but keeping stable and balanced is another. If I turn back super-sharp, I can take a split more second to adjust my balance and go again. So even though Wong-san is much taller, my ai-men ain't that bad.

Last short keiko was with Mrs. Tanaka. We fought for Ippon straight away but for minutes it was hikiwake... Towards the end it went back into the Men-uchi into brick wall thing again (hoooow can she stand so solid?!). My problem is that I need to keep my chin in AFTER cutting too (before my head went up BEFORE I cut - which gets corrected now).

After class I shoved my gears in my bag and rushed home for more news from London. Eda-sensei walked pass and told me my men-uchi are going much sharper now. "I didn't watch but I heard at the side. Your footwork, shinai and kiai are coming together quite well at jikeiko." For most of the time today I was telling myself using more of my elbow elbow elbow. If I want to, I can improve much more. All I need is to have no worries about other things...

But the disappointing news over this end which I got today is - I only managed the "possibility" of getting freelance work in the next season. Though I am not sure how positive this possibility is.

Well sometimes even if I spent a lot of time, patient and effort into a certain thing I don't get anything in the end. But it's the 10th time already, so that must say something about me.

Life is so full of insecurity. I just started mailing out more letters today - to avoid certain people thinking that I am doing absolutely nothing in my room.

Squad #15: heat

After weeks of the rainy season, it's July and we are getting a lot of the Sun... Maybe a little bit too much. Although recently the work-out style warm-ups were dropped, things are not any second easier then before, as the same amount of time is spent doing rounds of katate-hayasuburi. Like today, we got 50 joge-buri (2 shinai), then 150 katate haya-suburi (men/waist/floor height, 50 each) , and a final 50 regular hayasuburi with both hands...

Last week I only attended Thursday's keiko so I am trying to make up the Sunday today. They had monthly-shiai day but I just don't feel like going (I didn't even sign up the week before)...

One of the other entertainment (or should I say torturing method) includes motodachi squatting down initially, with shinai holding horizontally, and when he/she pops up, from issoku-itto-no-maai, attack men... (*think* rubber hammer!!) It's really hard and I only got 4/10 :(

I was pairing up with Agnes (height consideration) for this without-men session lasting 30 mins. But when we finally got our Men on, Kishikawa-sensei said "same pair" so I was stuck with her... The worst thing is, there is an odd-person out so Eda-sensei joined our group too. Generally if you are in a 3-person group, you can relax a little bit more. But with these 2 (one 6Dan, one to-be-5Dan...) things just get to do double because no one wants to rest..!! In return, of course, the quality of training is much higher, and I have to focus more to keep up with them.

Today's kihon and waza keiko was rather "short" (but intense) as they happened to pull up a few more shinsa keiko for some (Yip, Jay, Agnes)...

At jikeiko time I had Yu-sensei first. Not particularly enjoys it - He seems to "not like it" when I block his men cuts and counter, or when he misses kote-uchi and I went nuki-men... Anyway...

A week without squad made me think about a lot of things at the side. I still feel "not-entertained" when Kishikawa practiced with Yamada-sensei... Things went better watching Agnes and Angus against K-sensei though. Somehow all I can think of is to cut kote, or kote-combos. Just at kihon session, K-sensei is still nagging me about the "body stable" thing. So my stategy is to avoid going tobikomi-Men, which is the cause of my unstable-ness.

Yeah, I know. I am only avoiding my problem without dealing with it.

...But gotta think about it. I rarely need to cut men in jikeiko. And my kote-uchi is smashing good today.

In the end I don't know how many times K-sensei hit on me. But I did block an abnormal amount of men-uchi, AND popped 3 Ippon (kote, men, do!)... He'd probably wasn't 80% concentrating though. He's got this piece of injury underneath his left elbow I can spot - so I think he must have a hard time in Japan in the previous week.

K-sensei is not an idiot so by the time we move onto the last Ippon, he's also picking on my kote kote kote too...! Gosh.

**********
I rushed home and on the bus I wonder why I felt that I had a slight improvement today, but in fact I have been slacking off for weeks (only trained 1-2 times a week, etc.) I still go for rope-jumping (now increase to 750+ in a single session), but its also about twice a week...

Been to *that* interview already last week. Will follow up later this week... (since I haven't heard from them since - I am not feeling too positive about it)

Squad #14: Zzz...

This morning I started with Iaido again at -- 8.30am!!! I didn't sleep well and woke up so early that I actually made it to the dojo. It was pretty sunny tho (like, why is it only sunny when I have to do indoor activities...??)

Kishikawa sensei wasn't there, but there is another dude... uhmm or should I say a sempai. I didn't manage to talk to him (typically me) but he does Muso Shinden Ryu - so do I. He looks ok (not spectacular) But I sucked completely as I realized I have forgot most of the MSR stuff... Do'h!! I need a proper sensei or a reference book...!!

**********
I watched the entire 9.30-10.30am session as I am just too sleepy...

**********
Since K-sensei wasn't there (but in Japan.. Grrr) we were exempted from the mental rounds of hayasuburi... But the dojo was quiet with only 10 (4 female...) squad members. I got paired up with Eda-sensei... Who is ultra serious at practice (she is always training; coming here from 8.30 and train in both sessions on sunday; does more round if other people haven't finished, etc.) So I felt rather bad that I wasn't as alert at waza-keiko and messed up a few times as motodachi, and got comment about my kiai not strong enough (it shows..) But I was going ok from the 2nd hour onwards - finally waking up...

In waza keiko we spent quite a lot of time doing "step in -> mune-tsuki, repeat, step in ->men/kote/kote-men" I found the kote-men get messy very easily if I don't focus on the last men, after spending a lot of concentration on the step in and aiming for kote... My men sounds okay if I hit on shinai/tsuba on the omote side first (as another nidan-waza), but I am not sure why I can't grip the shinai strong enough for the men if I hit on the kote first ...

At 11:30 Lai-sensei shouted "yame" and then called for shiai-keiko (???) There are a few Japanese sensei around but they looked rather bored when we do our waza-keiko. And they still looked dull at shimpan... The matches are not brilliant really. 3 people chose not to participate so I ended up fighting the 4th and last fight against Takase-san, who is a kohai... Needless to say I got KM-0 in 15 secs. But those are not really good ippon as she just walked into the spot, and also the shimpan got bored and gave out any pop sound (I really know the last kote-nuki-men I got was without fumikomi...)

I found out my opponent at the previous shiai day, Narita-san, was actually 5Dan. Argh.

Uhmmm so the last 30 mins of jikeiko I managed 3 fights. First I had Kawada-san (6dan), he had a high+off-centered kamae but still hard to get men or kote from him (I am not fast enough)... A few strong pushes after cut reminds me of using more koshi - but then that made my grip less strong and can't really pop anything... Grrr...

Second jikeiko was against Tomioka (Another 6Dan but rather tall and young, and last week he won a brilliant last ippon from K-senseni) was a lot of fun. Of course he slowed down and let me do stuff, but in turn this "equal opportunity" made my keiko more pleasant. Not like getting my Men popped all the time whenever I do anything. Comment was about me doing too much feints or blocking and not really going for a cut.. Even the men cut of my kote-men has a major delay (uhmmm)

Final Keiko was against Lai-sensei. I found him easier today - probably because it's the last keiko and he haven't been resting (I don't think I have improved much!). Maybe that made him blocked less of my men, so at least I hit on his men (previously he just blocked everything...)

So my new tactic to survive in jikeiko is to fight the hardest person closer to the end and after a bit of rest..!!

*********
It suddenly started raining very heavily on the bus on my return journey. I don't have an umbrella (I'll be wet anyway) but I am quite happy that I went today (even though half of the time I was felling asleep).

Gaijin Kendo

At 6pm there is no heavy rain so I grapped my bogu asap and run to the bus stop... And then it started pouring again---!!! When it rains the bus is always packed and it goes a lot slower on the highway... So when I arrived it was 7.30pm. Adding to that there is this weird 60's song concert at the stadium... there was a massive toilet queue of middle-aged women at my changing room... Just... why can't they look somewhere else when I change... God!!

So I missed (oops) the warm-ups and half of the suburi. Oh look, a new foreign guy - Meyer from Basel. And there was Stephen (who KO-ed me on the floor last week) from Germany here too. Day for the German-speaking kendo people!

Rather interesting was that the kihon session was leaded by Tanaka-sensei who speaks Nihongo all the way. I can listen and guess OK but probably the other half of the class have to rely on David the interpretor. Earlier this week I finally bought a Fundamental I: Nihongo book and decided to go from ground zero. It's pretty embarassing that I know my kana since 14 but never really study Nihongo serious enough (can't hold a decent conversation). While in kendo verbal instruction is minimal, it is still go to grasp as much as I can. Now I am even more motivated knowing that both Meyer and Stephen can speak Japanese well enough, as they both have been in Japan for a year or 2.

As the title of this entry is "Gaijin Kendo" - I am not really trying to pick on what is the difference between theirs or the locals. But rather I admire more of foreigner's devotion in learning a completely different culture. Of course they didn't really go to Japan for kendo, but I understand that there are more foreigners willing to go on the full package of studying Japan as in a traditional way. Kendo or other cultural activities is one thing, and also language... Unlike teenagers who can only name you J-pop stars, watch their anime or eat their sushi.

I empathize as I also went abroad for my studies..

*****************
Now going back to kendo... It was kihon, mawari-keiko and then jikeiko. We occationally have this format (yay! no kata today!!) and it's quite interesting that T-sensei asks the group "Daijoubu?" after 7 rounds of keiko. I had Stephen twice. I am cutting much more solid today and didn't even feel off-balance.

Since getting 6th Dan, Eda-sensei has been joining in the jikeiko session more (previously she was at the beginners end). Grrr I had comments about me cutting small (No every single time, pleeeeease) - and when I did bigger ones... They get too big...! Argh...

Against T-sensei it was just.... uhmm how come fighting this old man is such a stressful thing?!? And his men-uchi always sounds soooooo strong. Argh. "____utsu____janai!!" I think I missed a couple of - I don't know... So I get this "Don't hit if you are not ready" look...

Towards the end we have the oddest uchikomi-keiko I had ever had. It was fun tho. One motodachi in the center and the rest of us just queue for our cut *once* and pass thru.... It went on for about 6 times and we got to see what other people are doing. Still I haven't had Mr. Meyer today (he's like... a few years older than me... so not that old). He's Nidan and I think a good match of level for me. Yosh, next time.

Ewwww

This morning I was quite in the mood going for keiko late night tonight... Until mid-way onwards it started pouring. Also the infected areas of skin closer to my right eye and also inside my right ear is not getting better... So in the end I just sit here typing I DIDN'T GO TODAY again.

In recent months I have been on a curse of skin allergies... WTH is going on?!?

Like, I am really going to blame my bogu. It's been raining all the time in these few weeks and I *always* find my men and kote moulded up, even I've cleaned them asap after keiko. I don't sweat much but it seems that the bogu is attracting mosture by itself (grrrr)...

Adding to that. I am still having muscle pain from last Sunday... (sorry excuses, I know)

BTW here are two kendo-related things I worked on recently:

A proposal for the Idaho Kendo Club poster (USA):-


... And another proposal for the HKKA 35th anniversary (souvenir) tenegui:-


*YAWN*
(When I looked up the ceiling just now - there are bits of white mould on the wallpaper... Ewwww....)

Squad #13 It's Your Fault!

9:00am when I walked through the dojo door with my bogu bag, shinai bag AND iaito bag this morning. Woo-hoo I made it!! So I really have to sleep early and wake up a 7:30am for this...!

There were only 3-4 other individuals practicing kata and stuff at that time. Kishikawa-sensei was with his iaito so I asked permission to do iai there - and he said yes.

When I picked out my iaito which I haven't touched for hmmm a few months... I noticed a bit of mould on the bag... and inside I wonder if the sword is rusted... No it wasn't. BUT it's the sageo that's got mould on it (yikes!!). It wasn't simply because of lack of maintance. Because when I do my reiho in seiza, I noticed the folds on my hakama also has mould... grrr

In 1/2 hour I managed some kihon warm-ups and twice through all the seitei + some koryu... I have problems remembering them already. I just did them and thought "hmm is it like this...well... it is!"

Midway through K-sensei asked about my background. I said I did iaido for a year and missed my shodan shinsa. "So that explains a lot of what you are doing in kendo!" Huh?

**************
I skipped the small rounds of kendo kihon at 9.30am to put away my sword. Then I fought 1 keiko against Narita-san (who beat me last week at shiai). I saw him instructing a bit of Agnes so he must be 4Dan+ (!!)... Anyway... my keiko is crap. I do not enjoy it that much. hmmm So I took off my men and watched for the rest of the 30mins. (it is allowed - I am not suppose to go 3 hours straight!!)

Tomioka-san (really young 6Dan travelling from Shenzhen, the neighouring Chinese city just north of HK) has become my new hero. At the last ippon against K-sensei and he won debana-men (soooo fast)!!
**************
14 people in the squad training today at 10.30am. 6 of us girls.

We spent extensive time on suburi and kihon without men...
Oki-suburi with 2 shinai x50
Naname-suburi with 2 shinai x50
With a partner blocking with a shinai held horizontally, katate-hayasuburi x60
Repeat with more snapping on the downward cut
Katate-hayasuburi at kote level x60
Several times of katate-men up and down the dojo
Katate-hayasuburi at men/kote/floor level x60

Urgh. At this point the blister at the pinky of my left hand has ripped...

So now we get into the "normal" kihon routine with full bogu. But I can see my men reeeeeally pops for the first half of the session.

The whole point of this practice is to be more stable. Something K-sensei said struck me a lot,
"When you're hitting not stable, do not complain that your opponent is too strong if you end up on the floor. It's your fault."

Yeah. I know very well.

Towards the end it was a series of ai-men from to-ma against about 5 opponents. And then a couples of ai-kote/kote-men rotating for a further 5 opponents... This is suppose to be jikeiko time (check the clock). Until K-sensei shouted - Mawari-keiko.

Only 3 sensei not rotating (Eda, K, Wong-san) and now I counted 9 keiko in total. I dunno what motivates me to stay for the whole round. But I did - especially after fighting K-sensei at the 4th keiko, after he did spot-on tsuki for the 10th time (I counted 5 landed, 3 blocked, 2 tsuki/kaeshi-men -my last ippon was brilliant!!!) I decided to last until the end.

*********
After class a changing time when people are still chating, I joined in their conversation about broken shinai at today's suburi drills...

K-sensei said I fought like the big guys in the UK. Huh?

"Too strong in the hands. You are fighting with only the hands."

I complained about the last 3 times I fell down was when I cut and my opponent's hands were pushing on my face... The conversation then shifted to body balance. Like, when all my power is in my arms, it would be a lot easier to be pushed. Somehow when I imagine my power in the fumikomi more, I seemed to have moved my balance to the lower body. Or like, when I stand normally, I should focus on my belly button then my spine (argh.... I was told to keep my back straight....)

K-sensei: So Jenny, the main point is, you are a woman.
Me: ... ...What's your point...?
K-sensei: You are a girl and you are less built up then the men. There is no way you can fight them with power.
Me: Mmm
K-sensei: So you should use your feet more. Be more flexible in the hands [then he started to swirl his shiai around..] You can move to the side and use okuri-ashi when a big guy runs into you. Like Spanish bull fights. [demonstrates]
Eda: Next keiko we'd have you waving a tenugui around against the guys.
***********
And I finally had lunch with them. Finally some social moments, really.

Ame / Rain

The thunderstorm on Tues stopped me from going to the Squad. Instead of seeing this as an excuse, I made a rule about going to keiko:-

I would only go to kendo when I really desperately seriously want to train.

That thought came up to me tonight (besides sending off some freelance work the day before) - so I went despite having a slight rain outside. Maybe a bit too desperate that I left my hakama on the sofa at home....!! Luckily Eda-sensei got a spare one in the locker... But I was having this weird look because it's a white hakama...*grin*

The Tanaka's were not there so Eda has to deal with the beginners, 3 primary school kids, and us. We were pretty much left to "just keep going"... There was only 10 people in bogu and I always got a girl when we change partners... Towards the end of the kihon session it was like 9 rounds of uchikomi keiko (Men, Hiki-men/kote/do, Men...) BUT I ENJOYED IT.

There is 30 mins or so of medium-length mawari-keiko (rare in my dojo because mostly its jikeiko and people all queue for Tanaka-sensei, or that the mawari-keiko was 1-2 mins only...)

First one I was against Kwan (who did that Iaido demo last week) the super-muscular kohai... I smacked some debana-kote which is a surprise to be (that my tokui-waza suddenly comes back).

E-sensei gave a pause and said "use your brain and change your kendo if you get paired up with a girl, or someone much taller, etc. Time to use more waza." I amnot sure if this is directed to me (all comments seems to be!!)...

Then there is Stephen a German girl (who has a erhmm funny kanji zekken from Nanzan University at Nagoya). I heard she has a few years of kendo, been to Japan for a year, and haven't practiced for 2 years... But to me she is still physically strong and attack non-stop, going forward all the time - something I lack.

Eda-sensei then separate the 5 girls from the 5 guys (for whatever reason... did some of the girls look terrible... or was it me???!). I got Stephen again. And, at one of those intentional sutemi tobikomi-men attack, she pushed out her arms to my face and I ... fell off 90-degree backwards...

Uhmm that's half a year ago last time I fell down like that... The moment when I think hmm maybe I have improved a bit, someone is there to send me off my feet...

The knot of my men-himo hits the floor this time so it's a shock to the head. I rested for 2 keiko and went in again. Got Jane for a short one. Then when at the last keiko called, I had Angus queuing for me...!

Angus is the tall dude who won the last 1-2Dan indivduals taikai... I watched his shiai before but never seen him in my dojo until today... It was a rather exciting keiko I reckon, as I got to see his tokui-waza (tobikomi-men, and various hiki-waza). Lots of action with both sides getting something. Like, I actually cut a few times his men. It just feels like a good shiai. AND I ENJOY IT. Somehow I think having only 6-7Dan as aite is going to be very frustrating (even they said they have reduced their level to half a grade above you!)... I need to really FIGHT to make me feel happier.

The last 15 mins was a chill-out kata session doing yonhonme (in rotation, so you get a new partner every 2 times).

It wasn't raining when I got out of the gym. It's raining now at Friday passed mid-night, and I am glad that I did my kendo a few hours ago.

***********
I spend some time ranting on various things as an update for my training background...

Spot the Difference

Background Info: Hong Kong Version

What am I doing???

I thought I was going back to normal last night but then this morning got completely delayed, and without picking up my Iaito I waited 20 mins for a bus - was reading this "Issues in Sports" book, so time was not 100% wasted.

*************
Kendo never comes easy. Eda-sensei pulled out her camera when I tried to put on my Men, saying that a kendo magazine would like some of her keiko photos... Whoa. Something worth waiting for at Mitsukoshi's bookstore (...and the photos I took are going to be printed finally?!)

*************
Now I think back on the 2 keiko I had in the morning with Mrs Tanaka (who is 5 dan and older than my mom probably), and Tezuka (wearing a JAL zekken, around 3-4dan and speaks good English)... When I walked in I was not sure what I should focus on today, so I was simply repeating the bad habits I had. Say,

Mrs Tanaka - "Ago xxxxx de!", or "Tuck your chin in!"
Tezuka - "Your distance is too far" "Try hit 2, 3 times instead on just one"

It is frustrating, not only that I am making those mistakes again (i.e. no improvement), but also that I know very well that it's ME who made myself disappointing, because I haven't worked hard enough.

*************
No squad today as it is the monthly shiai time. But it turns out to be Saneda's sayonara keiko. I have only seen him a few times but he used to belong to London's Mumeishi Dojo... Anyway, he's been here a couple of years, and 10+ Japanese came to participate in today's shiai too because of his leave.

So it turns out to be a 7-person team shiai: 2 teams of HK people vs a "All-Japan" team. Because Agnes is the captain and got to pick her team - my team has 6 girls + Yip who fought senpo. I haven't fought a team shiai since Jan - and this is the first time I fought in a team as a squad member. No matter how informal it is, today certainly fills some new experience of me in HK.

I fought 5th vs Narita-san. I heard he's 4dan and picks people at tsuba-zeriai... Argh.

The scoreboard was already 1:3 before my turn. Gotta think about it, I should save the time planning shodachi, and try to work on my left foot, etc. bad habits instead...

Yeah, Narita-san was much faster and sharper, and can hit with full intend - something I know now that I lack, when fighting against anyone. The shodanchi comes in like ai-uchi (kote), we crashed, and because we can both hit hiki-waza, the next couple of cuts when like kakari-keiko. A very, very long one in machine-gun style.

I notice how I can catch up with the pace but never really cut into one. Like, my right fist starts pushing, or my left grip is not turned in enough.

The next thing I remember was going down on sonkyo. And from the floor I looked at the scoreboard - M D ... I thought I uchiotoshi-ed the last do.... uhmm damn... nevermind.

This is one of the most violent matches I had ever fought in... I have problems holding my chopsticks at dinner tonight...

We lost 1:6 ...and the other HK team won 4:2

For the el finale Saneda-san picked Lim, Derek and Matsuura-san (the dude who got married last week) for some more shiai... Watching so many people fight wasn't too encouraging for me today though. I haven't worked as hard recently as comparing to the others. The skill gap is getting wider and wider now. My kendo really suffers without a real job...

*************
The remaining 30 mins of keiko ended up against Lai-sensei and Mr YW Chan. It was aaaages ago I fought Lai - last time it was too frustrating as he blocked ALL my men in the same style. Today it was not very different. When I failed the first few times, I got discouraged easily, which made me holds back even more. I definitely need more sutemi.

Against Mr YW Chan (whose son is Derek) was a lot easier. He had this no-good Jodan. Nidan waza works wonders on him. I got one hiki-gyaku-do (and ran off 360-degree in a big circle laughing my head off) smashingly clean. Must have been entertaining for the rest of the people watching!

*************
Sigh.. Why it is that every time I think my kendo mood is coming back, I start worrying about work.

Demo

So, 4 sensei and 4 of us went to that faraway secondary school for the demonstration, doing a favour for the Japanese Embassy - taxi was within their travel budget but it took 2 hours getting to that area from the central of HK, a residential area about 15 years old, and I've been there less then 3 times in my life...

On the taxi I got myself an extra job for the first section of the demo - I need to narrate for Kwan who is going to perform 5 iaido seitei kata...! From Kwan I got to know that, besides Kishikawa sensei, there is another Toyama Ryu Iaido group on a Saturday afternoon... It clashes with K-sensei's but K's dojo is closer to where I live... I plan to check him out this Sunday anyway...

Upon arrival there were people (not sure if they are school staff or the embassy, but they speak japanese...) greeting us at the school gate. It is ... just a v small school (well, comparing to MINE 5+ years ago!) Recalling that school hall in Brighton where my Iaido dojo is - it's about the same... What puzzled us was, why is this particular school organizing a NIHON BUKASAI (Japanese Culture Festival - as it said on the banner) in their own school hall?

Apart from the banner there were strings of Matsuri lanterns hanging all across the school hall. Some students even dress up in Hanten (those baby-blue tops with a big kanji of Matsuri printed on the back). At the back of the hall there are relaly well made models of some castles and temples, and the walls were decorated with posters of some Japanese cities scenery. On stage we saw another group in "costumes" - Chado... A few voluntees got to try their yukata etc. and learn to rotate their teacups around.

Even though the Chado demo on stage was also projected on a big screen from the side - the 250+ students were kinda half asleep (oh little lucky bast*rds, why don't I have Bunkasai when I was a schoolkid?!)

I haven't done a demo to a non-kendo audience before (therefore IKET does not count). I wonder if any student will pick up kendo afterwards - but when I reconsider the location... Nah--!

*****************
IMHO explaining iaido would be rather boring for 12-14-year-olds. Kwan had 3 years training so his technique was "average" (uhmm I am NOT saying I should do the demo instead!!!) I just said things about reigi and described bit of each kata. My Cantonese public speaking skill is truly awful (bad vocabs and just plain boring..), especially I never had a conversation about Iaido waza before!! ...and it also shows how much I don't know what I was doing in Iai...!

Argh. So the mic was handed to Eda-sensei next and she explained the kendo kata stuff for Lai-sensei and Tanaka-sensei.

Demo is simple as you can expect. Kihon. Uchikomi. The stage floor is super hard and slippery... Then the sensei got keiko demo.

After that, 7 students down the stage got some fast-track kendo class... We let them hit men, kote and do. Everyone got quite exciting... Lai-sensei is a great entertainer/ instructor. The rest of the audience probably had a good time laughing at their mates missing do-cuts (on me!)...

The most enthusiatic dude around was a tall-ish student at the backstage, who borrowed one of the bokuto and swinged it around like Jedi Master... He asked if we can do "30 renhatsu" (30 consecutive - which is a game/anime term I guess, but the way he said it sounds like budo lingo). Leo responded, "We need 100 renhatsu at squad training!!"

Demonstration was done in an hour. Some teachers definately took some camera shots while we put on our men. I'd show some if I get a hand on them...

***********
When we arrived at QEII stadium we were 2 hours early for tonight's keiko. Zzz... Eda-sensei fed the Tanaka's and me with takeaway while we finally had some social chat. I complained about work etc. and T-sensei spent extensive time picking on my men-uchi (!!)...

In the end tonight's round 2 of kendo is quite enjoyable. I still suck sometimes but overall I can see my elbows are not too "out" when I lift up my shinai.

The final reward of the day was a cup of Vanilla Haagan-Dazs at the stadium tuck shop from Eda-sensei. What a delight after a full afternoon of kendo!

Just do it...!

Coming back home from a potential business/collaboration meeting today at 8pm, meaning I'll miss at least 15 mins of tonight's squad... therefore I'd rather not go (definitely will be made to do 200 hayasuburi alone while everyone's doing their waza-keiko!!) Tho I jumped my ropes 750 times.

This meeting was slightly delayed because of another business phone conversation with that other massive company I mentioned earlier. An interview is scheduled in 2 weeks. I hope this time everything works out... (and therefore my kendo life will be saved)

Meanwhile in 2 weeks I need to broaden my sense in Sports Culture and Sports Tradition... Apart from martial arts, I must admit I have close to zero sports knowledge. Lets see how much I can remember from the BBC Sports Website in 2 weeks time..!! (Any other recommendation is welcome!)

Finally let's have some entertainment from my sensei's funny emails (and also info about this Thurs):-

***************
Subject: Kendo demonstration on thursday 9th june

Dear squad members,

We are recruiting squad members to take part in the Traditional Japanese Culture and Sports at Secondary school _________ on 9th June thursday from 3:30pm-4:30pm. This event is organized by Consulate General of Japan therefore the Association is planning to send the squad members as there will be around 400 students and they hope to see the Hong Kong Kendo National Team members.

We understand this event will be held on weekday but we do hope some of you will be able to take 1/2 day off work or school to participate.

Please reply to _______ sensei before this sunday by email.

.....

thank you for your kind attention.

Eda
****************

Hi Eda,

If you still haven't had enough people to help out at the event - I will be able to come along, as I am not employed and can take some time off on Thurs. I was thinking maybe you'll need a girl.

Best,
Jenny
***************

Yes thanks! We certainly need a pretty and potential girl!!

I will let you know what time and where to meet on thursday. I hope to get back to you by tuesday.

thanks
eda