Skip to main content

Kenshokan Visit - July 26, 2014

I visited a friend in Peterborough, Ontario this weekend. Peterborough is a lovely city with an unfortunate lack of employment. It's located in the Land of Lakes or Kawarthas in Ontario.

From 9 am to Noon, we practiced Iaido. This is double the length of my usual practice time, so I am a bit sore today. Apparently, part of my soreness is likely related to having an incorrect, a.k.a. "Death Grip" on the tsuka (handle). My friend showed me how to fix it and it's similar to how one grips a steering wheel on a car. This should make my muscles less fatigued, stop my right hand from sliding, and improve my cutting technique.

I did a lot of work on Juppon-me Shihogiri. I need to ensure I am hitting low enough on the hand strike while keeping my heel on the ground, that my heels have the correct placement for the stab (my right heel is the issue), step with the left foot to make the first cut, stop pausing so much in between each movement as it's supposed to flow, and I think I'm okay with the final cut.

I've identified why I often do noto improperly. Doing noto properly makes the blade run across my breast. I know I won't have a cutting edge for about 15 years from now, but I'm sure my blade shouldn't be there ever. My friend suggested I try the shinden version of noto instead. I'll have to check with my sensei to see if that would be acceptable.

We also worked on Ju Ippon-me Sougiri, which is probably my favourite kata of the setei set. Cut one to the face, two from shoulder to solar plexus, three from ribs to belly button, four slice left to right across the hip/lower abdominals area, and five a center cut from head to obi.

I've been using my arm muscles too much while cutting and it's more about using the obliques and whatever muscles are at the side ribs. I'm rather bony there, so I'm doubtful that I have muscles there currently, but my friend assures me they are there. He said it's also about using your quadriceps.

We also worked on Ju Nihon-me Nukiuchi. The main thing for this one is to ensure you get yourself out of the way of your attacker, then don't waste time before cutting them down. I have to remember to step forward at the end since this is one of the few where we step back at the beginning.

We also worked on Ippon-me Mae because everything is Mae. I'm not sure I fully understand how everything is Mae, but I have no doubt that one day I will. My friend corrected my technique to ensure that I will actually be cutting the person as before I would likely miss. I have to remember to push my right hip forward, which makes the sword tip reach out farther without screwing up my balance.

We did some Nihon-me Ushiro also. The points from Ippon-me Mae apply, but I also need to take less sword out as I'm pivoting and I'm afraid I forget the last bit.

After Iaido, we hit the pub for some grub, which was great because after the 3 hours, I was starving! It was great seeing the people I met at the Guelph seminar again!!!

Hopefully, I can apply all my learnings to my technique going forward.

I want to thank Wilson Sensei for letting me drop-in and practice with the club :)

-Roy Iaidoka

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Under Siege

My city is under attack. I wish I was being facetious.  The so-called "freedom" convoy is here and so far this is what has transpired: 1. They parked on the war memorial. These people who call themselves patriots. This is where the Unknown Soldier rests. This is where Corporal Nathan Cirullo lost his life in October of 2014. The cars were towed, but who knows what actual repercussions they will face. 2. Later, when asked to move away from memorial, one stood and jumped on the tomb itself while others cheered.  3. Despite having port-a-potties provided for by the mayor, they've been defecating on Parliament Hill, in snowbanks, and on streets nearby.  4. Flags being flown include the Confederate flag of the United States, Trump flags, the Quebec equivalent to the Confederate flag, upside down Canada flags, regular Canada flags, Fuck Trudeau flags, libertarian flags, and ones adorned with swastikas. Yeah, this is totally about freedom rather than racism, white su

The Gauntlet That Was October

I had a lot of things happen in October. I watched Frankenstein in the cemetery with friends. I had tea with a friend. I started a new sport: curling. This is really fun and I'm enjoying the level of activity it provides and all the strategic elements. I'll do a separate post on it soon. Unfortunately, soon after my first game, I came down with Covid and so did the friend who I had tea with, so I think we both caught it at the place we went to. That wasn't fun. I already posted about that. I was fortunate to be free of it in time to attend Can-Con where I took in lots of panels, saw some of the wonderful writer community, bought many new books, and volunteered to help out in the rooms. The following weekend, I went to the livestream for Danielle Allard's new album release, followed by the in person release. As part of this, she has a 6 video series that releases every Sunday on her YouTube at 1:15 PM EDT. Video number 2, Falling Into Place, is one that I feel fortunate

December 2023 Holidays

The drive to North Bay was pretty smooth until I was 30 minutes away and ran out of windshield washer fluid. That was the first time that ever happened to me. Luckily, about 10-15 minutes later, there was one last gas station where I could fix that. Since it's my busy season, I worked the mornings and took the afternoons and evenings to spend with family and friends. My brother stopped by with a special gift, a new ornament for the tree. My mom loved ceramic Christmas trees, so it's a perfect way to keep her with us at Christmas. His friend, Fawn, helped him get it made. She has a YouTube channel you can check out here: https://youtube.com/@thethriftyfawn After that, I visited friends in the slightly rural part of Callander, Ontario. We were having a lovely time catching up and then the evening had a surprise in store. Someone in the area had hit a small deer with their vehicle. My friend's dad skinned and gutted it in around -20C (due to the windchill) weather.