Ramping up

For the past five months I have been training once a week for two hours. Now I am itching to do more. The buzz after finishing a jigeiko session and that relaxed tired feeling after training seems to be quite addictive.

Due to commitments tomorrow I couldn't attend the 2nd Minami Kenyukai (monthly open training session in the south-east of England) but with any luck I will be adding 1-2 more training sessions in each week from now on at another dojo that has a reciprocal arrangement with Tsubaki.

I've also booked one day at a Seminar in Oxford next month...

Clear vision

After battling through sessions in armour where I can't see a thing due to my glasses steaming up... I tried this scuba diving anti-fog spray. It worked great!

Jigeiko

Every time I have a jigeiko session I get something different out if it and my body also responds differently. The first time I was constantly out of breath, sweating and my arms were getting weaker and weaker. I was worried about being hit, I was moving around, blocking and very tense. Especially, I was quite intimidated by going against much taller or experienced students.

Now I like to think I am much more relaxed, taking care of my form and strikes, definitely less scared. Jigeiko feels much more of a partnership and a fun way to experiment with technique. I still sweat buckets and often feel like I am over heating towards the end but the tiredness I now feel is a welcome sense of a great workout rather than total exhaustion.

Tombo (Dragonflys)

For weeks now I have been wondering why the dragonfly is so often used as a motif on Kendo equipment, including one of my tenugui... Google to the rescue...

http://avaluk.tumblr.com/post/17489733123/like-a-dragonfly-forward-only

During this weeks lesson I had the opportunity to train for a short time with a visiting sensei who practises Nito ryu. Picked up lots of useful pointers about keeping good distance and not raising the tip of my shinai too high.

First steps...

I started learning Kendo at Tsubaki dojo in the UK with my two boys last Autumn. Instantly, I was hooked! I've dabbled with various martial arts over the years but straight away here was something that just felt special. I believe a big part of that feeling came (and continues to come) from the Sensei of our dojo and the friendly support of all the other students. I'm going to use this blog to keep track of my progress and learning experience.

A few Kendo firsts for me...

First Lesson

First competition (internal club - kirikaeshi for 'non armoured') and first time to wear do and tare.

First bruise!

First lesson in full armour (also the first lesson for my wife! This is now a family wide hobby :))

I'm sure there are many more 'firsts' to come!