Shibuya group photo is up! Who's the sketchy white guy in the bottom right?
Yesterday I went deep into the sweaty depths of Saitama for my first shizankai. Here's what I learned:

  • real swords are fun!

  • bad blade angle won't cut, not matter how strong you are

  • yoko ichi-monji (one-handed horizontal cut) is non-trivial

  • nuki-uchi (cut from the draw) is seriously non-trivial


I managed to butcher a few rolls; had one nice yoko ichi-monji that I'm proud of because it was a full roll resting on a stand (not stuck on a stand spike to hold it in place), but it took 4 tries to nail it. Almost cut a full roll nuki-uchi but I'll blame the roll by claiming it was dry and very tough. Next month I'll try a half-roll nuki-uchi standing, and maybe sitting, too. Actually next month I think I'll just work on half-rolls with single-hand cuts. Fun!

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