honbu

First 'official' practice at Honbu Dojo. Niina-gosoke just had us do whatever we wanted for 2 hours, every now and then dropping a helpful hint or making a correction.
I did nothing but practice kihon ichi (basic #1) and then did the first kata shin for the last 30 minutes.
My makko-giri needs serious work; too small and cutting up more than out. Niina-gosoke watched me for a bit and finally commented: "Don't start turning over your wrists so early, that throws the sword tip up above your head. You're making a big arc that comes down to close and quick. Throw your hands OUT, keeping them high, and just a hair later start turning the blade. That will throw the sword tip FORWARD, not up, and you'll cut out farther and bigger."
I actually managed to do it correctly once or twice, but then he commented about foot-stomping: "Stop banging about! Keep the balls of your feet on the ground and shuffle forward. Throw your energy forward, not down into the ground. Imagine keeping your heel off the ground the width of one piece of paper...Shiokawa-gosoke used to tell us 'Practice like you're walking on rice paper.'"
Of course I immediately thought of Kung Fu: "When you can walk across the rice paper without making a mark, you will be ready to leave."

After practice we went to some local dive bar/restaurant and ate. Always good, cheap food at such places. Otsuka-san is a madman: he talked about designing the front door entrance to the dojo to look like an old Japanese dojo. Plans on carving it all out of styrofoam and painting it to look like real wood and bamboo. He didn't even practice tonight; he spent the whole time in the office sketching out the design!