obvious: cut with the monouchi

"Mono" means thing, and "uchi" means to hit. So monouchi is literally "thing hitter" or "the part you use to hit/cut with."
Sanno-sensei has an amazing ability to break things down and state the obvious, or at least explain what should be obvious but, until he mentions it, it didn't really occur to me. Obvious statement of the day: don't think about cutting with the very tip of the sword, think about cutting with the monouchi.
That makes you more aware of the right hand grip, how far out and down the sword body is moving, where the point of impact is and where the enemy is standing.
In just a couple of hours, I felt my cuts getting bigger and more relaxed, with less arm force and more natural extension.
Now if I could only learn to draw without twisting my body so much...