If I could ever figure out two things -- distance and timing. That was a lovely sentence fragment, btw, and it describes perfectly my understanding of the two. That is, I have no clue. The whole concept of moving, closing, and striking, shoulders and hips, arms and legs, feet and hands, is still totally beyond me. I think I know what I should be doing, but I have no idea how to do it. Teaching is always fun when I start by showing the wrong way to do it, practicing with everyone, and then concluding with a simple question: anyone figure it out? I sure have no clue.
Big turnout for class tonight, and it was hot and humid, decreasing my move-alot motivation, so we paired up with bokken and took turns trying to reach each other from the neutral tip-to-tip distance of just-outta-reach. The end result was generally not being able to reach at all, or overstretching the upper body and getting way off balance.
In a feeble attempt to connect this movement to some actual iai, we did a few kata and I tried to tie in this movement-from-the-hips (what isn't?) from both standing and sitting. Not sure if any of it made any sense, but I had fun trying to figure out the near impenetrable. Seems like "getting it" is an asymtope: I can get closer and closer, but never actually arrive.
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