Traditional Sunday evening dinner. Hiroko cooked, madly. And we ate, madly. She is quite honestly the second-best cook ever. (Number One is, in fact, mama. And if you think I'm biased, you've obviously never had dinner at her house!)
The yellow and green is chrysanthemum petals and spinach, sauteed. Damn fine.
dinner!
packrat house
Down the street from the train station is this house. It is, literally, full of junk. So full it is spilling out the windows. Every now and then I see an old man wandering around the piles, moving things around, perhaps adding a bit or bob here and there. Kinda redefines compulsive, eh?
akiba
Took Synth on the patented Akihabara Tour; started with electronics parts and ended with B-level idols singing in front of the train station and a Doner Kebab sandwich. He's doing research for latest super-top-secret book, and checking out the fan models of super robots in Akihabara was critical to that. No, really.
big cuttin'
Huge cutting seminar today! BigTony and Mucho de Lucho didn't have to go to Machida until the evening, so we piled all the gear into a cab and headed to Honbu. 17 people showed up for cutting, so it was a bit tight and most folks only got a couple of targets, but it was worth it.
Tony cut a big 5-roll to start, and then he ran the advanced folks through 6dan-giri as I worked with the newbies on basic cuts. As always, the women cut better because they don't try to muscle through the target.
I put Yasutoshi through his paces, and he came out shining. Cuts smooth and mean, and probably wont bend unless I do something really, really stupid.
Tony cut a big 5-roll to start, and then he ran the advanced folks through 6dan-giri as I worked with the newbies on basic cuts. As always, the women cut better because they don't try to muscle through the target.
I put Yasutoshi through his paces, and he came out shining. Cuts smooth and mean, and probably wont bend unless I do something really, really stupid.
vato tacos
It was a Mexican Invasion. BigTony and Mucho de Lucho Arroyo took over the kitchen threw down barrio-style. The chipotles was hot and the salsa was cool; never a finer meal was had this side of the border.
big class, taiyaki
Showed up late for class and was greeted by a fresh, warm stack of taiyaki. So I ate two. Ah, the sweet red bean goodness of warm pastries.
Ten in class tonight, so it was pretty tight. And cool, so no fear of overheating, which is why practicing in the fall is so enjoyable.
Ran through the basics, worked on some fine points, and then did a couple of kata, smacking each other with bokken to work on distance and timing. It's hard to do some kata without an opponent to focus on. The whole point of solo work in iai is to struggle against the opponent of self inside, but realistically it's hard to nail the mechanics without understanding the interaction of your and your enemy's movements. The thing I like about Mugairyu is all the kata are doable. Kata are NOT an attempt to codify "realistic" fighting scenarios, as so many armchair ninja believe. And neither are punching patterns on a heavy bag, but boxers still find them useful for developing skills. Instead the kata spell out a small exchange, given many assumptions and many other variables. By working through the kata at different levels, like the layers of an onion, you can ultimately come to an understanding of what Mugairyu is; the essence that makes it not Shintoryu, nor Sekiguchiryu, nor Kashimaryu.
The kata are an abstraction; they happen in a world where your imaginary opponent is your exact twin. (I always say to imagine that he is exactly like you, only he's one day better.) You also know what he is going to do, as the kata itself is your reaction to him. He comes in high, you wait and counter low. He parries, you dodge, he retreats, you follow and finish. On a physical level the kata teach basic "muscle memory"; your body learns how to do certain necessary moves without conscious thought. More subtly, the kata teach the defining strategy of the ryu. Understanding starts simplistically, like "in most cases, Mugairyu will counter a high attack with a rising diagonal cut." Advanced practice changes some variables and assumptions, the most obvious being that the enemy is no longer a beginner. Slow moves are done more quickly, fast moves are executed more slowly and carefully. Distance is changed, timing becomes less rhythmic. Ultimately you come to internalize the theory and strategy of the ryu; the way you see the world and how you react to it. Gosoke demonstrates this by saying that there is only one Mugairyu kata. And then he starts one kata, transitions into another, finishes with a third. A retreat becomes an attack, a sidestep becomes a counter, a parry becomes a preemptive attack. And yet it is all, truly and distinctly, Mugairyu.
After class we had a little target rolling party; cutting on Saturday!
Ten in class tonight, so it was pretty tight. And cool, so no fear of overheating, which is why practicing in the fall is so enjoyable.
Ran through the basics, worked on some fine points, and then did a couple of kata, smacking each other with bokken to work on distance and timing. It's hard to do some kata without an opponent to focus on. The whole point of solo work in iai is to struggle against the opponent of self inside, but realistically it's hard to nail the mechanics without understanding the interaction of your and your enemy's movements. The thing I like about Mugairyu is all the kata are doable. Kata are NOT an attempt to codify "realistic" fighting scenarios, as so many armchair ninja believe. And neither are punching patterns on a heavy bag, but boxers still find them useful for developing skills. Instead the kata spell out a small exchange, given many assumptions and many other variables. By working through the kata at different levels, like the layers of an onion, you can ultimately come to an understanding of what Mugairyu is; the essence that makes it not Shintoryu, nor Sekiguchiryu, nor Kashimaryu.
The kata are an abstraction; they happen in a world where your imaginary opponent is your exact twin. (I always say to imagine that he is exactly like you, only he's one day better.) You also know what he is going to do, as the kata itself is your reaction to him. He comes in high, you wait and counter low. He parries, you dodge, he retreats, you follow and finish. On a physical level the kata teach basic "muscle memory"; your body learns how to do certain necessary moves without conscious thought. More subtly, the kata teach the defining strategy of the ryu. Understanding starts simplistically, like "in most cases, Mugairyu will counter a high attack with a rising diagonal cut." Advanced practice changes some variables and assumptions, the most obvious being that the enemy is no longer a beginner. Slow moves are done more quickly, fast moves are executed more slowly and carefully. Distance is changed, timing becomes less rhythmic. Ultimately you come to internalize the theory and strategy of the ryu; the way you see the world and how you react to it. Gosoke demonstrates this by saying that there is only one Mugairyu kata. And then he starts one kata, transitions into another, finishes with a third. A retreat becomes an attack, a sidestep becomes a counter, a parry becomes a preemptive attack. And yet it is all, truly and distinctly, Mugairyu.
After class we had a little target rolling party; cutting on Saturday!
ouchie
The good news, Yasutoshi cuts REALLY well. Great balance, even though it's a whopping 1200 grams (my previous blades are 900 and 950). Don't notice the weight so much, but I did mess up on the placement of the menuki, and after 2 hours of practice, I busted this lovely blister.
So, back to the shop it goes for some minor adjustment. The quest for perfection is a long and arduous road...
@ hataya's
Spent the afternoon hanging out at Hataya's shop, looking at stuff with Ted and Roger. Picked up my new cutter and looked at some cool daruma fittings. Ted got some nice horse menuki and Roger ogled the dragons. Hataya-sensei showed up a couple hours later and, being Hataya-sensei, told me that he forgot to pick up the registration for my sword. Then again, being The Man, he wrote on one of his business cards "I'm still getting the registration for this" and we stuck it on the sword. Any cop who sees that will know not to mess.
kure deri*
Boss MacDaddy had a free pass from the wife, so he decided it was time for some Team Bonding. The troops gathered at Hanezawa Garden for some semi-outdoor seating surrounded by kerosene heaters and we did damage to the pork and veggie cauldrons before heading over to Muse for continued revelry. After getting my ass trounced by Fish at darts (twice) I strolled to the bar and drank OJ with blatant irreverance as the converts traders continued on with what started out as none-too-politically-correct discussions of the many ways a man and his yen may revel in debauchery in the back streets of Tokyo.
Got home at a reasonable 1:30am, though I was first to slide away and I expect unending amounts of ribbing when I go back to work.
* kure deri is an abbreviation for "credit derivatives".
Got home at a reasonable 1:30am, though I was first to slide away and I expect unending amounts of ribbing when I go back to work.
* kure deri is an abbreviation for "credit derivatives".
relax
Big turnout for class tonight. I thought maybe it was a testament to my amazing teaching ability and charisma, but it turns out that most of the regular Tuesday classes are cancelled because in November and December it's hard to use the various school gyms as they are taken for end-of-year school festivities.
So with ten people on the floor we took our time; slow warmups and basics for over an hour, and then some simple kata work.
Theme for tonight started with the knees and how much they need to bend in order to keep the hips level and centered. As the practice progressed we sort of wandered about touching up minor points, and I had one of the minor epiphanies that doesn't really help but makes it much more fun to keep trying: relax when you draw. Totally and completely obvious of course, but when I do the one out of ten thousand just-right draw I am always totally mellow, almost not even caring. I'm not thinking about it, I'm not looking at my sword or my feet or anything in particular; just looking ahead and at the moment I need to draw, the sword is silently and smoothly out, without over cutting and with no exaggeration. Feels good, and so I'm trying to actively pursue that practical nonchalant-ness so that I can summon it at will. Non-trivial unfortunately.
On a specific note, I am working on keeping my left arm closer to my body; not flaring the left elbow and rotating the left hand to turn the sword over as I draw, but more of a corkscrew kind of twist so that the position of the hand (in X and Z space) doesn't change (only moving along Y; front to back.) This keeps the koiguchi more pointed at the point of impact, and tends to keep my from chunking the cut; comes out more smoothly and directly. Also stops me from opening too widely to my left, exposing my right arm to removal by an astute enemy.
After I got home, Ted was crushed and went to sleep, and then Jen showed up fresh from her tour in Kyoto so the Kuroda Hotel was in full swing. Jen takes off for Gunma and more research but she'll be back this weekend.
So with ten people on the floor we took our time; slow warmups and basics for over an hour, and then some simple kata work.
Theme for tonight started with the knees and how much they need to bend in order to keep the hips level and centered. As the practice progressed we sort of wandered about touching up minor points, and I had one of the minor epiphanies that doesn't really help but makes it much more fun to keep trying: relax when you draw. Totally and completely obvious of course, but when I do the one out of ten thousand just-right draw I am always totally mellow, almost not even caring. I'm not thinking about it, I'm not looking at my sword or my feet or anything in particular; just looking ahead and at the moment I need to draw, the sword is silently and smoothly out, without over cutting and with no exaggeration. Feels good, and so I'm trying to actively pursue that practical nonchalant-ness so that I can summon it at will. Non-trivial unfortunately.
On a specific note, I am working on keeping my left arm closer to my body; not flaring the left elbow and rotating the left hand to turn the sword over as I draw, but more of a corkscrew kind of twist so that the position of the hand (in X and Z space) doesn't change (only moving along Y; front to back.) This keeps the koiguchi more pointed at the point of impact, and tends to keep my from chunking the cut; comes out more smoothly and directly. Also stops me from opening too widely to my left, exposing my right arm to removal by an astute enemy.
After I got home, Ted was crushed and went to sleep, and then Jen showed up fresh from her tour in Kyoto so the Kuroda Hotel was in full swing. Jen takes off for Gunma and more research but she'll be back this weekend.
and a good time was had by all.
The 8th annual Suimokai Festival "Kenkakubanrai" was enjoyed greatly. Elvis and I did kumitachi, and I also did some cutting (with only minor screwing up) and finally when it was all over I did Part One of my 6dan test. Part Two has been set for December 1, so I guess that means I passed.
The Ladies made it to the finals in the team competition and despite my best efforts to fail them, they proceeded to victory.
Finally, in the Entertainment Division, Hoshina-san and her crazies from Akihabara did some rousing dancing and won themselves a couple hundred kilos of rice, plus cheap suitecases in which to carry it home. I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me.
big class
Dunno what happened, but a whole lotta folks showed up for class tonight. Started with six, then Elvis showed up late, then a couple more until we finally had about ten on the floor. Ten is pretty tight and you have to be careful not to kill each other, but we managed. Nice cool evening so training hard feels good. Ripped through alot of basic cuts in the beginning, just focusing on blade angle and path, and then added in body mechanics, concentrating on what muscles are really doing the work. It's wierd to think how you can move your body without actually realizing what and how you're moving. For some reason we get lazy and move in really inefficient ways because we think it's easier or something. Hard to retrain the body to move the 'right' way; but it's cool to see that lightbulb go off when someone (usually accidentally) does it right the 100th time, realizes it, and then tries another 100 times to get the feeling back.
I think advancing to higher levels in martial arts just involves increasing the probability of doing something right.
I think advancing to higher levels in martial arts just involves increasing the probability of doing something right.
kimono tansu
Commissioned the lovely folks at Suruga Isho to make a set of drawered chests in a modern /traditional style for hiroko's kimono collection.
They are quite lovely, with traditional kiri (paulownia) inside the drawers, a beautiful dark finish on the front and a more natural yellow finish on the top and sides.
ishihara family
Went to the dojo in the afternoon to work on kumitachi with Elvis in prep for our demo next week. He went to the aikido class at night so I stayed in the dojo by myself and did some cutting. Was fairly mediocre, so I've got lots of work to do before next week, and not much time to do it in.
Left the dojo, walked around the corner, and as I passed Starbucks I spied Millie asleep in her stroller, mom and dad Ishihara drinking coffee at her side. Haven't seem them in a while so I pulled up a chair and ate biscuits with Millie after she woke up. She didn't remember me, was groggy from just waking up, and generally doesn't like guys. So she stared at me. The. Whole. Time.
I also linked to both mom and dad's blogs, so if you're in a Japanese reading mood, check them out.
sushi!
After work met up with Jen and Hiroko and Roland for some quality seafood and smacktalk. Roland is my hero, not just because he's now teaching at Tokyo University, but because he's buddy-buddy with my man Haruki Murakami.
We discussed the many ways Roland could work with Jen, and decided it would be best if we got a write-up of Jen's Japan Food Tour in the NYTimes travel section.
drunk jen & ramen
Hiroko too the day off to be productive, which apparently involved going to a sake-tasting party with Jenn and sampling several domestic bevvies from Japan's finest distilleries. She and Jen were right glowing by the time we met for dinner, which consisted of Ayu Ramen. Ah, the magic that is Ayu Ramen. And to top it all off, we got 5 chances at the lottery in the shopping mall housing the restaurant, and I won 500 yen twice!
robin in the hood
Robin came in from Cali last week and we had a right proper Tokyo Good Time.
We trained at Honbu on Tuesday and then went out to all-you-can-eat sukiyaki with Niina-gosoke and the crew. We tried to go to the all-you-can-eat place we usually go to, but it's out of business. We killed it!
On Wednesday I had to work late so Robin spent all day at Honbu working with Gosoke -- eight hours straight!
On Thursday Robin went down to Machida to do Toyama-ryu with Hataya-sensei.
On Friday there was no class so Robin went to the sword museum and Aoi Art and Namikawa Heibei, and then we had dinner at Lucky down the street.
Saturday we had a killer cutting practice with 15 people at Honbu -- took some good vids so those will be posted in due time.
After cutting and then cleaning the dojo top to bottom we headed down to Ninjin for some mad greasy Chinese food and then checked out the massive Yodobashi Camera at Akihabara. We looked at a mile of MP3 players and almost killed the guy who's job it was to sit on a ladder and shout with a megaphone about the special sale prices. Elvis upgraded his cell phone and we tried to get some coffee at the maid cafe but it was packed and they didn't allow photos anyway, so what's the point?
Coming back to the station we ran into Niina-gosoke on his was home. He couldn't believe we were still out shopping.
And finally on Sunday we took Robin down to the ANA Hotel, did some last minute gift shopping, ate a final rotator sushi lunch, and got him on the airport limousine bus.
Hiroko went shopping and I biked over to Honbu and did kumitachi with Elvis for a bit in prep for our demo in a couple weeks.
We trained at Honbu on Tuesday and then went out to all-you-can-eat sukiyaki with Niina-gosoke and the crew. We tried to go to the all-you-can-eat place we usually go to, but it's out of business. We killed it!
On Wednesday I had to work late so Robin spent all day at Honbu working with Gosoke -- eight hours straight!
On Thursday Robin went down to Machida to do Toyama-ryu with Hataya-sensei.
On Friday there was no class so Robin went to the sword museum and Aoi Art and Namikawa Heibei, and then we had dinner at Lucky down the street.
Saturday we had a killer cutting practice with 15 people at Honbu -- took some good vids so those will be posted in due time.
After cutting and then cleaning the dojo top to bottom we headed down to Ninjin for some mad greasy Chinese food and then checked out the massive Yodobashi Camera at Akihabara. We looked at a mile of MP3 players and almost killed the guy who's job it was to sit on a ladder and shout with a megaphone about the special sale prices. Elvis upgraded his cell phone and we tried to get some coffee at the maid cafe but it was packed and they didn't allow photos anyway, so what's the point?
Coming back to the station we ran into Niina-gosoke on his was home. He couldn't believe we were still out shopping.
And finally on Sunday we took Robin down to the ANA Hotel, did some last minute gift shopping, ate a final rotator sushi lunch, and got him on the airport limousine bus.
Hiroko went shopping and I biked over to Honbu and did kumitachi with Elvis for a bit in prep for our demo in a couple weeks.
don't talk to me about expensive
Once again, Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world.
So there.
So there.
hagi
Absolutely perfect weather, so we spent the day wandering all over the lovely and historic town of Hagi.
Went through the downtown shopping district and checked out the pottery, then into the main historical area. Several very cool old houses open to the public, and the whole neighborhood looks basically like it did centuries ago.
The town is divided into 'outside the wall' -- the merchants and townsfolk just outside the first castle wall, and 'inside the wall' -- the samurai houses and and whatnot just inside the castle wall.
The town has done a brilliant job of keeping the place looking good for the tourists. Much of the old architecture is either still around or painstakingly replicated; the first moat, the walls lining the narrow roads, the signs and doorways. There are several blocks that are national historical landmarks, and of course the castle grounds are expansive and awesome. The castle itself is no longer there, but the retaining walls, moats, and grounds and still cool to look at.
And of course we shopped for Hagi's famous handmade pottery, scoring a bowl and several small sake cups and goblets.
tomoe
Took a quick flight down to Yamaguchi Prefecture, and then a long taxi ride through the mountains to get to the Japan Sea coast side.
Checked into Tomoe in the early evening and hit the hot springs before the multi-coursed feast that was dinner.
Tomoe is fairly new ryokan, built to look like a series of kura (wherehouses). Each room has a beautiful garden view, and the whole place is a tasteful blend of traditional and modern.
open wide
Getting chilly, drizzly for days...Autumn. The best season for training; not humid, not hot. Only a couple people at class and Niina-gosoke watching over, so I got to focus on my own thing for a couple hours.
Expanding more on my left elbow theory, especially since Niina-gosoke explicitly taught one of the newer guys that in order to generate that Umph! for the draw and cut, you need to use not just the right arm going out, but the left elbow/shoulder going back as well. So I think I'm on the right track. The way I imagine it, the left hand holds the saya and kind of aims the koiguchi at the enemy right where you want to land the start of the cut. The left elbow/shoulder pulls back just as the sword rockets forward in as straight a trajectory as possible. This is tricky due to the curve of the blade and the tendency of the arms to move in an arc (as the radius of a circle whose center is the shoulder.) Too much snap and it's a jerky movement, not enough explosion and it's slow and ineffective. And of course moving the upper body independently of the hips just gets you all twisted up and doesn't deliver enough power. Too tiring to use all arms, too, without the hips.
As with everything, timing and acceleration (logarithmic seems to be good) are more important than muscular strength. The strongest cut in the world is no good if it's a centimeter short or a second late (or early.)
Expanding more on my left elbow theory, especially since Niina-gosoke explicitly taught one of the newer guys that in order to generate that Umph! for the draw and cut, you need to use not just the right arm going out, but the left elbow/shoulder going back as well. So I think I'm on the right track. The way I imagine it, the left hand holds the saya and kind of aims the koiguchi at the enemy right where you want to land the start of the cut. The left elbow/shoulder pulls back just as the sword rockets forward in as straight a trajectory as possible. This is tricky due to the curve of the blade and the tendency of the arms to move in an arc (as the radius of a circle whose center is the shoulder.) Too much snap and it's a jerky movement, not enough explosion and it's slow and ineffective. And of course moving the upper body independently of the hips just gets you all twisted up and doesn't deliver enough power. Too tiring to use all arms, too, without the hips.
As with everything, timing and acceleration (logarithmic seems to be good) are more important than muscular strength. The strongest cut in the world is no good if it's a centimeter short or a second late (or early.)
jessica mae stover
JSto is totally a big, famous Hollywood star. And she totally likes me. And by totally I mean as in this much. Check out the personalized message:
Dear Ren,And on the little note she wrote "Thanks for your help and support. When I take over the world, you shall not be forgotten."
Thank you for your undying fandomness. As long as you stay in Tokyo, you're cool. However, my lawyer requires that I remind you that it is against CA state law for you to come within 50ft of me, my place of residence, or my car. (True story.)
I am totally the Snape to her Voldemort.
Oh yeah and she has really cute, bubbly, girly handwriting; she dots her i's with hearts and smileys and draws unicorns instead of exclamation marks. But she will totally kick your ass if you cross her. And she has a posse.
ryuken tsuba
I headed over to Yamazaki-sensei's tsuba shop Ryuken. Wow. I believe he's the only tsuba maker alive who can make what he makes. His tsuba look like they were made 200 years ago. To the point that I've seen his tsuba on sale for three times the price, dated early 1700s.
zazen redux
Brad Warner, who ran the zazen retreat, has posted his report. See if you can spot the cleverly disguised reference to me! I'm flattered to be mentioned, though I hope I was not my typically caustic and annoying self...then again that's part of why I attended in the first place.
kumitachi
Elvis and kumitachi with steel. I think I need to get some proper kumitachi blades as the one I am using is in truly poor shape, and while it might an interesting demo, I don't think having the blade break in two would be a good thing.
no cavities
Just back from Suzuki Dental aka The Best Dentist Ever. The result: No cavities, though my gums continue to be a bit receded. And the enamel on my teeth is ground down nicely, though better than it was before as I wisely heeded the advice to cut out carbonated bevvies and use a soft-bristled toothbrush and considerably less force when brushing.
Also, wearing the iPod at reasonably loud volume is way more pleasant than sans-music cleaning, but it still can't block out that heinous high-pitched dolphin whistle of the hydraultrasonic scraper-cleaner that gives me goosebumps every time it fires up. Every time that thing hits a wee sensitive spot between tooth and gum it feels like a redhot needle in the root of my tooth and it just so unpleasant. But it's worth it twice a year to never, ever get a cavity drilled and filled. And to run my tongue along my teeth and feel every little space between them, sans tooth gunk and grime.
Also, wearing the iPod at reasonably loud volume is way more pleasant than sans-music cleaning, but it still can't block out that heinous high-pitched dolphin whistle of the hydraultrasonic scraper-cleaner that gives me goosebumps every time it fires up. Every time that thing hits a wee sensitive spot between tooth and gum it feels like a redhot needle in the root of my tooth and it just so unpleasant. But it's worth it twice a year to never, ever get a cavity drilled and filled. And to run my tongue along my teeth and feel every little space between them, sans tooth gunk and grime.
thinking too hard
With the weather cooling off, training is getting more and more pleasant, less and less sweaty.
I love training in the fall. Good class tonight; five students and we drilled on the basics hard. Ended with a couple of kata, and I love when I teach and in the process of trying to demonstrate/explain something I know implicitly, I figure out explicitly the links. As I was talking about gyokko, I realized and explained that it is really similar to munazukushi. Both start with the assumption that you are getting cut where stand, so you start with the intention of attacking, but realizing that you are too late, you let the enemy attack you where you are so that you can evade. If you start either kata with evasion, the enemy will simply attack you where you are, which is slightly farther back from where you were because you are evading. And you get killed. So part of it is to wait and let the attack commit. It's only because you know where you are when you are getting cut that you can avoid.
The draw-and-counter in gyokko is also like ren or musogaeshi; keep the right hand moving, use the right pinky to get a proper grip asap, get the blade out and cutting and let the hips/body drive the cut, not the swing of the arm. The basics really are all the same. I am continually amazed at how well the 20 different kata all take the common basic moves and modify them for distance, timing, direction, but basically reinforce the theory of Mugairyu; the strategies of combat that makes Mugairyu different from other schools.
After regular class Elvis and I busted out the habiki (real sword, dulled edge) and ran through the kumitachi a few times. WAY more fun with steel-on-steel than wood-on-wood. Elvis had a couple of good "Oh THAT's how it works!" moments when the intensity of a technique (say a sword tip in the eye) became more readily apparent when using steel instead of wood. And we both had a couple of caught-my-sword-on-my-shirt moments of death that reminded us we need to crank more before the demo in October.
Another thing I struggle with when teaching is the paucity of the Japanese language concerning the word hayai. Well not really paucity, as it's just one word, but the problem is, depending on how the character is written, it can refer to fast as in speed, or fast as in time (as in early.)
So I keep having to verbosely explain that moving quickly is less important -- slower and less effective -- than moving accurately, which means moving with minimal (no wasted) movement and effectively using/closing distance, which is another way of saying timing. The fastest swing in the world won't hit a home run unless it's timed to actually hit the ball.
So I always try to show and explain that a 'slow' cut, generating power from the hips, timed to place the blade into the enemy's head just as he/you step into range, is far more effective than a wildly powerful and 'fast' arm swing that comes a fraction of a second after stepping into striking distance, for the moment you step into range your blade is in his head, whereas the moment he steps into range, his blade is above his head, prepped for a powerful, fast cut -- that comes too late. This is the difference between cutting nothing and/or stationary targets, and cutting someone who is also trying to cut you.
The really hard part about iai is, in fact, practicing on your own, without a partner in front of you, imagining the enemy in your mind's eye, and still acting with intensity as if someone was actually standing in front of you trying to give you open-skull surgery with a sword for a scalpel. In a sense, that's the zen/mental/spiritual aspect that puts the art in martial arts. It's easy to discount it, and in a sense it's easier when someone actually IS trying to clobber your noggin'. That's why I think it's so impressive when you see someone doing solo kata who is so intensely and realistically focused that you can practically see the imaginary enemies dropping like flies around him.
I love training in the fall. Good class tonight; five students and we drilled on the basics hard. Ended with a couple of kata, and I love when I teach and in the process of trying to demonstrate/explain something I know implicitly, I figure out explicitly the links. As I was talking about gyokko, I realized and explained that it is really similar to munazukushi. Both start with the assumption that you are getting cut where stand, so you start with the intention of attacking, but realizing that you are too late, you let the enemy attack you where you are so that you can evade. If you start either kata with evasion, the enemy will simply attack you where you are, which is slightly farther back from where you were because you are evading. And you get killed. So part of it is to wait and let the attack commit. It's only because you know where you are when you are getting cut that you can avoid.
The draw-and-counter in gyokko is also like ren or musogaeshi; keep the right hand moving, use the right pinky to get a proper grip asap, get the blade out and cutting and let the hips/body drive the cut, not the swing of the arm. The basics really are all the same. I am continually amazed at how well the 20 different kata all take the common basic moves and modify them for distance, timing, direction, but basically reinforce the theory of Mugairyu; the strategies of combat that makes Mugairyu different from other schools.
After regular class Elvis and I busted out the habiki (real sword, dulled edge) and ran through the kumitachi a few times. WAY more fun with steel-on-steel than wood-on-wood. Elvis had a couple of good "Oh THAT's how it works!" moments when the intensity of a technique (say a sword tip in the eye) became more readily apparent when using steel instead of wood. And we both had a couple of caught-my-sword-on-my-shirt moments of death that reminded us we need to crank more before the demo in October.
Another thing I struggle with when teaching is the paucity of the Japanese language concerning the word hayai. Well not really paucity, as it's just one word, but the problem is, depending on how the character is written, it can refer to fast as in speed, or fast as in time (as in early.)
So I keep having to verbosely explain that moving quickly is less important -- slower and less effective -- than moving accurately, which means moving with minimal (no wasted) movement and effectively using/closing distance, which is another way of saying timing. The fastest swing in the world won't hit a home run unless it's timed to actually hit the ball.
So I always try to show and explain that a 'slow' cut, generating power from the hips, timed to place the blade into the enemy's head just as he/you step into range, is far more effective than a wildly powerful and 'fast' arm swing that comes a fraction of a second after stepping into striking distance, for the moment you step into range your blade is in his head, whereas the moment he steps into range, his blade is above his head, prepped for a powerful, fast cut -- that comes too late. This is the difference between cutting nothing and/or stationary targets, and cutting someone who is also trying to cut you.
The really hard part about iai is, in fact, practicing on your own, without a partner in front of you, imagining the enemy in your mind's eye, and still acting with intensity as if someone was actually standing in front of you trying to give you open-skull surgery with a sword for a scalpel. In a sense, that's the zen/mental/spiritual aspect that puts the art in martial arts. It's easy to discount it, and in a sense it's easier when someone actually IS trying to clobber your noggin'. That's why I think it's so impressive when you see someone doing solo kata who is so intensely and realistically focused that you can practically see the imaginary enemies dropping like flies around him.
nasu gasshuku
Cruised up to Tochigi Prefecture for a weekend training seminar. It involved lots of eating, drinking, and karaoke.
Oh yeah, and we did some iai, too.
antique fair haul
Surprisingly successful haul from the antique fair: hiroko scored a kimono and obi for 10,000 yen, an old-school formal purse, a set of sake cups and two flasks in a rare kutaniyaki with green, two cool little sake saucers, a bunch of kimono cloth for mama to make us another cool quilt, and two sets of fuchikashira sword furniture -- unused!
Finished off the day with some sushi and all was well in the land.
left elbow
Taught the regular Tuesday class for what felt like the first time in forever. Small turnout, low humidity (autumn is at last upon us; the three weeks of the year the weather in Tokyo is beyond bearable and becomes nearly perfect), and a mellow time working on basics. After class me and Elvis tore through some kumitachi in a feeble attempt to prepare for the first phase of my upcoming promotion exam.
But none of that is nearly as interesting as the mild epiphany I had about my left elbow.
The way I slightly flare out my left elbow, especially during noto, has always bothered me. For some reason tonight I figure out how to keep it in. Not forcing it in, but just sort of keeping the armpit relaxed yet naturally closed, and my arm came in a bit more, and even when cutting I felt like I was really coming onto the centerline nicely, and it felt good and clean and for what felt like the first time in forever, I think I made a teeny bit of progress.
I also came up with, for no known reason, a Silly Thing To Do When Teaching: whenever I would correct someone, say a foot or a hand or an elbow, after the correction I do my best Gray Bearded Kung-Fu Master voice and say:
After the 20th time, it wasn't funny. Actually, it wasn't funny after the first time, but we'll ignore that.
After class I came back to work and accomplished nothing. I love it when that happens.
But none of that is nearly as interesting as the mild epiphany I had about my left elbow.
The way I slightly flare out my left elbow, especially during noto, has always bothered me. For some reason tonight I figure out how to keep it in. Not forcing it in, but just sort of keeping the armpit relaxed yet naturally closed, and my arm came in a bit more, and even when cutting I felt like I was really coming onto the centerline nicely, and it felt good and clean and for what felt like the first time in forever, I think I made a teeny bit of progress.
I also came up with, for no known reason, a Silly Thing To Do When Teaching: whenever I would correct someone, say a foot or a hand or an elbow, after the correction I do my best Gray Bearded Kung-Fu Master voice and say:
"Problem not here [pointing to foot]...problem here [pointing to head]"
After the 20th time, it wasn't funny. Actually, it wasn't funny after the first time, but we'll ignore that.
After class I came back to work and accomplished nothing. I love it when that happens.
shizuoka weekend photos
nap time!
Hiroko demonstrates the Power Nap; recharging her batteries after a hard day of...napping.
kona besso
After the joy that was Sea Paradise, we headed back towards the station and checked in to Kona Besso. We were shown directly to our own private tea house and immediately changed into yukata and hit the hot springs. When we came back, the full moon was up and dinner began. Ah, the joy of the many-course-meal; the crazy old lady forcing me to eat a mouthful of fresh wasabi, the shrimp so fresh they were jumping off the charcoal grill.
Kona Besso probably ranks second only to Sekitei in plain old awesomeness.
Sea Paradise
Took the local a couple stops and then bussed up to Sea Paradise. Perfect weather, so we hung around and saw the dolphin show, the killer whale, sea lions, sea otters, penguins, giant sea turtles, all kinds of fishes...it was totally sweet. And by sweet I mean really cool.Dolphins totally know when people are watching them. They'd sort of float around, not doing much, and then when everyone got off the boat and came down the pier they'd start jumping and splashing, and if everyone was watching one dolphin in one corner, another dolphin would start doing something at the other end, trying to get attention. Unlike the giant turtles and flamingoes, who didn't seem to care, and the penguins, who were just trying to keep from slipping off their rock.
ochiairo murakami
Couple of hours on the Odoriko Express train and we were in Shizuoka. Local bus up into the hills and Ochiairo Murakami. The resort itself is a series of interconnected buildings, most of which are registered historical landmarks, as they have not changed since they were built at the turn of the century. The details are incredible; handmade window details, blown glass and metal lighting fixtures, old fashioned and stained glass windows,the overhanging awning -- giant continuous slabs of wood that angle down from the massive main hall ceiling -- all cut such that the single knot of wood on each piece lines up...really cool blend of early 20th century western and traditional Japanese architecture. Plus, the food was awesome and the private outdoor bath was huge!
digital cash
For the first time in history, the number of coins in circulation in Japan has decreased, due to the prolific use of digital money.
The future is Tokyo's yesterday.
The future is Tokyo's yesterday.
fighting
Hit the Fighting Fitness Dojo for the first time in forever. Punch combos, kicks, more kicks, and finished off with various sets of abs. Pain never smelled so sweaty. Yamamoto-san was also featured in a motorcycle magazine, which makes her Officially Cool.
sunday in honbu
Promotion exams, so I sat around for a while, sometimes watching, mostly hanging in the air-conditioned office doing slow aikido with Elvis.
Everyone passed, hurray! And then I grabbed a bokken and got sweaty real fast. And then, the rain. Mad, mad sheets of pouring rain, thunder & lightning. Nothing to do but wait it out. Square off 45 degrees to a mirror, stand perfectly still, then move. Raise, forward, cut. Raise, forward, cut. Repeat until the rain stops.
Everyone passed, hurray! And then I grabbed a bokken and got sweaty real fast. And then, the rain. Mad, mad sheets of pouring rain, thunder & lightning. Nothing to do but wait it out. Square off 45 degrees to a mirror, stand perfectly still, then move. Raise, forward, cut. Raise, forward, cut. Repeat until the rain stops.
kelly & yuka's wedding
Took Kairi and the gang to Kelly & Yuka's Wedding.
Kairi and I spent most of the time wandering around, walking down stairs and up escalators, and doodling pictures. Ah, to by four again.
just sittin'
So I spent a few days in Tokeiin, a temple in the foothills of Shizuoka Prefecture, at a zen retreat. It was lead by Brad Warner, author of Hardcore Zen and Soto Buddhist Priest. And it was, surprisingly, a most beneficial experience. The food was awesome, too. Turns out the cook was a retired professional chef, so instead of the boring pious monk meals, we had some great stuff including tempura and veggie curry.
I was worried I'd be surrounded by crystal-hugging new age hippies, but was pleased to discover an international crowd (Spain, Canada, USA, France, Lithuania, Argentina, Ireland) of folks generally sincere and pleasant.
Typical day went something like this: 4:30 am wake up. Sit. Eat. Clean. Sit. Discuss. Sit. Eat. Sit. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
I am not entirely convinced that the religion of Buddhism is necessary, though it certainly seems a better alternative than any other religion (a quote I heard and a challenge I make to fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, and Jews: "The principles of Zen Buddhism will not oppose reality, the realm of science.") The zen however, is another thing altogether. I thought swinging a sword for two hours every day was hard. Try this: Sit with your legs crossed reasonably uncomfortably (I recommend full lotus). Relax. Now stare at the wall. And don't move. For 10 minutes. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. 45 minutes.
Hard, isn't it? Not exactly inspirational, but the idea is that if you can sit and deal with your own random thoughts for half an hour, then all the other crap in life won't bug you as much. That's an extremely abridged version of an incredibly limited understanding, but you get the idea.
Oh yeah, I also did 20 minutes of yoga. It was incredibly grueling. I will never make fun of yoga hippies again.
So I am attempting some discipline and continue to wake up at 5:30 every morning and sit for half an hour. Does it help?
how to ruin a japanese garden
Ah, the architectural and artistic travesty that is Roppongi Hills. We grabbed some fine rotator sushi for lunch and checked out the newly opened Banana Republic (small, overpriced) before questing for icecream. Instead of icecream we found, right in the middle of the pond of the traditional garden, these massive Murakami sculptures...sigh...talking 'biggest strength is biggest weakness'; the great and terrible thing about Japan is the juxtaposition (car crash?) of old and new, modern and traditional. Sometimes it works: modern Danish furniture and traditional home architecture, modern retro kimono prints, shamisen mixed with rock. And other times, it fails miserably. Case in point. Then again, it wouldn't be Roppongi Hills unless it was gaudy, expensive, tasteless, overdone, and basically ineffective.
talk
First things first: googleTalk is La Bomba. Download and use. Right now it's only for folks with a gMail account, but that will change soon. BTW, if you want a gMail account, lemme know. I have tons.
Secondly, jetlag sucks bigtime. Still trying to reel my soul back in from NYC. I figure it's somewhere over Hokkaido, and will be with me shortly.
Secondly, jetlag sucks bigtime. Still trying to reel my soul back in from NYC. I figure it's somewhere over Hokkaido, and will be with me shortly.
NYC
Photos from post North Carolina.
Many days of shopping in CT and NYC, hanging out in Gramercy Park with the Guzilla Crew, aristrocratic blasphemy in the University Club, party with Lily, Rolands, and more, the new Moma, plus grandma chowing down on waffles with fruit and extra whipped cream at The Bucaneer!
the south will rise again
3 hour delay in Narita, 2 hour delay in Chicago. Finally got to the hotel in Raleigh at 1am. Up at 8am for traditional biscuits and gravy, grits and bacon breakfast. The whole gang was there: Jeff and Ericka with Lily, Will and Arisa with Big Riki, Lee and Charity, Jenn and Devon, Tony...
After Lily had a quick pee in the pool, we checked out the local farmer's market, tasted some peaches and honey and lemonade (lemons, sugar, water, cherries), picked up some vegan (?) cake, and got back for an afternoon nap before the wedding.
Hiroko was in fine form in her kimono, as were Lee and Charity in matching seersucker and of course Lee and Zareen in matching Traditional Native Dress (her native as in India, not his native as in overalls and a Nascar hat.) The food: samosas, curry, biscuits with country ham. The music: Kevin W. Beck's Worst Hits of the '80s.
The bar back at the Sheraton: devastated.
Finally made it to bed around 2am, up by 7am for breakfast, then Packy drove us to the airport for a puddle jump to LaGuardia.
After Lily had a quick pee in the pool, we checked out the local farmer's market, tasted some peaches and honey and lemonade (lemons, sugar, water, cherries), picked up some vegan (?) cake, and got back for an afternoon nap before the wedding.
Hiroko was in fine form in her kimono, as were Lee and Charity in matching seersucker and of course Lee and Zareen in matching Traditional Native Dress (her native as in India, not his native as in overalls and a Nascar hat.) The food: samosas, curry, biscuits with country ham. The music: Kevin W. Beck's Worst Hits of the '80s.
The bar back at the Sheraton: devastated.
Finally made it to bed around 2am, up by 7am for breakfast, then Packy drove us to the airport for a puddle jump to LaGuardia.
not like it's brain surgery or anything...
Hiroko's dad is doing fine so far. Had some basic, all day brain surgery to relieve the pressure of an aneurysm behind his left eye, in the part of the brain that makes him think Nomo has a shot at returning to the majors. Should have a cool head scar, too, which as we all know is key for impressin' the ladies.
elvis & ballerina
A wee Starbucks break with the kids before a huge cutting session at Honbu. Over 10 people, so we cut mats and made a whole buncha trash. Great session; I wasn't totally lame, but lame enough. Gotta work on my left kesa, and I didn't quite manage to get through the second roll on a double yoki-ichi
-- if I spiked the targets I would have had it, but since spiking is for sissies, I failed wonderfully. So much more to learn!
brunch @ cravings
Was supposed to meet up with The Buena Vista so that I could try and hook him up with Miri (full disclosure: it's her mom that's desparate, not Miri herself!) but he pulled an all-nighter partying. So, I swing'd by the Plant to get some pre-brunch fixins and headed over to Miri's.
Miri herself was having a bit of a late start, so I drank some iced coffee and waited for the air conditioner to kick into high gear. Did the standard sit/chat/stare at the grill until it was obvious that the Buena Vista was a no-show, and then Hiroko called and said she'd be along shortly, so I waited patiently before digging into my SuperSize scrambled eggs with all the trimmings.
Risa, her husband, and her dogs, kicked it at the outside tables, and then SkyCorp Penthouser drives by on his motorcycle, so I wave him in and he gives in to a brunch feast as well.
Managed to spend several hours talking smack and drinking coffee and harassing Miri about hooking up a wireless internet connection, so that I could really REALLY spend all day hanging out and being productive.
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