Typhoons, pros and cons:

Cons

• rain


• rain


• rain


• wind


• rain




Pros

• hardly anyone comes to practice

Last night there were only three of us -- two 3dans and me -- and Ando-sensei, so we got basically one-to-one instruction. First he reviewed torei, the seated bow to the sword. He asked if I knew that I was a bit of topic of discussion because I won my division but Gosoke wasn't thrilled since during torei I held the sword with my right hand from below when tying the sageo (cord attached to the scabbard.) I felt like an idiot, but then Ando-sensei sort of implied that various instructors haven't been as strict in teaching torei as they should. To be honest I remember Kanai-san teaching us to hold the sword with our right hand as I did, but then after the tournament she apologized and taught us to hold the sword with the right hand from above, thumb keeping the tsuba (hand guard) in place. So I get the feeling that Gosoke was more upset with the instructors for not teaching strictly than he was with me for doing it that way. Anyway I'll be more careful at the national tournament in November!
Then Ando-sensei started with one of the more advanced sitting kata, inchuyo, really focusing on the parry and counter-attack movements. Halfway through the class he saw me struggling to keep up and finally asked me what my rank was, and he seemed surprised when I told him 2kyu. "2kyu?! Oh, well in that case you're doing fine." After class Kiyokawa-san told me Ando-sensei probably thought I was at least shodan or 2dan, but since I'd only joined a couple of months ago he couldn't be sure.
Today, the day after Typhoon #6 ripped across Japan, the sky is blue and clear, the sun is bright, and it is hot Hot HOT. Like 35C and 90% humidity hot.

Phil Moore is the bomb. He's Perl Guru and all around genius at Morgan Stanley, and he's one hella-wacky dude, too. My hero.

Bookmark this page; best English news about Japan.

Those crazy students are at it again. Everyone's putting their profile online (left navigation, 3rd link from the top).
Last night's practice was just sweaty. It was a good 30 degrees C with about 90% humidity. My hands were so sweaty I could barely hold onto my sword. Not fun, and it's only getting hotter. Yeah global warming.

Too much BBQ at Jeff and Ericka's. We seem to do that on a regular basis.
Iai tonight; wonder if Kanai-san's ok. She's been out for a week. Probably over-doing it.

Got something nasty to say but can't quite find the right words? Burn it!

Photos and stuff from the 5th Annual Suimokai Mugai-ryu Festival and Competition are up!

Kanai-sensei asked me to write up a blurb about the iai weekend, so I did. Then Hiroko fixed my ridiculous Japanese, I translated it into English (how wierd is that, translating your own writing back into your own native language?) and the result is a rambling masterpiece. The big unintelligible mess on the first half of the page is Japanese, in case you thought your browser was hosed.

I hate mosquitoes, but they love me. So I got The Savanna Canopy Net and now I sleep like jungle royalty.

Couple of new photos of Iai practice up at the student's site.
For those who can't read Japanese, go directly to this frame. The caption next to the freaky white guy reads: "This is ren, who took first in the 3kyu division. He's not a student, but he often comes to practice and busts his ass just like one."

Jorge and Corrine gave birth to Emi, my god-daughter!

To make a long story short: I won! To make a long story long: The tournament started with some demonstrations by Shiokawa Gosoke, Tanaka-sensei, Naganuma-sensei, Ando-sensei, and others. Takana-sensei did some powerful tameshigiri and Naganuma-sensei did some as well, including an incredible okuden ("secret" or super-advanced) technique: seated with the sword lying to his right, with his right hand he smacks the saya so that it goes skittering behind him, leaving the unsheathed sword where it is, and then in the same movement grabs the sword (blade still pointing back) and does a rising right-to-left diagonal cut. It was so fast I don't think I got a good picture, but we'll see when I get the film developed. I guess the idea behind that move is that even in the least agressive (most defenseless) posture, with the sword sheathed and resting on your right, it's still possible to defend yourself. Sword sheathed and resting on your left is more agressive and of course wearing the sword in the belt is the most agressive and defensible position.
As for the tournament, I started in the E block of the lowest (3kyu) division. I had 4 wins to advance to the semi-finals, which where held in the afternoon. But first, the group competition! The point here was to make the judges laugh. We did ok with party streamers and bunny ears, but some of the teams really went the extra kilometer: 5 guys in bathing suits, pool caps, and goggles doing synchronized sword, several remakes of old samurai dramas complete with bad jokes, a troop of monkeys, and general insanity. After embarassing ourselves thoroughly (and losing, which was a good thing since we were only prepared for 3 rounds), I had the semi-final and then the final. I choked a bit during the final: in the second kata I did, called sui-getsu, you draw the sword back horizontally and leave the tip still in the saya (sheath) while sliding back with the right foot to avoid a downward cut, and then turning the hips back to the left and driving the sword horizontally straight into your oponent's abdomen. The worst thing to do is pull back the sword too much so that the tip comes out of the saya and drops; it's key to keep the sword on the same horizontal plane the whole time. But instead I didn't pull enough and almost got my sword caught not quite unsheathed enough. Luckily I am the master of gomakasu (tough to translate, but something like "getting away with" or "making do") and just did a slow draw until the sword cleared, and made sure the forward thrust was flat, straight, and deep. I guess it worked since I won in a 2-1 final judging. And my prize? A case of bananas! Hiroko was so proud. I introduced Kanai-sensei to Hiroko in the hopes that she could help convince Hiroko that I NEED to buy a real sword soon!
After that we went to Tony's down the street from Jeff and Ericka's ostensibly to watch Brazil trample Germany, but I was there for the food. We fired up the BBQ and grilled some chicken and steaks, had Jeff make a mountain of his famous mashed potatoes with the potatoes we got from grandma, and in typical fashion ate way too much.

Finally made it to the yearly koshukai (practice where all the different schools get together) after getting lost on my scooter for a good half hour. Good practice in the morning and then all of a sudden I'm being told I just made 2kyu! A bunch of people tested for shodan in the afternoon, and there was even a sandan test -- hope the photos of the (test cutting) come out ok. Also found out that there's a tameshigiri practice in late July; that should be fun. Tanaka-sensei said I can borrow a sword since I don't have one, but said that if I bent it I have to pay for it, and then Kanai-sensei told me how easily they bend when you cut badly, and then Tanaka-sensei said she should know, as she's always bending them. Seems she had to do tameshigiri for her 4dan test last time, but didn't pass so she's doing it again in October. And then as we were settting up for the tournament tomorrow Gosoke told me to get 1kyu next time and go for shodan in October! Doh! Everyone else was saying I should go for shodan this year, but when Gosoke says, I guess I have no choice.
So the tournament is tomorrow and since I'm in the lowest ranked group there's alot of people, but most won't show up so I was told I've already made it to the quarter finals. We go two at a time and the winner (3 judges call it red or white, majority wins) moves to the next round. My first opponent is female, and I've already been told (by Kanai-sensei, who's judging tomorrow but not my block) that judges tend to encourage female participation and therefore are more lenient, so I've really gotta nail it. Speed isn't required so I have to make my cuts big, keep my eyes steady, and make sure my chiburi (cleaning the blood off the blade before sheating) isn't wimpy...we'll see how it goes.

Causing me father endless amounts of hassle as I'm getting him to finally transfer renfield.net to me; right now I'm just admin contact, but he's registrar. Sorry!

Pet peeve time: waiting for a package to be delivered, and someone had to be home because I owed 850 yen COD. So I use the handy automatic push-button phone packaging system to have the package delivered today in the AM, knowing that the lovely and ever-dependable Lai would be, as she is every Thursday, busily cleaning my apartment. When I came home tonight, 850 yen sat on the coffee table with a note from Lai saying that the package never came. Checking the mailbox I saw the delivery slip: package delivered 12:43pm. Checked the answering machine: message from driver at 12:30pm saying he probably couldn't make it before noon. Called the package center and managed to get a human being. Explained to her that, as far as I know, AM actually implies BEFORE noon, to which she agreed. By some miracle of customer service she got the driver to deliver the package within the next hour. Package received: 8:15pm.
Last night's iaido in Akihabara was kind of freaky but good practice. There was little me (3kyu), another "beginner" (1kkyu), and EVERYONE else was 3dan or above (read: shogun battle masters, the lot of them). After basic practice we ran through the kata for the tournament on Sunday. Head instructor calls out "OK, 3kyu and below...no one here, right?" And I meekly proclaim by rank. All heads swivel and I am called to the front of the pack. We run through the 3 kata I need to know (shin, munezukushi, and enyo) and then before I know what's going on we're running through the dan-level kata, most of which I've never done and several of which I've never even SEEN as they don't teach them until you're at least 3dan. Naganuma-sensei finally came up to me and asked "You don't know these kata do you?" and I jus shook my head. "Don't worry about it, just move to the back and try to follow along...you're drenched in sweat! Don't stress so much!" I thought I had been called up to the front to get drilled before the tournament, but that came later...after kata practice we split into individual practice and I shuffled into a corner out of the way of all the real swords and started practicing. All the instructors, meanwhile, had gathered to practice judging for the tournament. Of course they needed to judge someone, so I and the 1kkyu girl acted as competitors five or six rounds. I thought the judges were just making it up because I actually won 3 of the rounds, but later Taka told me he thought I actually did win a couple of them. Very doubtful it was true, but it was just what I needed to motivate me to practice. General practice ended at 9pm but we could use the gym until 10pm, so Taka and I stayed around working on a few points: me, chiburi, him, really fast draw and cut. Finally the security guard kicked us out at ten and we cruised back to Ebisu to get some Ippudo ramen and talk crap until 11:30pm.
By the way the package I got was another iaido uniform: shorter hakama because I have stumpy little legs and a cotton top, much cooler (as in temp, not the Fonz) for summer practice.

I really hate mosquitoes. Woke up at three-thirty in the morning when a mosquito was dive-bombing close enough to my ear to drag me from my gentle slumber. Immediately noticed my left forearm and right shoulder were itchy. Got up, found the muhi, drank some water, turned on the electric mosquito repeller and started searching the net for mosquito nets for the bed.

Ericka proved that even without Jeff she's still the Queen of Meat. BBQ dinner at her place with a bottle of wine for every attendant, way too many s'mores, and surprisingly good chicken. Though this doesn't mean Ericka can actually cook nearly as well as Jeff, it does prove she's not totally lost without him.
Her brother is also here, having just moved to Japan 2 days ago to begin an exciting career as an English teacher. In proper welcome-to-Japan fashion, "the boys" (Kevin, Stevie, etc.) took him out on his first night in Japan and proceeded to alcoholically pound the jet-lag out of him. Alas, big sister was smart enough to know that it wouldn't work and dragged him home in the not-so-wee hours. He was still looking a bit confused last night, but it could have been the company more than the jetlag. We tend to have that effect on people.
Hiroko should be coming home today after spending a couple of less-than-pleasant days back and the parentals'; beware the fried clams!

I like the frogs. They are plentiful during the rainy season. They don't make noise, they just come out of the bushes and flop around on the walkways running to and from my aparment. However they are also not so bright. I have come home many a night this week on my scooter, carefully weaving my way up the path at a slow crawl only to have a frog brazenly jump from the relative safety of the edge of the bushes to directly in front of my tire. I am yet to squish a frog, and I don't look forward to the inevitable day when it happens. They ain't small by any means, and scooter-flattened frog will not make or the walkway any better. Alas, yet another chapter in the battle of man vs. the elements.
In other news I've been cranking on the iaido report for Gosoke; checking all the web directories, search engines, and asking about on various bulletin boards for English information about Mugai-ryu. Most information seems to be from a certain Takada-sensei in Finland, and the pupils of the late Kuniba-sensei in the U.S. are also quite active, though it seems Kuniba-sensei created his own school based on Mugai-ryu...interesting how these things develop. We shall see how Gosoke feels about my report next week as I'll hand it over to Kanai-sensei on Monday.

Gosoke is the honorable reference to the head and/or leaders of Mugai-ryu. English equivalents like "16th Grand Master" just sound silly, so we'll stick with Gosoke.

I am definitely liking this tuesday iaido practice with the college students. Last night Kanai-sensei drilled us for over an hour in basics; repeating cuts back and forth across the floor. I think some of the guys get a little bored, but since I still don't have any idea of what I'm doing, I appreciate the attention to detail. Kanai-sensei doesn't miss anything and is always correcting my blade angle or wrist position. We then went into individual practice to get ready for the enbukai end of this month, and somehow Kanai-sensei manages to be watching me the one time (ok one out of ten times) I step on my own hakama when standing up or something. At least I'm getting the bows correctly (I think.)
After practice Shiokawa-san had about 8 calls on his cell from Gosokei (THE head of Mugai-ryu!), who told him to tell Kanai-sensei to call him with me around. I immediately assumed I'd done some horrible impropriety and would be banned from Mygai-ryu for life or something, so trembling with fear I told Kanai-sensei to call Gosokei and...her cellphone battery was dead. So we waited for Shiokawa-san to come down and give her the phone number and she used my phone to call him.
Turns out he's really interested in the English translations of the homepage I've been working on with Chihara-san, and wanted Kanai-sensei to ask me about search engines and such in English so that Mugai-ryu can get properly registered and understood around the world. So I'm going to do some research on top martial arts sites and search engines and report to Gosokei.

Too much food. Fear of World Cup hooliganism (and basic lethargy) prompted Hiroko and I to have a lovely meal at Lucky on Friday, and then last night Hiroko cooked up another monster-meal when Kevin, Z, Ericka, and Jeff came over. Jeff and Ericka just came back from doing time with the relatives, and they shared stories about his disfunctional family and near-death experience on the flight home. Plans for a Costco trip where put in motion, but since Jeff is off to Europe for a couple weeks it'll wait until he gets back.