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.
tomoe
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.
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