Original intention was to check out a kimono store that I saw in a magazine, but since I forgot the map at home, we ended up wandering up the street past the madly crowded, newly opened Omtesando Hills, checking out the cool antiques at Oriental Bazaar, and then heading up into Aoyama to find the Sybilla store so that Hiroko could buy a new wallet.
omotesando hills
desert @ kyushu festival
Hiroko and I got all kimono'd up and had a Saturday of food and fun. First we went to Isetan Department Store in Shinjuku to check out the Kyushu Food Festival. We started with the traditional Sasebo Burger and then finished up with various munchings and tastings of all the local delicacies. Ended up buying bags full of stuff for later consumption before heading off to Harajuku.
west coast taikai day two
The main event! I ended up interpreting for most of the time, and judging for the rest. Everyone looked good and there were over 70 competitors so it was a solid day. I thought I could jump into the iai cutting division, but turns out I had to judge! (Bummer too because I am quite sure I would have beat all of my students.)
The overall winner was Robin Ramirez, who was solid in placing across the board in both kata and cutting. He won a Howard Clark blade which I am sure he will have no trouble setting up himself.
We even ended on time, besides a minor crisis at the end running out of ink and Japanese people to write up all the winners' certificates.
When all was said and done there were a couple thousand cut targets and many smiling people.
After the taikai we went out to dinner and ended up eating greasy Chinese food. Just when dinner was finishing, the airline called to say they had Hataya-sensei's luggage! He lost his stuff the week before in Florida, and now the day before leaving it had arrived! He didn't care though; he was so happy to get back his stuff and specifically all the swords he bought that when we made it back to the hotel he wanted to buy everyone a round but the bar had just closed.
I ended up taking a few swords back for him since it was easier than shipping.
The overall winner was Robin Ramirez, who was solid in placing across the board in both kata and cutting. He won a Howard Clark blade which I am sure he will have no trouble setting up himself.
We even ended on time, besides a minor crisis at the end running out of ink and Japanese people to write up all the winners' certificates.
When all was said and done there were a couple thousand cut targets and many smiling people.
After the taikai we went out to dinner and ended up eating greasy Chinese food. Just when dinner was finishing, the airline called to say they had Hataya-sensei's luggage! He lost his stuff the week before in Florida, and now the day before leaving it had arrived! He didn't care though; he was so happy to get back his stuff and specifically all the swords he bought that when we made it back to the hotel he wanted to buy everyone a round but the bar had just closed.
I ended up taking a few swords back for him since it was easier than shipping.
west coast taikai day 1
First official day of the taikai started at 8am with seminars. We did the first Mugairyu seminar with a big group who worked hard for almost two hours. We spent most of the time on small details like noto and chiburi, as it was these bits that Gosoke really wanted folks to work on.
After the seminar I helped Tony with the iai cutting seminar; luckily I didn't blow any of my cuts when I cut first, and then took a few folks off to the side to help them work on technique. Cutting from the draw is harder than it looks, and I think a few people were honestly surprised that they couldn't cut. But then again, not everyone practices cutting iai like Mugairyu, so I think there was much learning going on.
After that I jumped into the wakizashi cutting seminar. Tony rolled over in his wheelchair and nailed a few cuts, and I borrowed folks' swords and worked on my basics.
Did one more Mugai seminar in the afternoon with a smaller group before the demonstration in the evening. Gosoke used his new Howard Clark sword and did a stunning demo that blew everyone away. After the demo we had some dinner in the hotel and hung out chatting with Ted, Keith, and the rest of the motley crew. Keith had one of Howard's blades on sale that I broke down and had to buy. It was simply stunning though I won't see it for a year or so as it still needs a polish and mounting.
After the seminar I helped Tony with the iai cutting seminar; luckily I didn't blow any of my cuts when I cut first, and then took a few folks off to the side to help them work on technique. Cutting from the draw is harder than it looks, and I think a few people were honestly surprised that they couldn't cut. But then again, not everyone practices cutting iai like Mugairyu, so I think there was much learning going on.
After that I jumped into the wakizashi cutting seminar. Tony rolled over in his wheelchair and nailed a few cuts, and I borrowed folks' swords and worked on my basics.
Did one more Mugai seminar in the afternoon with a smaller group before the demonstration in the evening. Gosoke used his new Howard Clark sword and did a stunning demo that blew everyone away. After the demo we had some dinner in the hotel and hung out chatting with Ted, Keith, and the rest of the motley crew. Keith had one of Howard's blades on sale that I broke down and had to buy. It was simply stunning though I won't see it for a year or so as it still needs a polish and mounting.
la day two
Slept in until 9ish, had some breakfast with Gosoke and checked email until Tony came by and took us to the hotel. We checked in and got settled, then went to Senpokan again this time for promotion testing. Everyone looked really solid, though it's the finer details that they need work on; the non-cutting bits like bowing and other formalities were quite sloppy. However, seven people tested for 3dan and they all cut from the draw. They looked really, really tight and Gosoke was intensely proud because it was obvious everyone worked really hard practicing on their own since Gosoke had seen them last.
After the test we did the kumitachi again and then Ted presented Gosoke with his Howard Clark swords. Finally we headed out for Mexican food. Everyone was there including Hataya-sensei, and Hata-chan even flew in from LA. Good food was had by all before retiring to the hotel.
After the test we did the kumitachi again and then Ted presented Gosoke with his Howard Clark swords. Finally we headed out for Mexican food. Everyone was there including Hataya-sensei, and Hata-chan even flew in from LA. Good food was had by all before retiring to the hotel.
la day one
Singapore Airlines is amazing. Seriously, truly wonderful. All the stewardesses are beautiful young women in attractive uniforms with impeccable service and manners. Each and every economy seat comes with a footrest, an entertainment system with tens of movies, hundreds of songs, and video games on demand. The entire plane has free, highspeed wireless internet. The food is stupendously good. And they gave me free socks and a toothbrush. Damn, that's good flying!
Landed at LAX and hung around waiting for Rogue 1 Brown Leader who was supposed to land earlier but ended up getting delayed and landed later. His swords were put in a locked aluminum gun case by ANA, who didn't bother telling anyone in LA the combo to the lock, so short work with a knife and a screw driver and we popped the aluminum lock hasp off the case. Hint: steel lock does no good on weak aluminum case.
Got to the Senpokan Dojo in time for afternoon class. Gosoke was already there and we had class for a few hours; did some iai and then the kumitachi that no one had done before, then went to a local Italian place for dinner. Hint #2: if someone calls your restaurant making a reservation for 25 people and you only have one cook working, do not say yes. Naturally, Gosoke got his pizza last, after an hour and a half wait. Went back to Tony's and promptly collapsed on the air mattress.
Landed at LAX and hung around waiting for Rogue 1 Brown Leader who was supposed to land earlier but ended up getting delayed and landed later. His swords were put in a locked aluminum gun case by ANA, who didn't bother telling anyone in LA the combo to the lock, so short work with a knife and a screw driver and we popped the aluminum lock hasp off the case. Hint: steel lock does no good on weak aluminum case.
Got to the Senpokan Dojo in time for afternoon class. Gosoke was already there and we had class for a few hours; did some iai and then the kumitachi that no one had done before, then went to a local Italian place for dinner. Hint #2: if someone calls your restaurant making a reservation for 25 people and you only have one cook working, do not say yes. Naturally, Gosoke got his pizza last, after an hour and a half wait. Went back to Tony's and promptly collapsed on the air mattress.
ginza sushi & shopping
Hiroko and I checked out the sushi faire in Mitsukoshi and then walked down Chuo Dori for some shopping.
Hiroko got a new cellphone (finally) and they used this machine to punch holes in her old phone to guarantee her old data doesn't get stolen.
(Please note: there is a machine whose sole purpose is to punch holes in used cell phones.)
Then we went to Uniqlo and I took Elvis' advice and got me some toe socks.
frustation indeed
Elvis is hitting a rough patch, so I figured I'd throw in my two yen about The Big Questions: why do I train? what's the point? who are all these idiots? when does it get better? where am I going?
Don't want to belittle his struggles, as they are totally valid and, I believe, a good part of training. I been through them myself. Hit three major valleys of doom and gloom at 3rd, 4th, and 5th dan. (Probably in my fourth now at 6th dan, but I'm in denial.)
I don't like giving advice. Everyone has to figure out what's best for him. For good or bad, no one has the luxury of being a samurai anymore and therefore having the right (the duty) to dedicate one's life to the pursuit of the martial arts. We gotta pay the rent. We have jobs, families, lives. So the first issue comes down to time management. I came to Japan because I always wanted to come here and train. And once I got here, I decided I didn't want to do nothing BUT train. I met a brilliant woman and married her. I have a well-paying but massively time-consuming, challenging, and fascinating career in the finance industry. I like to do a couple of decidedly non-budo things. And therefore obviously I don't train as much as I could, and maybe I don't progress as much as I could, and I don't study as many different arts as maybe I could.
And I like it that way. I dropped kendo for aikido, started Mugairyu, dropped aikido and added various other weapons the Mugairyu, and when all is netted out, the sword is the thing for me.
We have several hundred members in our organization, and I would honestly say a mere handful of them are actually interested in training as seriously (or more) than I. If there are four of them out of 400, that's a pretty good percentage I think. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people who train in aikido all over the world, only a handful are dedicated and serious enough to go to Honbu in Shinjuku and train for reals. Elvis is one of them. More power to him. If he has to make a choice to spend less time in Mugai and more on aikido, it's not a bad choice, or a good choice. It's HIS choice, and by definition it is therefore the right choice.
Like Buddha said (okay rough paraphrase): doubt is good. And the only resolution for doubt is action.
Don't want to belittle his struggles, as they are totally valid and, I believe, a good part of training. I been through them myself. Hit three major valleys of doom and gloom at 3rd, 4th, and 5th dan. (Probably in my fourth now at 6th dan, but I'm in denial.)
I don't like giving advice. Everyone has to figure out what's best for him. For good or bad, no one has the luxury of being a samurai anymore and therefore having the right (the duty) to dedicate one's life to the pursuit of the martial arts. We gotta pay the rent. We have jobs, families, lives. So the first issue comes down to time management. I came to Japan because I always wanted to come here and train. And once I got here, I decided I didn't want to do nothing BUT train. I met a brilliant woman and married her. I have a well-paying but massively time-consuming, challenging, and fascinating career in the finance industry. I like to do a couple of decidedly non-budo things. And therefore obviously I don't train as much as I could, and maybe I don't progress as much as I could, and I don't study as many different arts as maybe I could.
And I like it that way. I dropped kendo for aikido, started Mugairyu, dropped aikido and added various other weapons the Mugairyu, and when all is netted out, the sword is the thing for me.
We have several hundred members in our organization, and I would honestly say a mere handful of them are actually interested in training as seriously (or more) than I. If there are four of them out of 400, that's a pretty good percentage I think. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people who train in aikido all over the world, only a handful are dedicated and serious enough to go to Honbu in Shinjuku and train for reals. Elvis is one of them. More power to him. If he has to make a choice to spend less time in Mugai and more on aikido, it's not a bad choice, or a good choice. It's HIS choice, and by definition it is therefore the right choice.
Like Buddha said (okay rough paraphrase): doubt is good. And the only resolution for doubt is action.
you put your right elbow in...
Elbows. Gosoke always talks about sanken-no metsuke, the three points to watch: hand, elbow shoulder. Mainly, you watch the right hand if you want to know where the other dude's sword is going. And of course, if you want your sword to go where you need it to go, you have to pay attention to how you use (which generally means extend) your rist, elbow, and shoulder.
Today we focused on the right elbow. Alot of times the right elbow will be almost totally extended by the time the sword is drawn. This usually results in a locked elbow (sometimes even hyper-extended or tennis elbow) and a full arm swing from the shoulder. Lots of muscle, lots of rotation, not alot of forward momentum and minimal hip power, kind of like whipping the arm out after cocking and unwinding the hips.
Then again muscles on do work when contracting, not expanding, so in order to extend your elbow, you basically contract your tricep; not an impressively powerful way to generate cutting force. The key is, obviously, to extend wrist, elbow, and shoulder all at just the correct time, all moving together to channel the energy from the hips moving in, and don't forget the left hand pulling away and the right hand drives forward. Whole body has to move as one complete unit, all the bits doing their part in tune to all the other bits.
Today we focused on the right elbow. Alot of times the right elbow will be almost totally extended by the time the sword is drawn. This usually results in a locked elbow (sometimes even hyper-extended or tennis elbow) and a full arm swing from the shoulder. Lots of muscle, lots of rotation, not alot of forward momentum and minimal hip power, kind of like whipping the arm out after cocking and unwinding the hips.
Then again muscles on do work when contracting, not expanding, so in order to extend your elbow, you basically contract your tricep; not an impressively powerful way to generate cutting force. The key is, obviously, to extend wrist, elbow, and shoulder all at just the correct time, all moving together to channel the energy from the hips moving in, and don't forget the left hand pulling away and the right hand drives forward. Whole body has to move as one complete unit, all the bits doing their part in tune to all the other bits.
grandpa kuroda
Hiroko's grandfather (dad's dad) passed away in his sleep last night.
We had just seen him and everyone a couple of weeks ago when we went home for the new year's holidays. We brought a box of taiyaki, the really good ones from Naniwaya, and he was happy to receive. I think he ate two. Even after his stroke, he would still putter about in the yard, trimming the immaculate garden leaf by leaf. I think he finally just got tired, when to bed, and didn't wake up.
Wake is on Thursday and cremation on Friday, so Hiroko and I will go home for a long weekend.
We had just seen him and everyone a couple of weeks ago when we went home for the new year's holidays. We brought a box of taiyaki, the really good ones from Naniwaya, and he was happy to receive. I think he ate two. Even after his stroke, he would still putter about in the yard, trimming the immaculate garden leaf by leaf. I think he finally just got tired, when to bed, and didn't wake up.
Wake is on Thursday and cremation on Friday, so Hiroko and I will go home for a long weekend.
machida
Big turnout for the dan-ranked training seminar -- over 60 people!
After that, went down to Machida again to have Hataya-sensei switch out the tsuba on my cutter. The tsuba I bought last time I was down there but that he forgot to switch out for me. Hataya-sensei is a great, kind, and talented man. But he has a memory like a sieve.
Met Florida at the shop and walked back to his newly built home. Had dinner and marvelled at the droopy-eared pair of sausages running rampantly back and forth across his floor. Cool house, too. Heated floors and central air-purification are sporty!
After that, went down to Machida again to have Hataya-sensei switch out the tsuba on my cutter. The tsuba I bought last time I was down there but that he forgot to switch out for me. Hataya-sensei is a great, kind, and talented man. But he has a memory like a sieve.
Met Florida at the shop and walked back to his newly built home. Had dinner and marvelled at the droopy-eared pair of sausages running rampantly back and forth across his floor. Cool house, too. Heated floors and central air-purification are sporty!
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