Grading October 2007 @ AKC Dojo

KYAAA!

I finally got Ikyuu!

Wow, I dont feel super elated but I do feel better. It was a bit of shame being ni-kyuu. Especially when I think back to the last grading that I had.

...
I had a good drink up with Nakazawa Sensei the night before(?) !! But Come On! dont blame that!




Maby not super happy but definately more settled. it was kind of shame for me to be ni-kyuu.

Im really not so nervous about gradings anymore. its just like another day at the Dojo, except people are sitting around watching you. almost like normal.
I guess not so nervous also because ive made friends with most of my seniors. so dont have to feel so stupid.


I feel pretty confident about my kata, perhaps I had stepped too far on some of the cuts resulting in some deep cuts... Overall I executed them strongly, Brent even said so.

I am also very happy that the Sensei's had forgotten that I was ni-kyuu and assumed that I was going for Dan grade. or would have had to of graded with lower grades and only done two kata again. that would have been anoying.

This grading we got to do 5 Kata. Happy happy.

However the fight was pretty lame. I know it, it did not feel good. If we had fought earlier in the day I suppose that this fight would not have felt like a wimpy warm up fight. But it did. I blocked heaps (=BAD), and did not pass through on my cuts except once. the other times we just kept crashing tsuba-to-tsuba. not a good look.
didnt particularly feel like my kiai tonight brought down the house but it was loud.

Watching the others was pretty nice. I liked to see some of the kendoka that I had been helping out were showing what they had learnt. executing some nice basics. And particularily some of the Kendoka from Jason's Kumdo Dojo's. tis good to see.

Cant remember how Ollie/Alrean fared but I was pretty proud that he fought in armour for his first grading. kewl uh?!


Apart from that, no prem-swordulation or funnies. Heres some pics that Sachiyo gave me from her Camera!

Domo-Arigato sa-chan!

my thoughts on my Kendo pt 1

I have been doing Kendo for awhile now, just think it may be a good time to look back and reflect on what I have learnt.

I started last year back in May.
I would have started earlier but had some things on my mind which in the end was the initial reason for joining Kendo.

Why I joined? Revenge.

I wanted to beat someone else who also did a martial arts. I wanted to hurt this person, not just physically. But to prove my skills were deadlier. I still to this day hate this person very much.

So if you see my shinai is striking Men higher than my head height, just know that person was taller than me.

After several months, my love for kendo outgrew that hate.
I fully enjoyed this. For the first time since hockey Im fighting (just not brawling ^_^).
Admitedly I am a geek. In my Lunchtimes I'd go to the Library and get out books on Kendo. I learnt much from Chiba Sensei and D.M Craig Sensei. I recomend "The Heart of Kendo" to anyone wanting some light reading on Kendo. I brought it $56 from Pathfinder on Wellesley/Lorne St.

I found the first warm up very hard to resist laughing. I fully felt like I was doing some kind of funky aerobics! Oscar kept making weird jokes and unfortunately practicing vs Steve just made it irresistible to Laugh! For the rest of the lesson Oscar would have to tell me to shut up, and steve would threaten to knock me on the head with the Bokuto.
Kendo is not always seriousness. There was the time one of the "Sempai's" said 'now dont be too quick when you are pulling out the bokuto, you dont want Premature Swordulation'



Holy shit you dont know how much i wanted to die 'cause i had to hold my breath that badly or i would laugh!




Then there was the quite amusing times when Patrick would hitch his hakama up into his obi and try to show us noobs how to okuri-ashi and fumikomi... Not to mention the time he fell flat on his face and NO ONE SAID A WORD... We will miss you when you leave!

When I first started I met Oscar I beleive. Then I met Bek's, Rachel and Lacey. Awesome Trio.
I came in when they had Kata practice. And Ben was teaching me, along side of Beks. I copied everything I could.
I always wore Jeans to practice. I dont have any clothes to beat around in!
I made fast friends with Geoffrey and Nina. Me and Geoff hang out every now and then. Nina is hard to get in touch with.

The second time I did Grading I made sure that most people knew my name properly!
Oscar had written down my name wrong on the Grading List. when my name was called out I yelled "ITS REGAN!!" and even corrected it on the list.

I made friends with Mina, she was cool to watch doing Kendo. I still have to learn to move like her especially when passing through.
When I first met Hisashi, he was... omoshiroi. His english was so bad I felt very sorry for him!
"Two men Horward, two men back..." @_@ (LOL)
Jeeze even the beginners class starting ganging up on him!
- "But we were told this!"
Im glad that I heard him say at the last lesson I saw him teach "My ways are different please take them on for this lesson at least"
After awhile he's gotten pretty good at teaching. I can see he enjoys making the kendoka fumikomi up and down the dojo, and try 'okashi' techniques. :o)


I have huge respect for the Sensei's. They are wonderful teachers. I love Brents Haisuburi class.. just not at the moment I am so unfit and I swear my back's gonna break!
Oh and Kens '1000' Suburi class! What a effort, I love haisuburi. I cant beleive I was so fit back then and now look at me! I hate Office work!

Speaking of the office, I love it when they ask me where I got my Bruises from. It makes me think of the night before... Kinda like im having a "Fight Club" moment.


to wrap up this reminiscing: I have fully enjoyed Kendo and I will never give it up. I have learnt so much from it, made really good friends and been on some good trips.

wasting precious time at lunch

well, found a nice way to pass the time at lunch.

BLOG!

And the good thing too is that my typing is pretty fast now so what ever I think and say I can almost type just as fast. Kewl huh?

Well no weird dreams as of such lately. Just a very sore back!

a few weeks ago I went to a small Kendo tournament held down in Wellington. for about a month I had trained 4 times a week for it, and now that it is over Im reaping the painful rewards. I wake up sore, I get worse at work sitting and typing all day, getting tense too when I have to deal with a annoying person, and then shoot off to Kendo for more beatings!

not to mention too that I am going to the Gym at least 3 times a week...

Its not always painful, only when I get a back rub or try to relax before sleeping. The pain that I was not aware of comes.

I have a new friend in Kendo, I was shocked when I found out this pretty Korean girl had chosen a Maori name for here. Moana! (the sea??)

Any way, since I have found out she does accupuncture I will try to get some info out of her to help me get better. She really sounds like she knows her stuff! So its great that she is doing kendo. Actually we need more Girls. We could start a Chicks Kendo team.

Yeah we would be so tough we'd be feared every tournament we go to!

GRRR! AJA AJA FIGHTING! [U____U lawl haha @_@]

Sounds good huh!

when work starts to get to you...

before I wokeup on saturday morning to go to keiko practice with Leon, I had a very sad dream.

unfortunately it involved my work.
I work for a power-company where disconnections of customers and vacant properties are done daily.

I dreamt that I found out we were going to disconnect a neigbour for only $4.79 which was 60-90 days overdue. When I looked at the neighbours house, it had a beautiful semi-mansion looking face/front, but when I looked at it from the back I found that the inside had burnt out, and all that was left of the large rectangular area where the rest of the house should have been, was just a little room huddled up against the front of the building. There was a small light on inside and the elderly couple had not been receiving their mail in months.

I was bloody bawling my eyes out! Ive hardly cried in dreams before but this was something else!!

I then dreamt that I grabbed their bill, told them to stop the freaking disco and I paid the bloody bill myself! I was so frustrated!

when i woke up later, my pillow was not wet. but it did feel real?

its so weird? I told leon about it later and he laughed. He said he had a dream about work once too where there was heaps of money in the accounts one second, he was very happy. then he checked it again and there was nothing!

this dream definately means that im too much of a empathetic person.