This week's Sunday Session started off with our "first full warm-up", according to the instructor de jour: "Beginners (such an endearing term), you have just experieincee your first full warm up" he said. It really wasn't that different from the ones we had done before—a bit longer with more hip rotations, perhaps—but perhaps I am just feeling a little jaded because we practised rather than learnt this day. Or because I do not feel particularly inpired at the mo'.
And practise we did. We even had to dump the shinai and simulate our swings without them. And I actually got picked up a few times for not extending my left arm to its full extent. Ever since the notorious Sardinian moped incident of 2002, I have a bunch o' trouble with the ol' left shoulder. Most probably because it is a good inch shorter than it used to be. fucker.
Swings were perfected. First sans shinai, then one-handed, which is tough on the old left arm after a couple of series of ten swings. To the point where we all seemed to be doing the right thing, apart from me still having a spot of bother with the full left arm extension. The other thing that is doing my head in is the parallel feet thing. My left heel quite likes keeping the position it always has kept, namely slightly tucked in towards the right. And that's not parallel. Which means I have to keep my mind on it, reminding it where it should be and forcing it there because it is not a natural position for my old size 10½. So, I've got to keep my mind on a whole bunch of things at once and yet on nothing at the same time. I spose that's zen for you...
What we did end up learning was the ritual of the rei, which is the process you go though when facing your opponent. And it's kinda fun—we enviously notice all the 'seniors and juniors' as they're called getting on with it, while we're swinging in the breeze, so there is a certain joy in moving on and actually facing someone. The rei, which is the bow, begins the ritual as follows: stading approximately 9 paces from your opponent, shinai at ease, you bow the 15° degree/eye-contact bow; come to attention, with your thumb on the tsuba; take three strides forward, drawing you shinai on the second step and coming into kamae on your third; now we descend into sonkyo, but with our shinai crossing at the tip; and then back up to kamae. At the end of our 'bout' we reverse the ritual, sheathing our shinai in the sonkyo pose, and taking five small steps backwards, rather than 3 larger ones. Then bow again, and we're done.
What resembled a proper training then followed: we line up along either side of our half of the dojo, rei to one another and complete our enjoining rituals, then practise 10 men cuts each way, and complete our rituals—which actually make it a helluva lot easier to hold that constant eye contact we're meant to be holding, and give us a brief excuse for a bit of emotion or familiarity at the end of each bout. Then we all move one place to the left. New partner, same practice. It's certainly much more fun than simply lining up and swinging in the air.
Finally we were shown what the do cut is: the cut to the waist. But we didn't get to practice that as we were out of time and my parents awaited me with some yum cha and a room full of my old crap to either keep, sell or toss out. Instead we were shown the do and how to block it. Pity I can't make tonight. I feel I'll be left behind.
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