50DoD:Day 3
Private lesson, covering the first three kata with lots of specific technical pointers.
First kata: When advancing in between the first and second cuts, you don't actually move forward very far. But when you do move, it should be with a feeling of "pursuit", almost like you're seizing more territory with the outstretched sword, and only then pulling it back overhead for the down-stroke.
Nukitsuke: Don't actually pop the seal on the sword with your thumb, do it with a squeeze of the left fingers against the tsuba, then slide the hand forward so it practically encloses the koiguchi, the mouth of the scabbard. When drawing, the left thumb and forefinger should be pinching the spine of the sword. It seems like it's putting the fingers in harm's way, but whenever I do manage to remember to do it this way, the resulting draw is much more relaxed and controlled until the moment of the actual cut, which comes out fast and smooth. This particular grasshopper doesn't understand why.
Chiburi: right fist swings out and rotates the sword back; then the elbow bends without moving, then literally bump the side of your head with your thumb knuckle at the same time the butt of the hilt comes into view centered above your eyes. Seems fiddly, except that the whole point is that now you know where the sword is, and you know that if you punch forward from here, you can flick the blood off the blade without flicking the blade through your own scalp. Or, with a non-sharp sword, you'll give yourself a nasty little welt and have to do the rest of the kata with a face beet-red with embarrassment. Purely hypothetically.
Second kata: The second kata is exactly like the first, except for the 180-degree swivel at the start and the mirror-image footwork. It seemed kind of redundant to me at first. But now I think that it does a really good job of exposing whether or not you *really* know what you're doing in the first kata, or if you're just acting like a robot. Can you do the movements of the first kata when you start out moving instead of at rest, or does the swivel destroy your composure?
Also, it helps to make sure your feet are clear of your hakama before starting the swivel, or you will tangle yourself and trip. Very embarrassing. One can only hope your opponent - y'know, the one trying to surprise attack you from behind, prompting the swivel in the first place - is at this point paralyzed with laughter. Sadly, this observation isn't hypothetical at all.
Third kata: The bane of my existence. A lot harder than it looks. But sensei helped me break it down, movement by movement. That first step is very short, ball of the left foot approx. even with the right knee; the left heel doesn't touch the ground. The transition from the parry to the strike is made simpler just by squeezing the usual tenouchi, making the sword snap around to the ready position with hardly any effort. (Also! On that video, check out how amazingly long that guy's sword is, relative to his body size. You can see the sayabiki action as he resheaths - look for the scabbard to be briefly visibly past his right hip as he does the hinge open-and-shut movement that will enclose the tip of the sword. I want to be able to do that when I grow up.)
First kata: When advancing in between the first and second cuts, you don't actually move forward very far. But when you do move, it should be with a feeling of "pursuit", almost like you're seizing more territory with the outstretched sword, and only then pulling it back overhead for the down-stroke.
Nukitsuke: Don't actually pop the seal on the sword with your thumb, do it with a squeeze of the left fingers against the tsuba, then slide the hand forward so it practically encloses the koiguchi, the mouth of the scabbard. When drawing, the left thumb and forefinger should be pinching the spine of the sword. It seems like it's putting the fingers in harm's way, but whenever I do manage to remember to do it this way, the resulting draw is much more relaxed and controlled until the moment of the actual cut, which comes out fast and smooth. This particular grasshopper doesn't understand why.
Chiburi: right fist swings out and rotates the sword back; then the elbow bends without moving, then literally bump the side of your head with your thumb knuckle at the same time the butt of the hilt comes into view centered above your eyes. Seems fiddly, except that the whole point is that now you know where the sword is, and you know that if you punch forward from here, you can flick the blood off the blade without flicking the blade through your own scalp. Or, with a non-sharp sword, you'll give yourself a nasty little welt and have to do the rest of the kata with a face beet-red with embarrassment. Purely hypothetically.
Second kata: The second kata is exactly like the first, except for the 180-degree swivel at the start and the mirror-image footwork. It seemed kind of redundant to me at first. But now I think that it does a really good job of exposing whether or not you *really* know what you're doing in the first kata, or if you're just acting like a robot. Can you do the movements of the first kata when you start out moving instead of at rest, or does the swivel destroy your composure?
Also, it helps to make sure your feet are clear of your hakama before starting the swivel, or you will tangle yourself and trip. Very embarrassing. One can only hope your opponent - y'know, the one trying to surprise attack you from behind, prompting the swivel in the first place - is at this point paralyzed with laughter. Sadly, this observation isn't hypothetical at all.
Third kata: The bane of my existence. A lot harder than it looks. But sensei helped me break it down, movement by movement. That first step is very short, ball of the left foot approx. even with the right knee; the left heel doesn't touch the ground. The transition from the parry to the strike is made simpler just by squeezing the usual tenouchi, making the sword snap around to the ready position with hardly any effort. (Also! On that video, check out how amazingly long that guy's sword is, relative to his body size. You can see the sayabiki action as he resheaths - look for the scabbard to be briefly visibly past his right hip as he does the hinge open-and-shut movement that will enclose the tip of the sword. I want to be able to do that when I grow up.)