Enter 2020.

This blog is about my experiences in both gendai and koryu budo. So looking ahead into 2020 I can see changes coming for both Aikido and TSYR. I have been teaching just two children Aikido over the past few years at my private dojo. However, through word-of-mouth I have been asked to take on a few more. This could move my numbers up to five students. To be honest, my small dojo could only handle a maximum of six children on the mat at once so five is good. I have never sought students but I enjoy passing my knowledge of Aikido onto others and will accept children that I think will make good students, I am a picky sensei. I don't apologise for that. My day job keeps me busy so if I am teaching after work I want to enjoy the experience as much as the kids I teach.

As some of you may already know, I have been awarded my Shoden teaching license. This means I can now teach people TSYR. I will be looking to teach in Auckland when I can to help that group increase their skill level. Of course, I will take on teaching responsibilities at the Hamlton Dojo when needed but to be honest that shouldn't be very often as I have a competent teacher there and another capable fellow deshi with a teaching license. 

I started the year as I always do, out in my dojo. This morning I worked on critiquing my batto, first by working on the omote forms and then performing the matching ura version of each kata. I am really enjoying the sword work at the moment. For years I always felt that the sword fought me and I would diligently work through the kata but felt frustrated at my lack of control. Of late, things seem to be clicking. I can make slight adjustments in my technique to get better at the kata and I am finding overlap in some movements which helps. I am enjoying the precision of the kata. 

I also hope to use the summer holidays to do some more renovations on the dojo, I have some work to do to finally tidy up the mat area and complete it properly. That should be possible over the next few weeks. 

So I am excited about what I may be able to achieve this year in my martial arts.

All the best for your own training!

Into a New Year!

So here we are, 2018. 

I sit here typing this post at 7:40 in the morning as the sun streams through my window. It is summer here in New Zealand and I am on holiday. 

Were am I in my training? Well, I started 2018 by getting up in the morning of the 1st of January and went to my private dojo to train. My daughter came with me. I have been giving private lessons of aikido to my daughter and a neighbour's daughter who is a similar age. So it made sense to me that my daughter could follow a tradition I have done for years; either train into the New Year or (in this case) train on the first day of the New Year as soon as possible. 

I do this for a few reasons. Firstly it is a way of making sure I start in a way I mean to carry on for the year. If I get out and train as soon as possible I feel I have started well. Secondly, its important from a Japanese perspective. I train in budo with Japanese roots. The New Year is important to the Japanese so I am respecting the roots of my two arts. 

After warming up on the mats I decided I would do 18 cuts for each of the TSYR battojutsu techniques to represent 2018. My daughter followed along with a bokken doing aiki-ken cuts of her own. As I mentioned, it is summer and it didn't take long for the sweat to appear on our skin. There was only the sound of bird song and the fabric of our keikogi rustling as we went through our cuts. It was a time where I could bond with my daughter without saying much except the occasional technical reminder. It was a time I enjoyed immensely. To be able to share my joy for the martial arts with one of my children is exciting and I feel privileged.

My daughter and I in the dojo.

I continue to work on the dojo. I have been painting the entrance just inside the door. A coat of paint is making a big difference to the original wooden shelves and wall there. I am enjoying the time I have to tick along with projects like this. 

I formally get back to the Hamilton dojo to train tonight (the 3rd) it will be good to see the others and iron out some kinks after being away for a break. 

To my readers who are martial artists, all the best for your training in 2018. May you grow stronger and wiser (whatever that means to you) and keep safe.

Dean.

Small Training Pilgrimage

Just a short post this time.

This weekend I was in Auckland visiting my brother-in-law and thought it would be great to train with Jules and his study group in the city. To make things easier for me, Jules had booked a dojo that is run by one of the other study group members who practises aikido. This dojo is more central and meant I had a 45 minute drive from where I was staying rather than much longer to get across the city to Jule's little dojo out West. This dojo also has a high ceiling that allowed us to work on batto and kumitachi. 

We spent the morning training and I must say I enjoyed myself immensely. The group is dedicated and sincere in their training and I was glad to offer my experience to the mix. They learned from me and I learned from them. One of the members only recently got his training sword when sensei Threadgill was over recently so he has lots to learn. Watching him work through the different kata reminded me of when I first started and made many of the same mistakes. 

I think it is important for those of us from the Hamilton TSYR dojo to train with the Auckland study group when we can. Training together helps TSYR in New Zealand grow and everyone benefits. 

I look forward to training with them again in the near future. 

The Precision of the Sword

We recently had the privilege of having Marco Pinto out to New Zealand. Marco is one of only two people to hold a Chuden teaching license in Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu. Unfortunately I couldn't make the seminar due to family commitments. However, last night at our regular kenjutsu training session my teacher, Chris, went over some of the points that Marco had made. 

It was one of those sessions where Chris picked apart our batto. I really enjoy these sessions because it is good to have someone look at my technique and point out things that might need correcting that I miss. 

Battojutsu is a very precise practice. For instance, during one movement Chris said I needed to move my sword about 1 cm forward at the end of my cut. That extension meant my blade stopped in the correct position. That 1 cm was the difference between the tip of my sword dipping or not. 

An upright posture is critical in sword work as well. If you cut with a lean either to the front or back, it requires more muscular strength to hold the sword as the person's centre of gravity has shifted past their feet, slightly unbalancing them. If you keep your shoulders over your hips then gravity is pulling you down into your feet and you remain stable. Now this is easy to understand if you are doing a straight cut from above your head and down. But some cuts are on the diagonal or horizontal planes and you still have to keep your posture. Easier said than done. 

One area I am working on (one of the many!) is 'noto' or returning the sword to the saya. I am trying to do this without any extra body movement and keeping my weight down the whole time. Noto is one of the few times you have the sharp end of the sword pointing towards yourself and often the time when you can cut yourself. 

After last night's class I had a moment of thinking, "wow, so much to learn in this one kata but the overall curriculum is so large!"

I will leave you with Kaicho Toby Threadgill, showing how its done.

Toby Threadgill Menkyo Kaiden.

The Bar is Raised.

I have recently finished two full days of training (approximately 6 hours a day) with Toby Threadgill. He was back with us, here in NZ and was in top form.

I managed to train both Saturday and Sunday, but there was a Friday night open seminar and  more training on the Monday for those who could take time off work.

So what was the training like?  Well, those attending were members of TSYR. The Hamilton dojo members were the most experienced with the Auckland study group joining us. Threadgill sensei was in good spirits and was showing some great stuff, his expectations of us were high. 

Saturday morning session was dedicated to Tachiai Kansetsu Waza - Katate. Sensei gave some great tips on how to refine our technique. I found this training to be a mixed bag of experiences. If I ended up practicing with one of the less experienced members of the group then I felt I ended up teaching more than refining my own technique. If I was partnered with someone of experience then I could really explore some of the ideas sensei was suggesting. Either training helps improve the quality of the students in general, so I didn't mind. 

The afternoon session started with batto (sword-drawing). This training is tough because Threadgill sensei wants precision in these techniques. It is a matter of repeating movements over and over again and adjusting small sections of the draws. Sometimes by millimetres. It was only the second time I had even been tutored by sensei directly about my batto and it was great. 

After critiquing our batto, sensei asked us to move into the first set of the Shoden kumitachi. He asked myself and one other person to demonstrate each kata before critiquing us and then letting the rest of the class practice. I can tell you that it is a very humbling experience to be asked to demonstrate a technique knowing full well that everyone is watching and sensei is most likely going to find fault in what you are doing. 

Sunday morning saw us back with the Tachiai Kansetsu Waza. This time the Gyakute set. I really enjoyed the tips and advice sensei gave for these techniques. I came away feeling like I had made improvement on many of the techniques. I am finally getting to a point in my training that I can make the corrections sensei asks for sooner than I used to. My body control is much better and my structure is improving. 

After lunch it was onto a further two Batto techniques. Again, sensei has a very high standard when it comes to sword work and we were pushed hard. 

Following the sequence from the day before we moved into kumitachi and sensei put me and the other guy back in the spot light. The second set has some very difficult techniques and we were beat on about those ones. 

Despite the high level of training, I remember some positive moments. While practising our sword cuts, sensei spotted me after one particular cut and said "Dean, that was OK." Believe me that is good praise from sensei. At the end of that afternoon sensei also said to us that "you are starting to look like swordsmen."  Again, high praise, coming from sensei. 

When Threadgill sensei visits it is an opportunity for him to see us improving as a group. It is important that he can see improvement and that we are not wasting his time by inviting him out to NZ. I believe he is happy with our progress and we now have 6 months to put his recent advice into place and improve some more. I felt that he really started to push us this time and he even played around with some freaky jujutsu from time to time, it involved advanced sensitivity and body mechanics. That stuff is mind-boggling but inspiring at the same time. One thing he said more than once is that we needed to start adding flow to our taijutsu techniques. We had the 'big dots' so now we had to start putting them together in a smooth sequence. 

All in all he pushed us right to the edge of our abilities and that can only promote growth. 

A Cautionary Tale.

I was diligently training in my dojo recently. I had worked through all the battojutsu that I knew and I decided to spend some time working on a movement from one of the kumitachi. I had been told prior, that this particular movement can be practiced near a doorway or similar because it is important to move the sword precisely ninety degrees during the movement. So I lined up a section of wall in my dojo that borders where people would enter to step onto the mats. I tried the movement a few times until I was happy that I was moving the sword ninety degrees. The second movement of this technique requires the blade to snap up from a horizontal position to a vertical position. I looked to the low beam that ran across the entrance to the mat and thought, "Will my sword hit that, I guess I will find out."  In the next instance the tip of my sword is embedded in the wood of the beam. My first thought is "My poor sword!" my next thought is "The beam!."

After checking the sword for damage (there was none I could see) I then admired the fine line I had produced in the wood of the beam. It reminded me that despite the fact I am training with a habikito (dull blade), the metal point at the end of the sword is still quite dangerous. It had punched into the wood very well despite a lack of effort on my part.

The cut in the wood reminds me of a group of fine lines over some of the mats at the Hamilton dojo. These lines occurred when Robbie Smith sensei used to train by himself at the dojo. Sometimes he would get the angle of his cuts wrong and hit the mat. Just another reminder that these dull blades are still large metal knives that must be handled with respect.

Takamura sensei had plenty to say on the matter of swords. My understanding is that he was a strong believer in swords taking on the spirit of their owners, or at least being imprinted with past events where they were used. He a list of do's and don'ts when handling swords in the dojo as well. Some of them are Shinto related, others simply there to ensure safety. 

Of course it is a natural progression to think of the implications of training with a shinken (live blade). Imagine the danger of making a mistake with a three foot razor blade!

After a quick search on YouTube under the key terms "sword accident" shows just what can happen.

Shopping Channel Accident

A lesson to be learned there, for sure!  

There are plenty of other videos you can watch, but you get the point (pun intended).

Train safe, folks!

Teaching and Learning

I've had a good week of training and teaching. 

On Wednesday evening I lead the class through all four battojutsu kata at the Hamilton Dojo. We spent the whole session on just those four. I figured that when our sensei came back from the instructor's seminar, he would have lots of new information for us so let's nail our basics. 

Drawing the sword. 

Starting with the first of the kata, I asked everyone to work very slowly but smoothly. While we did this I looked for one or two points each person might need to fix or refine. Sometimes everyone had the same problem so I would stop everyone and just clarify a point. Once everyone had slowly teased out some problems then we would speed up the kata to see how things looked.

We did this for each kata. 

The great thing about teaching is that I learn as well. When I take the time to consider how to explain a concept or share an analogy to help someone through a problem, it clarifies the movements of the technique in my mind also. It can be challenging to come up with a way of describing an idea that the other person understands. Some of the body dynamics we deal with in TSYR are quite subtle and require minute changes in body position or muscle tension. It can be a matter of millimeters between correct and incorrect sometimes. So coming up with a good way of describing movement is very important. Despite only covering four kata, everyone said they enjoyed the training. 

The Saturday morning session was held at my dojo as only one person could make it. It is a long weekend so many people are out and about making the most of the extra day off work. After warming up and going through the Nairiki No Gyo, we decided to quickly work on one of the Idori Te Hodoki that the other guy had not practised for a long time. We then worked through all of the Katate set from the Tachiai Kansetsu Waza (Standing joint locking techniques). 

Rather than just a teacher-student dynamic, here we gave each other feedback as to when we felt our balance was taken and when we didn't. This way we could tweak our techniques as we went. It was a good session with both of us making some progress. It also solidified what we were doing correctly. 

Next we looked at the Tachiai Tai Nage (Body throws). I'm really enjoying these throws at the moment. I had not done much of these sorts of techniques in aikido so I always struggled a bit with them. However, in the recent months something has clicked and I am much more confident in my ability. Just as before, we talked to each other and gave honest feedback to help the other person improve. 

To finish the session off we went back to idori and worked on gaining the centre of the other person while they held both wrists. I find this training fascinating because something like this occurs in aikido training and I knew it as suwari waza kokyu ho. With my TSYR perspective on the exercise I see the value of it much more. 

So that's it. My sensei is back next week and I go back to being the student. I have fulfilled my duty to the dojo by maintaining a training regime while the teacher is away but it will be nice to go back to simply being one of the crowd again. 

Until next time...

Dean.

Getting to know your sword

So, I now have my own, custom-made sword. It is Chinese made but was forged in the traditional manner. It is folded steel that has been differentially heated. I have made it a goal of mine to learn the Japanese terminology for the parts of the sword. I have found the whole experience fascinating. I have looked over numerous Youtube clips and other websites in my eagerness for knowledge.
So what do I know at this point (excuse the pun)?
Kissaski - the point of the sword.
Mune - the back of the blade.
Ha - the edge of the blade.
Hamon - the wavy line on the blade.
Tsuba - the guard.
Habaki - the brass piece that links blade to handle.
Seppa - the brass spacers.
Mekugi - peg that holds handle to tang.
Tsuka - the whole handle.
Same - ray skin wrap.
Saya - scabbard.
Sageo - scabbard cord.

This picture tells the story...

Of course knowing the parts of the sword allow me to look into sword disassembly and care but it is a tool for conflict and ultimately I do TSYR to learn how to use this weapon. 

First there is the practise of battojutsu, or sword drawing. It is a precise discipline and there is much to be gleaned in the four kata we learn at the basic level.

However, the real challenge is simple suburi, the repetition of simple movements such as men strikes. I can swing a bokken through 100 cuts but today, I cut with my sword for 50 cuts and found that swinging a piece of steel about requires conditioning. Something I do not have as of yet. I sit writing this with aching wrists, shoulders and back muscles (also an indication that my technique is poor).

I have a long journey ahead with my sword work, it is by far the weakest part of my practice. However, having my own blade and learning its balance, weight and length is enjoyable.

Now, back to training!  

Drawing a Sword

We have the headmaster of our school, Toby Threadgill visiting again. The Friday morning session was an informal training with the sword. Adam from Australia joined us as we went over the four sword draws in our shoden curriculum. Some points Toby covered were:

a)      When drawing the sword, the left hand pushes the saya out then as the right hands draws the sword, at the same time the left hand is withdrawing the saya. In this way you generate a fast draw.

b)      Keep the shoulders relaxed and make sure when you cut, the power is transferred to your base otherwise tight shoulders cause the person to lurch forward slightly and lose correct posture.

c)       Drop your weight through your step on the point of contact and not before. This generates power for the cut.

d)      Keep the speed of the cut constant throughout. Like a switch; power on, power off. This includes being tense only for the moment of the cut and staying relaxed before and after.

e)      Keep the sword between you and your imaginary opponent. Seems simple enough, right? Then why weren’t we doing that all the time?

f)       Always have a feeling of pressing your opponent. Keep an aggressive mind-set, never passive.

I have yet to purchase my own sword and so will look into this with Toby this time around. I shared the dojo sword today with two others and it is apparent how quickly I lose my technique when just using a bokken.