I had been absent from kendo practice for about two weeks due to my health condition. During these two weeks, I hadn’t even done suburi. In fact, aside from work, I had been sleeping most of the time.
I resumed practice this week.
On Wednesday’s practice, I was engaged in ji-geiko with a certain mentor. The 8th dan master who usually guides me was sitting in seiza on the other side, attentively observing our practice.
Hmm.
Afterward, I asked the 8th dan master for some practice. On this day, I received many strict words from the 8th dan instructor. By “strict words,” I mean words that pierce straight into your heart.
During practice, the master said to me,
“You haven’t been doing suburi at all!”
Indeed, I hadn’t been doing suburi for the past two weeks as I was constantly sleeping due to my health.
It’s evident at a glance that my strength has declined in these two weeks!
The master also said,
“Where are you doing your basic practice? You haven’t been doing solo practice (Hitori keiko) before the ji-keiko.”
As the instructor pointed out, I had been sleeping all this time. It’s true that I hadn’t been doing solo practice. Well, maybe the master could see it right away because they are experienced? Hmm, they have a discerning eye.
When you ask the higher-ranked instructor for practice, it’s a valuable opportunity to see how much progress you’ve made on the challenges and receive evaluations during the practice. It’s a thankful opportunity. Ji-keiko is a place to showcase how much you’ve practiced and how much you’ve improved, rather than a place to learn something new.
To acquire a certain movement, there is nothing but repetitive practice. Solo practice is done through repeated suburi in front of a mirror, checking your posture, or imagining an opponent and repeatedly striking. This is the kind of solo practice you do. The results of such solo practice are then shown to the instructor during, for example, ji-geiko. It’s a way to check whether what you’ve been doing is correct.
When you haven’t been practicing or doing solo practice, there’s nothing to show during such moments.
Every day, it becomes clear whether you’re accumulating effort or just idling, and it’s something that can be immediately apparent. Amazing. I want to develop such perceptive eyes.
However, what I’m doing now is solo practice. Anyway, assume a stance and try to attack.
Practice, practice.
Recommended Book
Various points of practice are explained thoroughly in this book. Occasionally, every time I reread it, I think, “Ah, so that’s what it meant,” something I didn’t realize when I first read it. Highly recommended.
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