Sigh. I had planned on going down to the Longmont YMCA yesterday afternoon to get some Kendo practice in but it did not work out as I had hoped. I figured I would go down and get started on the training drill regimine that I put together to build up my endurance. It is mostly men suburi and men haya suburi with okuri ashi footwork and sonkyo drills in full bogu, with repetition numbers all set at much higher than I have ever done before, so that I can build up my bogu endurance. I even sent a text message to Amaury Senpai to ask whether or not he would like to join me in practice, and he said that he would. But when I arrived to the Longmont YMCA and suited up, the gym manager came over to me and said that we were not allowed to practice there at all. We had done so before but I guess he had not been around. I understand that there is a perceived liability issue because we do not have a class there but it still bummed me out.
I proposed heading down to the Boulder YMCA where we usually meet for class, but Senpai had other things to do with his day so it was just me from there on out. I made it down to Boulder and was happy to learn that the room we usually practice in is open on Saturdays and that there are no other classes that use the room in the afternoon. I suited up (again) and got started. I think that I may have been shooting a little too high with my new endurance regimine because I mostly just bounced back and forth between the things that were on my list without actually sticking to the list. But I did figure out a few things once I was able to slow down and focus on the way I breathe when the men is on. After about fifteen minutes I was feeling much more comfortable breathing with the men on and I was able to get in the suburi that I wanted. Mind you, I was not able to get in all the repetitions that I wanted but I can build up to that. I got in a little cool down practice once I was done training in the bogu and then rewarded myself by playing around with some men cuts from gedan-no-kamae for awhile. I know that no one really sees it as a useful stance - except when sparring with a naginata player - but what can I say? I am a total gedan fangirl. Though I am still focusing all my serious training on chudan-no-kamae of course!
I felt great after practicing and there were even a few funny moments as well. At one point, I was sitting very still in seiza with full bogu on. This little old lady comes into the room and looks around for awhile before turning off the room lights. She was conserving energy because - presumably - she figured there was no one in the room! I got up after awhile and turned the lights back on before I resumed my practicing and she seemed a little surprised when she popped her head back in about fifteen minutes after that. Hahaha! I love the good times that make me smile, even the ones in which I am the only one around. Now if only there could be more good times with the other kendoka from the dojo... Oh well! Time to go to work.
Men Suburi - 250 Forward, 250 Backward
Men Haya Suburi - 100 Repetitions
Okuri Ashi - 100 Forward, 100 Backward, 100 Left, 100 Right
Shiho Ashi Sabaki - 100 Repetitions
Katate Men Suburi - 100 Repetitions
Sonkyo Drills - 50 Repetitions
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