Thursday, March 3, 2011 - Session Twenty-Two

Fumikomi tsuki drills are being added to my daily routine! I was doing pretty well tonight as far as endurance is concerned. I could feel the strain the bogu weight was putting on me but I was also able to set that strain aside and push on without suffering much at all. But then Maestas Sensei had as practice fumikomi tsuki back and forth across the room. It stole the wind from me and I fatigued super fast once we got started. I had some trouble recovering after that and -when the time came for Amaury Senpai and I to square up in jigeiko - I died. My body gave up on me and I started to get flashy vision. I drank enough water today or at least as much as I have been ever since I resolved to drink more, but my mouth was dry even before class began and my throat sealed up so I could not draw strong breaths. And no matter how much energy your body has left in it, once your ability to breathe fails? Muscle fatigue is not far behind. My suspicion is that I have not really figured out how to breathe while doing fumikomi yet because I have not been practicing it on my own. Which means it is going into the routine. I am looking forward to working on that!

Oh yeah! And despite the exhaustion I succumbed to during jigeiko, it was so much fun! I tried to get a little sneaky at the end because I could no longer hold my shinai at chudan very well, and I thought I could lure Amaury Senpai in by using gedan and capitalizing on his expectations buuuuut that did not work out so well. I was mostly only able to occasionally stop his own strike to men and, even when I did manage to bring it up to strike men in time, my arms could not muster enough strength to make it worthwhile. But I stand by my decision! Because I was pretty much dead and we had two more minutes to go! With kiri-kaeshi at the end! I figured I might as well give it a shot, especially since Amaury Senpai trash talked my most beloved and cherished stance for which I am a total unrepentant fangirl!!! Someday the entire world will see its sublime utilitarian perfection!!! Hahaha. I joke. I joke. During the jigeiko I felt like I was going to either throw up or pass out or both, and I said as such, but Sensei just said to keep going and that they would be sure to peel me off the floor if it happened. Somehow? Despite the fatigue? The comment totally got me even more excited for the moment. Oh yes, and Senpai did mention that we have been improving, as we carpooled back to Longmont. Our good strikes - though still occasional and rare - are becoming less rare. It was great to hear him say that.

The two girls came back again! Hurrah! And they have improved! Which means they must be practicing on their own! Which so awesome! We had another new lady come in and try the class, but I do not think it was she expected. She enjoyed watching Senpai and I go at it but otherwise she did not seem quite so keen on Kendo in the end. But hey, she might surprise us all! Just like those two quiet girls did. Anyway, Maestas Sensei says that we are going to incorporate more jigeiko and kiri-kaeshi into practice now that he knows Amaury and I are going to Dallas in March. I am - as always - super excited.

1 comment:

  1. Very cool! I love jigeiko, and having that time to practice techniques I've been working on, or polish techniques that I use regularly. And the mental intensity that goes on sometime is awesome!

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