18:18 PM: Kendo cannot come soon enough tonight. I will be leaving for the YMCA in about five minutes or so and I could really use the practice. I am having one of those low nights, where all I want to do is run away and go someplace new where nothing is the same as the life to which I am accustomed. Vacation time in just another week and some days though! So I can run about then. For now, what I really need most is some Kendo to help me feel grounded. Holding a shinai always centers me and helps me feel more focused. It helps me feel good about who I am and where I am. It can never come to soon.
12:51 AM: Some nights Kendo is fun. Other nights, Kendo is the most perfect kind of good that I can imagine. Tonight there was someone who was new (to me) and who has been doing Kendo since he was sixteen years old. Much like Justin Senpai in fact. Karen Senpai also showed up with Maestas Sensei. Amaury Senpai and Cameron also showed. So it was a great night with a full group and all! Cameron actually inherited the loaner bogu that I had been using once I purchased and received my own bogu and tonight was his second night with all the gear on. Hmm. We pretty much jumped right into practice and began the opening reiho with our bogu - all but the men and kote - on from the start, and we did several rotating drills after our suburi. Men, Kote, Do, Kote-Men, Men-hiki-Do, Men-hiki-Men, Kote-nuki-Do, Harai Men, and so on. We worked up a sweat right from the start and it was great! Although I had tied on my men a little too tightly and there was a knot right on the back of my head which was rather uncomfortable. I was glad for a free moment in which I was able to adjust it when I was the odd person out in our rotation. We ended the class with rotating keiko and I was able to keiko with Cameron and then Amaury Senpai. A few times, I was able to work with maki waza and at some point I would like to try using maki waza to bring the opposing shinai down, drop my shinai just a little bit when it is below theirs, and then smack it upward before going for men. Not sure it would be effective but I hope to try it. Sad to say, my attacks still need a lot of work before they are truly clean and I am still probably only fifth kyu material... but someday soon! I just need to start committing myself to practice again. My depression really gets to me at times and it can be easy to try and hide from everything, including Kendo. But once I am practicing all the sad feelings go away and I feel so good. I am fortunate to have this in my life. I am very fortunate. OH! We also went out afterward! My first second practice!
You're back! Great to read the post, and good to hear that you were able to go to practice despite how you felt. I heard something a while that I thought was so true. "The hardest part of practice is showing up." I truly believe this, as I've had times where I don't want to go and will find any excuse to not go. But these days I show up whenever I'm physically able to practice and I try to give it my all each time.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work!
Thanks! And agreed!
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