A Bit on Training but Mostly More Kendo Reading...Lowry and Twigger

This post started as a discussion about training and digressed into a discussion about books.

What I will cover today is what I am going to look for when I start reviewing videos of my suburi and then I am going to go off course and talk about two books that helped me with my Kendo - both provided me with an insight into mindset from two different directions.

The Discussion about Training: Suburi - What I am Looking Out For

Well I am through most of the cardio-training now and despite a mild addiction to spinning (a good thing), I am none the worse for wear.

I have been looking in two directions at the moment in terms of training.

One direction was in terms of suburi or Kendo specific training I've been making good friends with my suburi-to and working on men cuts including men cutting while in the horse stance.

I believe the cutting is getting better judging by what I can see in the reflection on our sliding door and by the shadows. The next phase is to film myself. I have a tripod and just bought a $1.99 bracket so that I can mount my iPhone on it.

Suburi - Good Habits to Gain, Bad Habits to Repair

What will I be looking at or for:

• opening swing - in particular how far back my kissaki (sword tip) and my tsukagashira (hilt butt) go
• shoulders - as I mentioned before I have a tendency to lift these (think of a shrugging action) which is a habit that needs to be fixed (it is a tell, also it is just tiring and slows me down)
• tenouchi (am I snapping my wrists and is there an obvious stop at the end of the cut)

I want to get a little more into bokken training so late last month I put an order in for Dave Lowry's Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword a bit of a punt. (I just checked my order status and it should be here next week!)

The Bit About Books and Reading

Dave Lowry: Autumn Lightning

I have read Lowry's work before and have a lot of respect for him and his treatment of the martial arts.

When I was getting into Kendo I ordered and read Autumn Lightning which is an account of his study of Kenjutsu - unfortunately my copy is packed away somewhere but thanks to the miracle of Amazon I can reveal that I enjoyed it- I even wrote a review!

I am afraid at the moment my lasting memory of the book is how his Sensei taught him to sit on the toilet - suffice to say the posture is unconventional but functional, more to the point it means you are ready to leap into action if necessary.

There is much more to the book than this and this recollection does not do it justice.


Twigger: Bad Ass Aikido

While I am on the topic of good reads, try Robert Twigger's: Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police. I seen some reviews of this book and picked it up on a whim to read on a flight to Australia.

Twigger learns Aikido with the Tokyo Riot Police so on the face of it it does not seem very Kendo related but three words make it so: Tokyo Riot Police.

When I first started training, the Japanese Riot Police were a source of huge admiration to us for two reasons:

• they were paid to train in Kendo
• they were hard-arses Kendo wise - gi-geiko, kakari-geiko so tough you lost control of everything (I mean everything)

About the only thing that was madder (in a positive Kendo sense) than a Japanese Riot Police Kendoka was a Japanese Imperial Guard Kendoka (and by this I mean the police unit tasked to guard the Emperor of Japan).

So I bought Twigger's book to get an insight into the Tokyo Riot Police mindset. The discovery - these guys are bad-ass too.

And yes, I wrote an Amazon Review of that too! (It is probably one of the ways I remember what I have read.)

Note: I am no Aikido expert - I don't do it (although I do admire it) so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the Aikido in the book or its value for an Aikidoka.

Oh yeah, what was the second direction my training was taking?

I started this post talking about training and got into books. I said at the start I was looking at my training in two directions, and covered one - suburi and bokken training - here.

I will cover the other one - fitness and gym training - in my next post.

Recommendations for a Good Read?

If you have any good reading recommendations - Kendo, martial art, or mindset related, please feel free to share them in the comments section.

Until then.

Ganbatte.

Habit Building 101 - Don't Look Now! You Could Already Be a Success!

Someone (I think it was Earl Nightingale) once defined success as the progressive realisation of a worthy goal.


Or put a little more directly - success is about getting what you want

. Hopefully what you want is worthy but really you are the best judge of that.

The key for me with this quote is that success is not just the getting of the goal but also the actual steps you take to get that goal.

That is, if you are pursuing your goals you are already succeeding.

The process of self realisation is already a success and therefore something to be positive about.

I find this a comforting thought.

It's About Action

You will notice that this definition of success does not talk about how big the progress has to be - it just has to be progress.

This was brought home to me by a quote from Confucius I saw recently:

It doesn't matter how slowly you go as long as you don't stop.

Okay, this is not directly relevant but I think still on topic.

It's not about the speed, it's about the consistency of action.

Success in Kendo - Comes in Small Steps

One of the great joys for me with Kendo is that you can see the rewards of practice and persistance. 

You see it most obviously in a better cut or more generally a better gi-geiko or shiai result.

This result is the product of many factors - well actually three:

• Ki - spirit
• Ken - sword
• Tai - body

Coalescing into one whole. (Yeah, you probably knew that was coming.)

Arguably this is a state of perfection that is will rarely be achieved.

But for me this really doesn't matter - I know I will never really achieve this state at least not consistently- what matters for me is the pursuit of this state.

To achieve this state I need to focus on a number of factors including:

• my footwork
• my core strength (posture)
• my cutting: hand position, stroke/swing, timing, shinai position
• my awareness of my opponent; and 
• my awareness of myself: what am I thinking, am I thinking
• my breathing (am I breathing?)
• my projected spirit (kiai, kensen)

(And I don't think this list is exhaustive)

This will only come with consistent practice, focus, awareness AND patience.

It is probably the last bit or absence of this that screws me up the most.

It's About Patience

How do you practice patience?

• Try to learn something - really - just try and learn something. 
• Set yourself goals - not as sticks to beat yourself with but yardsticks so you know when you have made progress
• Keep track of your performance ("yardsticks"as noted above)

Examples:

My attendance at the gym.

I go regularly, I check into Foursquare each time so I (and any poor sod on Facebook who friends me) can see my attendance.

I weigh myself - not because I am a masochist - but because getting my weight down is a goal, also I need to know my weight so I can get a more accurate calorie consumption estimate.

I make a note of my calories that I consume. Right now I am using machines which calculate this so it is easy. (I also wear a heart-rate monitor and strap which helps). Yeah the machines give me estimates but as long as they are consistently accurate or inaccurate I can still see my progress.

How does this relate to patience - simple:

Training is frequently painful ("the burn")

But I progress and while I am training I tell myself I am progressing, making a difference

And it is the self talk, the messages that help me develop patience.

They also help build the mental toughness and reference points for later training at the dojo AND when I am doing other work: 

Basically because I know I can do it at the gym, I know I can do it at my desk AND at the dojo!

Here's to your success and mine.

Have a great day.

Ganbatte!

Habit Building 101 for Kendo: "Just Fricking Do It"

Today, a short post.

Now that my cardio training is developing, or more specifically my cardio training routine is locking into place, I have started work on suburi - yes the actually cutting practice.

I put off suburi for a couple of reasons:

• not sure where to start
• a little embarrassed about training outside

When I did start my suburi I did it without those thoughts in mind. Basically I had not plan in mind and I didn't really think about the social aspects of training outside.

I just got down and did it.

I am glad I did.

It is all too easy for me (and I suspect maybe for others) to over think stuff:

• "I need this to do that"
• "This is not right and I really need it to be in place first"

But when it comes down to these are just excuses or fancy window dressing for the procrastination store. So to get round all that:

Just Fricking Do It

The first time will probably be ugly and messy, but it will get you into action.

Also, once you have done it once you have a better idea of what you want change or modify - basically you now have a baseline.

What Next?

You guessed it, do it again.

A little smarter.

In my case, I am now only using the suburi-to - because I want to work on improving my arm strength and have started counting or tracking my repetitions.

Focus on Form First

As I said with in my post of leg exercises - I am doing things a little slower than I would like because I want to keep an eye on my form.

Fortunately with a suburi-to it is heavy enough to discourage excessive swinging - although I am mindful that I need to focus on form and control and not rely on the bokuto weight - otherwise when I start using a shinai or a bokuto things will go to crap fast.

Keep Track


I will also be keeping a record of what I do - this will ensure my suburi practice has a consistent structure and also that I can keep track of my progress, for me a good incentive.

Rinse and Repeat


The next step is to repeat my suburi training until it becomes a habit or a routine. As I said in an earlier post this can take around 30 days.

How I can help myself with this is keeping track of what I do (as I said earlier) and also trying to do it at around the same time each day. Again, constructing a routine.

Progression


One other thing I will work on is progression - that is adding a few more cuts or repetitions to my training - building up strength and stamina.

My basic rule is that each day I do the same as the day before or more. You can do this quickly - that is take big steps - or gradually - take smaller steps but either way make sure you are progressing or adding.

Variation


I know I will probably get a little bored with the same routine everyday so I will also be mixing things up a bit - there are several suburi I can use so I will have a few mixes to keep things interesting.

The other benefit of variation is that it means I can work on a greater range of muscles.


Hopefully you gain a few ideas from this post. If you have suggestions I would be happy to hear them. I am not a guru in any shape or form.

Until then, just fricking do it.

Ganbatte.