August 16, 2009

Training schedule for September 2009

Kanazawa Chiku Center, Kanazawahakkei, Yokohama

September 20 - Thursday
19:00~21:00

Oppama Junior High School, Oppama, Yokosuka

on Saturdays
September 5, 12, 19
19:00~21:00
15 min walk from Oppama station, Keikyu line


Nakada Junior High School, Totsuka, Yokohama

usually on Sundays
September 6, 13, 23 (Wed)
13:00~15:00
5 min walk from Tateba station, Yokohama Subway

These training times are available for all grades.

If you would like to join, visit our training or you have any questions please contact Takada Rumi by phone TEL & FAX 045-783-2298 (in Japanese).

If you prefer email mail to takada_dojo(at)hotmail.com (in English/Japanese) or leave a comment here, thank you for your cooperation.

August 15, 2009

Musô Shinden Ryû Tachiuchi no Kurai

Tachiuchi no Kurai has 7 techniques.

1. Deai

2. Kobushitori

3. Zetsumyôken

4. Dokumyôken

5. Tsubatome

6. Ukenagashi

7. Mappô

August 10, 2009

Mogishinsa

Last Sunday we had mogishinsa, a simulation grading. It's very helpful to practice in front of others and get feedback before the actual grading; and besides is there a better way to learn than public humiliation, which is to hear about all your mistakes in front of everybody. After that you’ll remember always, or so one would assume.

Grading can sometimes - or should I say every time - be a bit tense experience. It's funny how your heart starts to race when your turn comes no matter how confident and relaxed you felt just a few moments earlier.

Mogishinsa offers a great opportunity to observe your reactions so that you won't hopefully panic when it is the real thing. It also gives some sort of consolation to see others just as nervous as you are.

Takada Sensei reminded us to be especially careful with so called beginner's mistakes, the things you take for granted, for example you might start to wonder does Shohatsutô begin with left or right foot or with which hand do you hold a sword when you're in seiza/walking/bowing and so on.

During practice grading everything was done like in a real situation except that same grade students performed together instead of individual performance. In Takada Sensei's Dôjô everyone even in kyû grading performs alone no matter how many students there are.

10 minutes before starting the simulation we got a list of 5 katas we would have to memorize and perform. My trick was to remember the katas by their ordinal number rather than name. For example instead of memorizing: Tôhô Korantô, Shohatsutô, Ataritô, Gyakutô, Nukiuchi; I memorized 1, 1, 4, 8, 11. For me numbers are just easier to remember. I'm sure we all have our own methods.

Takada Sensei didn't just check did we remember the katas but did we remember all the bows, how did we handle the sword and so on. Takada Sensei also told a few examples of previous gradings how some students had performed very well during practice and until last minutes before the grading but in the actual situation they had made some easy mistakes such as started with wrong foot, pulled the sword from its sheath too early/late or forgot to bow to judges.

Mogishinsa really gives you a chance to check have you learnt everything by heart or do you hesitate when you're supposed to know all the maneuvers (bowing, sword handling) by yourself.

August 3, 2009

Tabi etiquette

Tabi (足袋) are traditional Japanese socks with a separation between the big toe and other toes.

In Takada Sensei's Dôjô almost all the students wear tabi during practice. Everyone can choose whether to wear them or not.

The only occasions when it's mandatory to wear tabi are when you're wearing montsuki (紋付). Those occasions are dan grading and iaidô demonstration.

In summer everyone wears white tabi but in winter some wear thicker and darker colored tabi. I guess the thicker ones are just warmer, I myself wear another socks under tabi in winter.

This is the tabi etiquette in Takada Sensei's Dôjô; other dôjô's, federation's, etc. style may vary.