My mind has been mainly focused on getting ready for testing. I'll be testing for 2nd-dan at the Cleveland tournament at the end of March. Will I pass? I think/hope so. There are always doubts in my mind. I continually worry about how my opponent will be during the match. Will they treat it like a proper testing bout and show off the quality of their kendo strikes and form, or will they act like a total asshat and treat the match like a tournament, flailing about with utter disregard to how they look in order to strike a target? It's hard to stay in proper form when up against the latter type.
But that is just an excuse! In actuality you shina (testing) fighting should look and be exactly the same as your shiai (tournament) fighting; nice and elegant, precise movements and forms. That's the ideal thought, at least. Not everyone is capable of doing that or is even aware. I was, like a lot of people currently are, under the impression that they were two very distinct things and you only use one form for testing and one for tournaments. That's not how it should be, but at the same time that's how it kinda is and how people treat it.
In the end none of that matters. I've just got to concentrate on what it is that I need to pass. Good, solid men/kote-men is what I'm being told. Back straight with good footwork and leg movement and timing. Be aware of my hitting distance and feeling out the opponent with my sword. Avoid do strikes (they are more likely to get me in trouble) and blocking or any advanced waza. Basically, I need to show the good foundation of the basics. Anything non-basic will be to my disadvantage. Sounds simple, but I'm already seeing my foundation hasn't been built very solidly (thanks VT!) so it's a continually work-in-progress.
Now that we have an 8th-dan sensei as part of our school there has just been more pressure on us it seems to pass exams. The sensei hate to see their students go in for an exam and fail because in a way it's a representation of them and the school. "Kendoka #203 didn't pass? Oh, he must not have a good teacher, or they must not be showing them proper technique. Don't they have an 8th-dan in their school?". Maybe I could have taken the 2nd-dan test earlier, right away when I was eligible awhile ago last year or the year before if we didn't have a megaboss 8th dan, but it just seems like times have somewhat changed. I understand it, though, because no one wants to see their people fail and you want to make sure they are ready. Well, technically I was given the go ahead to test at Rutgers in February but I was also told if I was going to Cleveland then I should test there with the others since it's only a month away. One more month won't hurt anything. I won't be changing shiai divisions, I'll be testing with other dojo members, and it'll give me an entire additional month to more finely hone what skills I have. So come March/April I will be testing for ni-dan and hopefully have a new rank!
This whole post was actually just going to be me linking a picture I just threw together and it somehow turned into kendo testing thoughts. Anyway, the picture that kinda inspired this post was an old image of me standing side by side with images of this kendo figurine I bought just because I thought it looked somewhat like me. The figure is in a glass case at home but it's been lying on it's side. I've got to remember to set it right side up again.
0 comments:
Post a Comment