A journal of my martial arts training
Class with Bryce. Stretch followed by a brief review of his basic cuts, then full circle cuts, 50 for him, 100 for me (boken). We then went back to reviewing what he knows so far, and then added decap block and leg block. We worked on flow a little and then I gave a sneak peek of Jumping Tiger 1 which we'll cover in full next week.
Conditions: Light rain, moderate temperature
Class with Bryce. I provided him with a one handed boken in place of the two-hander I had him temporarily use last week. I spoke about the approach and reaons the WCoS has to training in all conditions, followed by a short stretch. We reviewed his basic cuts, working on some of the more subtle difference between two and one handed. Added thrust and the head and neck blocks.
Conditions: Intermitent light rain, cool
First day of the new Portland Dojo, temporarily to be held at Commonwealth Lake Park. Bryce met me and we went over the format of the class, the desired commitment I'm looking for, one solid color for uniform, the three rules of swordsmanship, the six traditions, the defensive stance, and the six full circle cuts. I lent him a bastard sword boken for this week, but I will try to get him a one hander come next week and will join him in that style.
Conditions: Perfect, roughly 70 degrees or a little under, dry for the present.
Solo practice, went through all of my Silver Chain requirements (using steel). Included Kodiak and Dragons Bite, and started experimenting with a move tentatively named Vampire (right shuffle in right neck cut feignt spun into left back edge neck cut ("scorpian") with lateral shift to left stance).
I am training in the park, and a guy (Daniel, I think) happened by and gave me a katana that has been sitting in his closet for a couple years ever since his friend gave it to him. I offered to teach him to use it, but he said he wasn't very interested and probably too busy. I provided him a contact method if he changes his mind.
I journeyed down to the Hayward Dojo for a Day of Combat and to support Sal's 30 minute non-stop battle and Crimson Chain test, and I also was a part of Steel Wind's steel Red Rope test.
We had a good number of fighters present, six in steel and several more in wood. It started with Sal's non-stop, then the main combat event was 5 wood matches, 5 steel matches, 5 wood matches, 5 steel matches, and 5(?) scenario wood matches.
I visited with Sal today and he gave me a tour of his dojo space, then we worked through our full requirements. Unfortunately, I forgot my steel, so I had to borrow a boken. During our session, he made note of a few upates that have come up in his working with Head Kaiden Gad.
* The I Move – the technique is explicitly a full chop now in order to be applied against any target (I pointed out that it is still important to tip the blade first during the pull back to make it faster).
* Kata Ich – the forward moving blocks are right neck, left neck, right leg (made simply sweeping down from the left neck block).
* Kata Ni – the final techniques are dragons tail followed by the illusion, where the illusion's head feignt is made as we turn the 180 about face.
Additional notes:
* Tradition – he noted that the (relatively) new clearing technique at the end is as we create distance and should not actually target the uke where they stand.
* I would like to discuss the vertical draw cut with the head kaiden further.
It was a good session, and good to see his training space for the Redding dojo.
One on one review of requirements with Brennan (99% steel) this morning. We each had notes and thoughts for the other. His notes directly related to my techniques were:
It was a good session and there were many more things that we discussed in general. I also got a chance to meet his student Patrick last night.
Second day of the Ravenswood event. For the morning session we started with 15 steel melees and then held 10 bokken melees. For the afternoon, we were down some steel fighters so we began with round-robinned best-of-three steel duals and then held a number of bokken melees, most of them being team scenarios.
Afterward we packed everything back up, including Steven, Elijah and John (from Nevada dojo) helping to load and return the straw bales.
First day of my Ravenswood Coliseum event. Yesterday Elijah and Michael helped me pick up straw bales from a local rancher and setup our arena, and Sal brought his new structure for our enclosure. We didn’t have enough steel fighters for melees in the morning, so Kaiden David, Ryan E.B. and I round-robinned some steel best-of-three duals and then we moved to bokken melees to include the rest of the present fighters. The afternoon melees included the additional fighters from the bay area, so we started with 10 steel melees, then followed with 10 bokken melees. In the evening, I hosted a feast at my mother’s house.
I attended the Best of the Best 2014 tournament today, taking 3rd out of the eight competitors present (Steel Wind, Brennan, myself, Kris, David, Sal, Patrick, and Blight, plus Gad fought but was not competing).
I attended and participated in the 30 minute non-stop battles for both Steel Wind and Patrick today.
I also demonstrated my Cutting Pattern 4 for Kaiden Gad:
* Attacker – Right stance, Thrust (with shuffle), Jumping Tiger 2, Whispering Wind (with short chop to mid torso, rather than short circle), return to defensive stance.
* Defender – Right stance, Right thrust deflection, Left neck block, Cross step back and block right leg, Right decap/torso block, Left neck block, return to defensive stance.
The intent of this cutting pattern is to work on the minimalist thrust block provided by the deflection, and to reinforce good lateral movement around opponents.
Sal and I journeyed to the Hayward Dojo for their 2014 closing class, held by Head Kaiden Gad. Over the course of the class, I went through my silver chain requirements with PJ, and later with Gad.
Gad had the following notes for me:
– The I Move should be applied against targets other than just the arm in combat,
– I should move further laterally on Musashi for greater safety,
– The thrust when demonstrating Dragons Tail solo should be angled up to catch the falling opponent squarely,
– The Raven should always be demonstrated as a temple/eye cut (though it may be applied against any available target),
– The Shadow should be a double temple attack (not neck),
– Start applying Spike more often, aiming for the middle of the forehead, even if it means asking students to wear additional safety glasses if they’re face guards are inadequate.
He also finished instructing me on Kata San:
* Akira, look left, bring right foot forward and then rotate 90 left stepping back with the left and making advanced thrust block, cross-step forward with FC to opponents right torso, 180 left rotate on left foot, bring sword to jodan with an in-place foot change to right stance, spring forward cross stepping with head chop, right right and step out with right performing Crescent Cut, follow through rotating 180 to left stance with FC to opponents right leg, cross step forward with The Illusion.
By the Best of the Best (Jan 10) I must craft my Cutting Pattern 4, and I need to remember to invite him to a game of chess at that time, both as part of my silver chain requirements.
Kaiden Gad provided a list of four goals as “my end of year homework” (though with no time stipulation):
– Win the Best of the Best,
– Earn the rank of Black Belt in the WCoS,
– Earn the rank of Silver Chain,
– Grow my new class (to-be) in Portland while continuing to support and lend guidance from afar to Sal and the Redding Dojo.
Lastly, I am honored that my student Sal has been granted Honorary Kaidenship to continue the Redding Dojo.
Final Redding Dojo class of the year, attended by Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, Dalton, Michael and Caleb. I took the class out to an unlit, undeveloped space of land where we did some night training. After a quick stretch, we did requirements, paired by rank and working on light altered terrain. After a break, we did refined strikes, followed by 200 full circle cuts (bokken only), and finished with unarmored parry.
By final tally, Dalton had the highest attendance percentage, followed by Sal and then Steven.
The weather was cool, lower 40’s perhaps, the only light was ambient city light from the sky and periphery (no moon).
Class with Sal, Steven, Elijah, Dalton, Michael and Caleb. Tonight was a special sparring field trip. We gathered at the Redding Dojo and then traveled to a near by open space that I had identified. We hiked in a short distance with our gear, armored up, and had a total of 60 one on one matches in altered terrain by the light of just three small torches.
Due to the location, Sal and I used bokken tonight.
Final class at the current Redding Dojo location, attended by Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, and Dalton. Stretch and requirements, myself with Sal. After a break, we started with three circuits through the gamut and doing kneeling advance down the dojo and back, then 200 full circle cuts (Sal and I did 100 iron sword, 100 steel, and I had Steven do 100 steel, the other 100 bokken). While catching our breath, we did a couple lengths of forward cross-steps in stance and a couple lengths backward cross-steps in stance, then a few minutes of moving around the dojo in stance. Next I setup balance 1 and 2, and we finished with a full round of Blind Man’s Boffer.
I journeyed to the Hayward Dojo with Sal tonight for class led by Gad. I went through all of my requirements with Gad, receiving a few tips and adjustments. Key items were:
– Draw cuts incorporate more rotation/movement of the feet, particularly for the rising/femoral draws to allow the body to open more.
– the Whispering Wind for target is conducted as a disarming technique, applying a short chop/push to the opponents weapon.
– He instructed me on the first 80% of Kata San.
Akira, 90 L with Adv thrust block, Lightning, 180 L in jodan, return to defensive stance, deep cross-step with head chop… (only two-ish more moves)
During the second half, Gad went through a variety of tests and competitions to highlight different traits we train for and must be aware of.
Class with Sal, Steven, Elijah, Dalton, Caleb, and Michael. Stretch and requirements. I instructed Caleb and Michael on The Tradition, and then after requirements did a review of the Tradition with the whole class. After the break, we had one on one sparring and a single melee.
Class with Sal, Steven, Elijah and Dalton. Stretch and requirements. I worked with Elijah, reviewing all of his requirements and then adding Defense Cut to his practiced moves (for a total of 12).
After the break, we did refined strikes, followed by 360 machinegun drills (head, neck or decap), and finished with balance 1 and 2.